Four days Later.

Movie nights with the boys became fewer as Jess recovered, and while she missed them, she understood that they all had lives outside of keeping an eye on her. Trent had long since stopped sleeping on the couch and while he was still around a great deal, most days it was just Jess and Scott at the house.

That's not to say they didn't collectively work as a team to get her out of the house or that she was ever alone. Ever since going out to the 'great outdoors' and admitting to being scared of her mom finding her in town, they started taking her places she'd never been before.

Ray and the kids took her to a huge park one afternoon. Clay dragged her out one morning for much coveted contraband that Trent was withholding from her (delicious baked goods were apparently still not on her list of food she should be eating). He took her to his favorite shop and then they walked along some nearby trails after. Yesterday Brock took her out to the beach and they played with Cerberus. Jason dragged her out shopping for school supplies the next morning and paid for them at the last minute before she ever had a chance to get her card out of her pocket. He wasn't the least bit apologetic and Jess wasn't too proud to accept the gift.

They were present and there for her, but Jess could feel the shift back to 'normal' as the end of their time off approached. They were restless and ready to go back to work. She was going to have to go back to Ingrid soon too. That sucked and was ridiculously stress inducing, but she couldn't stay forever. Scott had already sacrificed his time off to take care of her, so had Trent in a lot of ways. She couldn't impose much longer.

That's why tonight was so special. Trent, Brock, Clay and Sonny had all come to join them for the evening and Jess was ridiculously happy about it. She loved having them all around her and listening to them banter. It gave her a deep sense of family that she'd only ever dreamed of and helped her forget about the other stresses in her life.

"So have we even decided on a movie yet?" Clay asked as he took his favorite spot on the couches.

"I thought Jess was going to pick?" Brock said as he brushed Cerberus on the floor.

"Really? That dog leaves enough hair in my place, do you have to do that here?" Scott grumbled.

Brock wasn't intimidated and just made a show of taking the hair off the brush and putting it into a garbage bag next to him.

"It still gets in the air." Scott muttered as he reached down and ruffled the dog's ears, scowling.

"Jess! What are we watching?" Trent asked, craning his head back to look at her. "Oh! Can you bring me another beer?"

"I always have to pick!" Jess protested, opening the fridge and getting Trent a beer. "Why am I picking again?"

"Because if we let Sonny pick it will be R rated with a lot of nudity and I get the feeling you won't like that."

"Excuse me, but Sonny Quinn can pick a great movie that our lovely Jess would appreciate and I too will enjoy." Sonny told them. "We'll watch Deadpool. It's R rated and a Marvel movie."

Jess's phone started to buzz and she dragged it out of her pocket.

"Who's that calling now?" Sonny asked as he passed her, nosey and peering over her shoulder. "Cass? Isn't that your sister?"

"Yeah…" Jess moved closer to the couch and handed Trent his beer, still looking down at the buzzing phone.

"You aren't about to answer that, are you?" Sonny sounded a little too eager.

"Well…I mean I probably should- HEY!" Jess squealed indignantly when Sonny snatched the phone from her hands. "Sonny! What are you doing?!"

"I recall you saying very clearly that we could enforce the 'new rule' about not answering the phone to family any way we wanted. Consider this enforcement." The Texan was a little too smug as he answered the phone, grinning. "Hello, Jess's secretary, how may I be of service?

Wide eyed, Jess turned helplessly to the others and squeaked, "Um, a little help here, please?!"

No one moved, in fact they just shrugged and grinned at her when Sonny said, "Who is this? Well, ma'am, I just told you. I am Miss Jess's secretary. No, she is not available at the moment, would you like to leave a message? I'm happy to see that she doesn't get it."

"Oh my gosh! Sonny! Give me the phone!" She hissed, trying to follow him around the room without much success as he vaulted over the backs of the couches between the others with more agility and grace than she thought possible for someone as burly as him.

"No, I do assure you that I am in fact Jess's secretary and not anything more than that." Sonny said innocently as he skipped to the side when Jess tried to move in close enough to grab her phone back. "No, she is not being held against her will…proof of life? What is this, a hostage negotiation?"

"Oh my god, Sonny! She'll call the cops! Give me the phone!" Jess moaned a little desperately.

Behind her Clay appeared and he tapped her shoulder and said with what Jess realized in hindsight was way too much innocence, "Here. I'll get it for you."

"Thank you!" Jess backed off, waiting for Clay to do as he said.

"You know, I see what's going on here, ma'am." Sonny smiled when Clay approached him with his hand outstretched. "You're the type of young woman who likes to speak with a person who's higher up than just a lowly secretary, so I'll tell you what I am going to do. I'm going to pass you over to my colleague."

He gave the phone off to Clay who in turn gave Jess a wicked grin, cleared his throat and put the phone to his ear.

"No!" Jess hissed. "Nononono…you were supposed to help me!"

"Good evening, mademoiselle, how might I be of service?" Clay spoke in an immensely thick and believable french accent.

"Clay!" Jess covered her face and bit back a semi hysterical laugh. "Oh my gosh…this isn't happening."

Looking up as Clay sauntered past she saw him grinning and just daring her to try taking the phone from him.

Jess attempted it even though she knew it wasn't possible and ended up in a headlock after trying to wrestle his arm down away from his ear (well, hang off it with all her minimal weight/height and still not able to make it budge was more accurate). He simply switched hands while locking her head under the arm she'd tried to move.

"Hey! This is not fair!" Jess protested a little louder, but didn't bother trying to wiggle free. She knew she wouldn't and was forced to walk with him across the room back to the couches.

Sonny was standing in the kitchen laughing his ass off while cracking open another drink.

"No, I am afraid Miss Jess is not able to come to the phone at the moment." Clay said, still using the same ridiculous accent. "She is taking lunch with a very important business partner and cannot be disturbed."

He released her head as they passed Scott and Brock and hopped neatly over the coffee table. Cerberus jumped up and trotted excitedly behind him, tail wagging. "I'm sorry to hear that you have concerns about her wellbeing, mademoiselle! I can assure you she is in the best of hands."

"Clay!" Jess's voice rose and tried to follow him as he danced back into the kitchen. Before she could get far, an arm hooked carefully around her middle, avoiding the sore scar area, and she was yanked down next to Scott on the couch.

" Excuse me!" She squawked, not actually that upset with him but a little out of breath from being manhandled by Clay. "I am in the middle of trying to keep my sister from calling the cops, thank you very much!"

"You made the rule, not us!" Brock told her, completely unhelpful as he moved from the floor to the couch and laughed along with Sonny while Clay continued to play the innocent Frenchman working for her.

"And you did say you didn't care how we enforced it." Scott reminded her, amusement coloring his low voice. "That was your first mistake."

"They're gonna freak her out!" Jess protested, giving the arm Scott still had locked around her a feeble shove. He didn't bother to tighten it. They both knew she wasn't going to get free unless she seriously asked him to let her go. "What if she calls the cops?"

"Then she calls the cops."

"It's completely avoidable!"

"Yeah, but it's fun." Trent chimed in.

"For you!" Jess growled as she flopped back against Scott since he wasn't letting her go and folded her arms with a huff.

He gave her a look and challenged, "Tell me you aren't having fun and I'll make it stop."

By now Clay was holding the phone away from his ear, laughing and Jess could hear her sister yelling at him because she wasn't getting her way and for some reason that was actually hilarious to her. Cass always got her way, especially with men.

She craned her head back to look at Scott, fighting back another slightly hysterical giggle and said, "Ok, maybe I am having fun, but I really don't want her to call the cops. I don't want trouble for anyone."

A grin slipped onto his face and he shoved her sideways out from his arm into Brock as he got up saying, "Here. Hold this. It's my turn."

"I am not a this ! And what do you mean it's your turn!?" Jess growled, trying and failing to scramble up and follow him.

Before Jess could seize the opportunity to leave and unsuccessfully stop the boys from further terrorizing her sister, Brock wrapped his arm around her shoulders and went, "Aww, Jess! It's so nice of you to drop in like this! How are you!? You know, we don't really get to chat much these days. You seem a little frazzled! Why is that?"

"Jeez, I don't know," Jess said sarcastically but without true irritation, "Maybe because the big guy over there is about to scare the shit out of my sister and we might have cops on our doorstep!"

Trent laughed. "You're forgetting that your sister has no idea where you are right now, Jess. How can she send cops? The most that will happen is they might call you, but the local police are already in the know about your family, so they probably won't make a visit."

"Probably!" Jess stressed as she looked over her shoulder and groaned when Scott took the phone from Clay before calling over, "You guys are ridiculous! I hope you know that!"

"Miss Whitlock?" Scott said pleasantly, but still with a note that put Jess's hair on end. It took a second for it to register he wasn't talking right and like Clay he'd opted for an accent. "Good. I hear you have some concerns about Jess's well being."

Eyes going big and seeing Scott's grin grow at her reaction, Jess made a strangled noise and whispered, "Is…is that an Aussie accent?! Since when does he do accents?!"

Looking over his shoulder, Brock also seemed surprised, "This would be a first, actually!"

Trent shook his head. "No, remember that joint op we did three years ago, in Poland? He did a thick German accent there, and then one time he bet Sonny he could get the same girl who turned her nose up at him to smile in under three minutes, and he used a British accent for that."

Brow creasing, Brock spluttered, "How did I not know about this?!"

"I can't believe this is happening!" Jess was bursting at the seams as Scott slowly made his way over to her, still talking to her sister.

"Who am I? Well, Miss Whitlock, I'm in charge of Jess's security, so all concerns about her wellbeing go through me. No, she is not available." Scott's Aussie accent darkened ever so slightly. "I appreciate that you are concerned for your sister, however I assure you she is well taken care of and does not need to be subject to further manipulation with the purpose of convincing her to call Ellen Whitlock. It is none of our concern if Mrs. Whitlock won't stop calling you. No. You do not have our sympathies. Who are we? I'll let you figure that out, you seem like a clever enough woman. You have more to say? Speak quickly then. My patience is thinning."

"This is…I don't even know what to call this!" Jess whispered with horrified delight. No one ever spoke to Cass like that. She was too good at getting anyone and everyone to eat out of the palm of her hand.

Brock tightened his arm around her comfortingly and said lightly, "You think this is bad, just wait till a boy calls you when you're with us or you start dating someone and we catch wind of it."

Jess went still, eyes going big again as that thought clicked into place and she breathed, "Oh shit…I didn't even think of that!"

"Now that's going to be really fun." Trent said with a far off look. "I haven't put a boy who's wanting to date my sister through the ringer in ages! I'm really looking forward to it!"

Still picturing what them knowing about and terrorizing a boy she might like or be dating would look like, Jess shook her head firmly. "Nope. You guys just won't find out if there ever is a guy in my life. That's all."

Trent and Brock both started laughing and Brock patted her head saying, "It's actually pretty adorable that you think we won't find out."

Jess glared at him half heartedly. "I can keep a secret!"

"Jess, darlin, the more time we spend with you the less you are able to keep secrets from us. You are an open book. You always have been." Sonny told her, momentarily distracted from Scott who was still listening to whatever Cass was saying.

"That is true." Clay chimed in. "You have a million tells."

"You probably should never play poker with us." Trent added just as Scott's aussie voice filled the air once more.

"Miss Whitlock, I'll only say this once. Unless you have any genuine concerns for your sister, this conversation is over. Do not call again. We won't be so nice next time."

And just like that, he hung up, turned to the group without missing a beat and said, "You really are a terrible liar, Jess, so you may as well resign yourself to the fact that any guy interested in you or that you're interested in is going to be under the microscope and we will be having a lot of fun."

Opening and closing her mouth twice, Jess clasped her hands together and announced, "Well I guess I'll just die an old maid and solve that problem! Good thing I'm not interested in anyone and never will be!"

Trent shook his head and promised, "You say that now, but we'll be waiting. Don't you worry."

"So a movie! Personally I think Doctor Strange is worth watching a second time!" Jess continued, pretending she didn't hear that and going a darker shade of red. "And Ant Man was one of the better ones!"

Sonny pouted. "I thought we were watching Deadpool!"

Scott took his usual spot next to Jess and shook his head. "Nope. I haven't seen Ant Man."

"Neither have I." Brock agreed, also able to read Jess well enough to know at this point in time she wasn't likely to fully appreciate the humor of Deadpool.

Trent didn't even give an opinion. He just found the movie and hit play.

Beginning of Week Three: Start of School and a return to routine for the boys

"Are you sure you don't want me to just go back to Ingrid?"

Scott folded his arms and waited.

"Right." Jess pulled her sleeves over her hands and wrapped her arms around herself. "You're not the kind of person who offers things without being sure."

A brow raised and Scott nodded. "Glad we're starting to understand each other. Now do you want to stay another week or not."

Jess could feel the yes about to slip off the end of her tongue, but she still felt bad and anxiety surfaced at the idea of staying where she felt safe instead of being a 'big girl' and going home.

"I can't decide." She tried instead.

"Nope." Scott shook his head and the frown lines around his mouth deepened. "I know your 'can't decide' face. That's one you're wearing right now is your 'I think I'm being an inconvenience' face."

"Geez! Call a girl out, why don't you!"

"Do you feel safe going home this week?"

Jess sighed and shook her head, knowing it was useless to lie. "No."

"Are you stressed about classes starting?"

"Yes."

"Then stay the week, see how it goes, reassess at the end. Do you need anything for tomorrow from your house?"

"Probably just my truckie and maybe one or two other things."

"Ok. Then let's go get them."

Jess didn't move when Scott started for the door.

"Jess. Come on. It's ok. Jason found the PI today. They aren't going to be bothering you again."

Eyes going big, Jess said, "Um…what did he do to them?"

Scott grinned at the suspicion. "Nothing much. He and Ray managed to convince them that your mom is not the sweet, worried mother she claims to be. As I understand it they're going to make sure all their PI buddies ignore your mom's calls too."

Relaxing a little, Jess followed him to the door. She figured it was safest to go to the house with Scott anyway.

"What if she just finds a different one?"

"You're worrying too much again. Deal with what you have in front of you, not what may or may not be coming up the line."

"Me being here a little longer won't upset your routine?" Jess asked, pulling on her shoes and nearly falling into the closet when she lost her balance.

Scott grabbed the back of her jacket without blinking and balanced her again. "You won't get in the way, kid."

"Ok."

Walking into Ingrid was weird after being away for a couple weeks. Jess expected it to feel threatening and lonely, but instead everything felt normal, like she'd never left.

No one was home, which Jess was thankful for. Zoe had her dog out for a walk, Stacy was likely out with some of her other friends and Pauline was probably still out at the barn she worked at.

That was good, Jess reasoned. She still hadn't given them a date for coming home yet and seeing them might make it harder to stay longer with Scott. They were complicated people to live with and there was stupid drama some days, but Jess genuinely loved and missed them.

"Eight." Scott muttered when she came back from upstairs with the things she needed.

"Eight what?"

"Security and safety nightmares."

Smiling sheepishly on behalf of her housemates and the old, worn down building, Jess said, "At least the front door was locked!"

Scott wasn't impressed so Jess sighed and added, "Alright, alright, I'll talk to them about it when I come back."

"Thank you."

They left again and Jess hopped into her truckie, praying it would start.

It coughed twice, but roared to life all the same and Jess gave the steering wheel an affectionate pat. Looking up to see if Scott had pulled out of the drive yet, she saw him shaking his head at her and she couldn't help cranking her tunes up loudly just to bug him a little.

The head shake stopped and he just stared at her instead, expressionless. Testing her luck, Jess shrugged and grinned innocently with the universal hand sign of 'what?'. That finally got the barest hint of a smile and Jess patted herself on the back for reading the situation correctly.

He wasn't mad at her or annoyed.

Tuesday, First day of classes.

"Do you know where you're going?" Metal asked as he watched Jess scrabble to put her shoes on at the door. She was on the verge of being late and ever since she got up (twenty minutes before she had to leave) it was taking every ounce of his willpower not to hurry her along so she wouldn't be. Her sense of time was abysmal, she was all over the place and she'd misplaced her keys twice and her phone once.

"Yeah, I think so. Clay took me to campus a few days ago and we walked around a bit. I think I know where my class is and I can figure the rest out later."

"You know how to get there?"

"Mostly?"

"Without taking the highway in your deathtrap?"

Jess paused with her hand on the door handle. "Yes…ish?"

"Don't take the damn highway."

"I won't!"

"Good. Get going."

Not needing to be told twice, Jess was out the door.

Thirty seconds later she came flying back in.

"Forgot my wallet."

"Did you even pack anything last night?" Metal finally asked, as he watched her disappear into her room. He'd be resisting the lecture for nearly twenty-five minutes now.

"Yes!"

"Oh yeah? And what did you pack?"

"My bag with only half the important things in it!" Jess snapped as she disappeared out the door again.

Two seconds later it opened and she poked her head back in.

"Sorry! I didn't mean-"

Snapping his fingers and pointing, Metal growled urgently, "Get your ass on the road!"

"Ok! Bye!" She was gone again and Metal let out a breath of tension on her behalf.

He hated being late. It wasn't an option. Ever.

Getting spun up so soon after going back to work was a bit of a treat. They were all ready and eager to get out again.

It was 4am when Metal got the call, just before he was scheduled to start heading in anyway for a training set Jason wanted to do .

Jess was still dead to the world and seemed to be starting her semester right by going to bed at ten the previous night. Her day on campus was a long one on Tuesdays. Two classes in the morning, then a long gap and the evening spent in the research labs/greenhouses. She'd been tired when she got home at eight, but seemed happy and excited about her new program when she told him about it.

Not wanting to be gone suddenly, since she was still worried about things with her mom, Metal decided it was better to tell her in person that he was getting spun up rather than over text.

The light knock at her door didn't wake her up and neither did his call so he went in. She was starting to sleep like a rock, which was a good sign but it made it harder to wake her. "Jess, hey!" He woke her with a gentle shake when she didn't stir.

Her eyes dragged open and she focused on him blearily, not an ounce of concern that there was a figure looming over her in the semi light from the hall. The lack of self preservation on her part bothered him at the same time that the complete trust in him warmed his chest.

"Hi," She mumbled sleepily.

"Hey," He answered, crouching down. "Just letting you know we're likely about to get spun up. Could be gone for a few days or more."

"Oh," Jess's brain woke up more and she was about to start getting up.

"No, don't move." He dropped an arm on the edge of the blankets so it was harder for her to sit up. "Go back to sleep. Stay here even if I'm not, alright? Don't want you thinking you have to leave and go back to Ingrid. I know you're still worried about your mom showing up, so let's just still hold off on you going back, ok?"

Jess snuggled her face back into her pillow and peered at him blearily. "You know…it's a little scary how well you read my mind."

A chuckle escaped without warning and Metal had to smile, "You ain't that hard to read, pipsqueak. Go to sleep. Naima will check in on you. Have your friends come over if you want. I don't care. Just don't burn the place down. Keep the doors locked. Call my buddy Rob if you need help with anything and call the cops if your mom shows up. Make sure you eat and take your supplements too, got it?"

"Ok." A small smile slipped on Jess's face and she let her eyes slam shut again. They flicked open again when he started to leave and a small voice added, "Stay safe, please?"

Ignoring that little knife twisting in his gut, Metal shrugged off the worry with a grunt and cocky head jerk, "They call me Full Metal for a reason, kid. I'll be fine and I'll keep the rest of those knuckleheads looked after. See you in a few days or more, stay out of trouble."

Jess snorted and she rolled over. "I thought maybe I'd go out dancing and then do some hard drugs. Maybe steal a car and rob a bank while I'm at it."

"That's the spirit," he told her as he closed her door again.

It was extremely late when he got back two days later, although he was wide awake from sleeping on the plane.

He was quiet when he came home, eyeing his surroundings to get a gauge of how Jess had done while he was gone. She'd kept things clean, minus a pair of socks hiding under the coffee table (that girl could not keep those on her feet for long), her laptop sitting at the kitchen table under the window, a hoodie hanging over the back of the couch and two cups in the sink. She'd eaten most of the leftovers in the fridge, which he was happy to see.

The open spare room door had him pause when he started for his room. In the low light from the hall he could see the bed was empty but all her stuff was still there and her truckie had been parked on the road.

Staving off worry, he turned to his own room instead and found the door ajar.

Brow wrinkling, he entered without a sound and went still at the sight that greeted him.

Jess was curled up tightly in the middle of his still made bed. The only thing out of place other than her was one of the pillows hugged tightly to her chest and she had her nose tucked down like a puppy. She was fast asleep, but even in slumber she had worry lines around her forehead and dried tear tracks down her cheeks.

If it was anyone else he might have been irritated at the intrusion into his space, especially after a spin up, but something about the way she looked too damn small evaporated any minor annoyance and replaced it with an uncomfortable amount of affection. The feeling was almost equivalent to looking at a cute picture of an animal and going 'awww'.

Shaking his head, he put down his stuff by the closet and considered what to do. He could wake her up and send her to her own room, or he could leave her and go to the couch. It wasn't like he was that tired anyway. Or he could just move her and toss her in her own room instead. He'd done that a few times now on movie nights over the past two weeks.

The girl in the middle of the bed shifted and the frown between her brows deepened as she whimpered in her sleep.

Oh. Bad dreams. This made more sense now.

Metal sighed and went over, sitting next to her and setting a steady palm on her head the same way he had been the past few weeks whenever she had nightmares.

"Jess." A string of whimpering, unintelligible plea's slipped past her lips and he shook her shoulder gently. "Jess, wake up."

The girl shot upright with a cry, hugging the pillow tighter and searching the room, chest heaving. Her wild, half asleep gaze landed on him and she flinched a little.

"Just me."

"You're home." She breathed, closing her eyes and dropping her face so it was hidden in the pillow.

"I am." Metal reached out a hand again and gently ruffled her hair. "How'd you do?"

Drawing a big sigh, Jess said, "Rest of the first week of classes went well. Lots of neat courses and I'm getting a placement out at the Dismal Swamp starting in two weeks, so that's exciting. I get to cut my in class time in half and spend most of it outside instead."

"Uh huh." Metal waited, knowing silence could get her to spill her guts better than coaxing somedays, especially if she wanted to tell someone.

"And I ate food. And I drank enough."

"Good."

"Went out with the girls for sushi last night."

"Yeah?"

"It was ok. I...I know you said you guys took care of the PI and that they won't be back, but," Jess finally lifted her head and turned her face to look at him. "What if mom just hires another one?"

"Then we deal with it."

Clenching her jaw, Jess nodded bravely before her brain suddenly clued in that she'd been caught in his room, sleeping in the middle of his bed.

Those eyes went big and she straightened up.

"Um…so…I can explain this," She said, nervousness replacing the trust and confidence in his care for her that surfaced while she was still sleepy.

Raising a brow, Metal shrugged, "I won't lie, I'm a little surprised to find you in here, but I'm not mad. What's goin on?"

Jess sighed and mumbled, "Bad dreams…and."

"And what?"

"I've spent a little more time in my own head that I probably should have, and I got into this tailspin about my mom and…that's all. I just got worked up, and couldn't sleep, and then I…I don't know. I guess I kinda missed you and-" Jess started to move to get off the bed, awkwardly waffling between handing the pillow she'd been hugging to him and tossing it back where it belonged. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have- and you just got back! You don't need to listen to-"

"What's in your head about your mom, Jess." Scott took the pillow from her and tossed it to the head of the bed.

She slowed her scrambled to leave his space when he asked that, pausing with one foot on the floor. He was glad to see she'd learned to trust him enough to actually believe if he was asking then he wanted to know. There was probably still that debate going on inside her though.

Metal got up and motioned for her to follow him.

"Come on. Let's go. Talk to me."

He went to the kitchen and filled the kettle with water. Jess appeared next to him and quietly got out two mugs. He rarely drank tea, but he wasn't about to tell Jess that right now. Besides, maybe tea would help him unwind. He was wired anyway and hadn't tried tea that often.

"Do…do you think my mom is crazy enough to…to try making me come home with her?" Jess asked softly, staring into her empty mug while the water boiled in the background. "Like...by force?"

"You mean kidnap you." Metal asked bluntly.

"Yeah."

"I'd like to say it's not in the realm of possibility, but then again she has shown her true colors over the last weeks, so. I don't know."

"I've been having nightmares all week where she and Harold find me, and then I end up back with them, and i can't get away, and no one knows where I am, and no one's coming for me because they all think it's what I wanted and…and just a lot of screwed up bullshit like that, but it gets in my head, you know? So then…I don't know. I had a really bad dream a few hours ago and I was scared, and then I felt safer…in your room. That's all. That's why I went in there. I'm really sorry-"

"Jess." Metal reached over her head and pulled out the box of chamomile tea. "You're fine. I'm not upset about it. Glad you felt safer there."

He tossed a bag in each cup and poured water on top before handing her the mug she typically chose and wordlessly indicated for her to follow him to the couches.

"As for those nightmares, you need to keep in mind that it doesn't matter what country you're in, if someone took you there would be hell to pay. Period. And you can bet your ass we wouldn't sleep until you were found."

"Not being found is what scares me the most." Jess mumbled as she sat down close beside him. Her shoulder settled against his without the same hesitation she used weeks ago.

"Pipsqueak, look at me." He waited until her big frightened eyes met his. "In the unlikely event that anyone ever took you, we will find you. I promise."

Jess visibly swallowed back tears and she leaned against him, prompting him to lift his arm and let her shift closer.

"People disappear everyday, and they don't get found."

"Jess." Metal poured all the completely egotistical confidence and belief in his team's abilities into his patient growl. "If anything ever happens, we will find you."

"How?"

"If I told you that I would be sharing information that I am not at liberty to discuss."

That answer had the desired effect and Jess smiled.

"Fair enough." She relaxed just a little and drank her tea.

Since there wasn't a way to further reassure her without getting too blunt and graphic about what would happen to anyone who dared take or harm their girl, Metal opted for staying quiet, keeping an arm around Jess and trying not to think about the fact that he was also a little worried about her crazy ass mother doing something.

The kid sure had toxic relatives. Any one of them could bring trouble down the line.