Chapter 8
"Gage, I appreciate everything you're doing, I really do, but I am not going to shatter into a million pieces, I promise." Sydney said as he helped her carry her things up to her apartment, after insisting that he drive her home.
"Come on, Syd. Stop being such a hard ass and let someone take care of you for once!" Gage said, becoming slightly irritated and hurt that she resisted his help so vehemently.
"Sorry." Sydney said, trying to hide her hurt as she looked anywhere but into Gage's eyes.
'Shit!' Gage cursed himself.
"Look … Syd, I'm sorry. But I care about you and I want to be there for you like you were for me. When I lost my hearing, even though I was a jerk to you, you never left me. No one has cared for me like you do, so let me be there for you now." He said as he tipped her chin so her eyes met his.
She offered him a smile. "I'm sorry, it's just how I grew up, we were very poor and I had to work for everything I had, and couldn't depend on anyone, I guess old habits die hard." She said with a shrug.
"Syd, I won't ever let you down, I am your partner, and your friend and if you give me the chance I could be more … much more." He said as he began to slowly close the distance between them.
"Did you mean it when you said that you loved me?" Sydney asked abruptly as he cupped her face in his hands and stared unabashedly into her eyes.
"Come on, Syd. You know me well enough to know that I don't say things I don't mean." He said as his lips descended onto hers.
Sydney's eyes slowly opened, she glanced at the clock, it was just after five in the morning, she turned over to find the other side of the bed vacant, had the events of last night just been a result of another of her dreams?
Then the wonderful smell of coffee and breakfast cooking reached her nostrils and roused her from bed.
"Hey … sorry if I woke you, I tried to be quiet. I just wanted to cook you breakfast before I had to be at work" Gage said as he poured her a cup of coffee.
"Breakfast?" She repeated as she put cream and sugar into her coffee and took a deep sip.
"French toast." He said with a huge grin, and she laughed in spite of herself as she set the table.
"And you didn't dirty every dish in my kitchen, I am impressed." She said as she playfully socked him in the shoulder.
"Still, you're cleaning up, since I was the one who cooked." He said, shooting a playful grin at her as they sat down to eat.
"How's Sydney doing?" Walker asked when Gage walked in to headquarters.
"Pissed that she couldn't come." Gage said, not bothering to hide a grin.
Walker chuckled. "Glad to hear she is feeling better, Alex said she was going to stop by later on today."
Gage smiled. "She'll like that."
Walker's phone rang and he picked it up. "Walker." He answered into the receiver, a smile crossed his weathered face as he handed the phone to Gage. "It's for you."
"Well, hello there, sugar." Jinx's sultry voice purred across the line.
"Whata you got?" Gage asked, seemingly oblivious to her charms.
"Ya'll better get set, your boy's fixin' to make his drop tonight via ship in Galveston. From the way he talks, this could be the big one." She said.
"Okay, thanks for all your help, Jinx, maybe I can put in a good word with the DA, and see about getting your parole reduced." Gage said as he hung up.
"Jinx says the gig's going down tonight."
Trivette, Gage, Walker and a team of DEA and ATF agents met to be briefed in one of the empty conference rooms at Ranger Headquarters. The door opened and every head turned to take in the sight that walked in.
Gage laughed out loud at the expressions on Walker and Trivette's faces as in walked none other than Jinx, dressed in full DEA SWAT gear complete with a bullet proof vest.
"Walker, Trivette, meet DEA Agent Tina Michaels." Gage said with a laugh.
"So she was undercover this entire time?!" Trivette said.
"Yep, she was part of the El Leon bust, but she still had to remain incognito as not to compromise any of her future undercover work, she asked us to 'arrest' her, too as a favor." Gage explained.
"So that's what you meant when you said she owed you a favor." Walker said as an amused smile crossed his face.
"Surely you didn't think I was actually a hooker, did you, Ranger Walker?" Tina said with a friendly smile, gone was the sultry act she had been putting on, and her real persona of a down to earth, no nonsense cop replaced it.
"Well … you're act was pretty convincing." Walker said with a hearty chuckle.
"Well, I will consider it a compliment that my act was good enough to fool even the famous Cordell Walker." Tina said with a throaty laugh as the leader of the task force, a burly man about Walker's age by the name of Carl Masters stood and cleared his throat.
"Well, now that we have all had a chance to get acquainted, let's get started." He said as he passed out information and mug shots.
"His name is Seth Rodriguez, he has been in and out of Huntsville and federal prison, but we could never make anything stick. This is our one chance to really bury him in some hard time as well as put a huge dent in the Dracul's operations." Agent Masters said.
"Now, according to the inside information complied at great risk by Agent Michaels, we know that the next big shipment will be arriving by boat in Galveston tonight. Get together what you need; we will be leaving in an hour." Agent Masters said.
Gage, Walker and Trivette returned to find Sydney standing in front of her desk, her overnight bag slung over her shoulder.
"Syd, what are you doing?" Walker asked, somewhat exasperated, he didn't have time for this!
"I'm coming with you." She said as she crossed her arms stubbornly.
"I think the department physician will have something to say about that, Syd." Walker replied with a hard look in his eyes.
"I don't give a shit what he says, I think I deserve face the bastard who shot me." Sydney said, Walker let out an exasperated sigh and turned to Trivette.
"Walker, if it were you, and Bruscoe were telling you the same thing, you would be saying the same thing that Sydney is saying to you." Trivette said as he waggled his finger at his partner and friend.
Walker remained silent, because he knew that Trivette was right, he put a hand on Sydney's shoulder.
"Okay, Sydney. But you have to stay off the front lines, and that's an order." He said as his face harbored a benevolent smile.
"You got it, Boss." Sydney said with a grin.
A/N: Sorry this took a little while, I had it written, then I didn't like where it was going to I rewrote it. Also, I want to thank everyone who has shown this story the love, I never thought the feedback would be this positive, and for that, I thank you ^_^
