Disclaimer: DreamWorks owns RotG, not me.

"One, two, three, hop! Five…"

"Jack?" Mrs. Overland stood in the doorway of the house, watching Emma and Jack play hopscotch.

Jack turned his attention away from Emma, who always felt the need to narrate what she was doing, to Mrs. Overland. "Yeah?"

She gestured in the direction of town. "It's time for your shift."

"Oh." Jack started making his way down the path that had snow cleared away. He would have to clear it off again; it was snowing. "Bye Emma!" he called over his shoulder. Abruptly he felt something, or rather someone, run into him from behind.

"Bye Jack!" said the giggling girl attached rather firmly around his waist. Jack gently pried Emma off him, before ruffling her hair and heading into town.

Jack didn't bother to pass through the market today, heading straight for the Inn. Just before entering, he took off his cloak and shook the snow off it, and knocked his shoes against the side of the building to get rid of excess snow.

Mr. Herke found him as he was hanging his cloak up. "Can you take the front again, Jack?"

Jack smiled and nodded, despite wanting to say no. Mr. Herke was his boss and Jack had to do as was told, regardless of his personal qualms of meeting Tiana and her group again.

For the next hour, Jack took food orders to the cook on duty (despite being an Inn, many people who lived in Burgess ate there regularly), checked two people into a room, and saw no sign of the odd group.

Maybe they decided to leave town early, he thought hopefully. Not likely, he knew, but he could dream.

An hour and a half after he'd started his shift, with his lunch break coming up, Emma burst into the Inn, looking for all the world as though she had found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. She marched right up to him, and opened her mouth to speak, before Jack placed a finger on her lips, effectively shushing her.

"I'm almost on break," he told her when she looked insulted. "Wait until then."

Appeased, Emma nodded and left the Inn, presumably to wait outside.

When he joined her, she still looked ridiculously pleased.

"Alright," Jack said, as they walked to the market. "Spill."

"Jack! I think I met one of those odd people staying at the Inn! He was really nice, and we had a conversation! Well, not really, but-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" Jack laughed, concealing his nervousness at the thought of one of them being close to Emma. "Describe him to me; you don't know what they look like."

Emma paused and look at the sky, remembering. "Well, he was really-" she cut herself off, and pointed nearby. "He's right there!" She took off without any warning, ducking through the crowd of people.

"Emma!" he hollered, running after her. "Sorry, excuse me, I have to- oh! Sorry!"

"Hey!" he scolded when he finally caught up to her, a bit out of breath. "Don't run off like that! Just because you're allowed to be on your own now doesn't mean- oh." Jack blinked at the small man in besides Emma. "Hi, um, Sandy, right?"

The man– Sandy -nodded, smiling at Jack before turning his attention to Emma.

"Jack, this is the person I met! He doesn't actually talk, but he writes and I know how to read and he-"

"We've met." Jack reminded her, trying not to let his concern show on his face. He'd known Emma wanted to meet the travelers, but he had thought Mrs. Overland had managed to talk her out of looking for one of them.

"Jack?"

He started, pulled out of his thoughts by Emma's voice. He glanced at her.

"You didn't let me do a proper introduction!" She scolded him. He felt a smile tugging at his lips despite himself.

"Jack, this is Sandy, and I met him by the market." Emma said, trying to be proper but mostly just looking ridiculous. "Sandy, this is my big brother, Jack!"

Sandy beamed at Emma, scribbling something on a pad of paper and handing it to her. While she read, the man's golden-brown eyes drifted over to Jack's, his expression now serene. Jack suppressed a shiver, that gaze was a little too knowing.

"Yeah!" Emma exclaimed abruptly. "That's a good idea! I think that they would like that!"

"Emma, what exactly are you talking about?" Emma had not noticed Jack's obvious confusion. Who would like what?

"Oh. Well, Sandy says, actually, here." She shoved the paper Sandy had given her to him.

Do you think that I might be able to bring you and your family a dish for your meal tonight? One of my companions knows a very fine recipe.

"Ummm…" What happened? Did this small, sleepy man and Emma have such a good conversation that this sort of thing was okay? Was this custom from where he was from? Or was there a different purpose?

The amount of thoughts in Jack's head right now was overwhelming. He hadn't exactly anticipated running into one of them again. Mrs. Overland. Yes. Tell Emma to ask Mrs. Overland.

"You have to ask-"

"I know!" Emma said, smiling as though there were no problems whatsoever. "I'll ask mom, don't worry! Come on, Sandy. I bet Rebecca and Jane will want to hear that story about the pirate ship! They're my friends, you see…"

Jack could only stare, dumb-founded, as Emma tugged Sandy away. So much for keeping the odd group away from his family. He rubbed a hand over his face. It was almost like they were seeking him out.

"Hello, Jack, is it?"

Jack flinched, and whirled around, coming face-to-face with the large man. His surprise must have shown on his face (but hopefully not the quick flash of fear), for the man laughed boisterously.

Jack put on a smile. The more he acted the same around these people as he did other travelers the more likely they were to leave him alone. "Yes, Nick, is it?" he imitated the man's thick accent.

"Yes! Good memory, very good…" Nick trailed off, appraising him for a moment. Like Sandy's, and like Tiana's, now that Jack thought of it, Nick's eyes held secrets. Secrets, Jack was sure, that would be consequential to him.

"Did I see Sandy over here?" Nick had stopped studying him, and was now looking in the direction Emma had pulled the little man.

"Yeah." Jack nodded, sensing an escape from the exuberant man. "They went that way."

"They?"

Darn it.

"Emma, my sister, decided to drag him off." He shrugged, and took a quick drink from his flask. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to grab a bite to eat before my break is over…"

Jack turned, starting to walk away, when Nick grabbed his shoulder, pulling him closer again. "No need! You eat with us!"

So close.

A/N: So, exams are done! Hopefully I will have more time to write now, but no guarantees. Right, reviews!

bluefrosty27: In my head, Jack is usually 15 or 16, because the two most common ages for him are 14 and 17, so I just go in-between. No spoilers! I'm glad you like Emma, I adore her. Honestly the Guardians don't really know who they're looking for.

HikariCruz: Well, I'm not going to give the answers away just yet.

The purple hippocampus: Thank you for pointing that out, I try not to write repetitively.

Also, Canadian friends, hope you have a lovely (almost) 150 Canada Day, and happy (nearly) Independence Day to Americans! Until next time!