A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, they were great Christmas presents.
Edgar sighed and walked up the stairs towards the wheelhouse. He couldn't believe the story Sig had told him about Natalie. She just didn't seem like the type to hop into bed with anyone, much less one of the other captains. He needed to get her side of the story before passing judgement. Even the guys hadn't really believed Sig's story. They'd been on the boat when Natalie had returned fully dressed and other than mildly frizzy hair she looked completely put together. She'd told them she'd been sitting in the sauna with Jonathan hearing all about life on the Time Bandit when Sig had burst in and tried to drag her back to the Northwestern. Edgar hadn't had a hard time imagining Sig doing that, he'd seen him do similar things to a fair number of unruly guys over the course of their fishing careers. But to a woman, especially a woman who Edgar thought Sig respected seemed unbelievable. His eyes scanned the wheelhouse and he was unnerved at what he saw, nothing. Natalie was no where to be found. He began to walk back downstairs but hesitated. Turning back to the door to the deck he opened it and was mildly surprised to see Natalie sitting on the platform her feet dangling over the edge, looking like a small child.
"Hi" he said.
"Hey" said Natalie glumly. "So what's the verdict? Should I pack my stuff?"
"No. You aren't getting out that easy" said Edgar with a smile.
Natalie turned her head and smiled a sad smile.
"What happened?" asked Edgar.
"I don't know. I went with Jonathan to check out the sauna. We were just in there talking and suddenly here comes Sig acting like a jealous husband" said Natalie. "I swear Edgar, nothing happened and nothing was going to happen."
"Why did you go with him in the first place?" asked Edgar.
"Sig said to stay with a crew member, then he left Jonathan in charge of me at the table, I assumed it would be fine to go with him so I did" explained Natalie.
"You should have told someone" said Edgar.
"How? Leave a note? Asked someone to go into the bathroom to tell my dad where I was going? I'm an adult I don't need anyone's permission to do anything" snapped Natalie.
"He was just worried about you" began Edgar.
"No he wasn't" said Natalie cutting him off. "Whatever it was it was well beyond concern. He scared me."
Edgar grimaced, he wasn't sure Natalie would even want to stay on the boat after what happened.
"He thinks you slept with Jonathan" said Edgar.
"I didn't, but who cares if I had. It's none of his business" said Natalie. "He can't possibly be that interested in the personal lives of everyone on this boat."
Edgar studiously ignored meeting Natalie's gaze. Sig was exactly that type of person, you were either on board with his completely type A tyranny or you got off the boat.
"Really? Well that would have been something nice to know prior to my arrival" said Natalie.
"I'll talk to him about it" said Edgar hesitantly.
"No, it's fine. I can toe the line as needed to keep the peace on the boat. After all that's what I was hired to do" said Natalie.
Edgar released the breath he'd been holding.
"Are you ready to come in?" he asked before starting down the stairs.
"No" said Natalie.
"Ok, I'll see you later" said Edgar.
Natalie watched him walk down the stairs before shifting her gaze to the open ocean. Even through the fleet of boats she could see the opening of the harbor and the miles of water beyond.
"I only have to make it out there and back a few times before I can go home" she said to herself. "How bad can it be."
"Those are going to be some famous last words" said Nick from the bottom of the stairs.
"Probably" said Natalie not bothering to look down at him.
"Hey I'm going in to town to pick up a few last minute items, you want to come?" he asked.
"I probably have to get permission from the dictator" said Natalie.
"I told Edgar I'd take you. He will pass on the message once Sig is willing to listen" said Nick.
"In that case I'd love to go" said Natalie.
The last of the supplies were loaded onto the boat and the lines were ready to be cast. Natalie sat in the wheelhouse and watched the guys on the bow wait for the signal to pull in the buoys. The feeling on the boat had been tense since the Halloween incident. Natalie and Sig had maybe said 10 words to each other, to keep the peace they'd settled into ignoring each other. The decision had been made to fish old family grounds well to the north of the rest of the fleet. As the Northwestern pulled away from the dock they saw that most of the other boats were still tying down their stacks.
"Why aren't the other boats leaving?" asked Natalie.
"Because the season doesn't start for another 2 days, we have a long way to go to get to where we're fishing" said Sig.
"How long?" asked Natalie.
"A two day steam" answered Sig.
Natalie nodded and went back to staring out the window at the other boats. Her head distinctly turned away when they passed the Time Bandit. Sig noted the movement out of the corner of his eye. They'd just had the longest conversation yet and he didn't want to break the mood.
"What's for dinner?" he asked.
"I have a ham cooking in apple cider" said Natalie.
"Sounds tasty" said Sig.
Natalie turned to stare at Sig, who in turn studiously studied one of the dials on the panel in front of him until he felt her eyes move off of him. They were passing the last clutch of boats before they exited the safety of the harbor. Movement on one of the boats caught Natalie's eye.
"Oh my God, there's a dog on that boat" she announced.
Sig turned to see what she was looking at and confirmed that there was, what looked like, a dalmatian on the bow of one of the fishing boats.
"Why don't you have a dog?" asked Natalie teasingly.
Sig stared at her for a moment before cracking a smile.
"Do you want the reasons in alphabetical order or in order of annoyance" said Sig. "Besides if I got one, guess who would be in charge of it?"
"Who?" asked Natalie.
"You" said Sig.
"Why would I be in charge? I'm only here for a little while, certainly man's best friend wouldn't be coming home with me after the trip" said Natalie.
"I wouldn't get a dog because I'd hate to be responsible for another life if something were to happened" said Sig seriously.
Natalie sat quietly for a moment, absorbing Sig's statement.
"Is that why you were so concerned about where I was?" asked Natalie.
"Yes, you are my" began Sig.
Natalie cringed at what she expected the next word would be.
"...responsibility" finished Sig.
Natalie released her breath and nodded.
"I guess I didn't realize that the crew mentality followed everyone off the boat" said Natalie.
"From the second we leave home everyones' safely and security is my job" said Sig. "On the boat or off until they are back safe at home."
"I'm sorry I went off with Jonathan" said Natalie.
"Thank you" said Sig.
Natalie fought to keep her mouth from dropping open, she'd expected a reciprocal apology. After a moment she got up to go check on her ham. She was a few steps from the stairs when she heard Sig mumble something.
"What?" she asked.
"I'm sorry for what I did to you on the Time Bandit. It was completely out of line" said Sig.
"Thank you" said Natalie.
The steam north was fairly uneventful the crew killed time banking sleep and playing xbox. Natalie discovered she had a special skill for playing Call of Duty which both amazed and annoyed the guys. Dinners were leisurely as everyone enjoyed the calm before the work really began. The only person who was stressed was Sig, his willingness to gamble on this far flung corner of ocean was weighing heavily on his mind. What would normally be a 16 hour steam to the crab grounds was pushing 32 hours. The extra time gave the crew more rest and gave Sig more time to brood. Chris had been listening to a constant monologue about how the fishing could go either way. Natalie had started to take small snacks of food up to Sig since he refused to get out of his chair. He'd been slowly lecturing her of how the schedule would work once fishing started. It seemed to her that the guys would work basically 20 hours a day taking breaks only for meals.
"Ok, they get 3 squares a day" lectured Sig. "We take a break or a run between strings and they can eat. They should know when a string is almost done but I'll let you know when you can expect the breaks."
"Wait, squares of what?" asked Natalie.
"Square meals, you know plenty of protein and starch, a complete meal" said Sig.
"Right, sorry the word square threw me. I thought maybe they got a square of chocolate or something" said Natalie with a smile.
"Keep them away from my chocolate" said Sig.
"Ok" said Natalie wondering if he was joking or not.
Sig went over the fishing strategy for the camera and Chris asked a few questions to lead the discussion towards Sig's reasoning for bring the crew out to untested grounds.
"Honestly, it's a hunch, a gamble on somewhere that my father was so successful. I suppose it's an homage to him" said Sig.
Natalie slipped out of the wheelhouse. She said a little prayer and crossed her fingers that Sig's gamble would work out, clearly it was about more than just filling the boat it was personal.
Natalie lay in her bunk letting the rock of the boat lull her to sleep. Sig expected to arrive at the crab grounds in less than 6 hours. The rest of the guys were all tucked in and Sig had advised Natalie to try to get some rest because once the machine started going there would be no rest for anyone. She was making a mental to do list when the lull of the boat finally rocked her to sleep. Her arm dipped down over the side of the bunk. The movement of the boat caused her hand to hit against the wall over Norman's head. He woke at the sound and his eyes focused on the delicate hand waving in front of his face. His first instinct was the grab it, but instead he just watched it rock back and forth. He couldn't help but think about how small it was, he bet he could wrap his hand around it twice.
"Norm, are you going to stop tapping of whatever the fuck you are doing up there so we can get some sleep" said Edgar's sleep roughened voice.
"It's Natalie's hand hitting the wall" answered Norman.
"Well move it" said Edgar.
"Fine" said Norman.
He slowly slipped his hand under Natalie's and lifted it slightly. It was so soft that Norman took a moment to caress it before tucking it under her cheek.
"If you wanted to hold my hand all you had to do was ask" muttered Natalie.
"Yes, well you're waking up Edgar" said Norman.
"God forbid that happens" said Natalie
"Too late" muttered Edgar.
"Sorry. What exactly was I doing?" whispered Natalie.
"Your little hand was banging against the wall" explained Norman.
"Was it loud? I can't even sleep without hearing sounds that make me think this boat is sinking and my hand hitting the wall wakes you up" said Natalie with a chuckle.
"Well all the sounds you hear I'm use to, but the knocking wasn't" said Norman.
"Makes sense. Sorry I woke you up" said Natalie.
"It's ok" said Norman.
"Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?" asked Natalie.
"No thanks, I've heard you sing" said Norman.
"Jerk" said Natalie as she swung her pillow down into Norman's bunk.
"You missed me by a mile" said Norman.
Natalie leaned over her bunk in order to see her target. Norman sensing her next move grabbed her by the arms and flipped her onto his bunk. Her scream woke up Edgar who popped out of bed and stood glowering at Norman's bunk.
"What the fuck" he said.
"It's his/her fault" began the guilty pair.
Edgar picked up the pillow from his bunk and soundly smacked Norman on the head. Norman retaliated immediately and the entire situation deteriorated until all three of the participants were panting and laughing on the floor.
"Oh God, I can't catch my breath" said Natalie.
"Are you hurt?" asked Norman.
"No, why?" responded Natalie.
"Because you're crying" said Norman.
"Laughing too hard, eyes watering" snorted Natalie.
"Crap, we need to get some rest. Sig's going to call us in a few hours" said Edgar.
"Ok captain bring down" said Natalie.
She began climbing into bed and Edgar took the opportunity to smack her ass. She looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes.
"That was a freebee, don't think you are ever going to be allowed to do that again" said Natalie.
"Duly noted" said Edgar.
The pots seemed to be flying off the deck as the crew worked to launch them in rough weather. Sig's finger fluttered over the buzzer as he watched the weather, he didn't want to launch a pot while a wave broke over the side. Natalie watched the increasingly violent weather through the tiny galley window. Dinner was ready and she was keeping it warm until the crew finished the string. The last 24 hours had been spent working to get the gear in the water before a storm hit the grounds. The storm was already upon them, but the last of the pots still needed to be dropped into the water. Natalie watched the crew struggle to get the pots baited and dropped as quickly as possible. Deciding she'd seen enough she shrugged on a rain slicker and headed outside. The moment she stepped on deck the adrenaline of the crew was palpable. She slid over to Jake at the bait table.
"Hey, let me help" said Natalie.
"What the hell are you wearing?" asked Jake.
"I put a rain jacket on" said Natalie.
"Yeah, great, but you have shorts on and slippers" said Jake gesturing to the lower half of her body.
"So what, do you want my help or not?" asked Natalie.
"Yes, but you can't work out here wearing that, you'll get hurt" said Jake.
As if illustrating his point a wave hit the boat throwing Natalie into the bait table.
"Are you ok?" asked Jake.
"Yes, just a bruise" said Natalie.
"Seriously, either find some gear or get out of here" said Jake.
"Fine, but don't say I never tried to help" said Natalie.
The moment she walked inside she heard the Sig yelling from the wheelhouse. Natalie scurried up the stairs with a fresh cup of coffee in her hands.
"Sorry, just out for a moment" she said setting the cup on the console.
"What the fuck were you doing out there?" asked Sig.
"Trying to help" said Natalie. "The weather is going to shit, they need an extra set of hands."
"I agree, but you aren't the person to help" said Sig.
"I think I can help" said Natalie.
"Look what happened to your slippers" commented Sig.
Natalie looked down and noticed her slipper were sopping wet.
"Granted I wasn't dressed for the job, but I did put a ran slicker on" said Natalie.
"Yes, it didn't do much good did it" said Sig.
"Forget I tried to help. I'll just go back to the galley or better yet my room" she yelled storming off down the stairs.
Sig just sighed in response and turned his attention back to the growing seas.