Disclaimer: "NCIS" and the characters from the show are owned by CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of this show. Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

Chapter 6

Kim opened the door to Thunder Investigations, the pre-dawn sky behind her still dark, and entered. Closing the door behind her, she walked over to her desk and set her large purse on the top of the desk and went over to make a pot of coffee.

As she readied the coffee, she thought about her two friends from high school that she had spent time with the other night. One of them had mentioned an opportunity for Kim and it had been on her mind for the past couple of days.

She shook her head to clear her out those thoughts and decided to focus on the work she needed to finish.

Once the coffee pot was finished, she poured some into a mug that said 'The Perfect Time for Coffee: Anytime', doctored it to her liking and brought it over to her desk.

About fifty minutes later, she heard the door handle turn and when she looked up from her work, Trent entered, and in the time it had taken for him to close the door, she had already observed his unshaven face, dark-rimmed eyes and the haggard lines around his mouth, revealing his lack of sleep.

He said a rough-voiced good morning to her and headed straight to the coffeepot, not even waiting for her response. She watched as he grabbed a mug from a cupboard, set it firmly down on the counter and poured in some coffee that Kim had made about five minutes ago, since she had finished off the earlier pot. He went to the fridge and grabbed the creamer and poured some in and returned the creamer to the fridge.

Waiting patiently as he stirred his coffee from a spoon he had taken from the utensil drawer and taken a cautious sip, she blurted out, "Trent, why do you look as though you've been dragged down a dirt road and sound as though you swallowed some gravel along the way?"

"Just a long night, Kim," he responded his voice sounding rougher than it did during his morning greeting and seemed to have a hint of a warning in it.

"You didn't have a stakeout or anything," Kim answered, her large chestnut colored eyes locked onto his stormy light-blue ones.

"No," he answered darkly as he walked to his office.

The frown that had appeared on Kim's face at Trent's arrival had deepened considerably as he closed the door to his office.

Trent booted up his computer, took a long drink of coffee and feeling a little guilty at being impolite to his friend. Promising himself to make it up to Kim later, he got to work, re-reading the articles that had been sent to him as well as doing some background research on those that had been killed.

There were three taps on his door and when he looked up, it opened to reveal Carlos, who stepped over the threshold, looking at him with a curious expression mixed with concern.

"Hey, buddy," Carlos said as he casually leaned against the door jamb, crossing his arms over his chest. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Carlos," Trent answered.

Carlos frowned and shaking his head said, "I heard you were not nice to Kim earlier." He cocked his head slightly and added, "You also look like a zombie."

"Carlos, I am busy," he responded firmly and looked back at the computer screen.

When he heard the sound of his office door closing, Trent sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair, surprised that Carlos had left, but knew that when one of them needed time alone, the other one understood.

His thoughts went to the other night after his date with Nancy, he had thought about the people he had known all those years ago and because of some old memories, he only gotten a couple of hours of sleep.

He remained in his office for most of the morning and when it was lunch time, he decided that he wasn't hunger but that needed to get some fresh air. He shut off his computer, grabbed his jacket and left, glad that Kim hadn't yet returned from her long lunch, but he could feel Carlos' eyes watching him as he left Thunder Investigations, but he ignored it.

He walked for awhile, no destination in mind. He arrived at a park and sat down on an empty bench. His gaze lingered on a pond that had some ducks swimming around.

His mind wandered back to several years ago when he had been an instructor in the Army. He had been asked to teach several classes at a naval base, even though he had been in Army at the time, is hand-to-hand combat skills had become legendary among the military branches. The Navy and the Army having had a somewhat friendly rivalry had left the Navy trainees reluctant to his training, but it hadn't taken long for Trent to prove to the various hardened Marines and Seals that he would be instructing for a couple of months, that he had considerable skills.

It had been surprising that several years ago; some of the trainees had asked him to join them at a popular watering hole for the Navy whenever they got a break.

Trent had been sitting at the bar, sipping his beer after playing several rounds of darts and taking a break since he had won, he felt a few slaps on his back and turned to look at Louie Amos, the Navy trainer that had been skeptical that someone in the Army could train some Marines and Seals when he been doing so for a long time.

Amos took a seat in the bar stool next to Trent and said, "I think we have toughened you up, Army man."

"I believe that I am the one that has gotten you and your Navy friends all trained to be better fighters than you were before, Amos."

"You may have taught us a few things, Malloy, and maybe you are not a bad fighter, even though you need to build up your strength." Amos said, taking a sip from the beer bottle in his hand, flexing his rather large bicep at the same time.

"You do have quite the grip, Amos, but you do need to work on your left hook."

Amos leaned back and let out a loud, boisterous laugh. "Need I remind you, that you are still in a Navy town?"

"Well, Amos, you know I can handle myself. I believe I taught that to you on the first day."

Amos held up his free hand. "Yes, you did. Well, enjoy the little party," he remarked as he nodded at Malloy and walked away, dodging around an auburn haired woman with dark chestnut colored eyes that Trent recognized as Anna Glass, an analyst at the Navy, who had attended the training sessions with Trent.

"Good evening, Sergeant Malloy," she greeted as she took a seat on the bar stool next to Trent.

"Evening, Glass," returned, with a nod of his head after swallowing a swig of beer.

Anna smiled. "You can call me Anna since we've finished the training."

"Well, then you can call me, Trent," he responded with a smile.

The bartender came over and asked Anna what she wanted. She ordered a beer, paid the bartender and then turned her attention back to Trent. "I am glad that I get a long leave."

Trent set down his beer after he had taken a swig from it. He looked at Anna. "What are your plans?"

A heartwarming smile spread across her face and her dark eyes gleamed. "I am going to go see my fiancé, Tom."

"Oh, lucky him," Trent commented.

"Yes, lucky him," she said with a sexy smile that caused Trent to raise his eyebrows which got Anna to laughing which in turn had Trent chuckling and thinking that Anna's fiancé was truly blessed to have a woman like Anna.

After she grabbed and ate a few pretzels, she took a drink from her beer, and then returned her attention to Trent. "Well, I did enjoy the training this past month, even though I will be quite sore for awhile."

"Training can be rough, but it will save your life one day." He took a sip of beer and glanced over at Anna, who was giving him a jokingly annoyed look. He set down his beer and raised his hands. "Sorry about that, it's a habit."

"Thanks," Anna said with a small chuckle, "but I have had enough teaching moments for awhile."

They chatted for a few minutes as Trent finished his fist beer and ordered a second, but Anna just continued to nurse the one she had ordered earlier.

A group of four men arrived at the bar. "Malloy," the man closest to Trent greeted with a wide grin on his well-tanned face as he walked up to the Army Sergeant. "We are ready for the next round of darts. I know I can beat you this time"

Trent grinned at the man with the reddish tint to his brown hair. "Dennett, I don't think you are ready to beat me at darts after losing four rounds with me. You should remember that after the first day of training when you and these three volunteered to fight me."

They all laughed, remembering when Andy Dennett, Jacob McDowell, Daniel Carter and Gus Marlow had teamed up to try to show up the Army Sergeant but the four men had been embarrassed when Trent had knocked them all flat on each of their backsides.

The four men each took a seat, ordering a pitcher of beer and greeting Anna warmly.

The six of them chatted about a variety of subjects, munching on some appetizers that a couple of the guys had ordered and offered to share with the rest of them.

Anna glanced at her watch, finished the last of her beer and rose to her feet. "Well, fellas, I am ready to get out of here and it does look like a nice night to go for a walk."

"Good night, Anna," Trent said.

"Good night, Trent," she said to him and then turned to the other men. "Good night, fellas."

The four men each gave either a polite nod or a wave to Anna as she left a tip for the bartender, turned and left the bar.

About an hour later, Trent and the four men decided to head out and left the bar.

As he walked, he got a little bit ahead of the others. He felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck. It was a familiar feeling even though he didn't know the cause of it.

A scream broke through the silence and he took off running in its direction. He turned and went into the brush.

The other men called out to him, wondering why he was going into the woods when he wasn't that far from housing.

It was an old, dilapidated shack. Trent rushed stealthily forward, knowing that the other guys were right behind him. He kicked in the door and rushed inside.

Trent brought himself to the present, focusing his eyes on one of the ducks, taking a few deep breaths to push away old memories that had when Anna Glass had her life changed forever.