Kathleen A

Kathleen A. Klatte

“More Than Words Can Say”

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Disclaimer: Walker, Texas Ranger is the property of CBS, Top Kick Productions, et al; this is a recreational endeavor, no profit is being made and no copyright infringement is intended.

Sydney/Gage Shipper

Tag scene to “Without a Sound” with spoilers for “Unsafe Speed”

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GAGE’S APARTMENT

Francis Gage blinked in the darkness, wondering what had wakened him. He discerned a dim light coming from the living room and frowned, noting that it was around two in the morning. Surely Syd wasn’t still working on their report? Gage threw back the covers and stood carefully, making sure he had his balance before padding out to the living room.

Sure enough, Syd was slumped over the arm of the couch amidst a flurry of paper work. Her shoes were discarded somewhere under the coffee table and her long, dark hair flowed over her shoulders. Gage smiled, thinking how perfectly Syd fit into his home. Moving very quietly, he gently removed a pen from her slack fingers and lifted some papers from her lap before turning off the lamp.

Gage allowed a few moments for his eyes to become accustomed to the muted starlight that dimly illuminated the room, then he bent and gently lifted Syd into his arms. She sighed softly in her sleep and cuddled a little closer against his shoulder. “Shh…I’ve got you, Syd,” he murmured. He was amazed once again at how this woman, arguably the strongest person he’d ever known, seemed so diminutive and weightless in his arms. He remembered the last time he’d held her like this, and how close they’d both come to dying. That thought made him tighten his embrace a little more.

Gage carried his sleeping partner back to his room and gently deposited her on the bed. He stopped and stared at her again, his mind going back to some things she’d said to him in the hospital…things they’d never really had a chance to properly discuss. Smiling gently, he trailed his fingers through her hair and was turning to leave when Syd’s fingers locked around his wrist.

“Don’t go,” she whispered.

“Go on back to sleep.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll take the couch,” he replied.

Syd pushed herself up to a sitting position. “Gage, you’ve just had surgery! You’ve got to sleep on a mattress and pillows with your head properly supported – you know that!”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Gage,” she said warningly.

“Guests don’t sleep on the couch – house rule.”

“Gage, will you get back over here where you belong, or do I have to hurt you?”

“Syd, you were sleeping on that couch half the night. Your back is gonna feel like a pretzel come morning.”

“That doesn’t matter!” she insisted.

“It matters to me,” Gage replied quietly.

“We could…share,” Sydney finally suggested, breaking a long silence.

“Well, um…it’s not like we haven’t done that before,” Gage finally conceded. Very gingerly, he seated himself on the bed and allowed Syd to arrange him and his pillows to her satisfaction. “Thanks,” he muttered.

“Anytime,” she replied with a brilliant smile.

A warm, companionable silence filled the room. The silence should have beckoned slumber, but instead, it seemed to serve as a focal point for a great many unspoken thoughts.

“You know, Syd,” Gage began, “I don’t think I ever got the chance to thank you.”

“For what?” she asked curiously.

“Saving my life.”

Sydney shrugged slightly. “You’re my partner,” she said simply. “Besides, you saved yourself. You had everything under control by the time I got there with Walker and Trivette.”

“Yeah, but if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have known there was anyone in the room with me. It was that little game of yours - trying to sneak up on me – that’s what saved me. I mean, you put up with me feeling sorry for myself -”

“You had plenty of reason,” Syd interjected.

“Yeah…but you were there for me, all the way. How do I even begin to thank you for that?”

Smiling, Syd shook her head. “You don’t. You don’t have to. Some things don’t need words. You’re my partner…that’s all I need to know. Besides, I seem to recall you carrying me out of a certain meth lab that was about to blow up,” she reminded him.

Gage’s arms were suddenly around her again, fiercely, protectively. “Don’t remind me,” he pleaded fervently.

“Well, that assignment did have its moments,” Syd suggested mischievously, settling herself more comfortably against his shoulder. “There was the dirt, and the constant danger, and the dirt, and the fact that we were surrounded by armed felons, and have I mentioned the dirt?”

Gage laughed right along with her, but Sydney’s words suggested a way to broach a topic he hadn’t been able to work himself up to. Gradually, their laughter faded back to a comfortable silence and Gage struggled to find the words. “You know…there was one thing about that assignment. I loved being with you all the time. I…when I got home, after I’d spent about an hour in the shower, got into some clean clothes and fell into my own bed…well, I thought I’d sleep for a few days, ya know? But it was like –”

“-like there was something missing,” Syd said quietly. “Like no matter how you tossed and turned, you couldn’t get comfortable –”

“Because you weren’t there.”

“You heard me, that day in the hospital, didn’t you?” Syd asked softly.

“Every word. Even the ones you didn’t say.”

“Some things don’t need words.”

Mimicking a gesture that had become second nature over the past few weeks, Gage gently touched Sydney’s face to get her attention. He held out his hand, thumb, index finger and pinkie extended, the two middle fingers tucked flat against the palm.

Syd’s eyes sparkled as she recognized the sign. “I love you, too,” she whispered happily.

Fin.