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 3

Trent Malloy was teaching a class at Thunder Karate, calling out a combo of kicks and punches to the room full of students and as he walked around, he helped guide those that needed to adjust his or her stance or to correct the angle of a punch or a kick.

"All right, class, we are finished for today," Trent called out. The students bowed to him and when he returned the bow, the students scattered in different directions, either going to the changing rooms or putting on shoes by the door, and heading out.

Once the students and the parents had all left, his thoughts drifted to the last case that Thunder Investigations had worked on. It had involved fraud and eventually, was linked to a murder case had been assigned to Detectives Lucy Silver and Darryl Sun.

Trent had been surprised that Lucy hadn't ordered them to stay off the case or tried to arrest Carlos for obstruction. He smiled at the thought that Lucy was beginning to warm up to Carlos and he wondered if those two would, eventually, get together.

He thought about how Lucy hadn't been happy with the involvement with Thunder Investigations and she hadn't cared for the plan Carlos had orchestrated, but it had worked out in the end.

Trent's younger brother Tommy exited the changing room, carrying a small duffle bag over his left shoulder and two water bottles in the other, approached Trent with a grin.

"That went well. I think Miguel might need to practice a little bit more," Tommy commented as he handed a water bottle to Trent.

Trent accepted the water, opened it and took a refreshing, cold drink, which gave him time to bring himself back to the present.

"Yes, Kirsten needs to work on her high kicks."

"I didn't see that," Tommy admitted with some disappointment in his voice at having missed a student's need for improvement.

"Can't have eyes everywhere," Trent wisely said as he finished the bottle of water. "Also, I don't think you could notice from the angle that you had been standing," Trent pointing out, since Tommy had been in the back of the room, observing the class since he had taught the class before that one.

"Ok," Tommy responded as he hiked his bag onto his shoulder a little more. "Are you ready to go?"

Trent smiled at his younger brother, who had grown up a lot since their father had passed away, but Tommy was still impatient and impetuous at times.

It only took a few minutes to change and to lock up Thunder Investigations before they were on the road, heading home. As he drove his Stingray convertible, with Tommy in the seat next to him, texting with his friends, Trent looked at the time knowing that he had a slim amount of time to shower and shave. He deftly rubbed a hand over his jaw and wondered if he should forego the shave and grow it out a bit. Nancy had mentioned that she enjoyed it when he had some hair on his face.

He was glad that there wasn't a new case yet since he had plans with Nancy and he hadn't wanted to cancel as he did the last time they had date planned. Nancy had understood, but he still wanted to make it up to her.

Once he pulled the Stingray into the driveway, Tommy hopped out, grabbed his duffel from the back seat and rushed into the house.

Trent stepped out of his car with a grin on his face as he headed towards the house. His concentration was on his date night with Nancy, that he didn't sense the eyes watching him.

Trent took a deep breath as he raised a closed fist and knocked gently on the door. He rolled on the balls of his feet, unable to keep himself steady. He was about to run a hand through his blond hair, but the door opened, spreading light out into the darkening night. A glowing smile from Nancy shone brighter than any light that he believed that he had ever seen.

"Hi, Trent," Nancy greeted with a wide smile. "Come on in." She stepped to the side of door and he walked in, standing in the small vestibule that contained a mirrored hall tree on one side and on the other wall was three small paintings of flowers arranged in a slight arc.

She closed the door behind him, locked it and then spun around and looked at him.

"Dinner will be ready in about five minutes," she announced, as she walked through the living room and to the kitchen and he followed behind her.

They entered the u-shaped kitchen and one part was a counter that also served as a bar, in which he took a seat on the swinging bar stool.

"What would you like to drink?' she asked as she stood in front of the fridge, looking over her shoulder at him.

He saw a glass of red wine sitting on one of the counters. "I'll have what you're having," he decided.

She nodded her head as she turned around, opened a cabinet door and pulled down a wine glass and filled it from the bottle of wine that was sitting next to the refrigerator.

He accepted the glass and took slightly tentative sip since he didn't drink wine too often, but whatever one Nancy had bought was delicious. He took a deeper drink and took a seat at the counter bar.

Nancy pulled out a cutting board, a sharp knife and some vegetables from the crisper and began making a tossed salad all while she chatted about her day.

Trent then talked about his day, which had been reasonably quiet and uneventful when he looked at her and said, "You know, I need to cook for you sometime."

"You can cook?" She teased.

"I can make waffles." He paused for a moment. "From a box, but still, Tandy and Tyler boast about my waffle making skills."

"Well, I will have to try them sometime," she said just as the timer went off causing her to grab a pair of oven mitts and open the oven door. She pulled out a dish and set it on a set of trivets on the counter, then closed the oven door, and shutting it off.

Trent took a deep sniff, realized it was lasagna and he could feel his mouth watering. He set the table as they waited fifteen minutes for the lasagna to cool and once it was ready, they began to eat at the table that Nancy had already set before Trent had arrived.

After eating a decent portion of lasagna and salad, as well as another glass of wine that paired wonderfully with dinner, he helped her clear the table, putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and the leftovers in the fridge. Then, Nancy surprised him by pulling out dessert, which was an apple pie.

Once dessert was finished, they went to the living room, picked a movie and snuggled together on the sofa beneath dimmed lights.

She was pressed up against him, her head on his chest causing the flowery scent of her hair to fill his senses and honestly, it was the warmth of her body pressing against his that was the most distracting and rather alluring that had him focused on her rather than the movie.

He was surprised when she pulled away, turned to him and looked into his eyes, her own shining like sapphires sparkling in the sun.

"You are not watching the movie, are you?" She asked.

"Not really," he admitted, as he rubbed a hand down her arm and looked into her stunning blue eyes.

She pulled out of his arms and stood up standing before him, the light from the television illuminating her figure.

He looked up at her, curious, when she indicated for him to stand with a wave of her hand, in which he did, mesmerized by her.

She didn't say a word as she placed her hand in his and without a word guided him upstairs and ended up outside her bedroom door. He could see the excited nervousness within her eyes, so he gave her a comforting smile as she opened the door with her free hand and pulled him into a kiss, before pulling him into the room. He kicked the door shut with his foot, never letting his lips leave her soft ones.

Trent entered his family's house, making certain that he didn't awaken his siblings or his mother since it was well after midnight.

It had been an enchanting evening and he hadn't wanted to leave, but Nancy had insisted since she had to wake up early the next day for an appointment and she had implied that she would have missed the appointment if he had remained.

As he ascended the stairs, his thoughts went to the idea that had been bouncing around his head for the past couple of weeks. He had been thinking about getting his own place, but he had been busy between Thunder Karate, Thunder Investigations, helping at the H.O.P.E. Center and attending various sporting events or activities of his siblings, that he hadn't had time to actually look at places.

It had made sense for him to move into the family home when his father, Thunder, had passed away and Trent had decided to live with his family to take care of them. The family had had some ups and downs, but once they all had eventually taken the time to mourn Thunder and had begun to heal even though the loss of a loved one never had a set timetable.

The family was in a good place in each of his or her lives and it would be nice to have his own place where he could bring Nancy and make her dinner without any interruptions.

He smiled at the thought of impressing Nancy with making a wonderful meal. He thought about taking some cooking classes, possibly with Nancy, as he entered the bathroom, stripped down and got into the shower before the water had warmed.

He showered quickly, dried off, put on boxers and a pair of sweatpants before exiting the bathroom and entered his room. He slid underneath the covers of his bed, knowing that he may only get a couple of hours of sleep but that didn't bother him since his thoughts were looking forward to the future and Nancy's place within it.