Author: Audra Sargent

Archive: Just ask first, please.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story. Walker, Texas Ranger and its characters are owned by Norris Brothers, CBS, etc…

Author's Note: I know this is a day late, but the idea came to me a week ago and I wanted to finish it and get it up this year. I'm still working on 'New Beginnings' and hope to have it finished by the end of January.

A Christmas Past

It was the annual Christmas Party at CD's Bar & Grill. This year there were two new additions to the Ranger family, in the forms of Sydney Cooke and Francis Gage. The two younger Rangers had been great assets to Company B and Walker was pleased to have them in Dallas.

Walker wasn't the only one to become friends with the newcomers. Trivette found working with them was easy after being partners with Walker so long, and friendship soon followed.

Alex was delighted to meet the younger female. Upon getting to know each other, the two became fast friends. Sydney was glad to have another woman to talk to who didn't look down on her choice of profession. Alex worried about Sydney at times, because of the job being so rough, but she was soon assured of Syd's capability to take care of herself after watching her spar and get the better of her larger partner several times.

Then there was CD, the older Ranger was happy to meet and welcome the young partners whom he saw frequently since his place was always a hangout for the others. His only problem was a deeply ingrained feeling that women weren't as strong or sturdy as men when it came to law enforcement, particularly in the Texas Rangers. CD's views seemed to be confirmed by Sydney's appearance. Sydney Cooke was a pretty petite woman with long dark hair, whereas, her partner Francis Gage was a larger muscular man with sandy blond hair, but looks could be deceiving as CD would find out upon hearing about some of the young woman's cases with her partner. The day CD first began talking about how women didn't have the stamina for the Rangers, Gage had been telling about a Ranger's capture of some suspects by jumping on top of their car as they sped away. CD had gone into his spiel but was stopped temporarily when Gage told him Sydney was the Ranger he was talking about.

By the time Christmas rolled around Syd and Gage were accepted by their new friends as an extended part of their 'family'. CD, even though, he was gruff sounding, looked upon the two youngsters in a grandfatherly way and took to doing special things for Sydney like he did for Alex but not the guys.

This year the Rangers had a couple of tough cases. One was a gang dressed in Santa suits and robbing armored cars, the other involved a priest that CD helped to collect toys for the parish children's Christmas presents every year. The priest had been injured, but was well on his way to recovery on Christmas Eve. CD got back to the bar and grill, from visiting his old friend in the hospital, around half an hour before the guests were to arrive. Walker, Alex, Jimmy, Syd and Gage almost had everything ready for when the families from the area would come. This was an annual occurrence and the Rangers always helped out.

The group of friends had gotten together during the afternoon and exchanged their personal gifts. CD had been excited to receive presents from Sydney and Gage, as well as, Walker, Alex and Trivette.

Now the party was in full swing and as CD wandered back behind the wood bar he noticed Gage sitting on a stool with his gaze fixed across the room. Getting behind him, CD saw that Sydney was the focus of his attention. CD left to rejoin Walker and Jimmy without saying anything to the young man.

Gage had been watching Syd interact with Alex and a couple of other women for about an hour since he'd taken a break from playing with some of the children there. Earlier she'd surprised him with a copy of a movie they'd seen together, at her insistence, which he had enjoyed after thinking he would hate it.

Now watching her bend down to listen to a small girl then responding to what the little tyke had said, Gage was glad Walker had agreed to Syd joining the Company B Rangers when inviting Gage. He'd told the older Ranger that Syd was the best partner he'd had and more or less gave the man an unspoken ultimatum and surprised himself because every Ranger had heard about Walker and to be picked to work with him was a dream come true. Watching his partner now, he realized more than ever that he didn't want to work without her.

He, also, knew that he couldn't get through a day without seeing or at least talking to her. Gage's feelings for his partner ran deeper than she'd ever know, but he was afraid to talk to her about them because he felt she'd never be interested in taking their relationship further than just friends. He knew she'd met some of the women he dated and could always tell by the look on her face what she thought of them, but what she didn't know was that they were unconsciously compared to her and found to be lacking. Syd was someone he could talk to about all the aspects of his life, work and personal. He'd told her more than anyone about his childhood with Julie after their parent's deaths. Every time Syd was hurt on the job, Gage found himself worrying about her until he knew she was okay. He didn't like seeing her upset or hurt by the few men she'd thought were interested in a relationship only to leave upon finding out she didn't want to give up her job.

They had just finished working on the armored car robberies. They caught the gang red-handed the afternoon before. Taking the men and one woman down involved a physical fight. Syd was especially angered realizing the woman had distracted them at the mall by her car jumping out of 'Park' to roll across the parking lot with her 'baby' inside. Syd and Gage chased the car, Gage catching it and getting it stopped while Syd checked on the infant only to find out it was a doll. By the time they turned back toward the mall entrance, the gang attacked and drove off with the armored truck. They caught a couple then but the ringleader escaped. When they went to where he was holed up, each took on a man on the front porch then split, Gage to catch the ringleader who took off out of the backdoor. Syd had taken off after the woman who was as tough as Syd but not as skilled.

Sydney had been thinking about the case they finished also. She watched Gage playing with a group of small boys and girls. As she observed her partner she smiled thinking affectionately that he was a big kid himself. When they were waiting outside the mall a couple of days ago, he'd been trying to get a hint of what she had gotten him for Christmas. Then he teased her asking if she wanted to know what she was getting from him. At her negative answer, he then said 'bathrobe' which earned him a punch on the arm, before the teasing could go further they were distracted by the female accomplice screaming about her baby in the runaway car and the partners had sprung into action.

Thinking about the other woman brought a grimace to the female Ranger's face, but she'd gotten her yesterday afternoon and gave her an extra punch for 'the baby'. Sydney wasn't quite sure why that upset her so much, except for the fact that Walker and Alex were engaged and she was almost thirty-two and didn't even have a steady boyfriend. Of course, she and Gage hung out quite a bit together outside of work, but he was her best friend and partner and, though she wished otherwise at times, he wouldn't be interested in her. Most of his dates that she'd met were tall and leggy, both looking and acting like a typical model; some couldn't even carry on a conversation for two minutes with her.

With a shake of her head, Sydney pulled her thoughts away from her partner's preference in women noticing Alex motioning to her from across the room. Joining the other woman, Syd was pulled away into a corner for some talk about the wedding with Alex and a couple of other friends who were to be bridesmaids. Alex had, suddenly, decided that they needed to discuss colors for their dresses and for the flowers. Syd became engrossed in the conversation. By the time they'd narrowed the selection to several colors, that looked good on all four women, and selected several kinds of flowers to look at in complimentary colors, an hour had gone by. The group broke up, Alex going to Walker's side and asking if he was going to dance with her since someone had started music and a few couples were doing the same, among them Jimmy and Josie, the manager of the H.O.P.E. Center.

Syd glanced around the room for her partner, finding his gaze on her she quickly looked down. As her eyes went to the floor, she noticed a small girl who had just taken hold of her pant leg. Bending down, she asked what she needed.

"I like your sweater. It's pretty." The little girl said with a shy smile.

Returning the smile, Syd answered, "Thank you, sweetie. My partner gave it to me for Christmas today."

After a couple of minutes more, Sydney asked, "How would you like some ice cream? I think there's a good supply just for today." At the little girl's nod, Syd took her hand and they got a couple of bowls from the kitchen then sat at a table to eat. As they ate and the child babbled on about what she'd gotten from Santa, the female Ranger half-listened while thinking about exchanging gifts with her partner earlier. Syd remembered the uncertain look on Gage's face as she opened the sweater that afternoon which disappeared at her happiness with it, then the delighted one upon discovering the video she'd purchased for him. Her reverie was broken by the touch of a hand on her shoulder and a voice she always loved to hear.

As Sydney and the little girl went to get ice cream and sat down to enjoy the treat, CD had gone back to the bar with some empty glasses. Seeing Gage hadn't moved from his spot, he went to the younger man saying, "Nice party, isn't it?"

Gage jumped slightly startled before turning to say, "Yeah it's great CD. Alex told us you threw a wonderful party every year."

CD chuckled a bit replying, "Then how come you're not enjoying yourself?"

"I'm fine, CD. Just taking a break right now." Gage answered turning back to look at his partner once again.

CD seeing Gage's attention drawn back to Sydney decided to help the younger Rangers, maybe, like he helped Walker and Alex at first. "A little push in the right direction never hurt anyone and those two look at each other like Walker and Alex did after they became friends, but before admitting how they felt to each other." CD thought, leaning on the bar behind Gage he said, "Why don't you ask her to dance."

Gage only partially hearing the older man and not sure who he was talking about asked, "Hmmm?"

Softly laughing, CD said, "Gage, look at me." When the Ranger focused on him, he continued, "Why don't you go ask your partner to dance? I bet she'd love it."

"Well, I'm…" Gage began then stopped, looking hesitantly at CD he continued, "Are you sure?"

"Yep, I'm pretty near positive." The retired Ranger gave the young man the push he needed to take the first step. With satisfaction, he watched Gage go up behind Sydney and place his hand on her shoulder.

Gage walked over where Syd sat with the little girl. The child was chattering away to her new friend but quieted down noticing the tall man approaching. Sydney didn't notice the child's speech trail off, as she was lost in her own thoughts. Gage placed one hand on his partner's shoulder saying, "Syd, would you like to dance?"

He found he was holding his breath as he waited for her response, fully expecting her rejection. Instead when she looked up at him a few seconds later, her eyes were shining as she answered, "I'd love to Gage."

Standing Syd let Gage take her hand and lead her to the edge of the area cleared for dancing. They danced silently for a few minutes before both relaxed enough to carry on a conversation then it was as if they were just together on the job. The differences were quite clear to both partners though. Gage enjoyed being able to hold the petite woman close without her pulling away 'to show how strong she was', as far as he was concerned, she didn't have to put on an act since she'd saved him several times. Sydney was enjoying the dance also. Once Gage's arms were around her she let go of her tough exterior and gave control completely to her partner.

Across the room, CD watched the young couple thinking they had a long road to walk together. Jimmy noticed the junior partners together and grinned wondering how they'd stopped arguing long enough to enjoy the dance. As Walker and Alex saw Syd and Gage together, they talked about the younger pair and agreed they made a nice couple…together.

The End