Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "JAG", I'm just borrowing them for the story.

Title: A stranger's opinion

Becky closed the door to Sydney's apartment behind them and found Gage and Sydney standing in the middle of the living-room, staring at the mess they had forgot existed there.

Sydney turned and smiled a little at the situation that really wasn't very funny at all but she felt she had to do something.

"Right, I had forgotten about that too." Gage admitted. "But that's okay, we can all help clean the place up." He offered. Becky ran over to him and took his hand.

"Where do you want to start, Gage?" she asked with enthusiasm. She bent down to pick up some glass on the floor. She never got to do stuff like help out at home when she lived with her parents, they had people that took care of all that. But she had always wanted to.

"No, don't pick that up, honey. You could cut yourself, I'll do it. But if you really want to help you can pick up the pillows and put them back on the couch." Sydney said.

Gage and Sydney took care of all the heavy lifting, like putting the furniture back in place and Becky did all the dusting. When they were done her apartment was as good as new...almost as good as new.

Gage sat down on the couch and let out a breath. "Finally, we're done. It took three hours but it's done. I'll bet you're really happy you asked me to come along now, Syd?" She sat down next to him.

"Yeah, and it would have been ready thirty minutes ago if you and Becky hadn't gotten into that pillow fight." She laughed. "Where is she any way?"

"Taking a shower." He said with a grin "What's wrong with pillow fighting? I bet you've done it too."

"Yes I have." She answered.

"Well, there you see, I'm always right about these things." He said with an even wider grin.

"When I was ten." She replayed and patted him on the head. "I'm gonna go see how she's doing in there." She secretly smiled to herself on her way to the bathroom. It was obvious he liked kids, and that only made her love him more. She knocked on the door before entering.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

"Fine thanks. I like your place, Sydney." She said as she got out of the bath tub. Sydney grabbed a towel from a hook on the wall and wrapped her daughter up with it. "When do I have to go to bed tonight? At home I can stay up as long as I want, you know." She said with the most innocent stare she could manage.

"How does eight sound?"

"Too early. How about eleven?"

"No" Sydney simply said. "You can not stay up that late, sorry." She smiled at the girl's annoyed little face and reached for Becky's clothes on the washing-machine. She froze as she received a wave of bath water splashed in her face. Slowly she turned around to face the only person who could have done it. "Did you do that?" she shook her head "What am I saying, of course you did."

The girl once again reached down in the tub and splashed her mother with water, getting her wet from head to toe. "Becky! Stop that right now!" she yelled. But the child only giggled and continued splashing around.

Sydney made her way to the bath tub but in her desperation to end the child's game she stepped on a bar of soap and fell into the tub which was filled with water. When she got to the surface she found Gage standing over her.

"What was that you said to me earlier, Syd? The last time you had a pillow fight you were ten. How about water fights?" he laughed. She glared at him and when be bent further down to say something she let out a mouth full of water spraying him in the nose.

Ranger Headquarters:

Walker and Trivette were both in the office, working on tomorrows plan to catch the drug- dealers. They had decided not to use Sydney, no matter what she said, she was still recovering and needed to spend time with her daughter. They also knew that something big had happened between the two Rangers at the hospital and thought it would be better to leave Gage out of it too unless he insisted on being there.

Sydney's apartment:

"Once upon a time, there was this sweet little girl named Becky. She was a beautiful princess and..."

It was ten o'clock and Gage was desperately trying to make up a bed-time story that would put the girl to sleep. He had tried three different stories now that his sister had told to him when they were kids and were afraid of the dark.

Sydney was in the kitchen getting the glass of water Becky had requested a minute ago. She had planned to have that conversation with Gage tonight as soon as they'd gotten the girl to go to sleep, but that didn't seem to be an easy task.

She returned to the bedroom and put the glass down and seated herself at the edge of the bed.

"There, now you have water. Are you ready to go to sleep now?" she asked. The girl just shook her head. "Why not, you must be tired, it's late."

"I'm afraid I'll have a bad dream." She explained in a tiny voice and yawned. "I'm really not tired any way."

Gage and Sydney exchanged glances. Gage had told her about the nightmare Becky had just had when he first met her the other day. Neither one knew what they were about, but they clearly upset her a great deal. That was the only time any of them or their friends had seen her cry, not even when they had taken her with them and away from her home and family had she cried or when she had stumbled and fallen when she was with Alex, just when she had had a nightmare.

"I think you are tired, Becky. Do you want me to tell you another story so you can go to sleep?" Gage tried, but she shook her head no. "How about Sydney read you another one of her boring books. That's got to put any on in his right mind to sleep."

Sydney punched him in the stomach and the girl giggled at their behaviour toward each other. Her parents had never acted like this, like friends. She did suspect there was something more between these two, maybe they would get married and adopt her if she just went to sleep and gave them a chance to discover how much they liked one another. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep as she fantasised about being a bridesmaid at their wedding. She could hear the two Rangers bickering at each other but soon she didn't even hear that. She was asleep.

To be continued