St Matthews Hospital

"Mr. Walker?" the nurse asked the tired looking Ranger.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Ranger Francis Gage, I got a phone call he had been taken here?"

"Yes sir, he's in examination room 3, they had to stitch him up a little, but he'll be fine," she finished, but looked like she wanted to say something else.

"Is there something wrong?" Walker asked, getting worried, it sounded like he was fine…

"Well, I was wondering, he kept talking about some Sydney. I thought she would come and pick him up," she nervously replied.

Walkers expression faltered. He sighed and turned wary eyes towards the examination room. "No, she won't be coming here. Sydney Cooke passed away 3 months ago," he added softly.

The nurse looked embarrassed. "I'm so sorry. It's just… The way he was talking, that she came back or something, I just thought she would come and… I'm sorry." And with that she turned around and left.

Walker sighed. When would this end? Shaking his head he walked in to room 3, finding a very agitated Ranger…

Gage had been taken to the hospital by the kind stranger, but he hadn't noticed this until they started poking and prodding him. At first he was still to overwhelmed with the knowledge that he had seen her and that she was alive. But after a while he knew he had to find her so she would be safe. But those stupid doctors wouldn't let him go by himself. So he had them call Walker, so he could come and pick him up, and Walker had to help him find Sydney.

Sitting up he flinched at the pain in his leg. It wasn't broken, just twisted, but it hurt like hell! He felt his stomach growling as on of the nurses turned around at the sound of it.

"Mister, I don't care what you say, but I'm getting you something to eat, you look like you haven't eaten in days," she said while turning to leave the room.

But Gage shook his head, before replying, "No thanks, I already told you, I'm in a hurry."

"It wasn't a request, you will eat Ranger," she said, and left the room in search for food.

At that moment Walker came in. Looking at Gage he had expected to see the same man he had seen this morning. But after carefully observing him, he saw the cuts and bruises on his face, but there was something in his eyes. It looked like… Life. And behind it there was a little hope.

Preparing himself for the story he stepped closer to Gage and waited for him to start talking. He didn't have to wait long.

"She's alive," Gage stated, deciding to just tell the older Ranger.

Walker's eye widened a bit before becoming dull again, "Gage, I know you've been through a lot, but you have to be realistic here. She's gone, I saw her, you saw her too. We buried her." Walker ended, hoping this approach would reach his friend. But it didn't, Gage was vigorously shaking his head.

"Walker, you don't understand, I saw her. She was there, and I followed her, but she was too fast, and she climbed that fence, but I was dizzy so I fell over it. And there was someone else. He had a baseball cap on and he was following her, but she turned a little and I saw her Walker, I really saw her!" he ended, a little out of breath from talking so much.

Walker just let him ramble, thinking that if he got it off his chest, he would hear himself and realise how he sounded. Knowing how Gage had neglected himself the past couple of months, it was possible he had just hallucinated the whole thing. However, Walker did get a nagging feeling deep inside. But he decided it was just because Gage sounded so believable.

Putting a hand on Gage's shoulder he managed to calm down the agitated ranger. "Gage, I believe you think you saw her, but if you would just think about it, it's not possible."

Gage listened intently to the elder Ranger, but he shook his head, shaking off the doubts which were beginning to take over his mind.

But Walker continued, "We were there when she crossed the street, you saw the gun before it went of remember?"

Gage swallowed hard, the memories of that day consuming him. If he closed his eyes now he knew he would be back in that small café, watching an unknown figure shooting his beloved fiancé.

Walker saw what he was causing, but he knew he had to continue, "You yelled at her and she looked up, and the moment you got up to run to her, the gun already went off. We all saw it Gage, how she fell, how those men from the special force kept you from running to her. While you were screaming at them to let you go, we saw them take her away, a body bag covering her body…" Walker ended with a voice so soft he wondered if Gage heard it. Looking over at him he knew he had heard every single word he had said.

Gage looked like she had died all over again, the hope that had rested in his eyes was now nothing but a fraction of what it had been, tears filling the icy blue orbs. Ashamed of his reaction, Gage turned his eyes downwards, praying Walker was finished.

But he wasn't, "Gage, we all see that you are not coping. Your house is a mess, you drink more than you should and you look like you haven't eaten or slept in days. And I really believe you when you say you think you saw her, but you know as well as I do that it wasn't her," Walker sighed, deciding to share some of his own painful memories with Gage, "You know my first wife was killed, right?"

Gage nodded, still keeping his eyes on the ground.

"Well, exactly two months after her death I had to arrest a well known drug dealer, and he knew how to get to me, talking about my wife and all. Anyways, after that I needed some time alone, so I went to her grave. When I looked up, I thought I saw her, disappearing behind a tree. I went after her, calling her name, and when I thought I caught up to her and turned her around, it wasn't her… I was so devastated after that, it felt like she had died all over again. So you see, I know what you are going through, I've been there," he finished, coughing a little to hide the large lump forming in his throat.

After what seemed like forever, Gage looked up, tear tracks covering his cheeks, while new ones made their way from his overflowing eyes. With an almost desperate tone in his voice he asked the question he knew he had to ask, "She uhh, she's not coming back is she?"

Walker sadly shook his head, grabbing the shaking hands of the young Ranger in his older ones. No words were said, no words were needed, while Gage was mourning his deceased fiancé all over again…

The other side of town

'I can't believe I saw him,' was the only thought present in her mind right now. She had only seen him for a second, but the moment she saw the pain filled eyes she almost collapsed. He couldn't see her! If he would, he would be in danger too. She had heard him fall over the fence, and although she shouldn't have looked back, she hadn't been able to stop herself. So she had turned her head just a little, but the moment their eyes met, she knew he had seen her too. He had looked defeated, but his eyes had lightened up the moment theirs met. She felt so bad for not being able to contact him to tell him she was alive, but it was for his own safety.

She knew all about Pete Langley, how he wanted revenge for being put in jail by his foster kids and how he had wanted to use her for that revenge. And even though Gage was in pain now, he was alive, and that was the most important thing in the world. She just hoped this whole thing would be over before the baby was due. Her child had the right to know its father.

A loud clanging sound brought her back to the present and she turned around to run to the place where she knew she would be safe, at least for now…