He'd seen her around the past few weeks. She was always with the same group of girls, the typical 'early 20's, college, looking to flirt with some frogmen' kind of girls.

Usually he just ignored those. They were borderline irritating, shallow and their presence just attracted young jarheads who would pretend to be something special, spouting all sorts of lies just to get with one of them.

This was different.

The short, dark-haired girl always came with the group, but she never drank, she never flirted and looked downright terrified anytime someone paid her the slightest bit of attention. Hell, he was pretty sure she sat in a corner and studied most nights rather than talk to people until her friends would notice and drag her out again.

When her friends weren't flirting or forcing her into social situations, she seemed to relax and enjoy herself more, but for the most part she just came, kept her friends out of trouble, didn't drink and then hustled them all home when it was time to leave. His working theory was that she was their designated driver every week.

Again, normally he wouldn't even notice, but the way she carried herself put him on edge. It reminded him of his sister, serving to ignite a vigilance in keeping an eye on her anytime he saw her, just to make sure she was ok.

Today she'd come in alone earlier than usual, holding her coat folded in her arms across her chest as though it could make her invisible as she craned her neck, searching for her friends. The moment she saw they weren't there color drained from her face and she hesitated near the door. Metal was sure she would bolt, but she didn't. Instead she dug out her phone and frantically typed away as she headed to a booth as far as she could manage from the rowdy Seal wannabes by the pool tables.

"I'll never understand that girl," Sonny commented as his eyes tracked to where Metal was looking. "Only person I have ever seen study in a bar as though it were a library."

Brock glanced at the girl in the booth as Metal went back to his beer.

"Is it just me or does she always seem absolutely terrified when she's here?"

Jason and Clay stopped their banter with Trent to listen.

"Well it's either that or she drinks too much coffee. Look how those hands are shaking."

Stealing another glance in the reflection of the pictures, Metal saw it was true. Her hands were shaking as she pulled books from her bag and she looked like she might cry. One more quick, worried glance cast about the room with those wild, wide eyes was all it took.

Metal couldn't stand it any longer and he rose to his hulking height with one fluid motion and walked from his team's table without a word.

He heard Sonny saying, "Well this otta be interesting…should we be stopping him? He's not exactly the warm fuzzy reassuring type." as he approached the girl.

Predictably, the second her head raised and she registered he was sitting down across from her, what little color that had been still present in her cheeks left completely and she went a shade of grey as her mouth opened and closed without a sound.

"First off," Metal began in a low, gruff voice that could never be described as comforting, but was the best he could do. "I want to make it clear; I'm not over here to hit on you or harass you, just wanted to make sure you're ok. You looked pretty upset and scared when you came in. Just wanna know if I can help."

Metal's face was dead serious as he steadily met the surprised stare of the other. Fear and apprehension faded as she processed his words only to be replaced with embarrassment and uncertainty.

"I-I'm so sorry," were the first words out of her mouth. It made Metal bristle a little. No sweet thing like her should ever think they should be apologizing for being scared, like they were the problem.

She cast a quick look around the room and ducked her head down when she caught Sonny glancing at them. Metal glared at the Texan and he wisely turned away.

"Don't be sorry. Just wanna understand." Metal told her, somehow managing to get a little more of the usual gravel out of his voice so it sounded gentler.

She shook her head and rubbed her face. "No…no I really am sorry. I…I'm just not super comfortable in bars…that's all…without my friends…you know? It's dumb really. I shouldn't just-just assume everyone in here is…I don't know. I don't mind so much when I'm with my friends! It's actually nice here, way better than other places they tried to take me and nothing has ever happened here but without them- I'm just alone and-"

She clicked her mouth shut and worry clouded her face again when she met his gaze again. "Sorry."

"Strength in numbers. Safety in numbers. I understand."

The girl nodded vigorously as he spoke, tears springing dangerously close to the surface. He hated that lost, vulnerable and desperate look in her eye.

"Name's Scott Carter, but most people just call me Metal."

The girl took his hand slowly, her face falling a little as a little bit of doubt slipped in.

"You don't have to tell me your name just because I told you mine." Scott told her firmly, remembering clearly that night he held his little sister as she cried after being harassed by some punk while out with her friends so many years ago. "If you don't want to, you don't have to and you should never feel like you have to."

Doubt melted just like that and something in the girl shifted. A tiny smile almost surfaced. "Thank you. It's ok though. I'm Jess."

"Good to meet you, Jess. So, if it scares you so much to come here, why let your friends drag you along."

Jess bit her lips and looked out the window before answering. "They think I should get out more, and they're probably right. And they need a driver when they drink too much and I care about them so I want them safe. Besides…I want to get over this. I can't just spend my life scared all the time. I want to be able to have fun with my friends and not freak out because I'm worried someone will harass me or I'll end up in a bad situation. Can't just assume every guy out there is a bad one, right?"

Scott paused a long moment, studying her and feeling his gut twist in a way it hadn't since before his sister had passed. Finally he nodded when Jess looked like she was about to apologize again.

"You want to overcome your fears. I respect that. It's not an easy thing."

"Thanks." Jess was staring at the closed books in front of her. Something in her voice said she was embarrassed and the ground he'd made was disappearing as she retreated into herself again.

"My little sister had the same problem at your age. She had to be real brave to get over her fears. She was amazing." Scott surprised himself. He hardly ever mentioned her to the team let alone a near stranger. Yet, he knew she would have wanted him to do this. He knew she would be proud of this at least, even if she hadn't been proud of everything he was. "You need back up if you're going to face this. Not just your flirting friends who don't show up on time. You need to know there are good people watching out for you here. People who are safe."

Jess lifted her head with painful shyness this time and asked in a voice so small it was barely above a whisper, "A-are you one of those people?"

"Yup." Metal set his jaw and got up, "Come with me. I'm going to introduce you to some more."