The sound carried all the way up the hall and into the office of Company B, causing the Texas Rangers working inside to stop what they were doing, look up, and listen.

"You've got to be kidding," Ranger Francis Gage looked up from his desk and across to his partner, whose dark eyes lifted from her paperwork and mirrored his own sentiment. They'd been back from Arroyo Grande for two weeks and were only just finishing their reports on everything that had happened. They had also discovered that, whether through their admissions of their feelings for each other, the therapy sessions they'd been forced to attend, or through simply sharing the entire crazy experience they'd become much closer and their working relationship had improved. (The fact that they'd been out on a handful of dates since returning home and had discovered that they enjoyed spending time together as a couple hadn't hurt matters either.)

"Third time this week," Sydney commented off-handedly, laying her pen aside.

The sound continued, increasing in volume until the door to Company B swung open to reveal senior Rangers Cordell Walker and James Trivette, arguing loudly – or at least Trivette was being loud. Walker, in his characteristically mild fashion, was listening to his partner rant and defending himself in moderate tones during pauses in Trivette's exclamations.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me that 'Little' JB Fuller was a three hundred pound linebacker!" Trivette cried.

"Come on, Trivette - he wasn't over two-fifty," Walker reasoned. "And I didn't know that he was a former linebacker until afterwards."

"Why is it," Trivette was in front of Gage and Sydney's desks now, where the two younger Rangers were pretending to be completely absorbed in their work, "that whenever we go in to apprehend suspects, you always get the little guys and I always end up with the really big ones?"

"I was dealing with three of them at the same time," Walker told him, frustrated. "How was I supposed to know that one guy would cause such a problem for you?"

"One guy the size of a Mack truck!"

The pair had moved towards their own desks now and Gage seized an opportunity for escape. "Ready for lunch?"

"I'm starved," Sydney nodded and both rose to leave.

Each had grabbed a jacket and Sydney had picked up a set of car keys when the motion caught Trivette's eye.

"Hey you guys," he called. "Have you noticed that I seem to get the raw end of the deal every time Walker and I have to bring people in?"

"I really couldn't say, Jimmy," Gage shrugged casually.

"We don't pay too much attention," Sydney added. Neither wanted to get in the middle of their coworkers' dispute.

"It happens every time!" Trivette fumed.

"Have you considered talking to someone about these issues?" Gage asked, barely successful in repressing his smirk. "You know, like a counselor or someone who can help you communicate better as partners?"

"You mean therapy?" Trivette yelped. Walker began to chuckle, knowing full well that his partner was walking into Gage's verbal trap.

"It worked for us," Sydney told him helpfully, her tone dripping with false sincerity. "We've never gotten along better."

"But you were at couples' therapy - undercover!" Trivette was dumbfounded. "Walker and I are not a couple."

"Well, there are two of you," Sydney pointed out, "and another term for two is couple."

"Go to lunch!" he shouted in frustration, causing Walker's chuckle to become full-blown laughter despite his best efforts to stay quiet.

"Just think about it, Jimmy," Gage told him in parting, his face pure and innocent as he backed towards the door. "You know, you two could go to a nice resort somewhere and walk in the woods and talk about your problems. It's very therapeutic."

Trivette was standing frozen in front of his desk, mouth hanging open when Sydney and Gage let the door swing shut behind them. Their shared laughter could be heard all the way down the hall.

FIN