Title: Trials of Sydney Chapt. 3
Rated: PG-13
Author: Babs
Disclaimer: I own nothing... at least what is in this story, except for the idea and any made-up characters.

Sydney and Gage moved to his bedroom after their round of love making. By dawns early light, Sydney had stirred and woken up without Gage waking. She looked down at his sleeping frame and smiled. While deep down she felt guilty about what had happened last night, she found herself content. Slipping out of the bed, she pulled on her clothes and bent down and kissed Gage on the forehead.

"Nothing will ever be the same again," she whispered to him. She prayed that their working relationship as partners would remain the same. She had doubt. She walked to the kitchen and found a pad of paper near the phone and scribbled a message for Gage. Grabbing her purse, she unlocked the door and headed to her car.

He would most likely call her after he wakes and find the message she had left and she prepared for the call, but she had to go check out the remains of the apartment complex she lived in and talk to investigators. When she arrived, there was a security detail while some of the families went through the remains as well as the investigators.

"Texas Ranger Cooke," Sydney introduced herself to the head of the investigation. "I received a call from you late last night. I just want to see if you found anything else out."

The investigator nodded. "Investigator Brian Fox," he introduced himself. "We found a residue of a pipe-like bomb and since we found most the damage to your apartment, we assumed it was where it started. Any idea who might have wanted to cause you harm?"

Sydney just chuckled. "I have no idea who would want such a thing, but I'm sure I have pissed a lot of people off. It's part of my job."

"A Texas Ranger, correct?" Fox asked and Sydney nodded.

"Listen, am I going to be interrogated about the many lives I have ruined, how many criminals I put behind bars for life? Because if so, you may as well just go to personal records to find my list of arrests. It would take too long to tell you all of them myself and I would miss some. I give you full permission to do so. Because I would like to find that bastard myself."

"We will look into it and give you a call if anything else comes up," Fox told her. "I am sorry about your apartment."

"Thanks," Sydney sighed and returned to her vehicle. She had to go shopping for some new clothes and a new place. As she got into her car, her cell phone rang and startled her. Looking at the caller ID, she expected Gage's number to show up, but it was the Walker's.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Oh! Good, you're alright!" came Alex's voice. "Walker and I read about the fire to your apartment complex in the paper this morning and were worried. Are you okay?"

"Hi, Alex. Yeah, I am fine. I wasn't home when the fire started." Sydney knew she would have to inform Walker about the arson and how it started in her apartment. "How's Angela?" Sydney changed the subject, not wanting to talk about the fire anymore.

"She is teething and giving her father a hard time." In the background, Sydney could hear Angela screaming at the top of her lungs. She barely heard Walker yell something to Alex and soon she was talking to Walker and not Alex as Alex went off to put some orajel on Angela's gums.

"Hey, Syd... heard about the fire and glad to hear that you're okay," Walker told her. "Listen, if you need a place to stay until you find another place, you are welcomed here."

Sydney had to laugh. After hearing Angela, she would rather not. "No, thanks. I am staying with a friend." She didn't exactly lie.

"Well, you know you have a place if you need one," Walker informed her. In the background, she heard Alex's voice soothing Angela. "Now go to papa and let me talk with Auntie Syd."

Sydney assumed Walker took Angela and Alex returned to the phone. "Sorry about that. Walker was having a bit of a problem putting orajel on her gums. So, did Walker offer you a place to stay?"

"Yeah, thanks. But I will be staying with a friend. Listen, I will see you two tomorrow at the office. Talk to you later."

"Bye."

Sydney hung up her phone just as it rang again. This time it was Gage. She picked it up, half-smiling. "Hi, Gage."

"Why didn't you wake me before you left?" Gage immediately asked.

"Because you looked so cute sleeping," Sydney replied. "Listen... last night... was a mistake. Things got out of hand." She hated telling him this. "Tomorrow, when we see each other at work, lets just pretend it never happened. I do not want to ruin our work friendship. Please Gage."

Sydney could hear loud, annoyed breathing coming from Gage. "Look, Sydney. What happened last night was the best sex I have ever had. How could we pretend it never happened?" There was a pause before he continued. "I will not promise you anything. Are you coming back tonight to my place?"

"I don't think that is wise. I will see you tomorrow morning at work. Bye, Gage."

Sydney hung up her phone and started her car. First find a hotel to stay at and then get some new clothes.

Sydney felt nervous as she entered Company B. Sure, she had great sex with her partner on Saturday night, but she was the one to tell Gage to pretend it never happened. She found the office to be almost empty and sat down at her desk and turned on her computer. She found a nice hotel suite to stay at for a generous weekly rate as well as some new clothes. She was looking through her email and hadn't realized that her partner and Trivette came in, laughing.

"Hey, looks who is here. I heard about the fire at your apartment complex. The investigators believe it was arson," Trivette said to Sydney. Sydney vaguely nodded, not wanting to talk about it.

"Where did you stay last night?" Gage asked her.

Sydney looked up and across her desk to her partner. "I am staying at a nice hotel who offered me generous weekly rates."

"You could have stayed at my place for nothing," Gage responded, which got Sydney to look away. She knew what was in that head of his. She shook her head and continued to go through her emails.

Hours later, Sydney was still at her computer. She began to review her own file, seeing who she had arrested recently and if any relatives were trying to kill her. Walker had came in with Angela, which had Sydney briefly distracted. Angela was much calmer today and jabbering up a storm, though nobody knew what she was saying. Angela had her curly blonde hair in a small ponytail at the top of her head and her blue eyes were looking around in awe at her fathers' workplace.

Angela began to squirm in Walker's arms and held her hands out to Sydney, who was paying no attention.

"Hey, Syd," Walker called out to her twice before Sydney looked up to see Angela reaching for her.

Sydney smiled and eased the 10 month old out of Walker's arms and into her own. "When is Alex going to pick her up?" Sydney questioned.

"Alex has a case to work on, so she is staying with me, unless an emergency comes up. If that happens, I have to take her by the H.O.P.E. Center. Alex feels we are working too much and don't get to spend much time with her."

"Ah," was all Sydney said as she began to make funny faces at Angela, who then began to squirm delightfully in her arms and giggle.

"You know what, you'll make a good mother someday," Gage whispered near Sydney as he got up to go get a cup of coffee. Sydney wanted to laugh. Not her, never.

Company B got lucky for the day. No emergency, so Angela stayed with them all day, taking a nap in the port-a-crib and enjoying the attention. Around five that evening, Alex called to tell Walker she was coming over and they could head home.

Before leaving, Alex knelt next to Sydney. "Did you want to come over for dinner?" Alex invited.

"No, thanks," Sydney responded. "Raincheck, okay?"

"Okay. Have a good night." Alex stood and took Angela from her husbands' arms. "And how was my sweet girl today?"

"She behaved herself," Walker told Alex as she headed out. "Night!" He called back to his partner and the junior rangers. Trivette left a few minutes later, leaving Gage and Sydney alone.

"What have you been working on that has been keeping you distracted today?" Gage asked, leaning over his desk.

"Looking up past criminals I have arrested and see if they have escaped, paroled, or something and would try to kill me," Sydney responded without looking up from the current file.

"You know you can't run away from what happened on Saturday," Gage whispered to her. "I decided to be cool about it around Walker and Trivette, but what was between us is real."

"I was out of my head," Sydney told him firmly. "Everything just seemed to hit me at the same time and I felt out of control of myself." She would not admit to herself that Gage was right.

"Deny it all you want," Gage told her harshly. Gage stood up, grabbed his things and left for the night.

After Gage left, Sydney couldn't concentrate on her work. She picked up a few files and turned off her computer. One of the files she accidentally picked up was for the most recent case the Rangers had worked on. Alex had left it on Sydney's desk to file.

Returning to the hotel, Sydney sat down on the small table and took the first file to look over. Drake Summers, a pyromaniac that Gage and Sydney caught the year before after he went a spree, setting fires to mostly government buildings and offices. He died in his cell after getting hold of some matches and starting a fire in his cell that killed him along with his jail-mates. Sydney closed the file and placed it aside. She went through a few more files before coming upon the most recent case they closed.

As she began to read, memories of those six months flooded back to her. Walker had never meant for it to go on that long and she knew that, but being undercover for that long with a convict, Sydney just wanted to rid herself of those six months. Waylon Morris was just sentenced to life in prison without parole, which made Sydney happy. The guy ran everything from prostitution to drug dealing to illegal arm sales. The first attempts by the Dallas PD had failed to nab him for long, so the Texas Rangers intervened, sending Sydney undercover. The first month Sydney had enough information on this guy to give him the death penalty, but the information she collected became only hear-say when the reports she had disappeared. Morris became very suspicious and cautious after that. He never let on that he knew her secret, but he kept her with him at all times and moved his operations.

After two more months, and no contact with the Rangers, Sydney was ready to escape, to try and get in contact with her partner. Morris watched her like a hawk though and she never had a chance. Morris had made her his private property and wouldn't let her go anywhere without a body guard or himself. She was all but ready to give up and make her escape by the fourth month. That was when Morris decided to tell her what he knew of her. She was cuffed and placed in a makeshift cell. Morris didn't want to kill her, but wanted to make her suffer. She remembered getting a few meals a week, along with water. By the fifth month, Walker, Trivette, and Gage had found Morris and his gang and rescued her. Because of the trials she endured, and even though she told them she would be fine, Sydney saw a psychologist for six weeks, 3 times a week, to make sure she was still fit for duty. The psychologist deemed her to be fine and able to work again. That was just a week and a half ago.

Sydney closed the file and placed it with the others. She glanced at the clock and sighed. It was already midnight. Sydney changed into her night clothes and went to bed, with Morris and the trials she endured in her head.

Sydney was awaked by the ringing of her cell phone the next morning. After tossing and turning for a few hours, Sydney finally drifted off to sleep without Morris in her head. Reaching blindly, she picked up her cell phone.

"Hello?" she greeted tiredly.

"Sydney, it's Walker," Walker greeted on the other end. "I realize that you have been through a lot, but we have a new case that just came to our attention." Sydney finally opened her eyes to look at the time.

"I'm sorry, Walker," Sydney apologized. "I had a really rough night. I'll be there in 30 minutes."

Sydney hung up her phone and quickly showered, dressed, and was ready to work in record time. She made it to the office just a little after her designated time and apologized again. She placed the files on her desk to file later and joined in around Walker's desk to get the 411 on the new case.

The case took two weeks to solve and catch who was behind it. During those two weeks, Sydney kept in contact with the investigators. Nothing was found for real evidence and news came to her that they need to focus on other matters. They told her they will keep it and if any new evidence came along, they will investigate more.

Sydney understood. She was at her desk when the news came and Walker noticed Sydney's disappointed face. He stood up and walked over to her desk.

"Everything okay, Sydney?" Walker asked, leaning on the side of her desk.

Sydney looked up and gave a slight nod. "Everything is fine. That was the investigators from the apartment complex arson. They said they have to put it on the back shelf for now. They believe it was a one act show."

"I'm sorry Syd," Walker told her.

"Do you think I can do my own investigation?" Sydney asked. "I believe it was aimed towards me from someone I arrested in the past."

"I don't see why not," Walker informed her. "But if something comes up, you may have to put it on hold."

"Understand," Sydney nodded.

Four weeks later, Sydney was unable to come up with anything. She was ready to give up, when her phone rang.

"Ranger Cooke," she answered.

"Hey, it's Investigator Fox," Brian responded. "During a drug bust, the DEA picked up Henry Morris. We found the same type of pipe bombs that destroyed your apartment complex. Now, we can't be certain, but we may have our arsonist. We are investigating deeper."

"That's good. I'll help you in any way I can. Thanks."

"No problem. I'll call you with more information later."

Sydney hung up the phone and smiled. "Walker, they may have found the arsonist," Sydney informed him.

"That's great, Sydney," Walker responded. "How?"

Sydney explained the situation. Gage and Trivette over heard the conversation and congratulated her and were glad that everything might be turning to the bright side. Walker and Trivette left for lunch, leaving Gage and Sydney alone. This was the first time in the past six weeks that things settled down. Neither Gage nor Sydney really forgot about that Saturday and Gage looked ready to bring it up. Just Sydney's luck, the phone rang and Sydney picked it up.

It was Brian Fox. During interrogation, Henry Morris snapped and admitted to the arson, wanting Sydney dead for the bringing his older brother, Waylon, down and sentenced to life. When Sydney got off the phone, she looked at Gage.

"Henry Morris admitted to the arson, and you are not going to believe this," Sydney began. "He is Waylon Morris' younger bother. He was trying to kill me because I brought Waylon down."

"Waylon Morris?" Gage questioned, trying to remember where he heard the name before. "Oh! I'm glad they caught him. And now I am extra glad that you were not home at the time."

"I'm just glad it is over," Sydney told him. "Not that I can replace my personal possessions."

"How's the new place working out?" Gage asked. "I would like to come by and see it sometime."

"It's not quite home yet," Sydney admitted. "With the insurance, I managed to get furniture and new appliances. It's nice to have new furniture, but it is not the same."

There was a moment of silence, before Gage spoke again. "Did you want to go grab a bite to eat?"

Sydney was feeling hungry and nodded. 'They would keep their chats strictly business,' Sydney told herself, grabbing her coat and slipping it on as she and Gage headed out the door to eat.

It was two weeks later; Henry Morris received the maximum number of years in prison for attempted murder of a Texas Ranger and arson, along with the drug dealing. Henry was joining his brother Waylon in jail.

Sydney arrived at work, just as Alex and Walker did. Alex noticed Sydney not looking so well.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" Alex asked Sydney as they approached Company B headquarters.

"I don't know," Sydney told Alex. "I couldn't keep down my breakfast this morning. I think I might be coming down with the flu."

"You should go to the doctor. I'm sure Walker will let you take the day off."

"No, really..." Sydney tried to stop Alex before Alex told Walker. Walker looked from Sydney and back to his wife.

"You're right, she looks unusually pale," Walker noticed and walked towards her. "Go on, Sydney and take care of yourself."

Sydney didn't feel like arguing and on the way out to her car, called her doctor for an appointment.

Sydney was sitting in her doctor's office that afternoon after unsuccessfully eating lunch.

"I can't seem to keep anything down, but I'm hungry," she informed the doctor.

"Have you tried eating soup, dry toast?" the doctor asked.

"No."

"Well, let me go ahead run some tests and then I can tell you if it's the flu or something else." The doctor turned on his heel to leave.

A couple hours later, Sydney was leaving the doctor's office with the results in her hands. She couldn't believe it. Nope, she didn't have the flu. She was pregnant with her partner's child.

End of Chapter 3