Chapter 10
Gibbs POV
It was nearly 5 am when he got a phone call, "Heya boss, I think I may need your help on something."
"Well which is it Stan, do you or don't you."
"I do."
Natalie POV
In her jeans and t-shirt she walked into NCIS and was surprised to see everyone at work. She was coming to take her grandfather to lunch since he was working on something at the office. She heard Gibbs say wheels up in 30. Apparently they had a case. She wished them luck and kept walking up the stairs to see Tom.
Cynthia wasn't in her office like usual but being a Saturday it didn't surprise Nat any. Her grandfather's door was open so she knocked and poked her head in.
"Hey" he greeted her, "just give me a moment to finish this e-mail and I will actually be done for the day."
"No rush," she told him before sitting down.
"So where are we going for lunch?" he asked her as he shut down his computer.
She stood up to lead the way, "I am taking you for sushi."
"Oh God, you really meant that the other day" he said as they walked out.
"You betcha." They walked past the empty desks that once had people at them and they bumped into Ducky waiting at the elevators.
"Oh Director, Miss Kane, nice to see you. Just popped in to make sure Gibbs would take a gift to Agent Burley for me." He said to them as they all entered the elevator.
"A gift?" Tom asked him.
"Yes, a cricket ball." Ducky looked at Natalie and explained, "Stan, Agent Burley, excelled at many sports but never could get a handle of cricket, I thought he'd get a kick out of it."
Tom chuckled, "From what I know of him he definitely will Doctor."
"Ducky would you like to join us for lunch? My treat?" Natalie asked.
"It would be nice to join you my dear but I'm afraid I have to get back home to my mother."
Natalie nodded in understanding and wished him a lovely weekend.
It didn't take long to get downtown but it did take a bit to find a parking spot. Soon enough Natalie was leading her grandfather into Qi the sushi place she came across the other day. They took a seat in one of the booths and soon a waitress came over with menus and asked what they wanted to drink.
"Two green teas and two waters please," Natalie ordered for them both. "You can't have sushi without green tea" she told her grandpa.
"None of this really looks appealing Nat," he said looking dubiously at the menu. She pulled it away from him.
"I'll order, you eat."
She ordered a variety of rolls for them. Some she knew were just for her but others she thought her grandpa might like. He looked very skeptical at the first piece she placed in front of him so she explained, "It's called a California Roll. All cooked meat, nothing you're allergic to." He quirked an eyebrow at her so she continued, "Like this" she said showing him how to pick it up with the chop sticks, "And feel free to dip it into some soya sauce." She ate hers in one bite and watched Tom do the same. Watching the look on his face was comical but eventually he swallowed.
"Okay, not at all like I thought it would be, its actually good." He grabbed another of the same and ate that one too. Slightly more game he asked, "What's next?"
She smiled and pointed out the next, "Dynamite Roll, has a bit of a bite to it."
"Not going to tell me what's in them are you?" he asked before taking the new piece into his mouth.
She grinned, "Nope. Only if you tell me you really like something or really dislike something. If you don't like it, I need to know what so we can avoid any similar types."
This one he seemed to like even more than the California so she told him what was in it. He was surprised but game for more. After 20 minutes they had a variety of types and it seemed her grandpa wasn't a fan of BBQ eel but seemed to like the salmon and butter fish, even though both were raw she told him. He was surprised because they didn't taste like he imagined they would. The owners found out what was happening and started to bring over other types in smaller batches for them to try. Some were things even Nat wouldn't eat but Tom willingly tried each. He only spat food out twice. One was the raw tuna and the other was one even Nat didn't like, octopus. She found it too rubbery. But she liked calamari, go figure.
"Were you always interested in different foods?" asked Tom.
They were being handed their dessert, mango ice cream. "Yea, mom always said living in New York meant we had a whole world of food we could try. So we often tried different foods. There were a lot of nights we didn't like what we tried, but mom reminded me that we wouldn't know if we didn't try it."
"What all did you try?" he asked eating his ice cream.
She took a spoonful herself and marveled at the flavors melting on her tongue. "mmm, well Sushi made the list, but all the usuals too. We did Chinese, Italian, French, Mexican. But we also tried curry, which mom loved and I couldn't stomach. Falafel, I like but mom could care less about. Various Japanese dishes, Mom loved miso soup. We tried some traditional German and Polish dishes and one of the stage hands at the theatre mom worked at was Swedish and his wife always made Christmas goodies for us. I have to say that some of those were to die for."
Tom had finished his ice cream and was sad to see their lunch coming to an end. "You certainly were brave, it took me years to try new foods."
She smiled grabbing the check, "Yeah, I think I was only so brave because of mom. She's the one that really wanted to try everything and she was always so encouraging. If I didn't like it, shed say, you can have Kraft Dinner for supper. It was my favorite."
They walked up to the cash to pay and thanked the workers for a wonderful meal and walked out, "Would you like to come to my lesson this afternoon?" she asked him. She was worried he wouldn't want to come but she was becoming proud of what she could do.
"Thought you did night classes?" he asked her.
"Usually, but Eph has his wedding anniversary tonight."
"Well I would love to come watch." So they walked back to her place and she let him into her apartment while she changed. "You weren't joking about the size" he told her as she walked into her bedroom.
"Nope, but I like it" she said before sliding the door closed. She quickly changed and they made their way downstairs. She pointed out some of the businesses before unlocking the doors to the gym and going inside. "Hey Eph," she called to her coach. He was signing someone up and waved at her.
"Just go on in Nat, I'll be there in a minute" he told her. So Natalie showed her grandfather the room where she'd been learning to not get beat up as often.
"Quite the place," he said looking around.
"Thanks for coming this afternoon, I got us reservations at Gino's and after we are going to walk the promenade" gushed Ephraim. He'd been planning his anniversary all week. "And is this your grandfather then?" he asked her.
Tom surprised her by going up and introducing himself first, "Tom Morrow, director of NCIS, and yes I'm Natalie's grandfather, is it alright that I watch?"
"Of course," Eph told him. He showed him where he could sit while Natalie started warming up, "Nat mentioned she was going to see if you'd like to watch. She's learning remarkably fast."
"I dunno Eph, you still kick my butt" she said taking a few hits of the bag. "Toss me my wraps grandpa?" she called over and he dutifully tossed the pink splotched white wraps with a questioning glance, "Some is mine, Some's Eph's" she told him while she wrapped her hands.
"Yeah a couple days ago she got a good hit in and busted up my lip," Eph told him showing the underside of his lip where it was still healing, "Like I said sir, she's doing very well."
"Ready." Natalie called and she and Eph started to fight. With today being an afternoon it was only going to be a half hour so they were just going to spar with the knowledge she had already. Natalie was pumped.
Tom POV
Watching his granddaughter grapple with a man he knew was capable of killing her was somewhat difficult. He hated to see her take hits but she could give as well as she got and was moving quite well. Tom could see what Ephraim meant by her doing so well. It had really only been a few weeks but her capabilities were clear.
She was quick, light on her feet and took hits better than he had seen some marines. Her muscles were defining themselves and she was gathering a better balance. He noticed whenever her and Eph got into grappling and trying to pull each other down she was balancing very well and moving her legs well. She could twist and weave like a snake trying to get caught and she used her small stature to her advantage by hitting low. Tom found that even though he watched her take a couple of hard hits and knew she would have a couple new bruises, he was very proud. Just when he thought she might manage to take Ephraim down he spun so quickly Tom barely followed the movement and Natalie was flat on her back with a foot at her throat.
Rather than be deterred she huffed out, "You're gonna have to show me that one next week." Eph helped her up and checked a small cut on her eyebrow for her.
"Just a scratch, I'll grab a butterfly bandage for it to keep it closed, but watch when you shower it will probably bleed a little again" he told her before leaving the room.
"Well?" she asked Tom.
"I'm speechless." He really was. He didn't like seeing her get hurt but she was so remarkable to watch taking on Eph that he would forget that she was his flesh and blood for a moment. He got that way with Scott when he was in boxing. "You are doing very well, he always end with something like that?" he asked her. She nodded and Eph came back to patch her up.
"It was wonderful to meet you Sir and I hope it wasn't too hard to watch," Eph said to him while shaking his hand again.
"Oh I think I managed."
"Indeed, only saw you wince once. I promise that punch probably hurt me more than Nat, she spun and I caught her hip mostly." Eph showed him where he was already bruising on his left hand. "My wife will shake her head at me but she's seen me worse." He turned to face Natalie then, "I will see you next week, are you sure you just want the 3 lessons now? I don't mind making the extra time."
"Yeah, between school and NCIS I need to cut back a bit." She wiped her face and winced when she ran over her cut, "Besides, don't you need to start thinking about getting ready for a baby?"
"Yeah, 5 months to go. Sorry I didn't say anything sooner, but we wanted to be sure." Eph and Natalie hugged and everyone went their separate ways.
"Eph says I'm doing good so it is not like I'm going to be falling behind if I cut back. And really, I'd feel better if he had more nights at home with his wife. They've had a couple of miscarriages and had actually given up hope on kids so I hope this all goes well for them," she told him as they made their way back to her apartment.
"Well he seems a capable teacher for you." Then Tom said his goodbyes and went home.