Female Sheriffs
Mar. 23rd, 2020 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
queenkatyastarTitle: Female Sheriffs
Author: Katya Starling
Fandom: Walker, Texas Ranger
Characters/Pairing: Gage/Syd
Rating: PG/K+
Challenge/Prompt: What If AU 36: Book 'Em, Danno!
Word Count: 1,432
Date Written: 15 March 2020
Warnings: AU, Future Fic
Summary: Dallas finally gets a female Sheriff.
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
"Are you okay?" Gage asks softly, coming up behind his wife of twenty five years.
Syd looks over her shoulder at him, her dark eyebrows arched slightly in surprise. "Of course I am." She frowns at his concerned look. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because . . . " He does as he has since they were considerably younger when she asks him a question he doesn't really want to answer, letting the word trail off between them and shrugging his shoulders as though he doesn't know why he's really so concerned. But just as back then, Sydney knows her partner well and knows there's meaning behind his question.
"Gage, she won! She actually won!"
"Yeah," he speaks softly before finally releasing his true reasoning. "But you didn't the two times you ran."
Sydney turns, and he wraps his arms tightly around her. "That was ten years ago!" Sydney's big, brown eyes are full of questions as she gazes down at him. "Why would you ask me such a thing?" Lines creased her forehead.
"Because . . . " He shrugs again, and she narrows her eyes expectantly at him. He blows out a sigh. "All right, fine," he relents, his hands dropping to the wheels of his chair. "Most women wouldn't be so happy to see another woman do what they tried so hard to do before and consider themselves having failed."
Syd shrugs. "So I did fail. But I've still protected Dallas this whole time. What does it matter that I didn't win then? Alex did. We finally have someone in the Sheriff's role who can actually handle the job and do it well. She may not be as good as her dad yet, but she will be. And we're here to help her become," she shrugs again and tilts her head a little, a grin lighting her tanned face, "all that she can be."
He chuckles before shaking his head. "I should've known you'd be good spirited. You have been through all of this."
"Gage, I don't care that I didn't win -- at least, not where Alex's winning is concerned. You know I've been one of her biggest fans since she was born."
"Yeah," he agrees but looks away, clearly suddenly uncomfortable again.
Sydney frowns, concern filling her dark gaze. She knows exactly what's eating him, what's been eating quietly away at them both for years now. "I'm actually kinda glad I didn't win back then."
"What?!" He looks up at her in surprise.
Shrugging, Sydney carefully explains, "If I'd won, she would have been running against me, more than likely, and I would have had even less time at home. I haven't been home enough as it is, nowhere near enough." She shakes her head, and her long, brown hair seems to shimmer down her slender back. His fingers curl in reaction. He doesn't know how she does it, but somehow, even after all this time, she still seems to grow more beautiful each and every day -- at least in his devoted eyes.
Her next words could have easily bowled him out of his chair, however, if his hands hadn't been resting on the wheels. "I'm tendering my resignation tomorrow."
"WHAT?!"
"Announce it to the world, loud mouth." She's grinning even as she chastises him, though. She knows her news comes as a huge surprise, and though he's often wanted her to quit, since he's not been able to have her back in the last five years, he'd never ask her to give up her life as a law enforcer. He knows what keeping the peace in their city has come to mean to her, but it's far past time she gave it up and focused on more important things.
Placing her hands on his broad shoulders, she leans down until she's at eye level with him. Gazing directly into her beloved husband's eyes, she speaks softly and evenly. "I'm quitting," she says again. "Your retirement check is more than enough to support us for a while, not to mention the check you get from Asshole." They never speak the perp's name. They don't really speak much at all of Gage's handicap if they can help it. She certainly can't blame him for wanting her to have quit before now, but the fact that he'd been shot down in the line of duty has served to make her even more determined to protect their people.
But Alex Walker is more than capable and strong enough to protect their team, and their city now. Plus she has Maria Sandoval; Alex's own brother, Parker Walker; and Trivette to watch her back now. She's leaving the child in good hands, and she's certainly no longer a child. She is their Sheriff, following in her daddy's footsteps, and she's going to do a fantastic job of it. Sydney couldn't be prouder, or happier. So what if she'd never gotten to be Dallas' first female Sheriff? All that matters is that the leadership is in good hands again, the force is entirely good again. There are no traitors among their team, and if they get one later, Sydney's confident that those she's leaving behind to work and guard without her will be more than capable of catching and shutting down any such cretin.
Besides, she has more important things to do, things she's been wanting to do since Alex was first born and she and Gage were newlyweds, things she knows her husband gave up his hopes for long ago. "I spoke to your doctor," she whispers, her breath washing over his open lips as she straddles his lap. "You are capable of having children." She kisses him before he can shout his growing surprise. "We are capable of having children." She kisses him again, long and deep, full of sweet heat and passion, but when she lifts her mouth from his, he's still looking at her in shock.
"Syd . . . " She feels him trembling as he runs his hand over her hair. "Are you . . . saying what I think you're saying?"
She nods. "Yes." Then her teeth catch her bottom lip, because the truth is, she's nervous too.
"But what about . . . ?" He does not, will not, speak her name.
She shakes her head. "I was too stressed out. It wasn't you; it was me, and the life I was leading. I'm done with that life now." She cups his handsome face in her hands and strokes his grizzled cheeks. "We're going to have our baby, Gage," she promises them both, still whispering so that nobody can overhear their private conversation even here in the midst of the new Sheriff Walker's celebration party. "We are going to be parents of our own children, or at least one," she admits, knowing she's waited almost too long. But the doctors have assured her: She still can have children, and so can he. She grins up at him, mischief lighting her eyes. "Do you want to go practice?"
"DO I!" Everyone looks at them, but Sydney doesn't care. She lifts her booted feet as her husband swiftly turns his chair around and starts wheeling them towards the exit. For a man who can no longer walk, he still possesses a great deal of strength. He actually spent six months trying to catch perps from his chair before he got his check and resigned, mostly out of the knowledge that he was a liability to their team. It wouldn't matter to Sydney, though, if he was completely paralyzed from the waist down. She'd still love him with all her heart. She always has and always will. Getting to have children with him, though, is just another blessing with which God has blessed them.
She hears laughter behind them and knows it's Alex. She doesn't need to glance over her shoulder to know that Maria is saluting them. "Go for it, you honeymooners!" She's going to miss the kids, but they'll still be around. They have been since Alex, Maria, and Parker were all born. They got to help each one of them grow up and teach them so much, but soon, they'll be teaching their own little one everything they know. Maybe she, Sydney thinks, will get to be Dallas' next female Sheriff, but she knows they'll love her all the same with everything they have, no matter what she grows up to become, just as they love each other, no matter what. She also knows they're going to be great with their kids; after all, they were already great with their friends'.
The End
Author: Katya Starling
Fandom: Walker, Texas Ranger
Characters/Pairing: Gage/Syd
Rating: PG/K+
Challenge/Prompt: What If AU 36: Book 'Em, Danno!
Word Count: 1,432
Date Written: 15 March 2020
Warnings: AU, Future Fic
Summary: Dallas finally gets a female Sheriff.
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
"Are you okay?" Gage asks softly, coming up behind his wife of twenty five years.
Syd looks over her shoulder at him, her dark eyebrows arched slightly in surprise. "Of course I am." She frowns at his concerned look. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because . . . " He does as he has since they were considerably younger when she asks him a question he doesn't really want to answer, letting the word trail off between them and shrugging his shoulders as though he doesn't know why he's really so concerned. But just as back then, Sydney knows her partner well and knows there's meaning behind his question.
"Gage, she won! She actually won!"
"Yeah," he speaks softly before finally releasing his true reasoning. "But you didn't the two times you ran."
Sydney turns, and he wraps his arms tightly around her. "That was ten years ago!" Sydney's big, brown eyes are full of questions as she gazes down at him. "Why would you ask me such a thing?" Lines creased her forehead.
"Because . . . " He shrugs again, and she narrows her eyes expectantly at him. He blows out a sigh. "All right, fine," he relents, his hands dropping to the wheels of his chair. "Most women wouldn't be so happy to see another woman do what they tried so hard to do before and consider themselves having failed."
Syd shrugs. "So I did fail. But I've still protected Dallas this whole time. What does it matter that I didn't win then? Alex did. We finally have someone in the Sheriff's role who can actually handle the job and do it well. She may not be as good as her dad yet, but she will be. And we're here to help her become," she shrugs again and tilts her head a little, a grin lighting her tanned face, "all that she can be."
He chuckles before shaking his head. "I should've known you'd be good spirited. You have been through all of this."
"Gage, I don't care that I didn't win -- at least, not where Alex's winning is concerned. You know I've been one of her biggest fans since she was born."
"Yeah," he agrees but looks away, clearly suddenly uncomfortable again.
Sydney frowns, concern filling her dark gaze. She knows exactly what's eating him, what's been eating quietly away at them both for years now. "I'm actually kinda glad I didn't win back then."
"What?!" He looks up at her in surprise.
Shrugging, Sydney carefully explains, "If I'd won, she would have been running against me, more than likely, and I would have had even less time at home. I haven't been home enough as it is, nowhere near enough." She shakes her head, and her long, brown hair seems to shimmer down her slender back. His fingers curl in reaction. He doesn't know how she does it, but somehow, even after all this time, she still seems to grow more beautiful each and every day -- at least in his devoted eyes.
Her next words could have easily bowled him out of his chair, however, if his hands hadn't been resting on the wheels. "I'm tendering my resignation tomorrow."
"WHAT?!"
"Announce it to the world, loud mouth." She's grinning even as she chastises him, though. She knows her news comes as a huge surprise, and though he's often wanted her to quit, since he's not been able to have her back in the last five years, he'd never ask her to give up her life as a law enforcer. He knows what keeping the peace in their city has come to mean to her, but it's far past time she gave it up and focused on more important things.
Placing her hands on his broad shoulders, she leans down until she's at eye level with him. Gazing directly into her beloved husband's eyes, she speaks softly and evenly. "I'm quitting," she says again. "Your retirement check is more than enough to support us for a while, not to mention the check you get from Asshole." They never speak the perp's name. They don't really speak much at all of Gage's handicap if they can help it. She certainly can't blame him for wanting her to have quit before now, but the fact that he'd been shot down in the line of duty has served to make her even more determined to protect their people.
But Alex Walker is more than capable and strong enough to protect their team, and their city now. Plus she has Maria Sandoval; Alex's own brother, Parker Walker; and Trivette to watch her back now. She's leaving the child in good hands, and she's certainly no longer a child. She is their Sheriff, following in her daddy's footsteps, and she's going to do a fantastic job of it. Sydney couldn't be prouder, or happier. So what if she'd never gotten to be Dallas' first female Sheriff? All that matters is that the leadership is in good hands again, the force is entirely good again. There are no traitors among their team, and if they get one later, Sydney's confident that those she's leaving behind to work and guard without her will be more than capable of catching and shutting down any such cretin.
Besides, she has more important things to do, things she's been wanting to do since Alex was first born and she and Gage were newlyweds, things she knows her husband gave up his hopes for long ago. "I spoke to your doctor," she whispers, her breath washing over his open lips as she straddles his lap. "You are capable of having children." She kisses him before he can shout his growing surprise. "We are capable of having children." She kisses him again, long and deep, full of sweet heat and passion, but when she lifts her mouth from his, he's still looking at her in shock.
"Syd . . . " She feels him trembling as he runs his hand over her hair. "Are you . . . saying what I think you're saying?"
She nods. "Yes." Then her teeth catch her bottom lip, because the truth is, she's nervous too.
"But what about . . . ?" He does not, will not, speak her name.
She shakes her head. "I was too stressed out. It wasn't you; it was me, and the life I was leading. I'm done with that life now." She cups his handsome face in her hands and strokes his grizzled cheeks. "We're going to have our baby, Gage," she promises them both, still whispering so that nobody can overhear their private conversation even here in the midst of the new Sheriff Walker's celebration party. "We are going to be parents of our own children, or at least one," she admits, knowing she's waited almost too long. But the doctors have assured her: She still can have children, and so can he. She grins up at him, mischief lighting her eyes. "Do you want to go practice?"
"DO I!" Everyone looks at them, but Sydney doesn't care. She lifts her booted feet as her husband swiftly turns his chair around and starts wheeling them towards the exit. For a man who can no longer walk, he still possesses a great deal of strength. He actually spent six months trying to catch perps from his chair before he got his check and resigned, mostly out of the knowledge that he was a liability to their team. It wouldn't matter to Sydney, though, if he was completely paralyzed from the waist down. She'd still love him with all her heart. She always has and always will. Getting to have children with him, though, is just another blessing with which God has blessed them.
She hears laughter behind them and knows it's Alex. She doesn't need to glance over her shoulder to know that Maria is saluting them. "Go for it, you honeymooners!" She's going to miss the kids, but they'll still be around. They have been since Alex, Maria, and Parker were all born. They got to help each one of them grow up and teach them so much, but soon, they'll be teaching their own little one everything they know. Maybe she, Sydney thinks, will get to be Dallas' next female Sheriff, but she knows they'll love her all the same with everything they have, no matter what she grows up to become, just as they love each other, no matter what. She also knows they're going to be great with their kids; after all, they were already great with their friends'.
The End
