A/N: Another chapter! By demand! :)

Clark Kent readied himself as he walked through the pub doors. This one was much less quiet than the previous town he'd been in, much like everyone decided to come here tonight, although he could see clearly there were a lot more young people in this town than any he'd previously stayed in. Making his way to an empty table, the man sat down and waited for the attendant to take is order. It had been a rough few days. Between the last town and this one, there hadn't been anyone willing to give him a lift and so Clark was forced to walk the whole way, not that that was a problem for him, but he hadn't packed any food so the man was considerably hungry. Looking up as a waitress approached his table, Clark was only mildly surprised to find he was staring into the familiar face of Jemma. "Hi Hon what can I get yo-" Jemma stopped mid sentence when she looked up from her little pad and noticed who she had been talking to.

"Clark!" She said with a smile. "I should've known I'd be seeing you again." Jemma sighed. Clark smiled genuinely at her, but couldn't help but notice she looked at least ten, no, seven kilos thinner than she had eight months ago, he shook the thought.

"It's good to see you again. Any news on your sister?" He asked and Jemma lowered her head a little, her smile falling from her face. "They found a body of a young girl about six months back. I went to the station just in case. I identified her as Amber…" Jemma trailed off, willing her tears away. She had always been prepared for the fact she may never find her sister, but she hadn't been prepared to look at her lifeless body in a morgue in some town she'd never heard of, beaten and bruised and possibly sexually assaulted.

She shook her head and straightened when she got a 'get back to work' look from her boss. Clark frowned and reached a hand out to try and convey some sort of comfort, but he stopper, placing his hand back on the table.

"Anyway, my boss will have my ass if I don't ask, so; what I can actually get you?' She laughed a little and Clark smiled again, telling her quickly what he wanted, not wishing for her to get into trouble. With a small smile, Jemma took off back to the kitchen, pushing all thoughts of how much she wanted to hold his hand just then from her mind. Sure the guy was hot, and totally built and really kind, but she barely knew him and like her, people don't just go traveling America for no reason at all. He had baggage. Or he really hated staying in one spot for too long, who knew.

Clark watched as Jemma emerged from the kitchen a couple minutes later, collecting a tray of drinks from the bar and buzzing around the pub, delivering orders and smiling at customers. He could see the smile didn't quite reach her eyes though and he wished he could have said something to comfort her, although he knew from experience it took more than mere comfort to take away the pain of losing a loved one. Fifteen minutes later, a different waitress delivered his meal, which disappointed him a little but he squashed the feeling down in favor of eating his food. Only a few minutes passed before he heard footsteps approaching him again, and looked up as Jemma pulled out the seat opposite him, sitting down and folding her arms across the table, a small smile on her face.

"I'm done for the night, you don't mind if I sit here?" She drawled and Clark smiled, shaking his head. "Go right ahead." He told her with a nod, pushing his plate of chips towards her in offering. Jemma shook her head, holding her hands up in protest.

"Oh no, really I'm ok!" She began, and laughed a little when he stomach growled and Clark raised an eyebrow at her. She wanted to frown, wondering how he even heard that over the noise of the bar, but instead she pushed it back towards him a little.

"Honestly, when you work here, you never want to eat the food again. I'll eat at the motel, its all good."

Clark relented and picked a chip off the plate, making a show of taking a bite out of it. Jemma rolled her eyes and leant across the table, giving him a soft shove to the arm. Clark laughed and allowed himself to be moved slightly by her blow and the two dissolved into relative silence, commenting on the music every now and then but staying silent other wise, just enjoying each other company. Clark didn't know the girl well, but he found that her presence was rather calming; he liked the fact that she didn't feel the need to fill the silence. Taking another look at her while her own eyes drifted around the noisy bar, Clark could see now that she had definitely lost weight since their last meeting, her usually round face was rather gaunt now, and she had bags under her eyes. The remainder of old makeup darkened large eyes framed by thick eyelashes and her curly hair was tied up in tangles atop her head. Even her hands looked too thin to him he noticed as she fiddled with them on the table top and he could clearly see that her clothes hung loosely on her frame.

"You have a place to stay yet? Or did you just arrive?" She suddenly asked, fixing her gaze on him and drawing him from his thoughts.

"No, you said you were staying in a motel?" Jemma nodded. "I'll probably rent a room there then." He said more to himself than to the young woman in his company, wondering how much money he had left to work with, but calling for the check anyway, a passing waitress blushing when he flashed her his best smile. Jemma caught the look and internally bristled, though she wasn't entirely sure why. Sure he was extremely attractive, and kind, but it wasn't as if they knew each other all that well, and she had no reason to become jealous over a smile for god sake. For all she knew he could have a girlfriend, though she highly doubted it as he seemed to be constantly traveling and she had never seen him in the company of anyone before. Jemma quickly swatted those thoughts away as she remembered something important.

"The motel owners close their doors at 8pm, they won't rent out anymore rooms until 8am." She told him with a frown and Clark looked towards the clock on the wall, even though he knew it was well past eight now. Jemma considered her options for a moment, always one to jump at the chance to help another she briefly reflected on the fact that she really didn't know the guy, before telling herself "Screw it".

"If you'd like you can stay in my room tonight?" She offered before quickly back tracking at Clark's raised eyebrow. "I mean to sleep, I'm not soliciting you for sex. Not that I wouldn't I mean you're really hot, but I'm not…" She continued to dig herself into a hole and she wondered just how high his damn eyebrow could go.

"I'm going to shut up now. But the offer still stands." She said, lowering her head in embarrassment. "That could have gone entirely different… me and my stupid mouth." She thought mentally slapping herself a few times. Clark smiled at her, a laugh escaping him and he found himself thinking it was the first time he'd really laughed in a long time. This time when he reached his hand out it found hers, and he covered her tiny, fiddling hand with his own massive one.

"If you don't mind, I'll take you up on that offer."

A/N: Special Thanks To:

ArandoraStar

Qoheleth

Thanks for your reviews!