I totally apologise for the delay in this but I couldn't get into my account, anyone else had problems? So here is chapter 4 and things are about to take a really interesting turn. Hope you enjoy, thanks for the reviews, will reply personally now that I can get into the site.

True to his word, Jack had managed to get a pass to be off campus on Thursday night and now he was getting ready to go out, he knew that once she spent time with him the other dates would be in the bag. He put on his Levi's, a tight white T-shirt and his leather jacket, sure to knock her socks off!

Now he was sitting in a booth at O'Malley's, which wasn't the type of place where most cadets hung out but it had good food and a good atmosphere. So here he sat... and sat and sat. A waitress took pity on him and put down a taco starter, even though he hadn't asked for it. 9 pm came and went and there was still no sign of Sam. Now, Jack was a pretty confident guy – particularly confident about his abilities when it came to women – but sitting for nearly two hours on his own was taking its toll.

Jack looked at his watch again and decided that enough was enough. He stood, threw some bills on the table, and headed for the door. Just as he was about to step through Sam appeared in front of him, only it wasn't the Sam he'd met on Saturday. This Sam looked scared, was wearing large dark sunglasses, and was looking very dishevelled.

"Jack! Hi… I'm sorry…"

"Sam! Are you okay?"

Sam looked over her shoulder, still not removing the glasses. "Can we go somewhere? Anywhere?"

"Sure. C'mon, my truck's over there. Where's your bike?"

"Not here. I walked… had to walk."

Jack ushered Sam to the truck. He was worried about her. She looked seriously spooked. He'd only ever seen this once before, his high school friend in Chicago, after she'd been stalked by a guy whose nose Jack had happily broken. He was suddenly feeling very protective towards this woman whom he hardly knew. This was turning into more than a date for a bet.

Once they were both settled in the truck Jack could feel Sam relaxing, so he tried to push a little more, get her to open up.

"You want to take off the glasses now?"

Sam did so, gingerly. She looked down, ashamed to face him.

Jack reached under her chin and gently pulled her face to face him. "Oh, baby, who did this to you?" The endearment fell from his lips and neither of them really noticed. Jack looked at Sam; she had a bruise around her right eye and a cut above her nose. He flicked on the interior light in the truck and could see that her lip was cut and bruised as well.

"It's nothing… really. It looks a lot worse than it is." Sam answered, nervously pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Well, okay, it looks like someone used you as a punching bag," Jack began sarcastically, "But if it looks worse than it is maybe it wasn't like that." Jack was getting angry, not at her but at the person who'd done this too her. However, all his tone managed to do was make her flinch and curl a little in the seat as if to protect herself.

Jack took a breath at her involuntary movement; the last thing he wanted to do was to spook her into leaving him. Who knew what – or who – would be waiting for her outside the safety of his truck.

"Do you know the person who hurt you?" he asked quietly.

Sam nodded slowly.

"Is he a cadet?" Jack asked, already knowing the answer, and he got even angrier when she nodded again.

"Sam, we need to tell the commander, now."

"No! I don't want to cause any trouble."

"You're not causing trouble. Whoever this arrogant SOB is, he doesn't deserve to be in the Air Force if he does something like this."

"I deserved it," Sam mumbled quietly.

This, more than anything that had occurred in the last few minutes, incensed Jack. It was the same thing his school friend had said and it angered him. Why did women think they deserved to be treated so badly?

"No, Sam, now you listen to me. I don't know you very well but I'm damned sure you did nothing to deserve getting beaten up. No one does."

"I shouldn't be here…. with you." Sam was starting to get panicky and tried to leave the cab of the truck.

Jack gently touched her face. "Was this about me?"

"He found out. I know I'm not allowed to see other boys… but he hadn't been around for so long."

"Is he your boyfriend?" Jack asked, annoyed that Daniel in his infinite wisdom couldn't have picked a girl without a mean git for a boyfriend.

"No, he just wants to keep me for himself."

"Sam, I get confused really easily and this one is a doozy. But for now the only thing I need to know is that he's a cadet and he beat you up. I'm taking you to General Hammond."

"No! I can't go to him! He'll tell my dad."

"And so he should. Any idiot who beats up a 2-star's daughter deserves what he gets.

"You don't understand. Dad'll be so disappointed in me. I'm supposed to be able to defend myself."

"And you did. You got away from him, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I kneed him where it really hurts and then took off but I didn't know where else to go so I came to find you. I don't really have any friends."

"See, you got away. But we're still going to see Hammond," Jack said determinedly. His whole demeanour then changed and he gently cupped Sam's face and rubbed his thumb over her cheek. He looked directly into her eyes before adding softly, "I'm glad you came to find me." He gave her one last look before turning and starting the truck. "C'mon, if I know Hammond well enough he'll have just settled down to a supper of tea and scones. Maybe he'll have some for us." Jack grinned at Sam before pulling out of the carpark. He headed towards the base and his commander's house.

"How do you know the General so well?" Sam asked quietly.

"My dad was Air Force and they served together."

Sam seemed to immediately relax at this answer and Jack was confused as to why. They soon arrived back at the base and Jack parked outside the small wooden house where the Hammonds lived. He got out and eyeballed Sam into doing the same. They made their way up the path and Jack knocked on the door. It was answered by a woman of around 50.

"Jack! What brings you by… and, oh… Sam! Oh, my word, come in, let me take look at you."

"Hi, Auntie Margaret. Is Uncle George home?

You could have knocked Jack down with a feather. Their Commander, the man in charge of the Academy – a 2-star no less – was her uncle! She'd kept that very quiet. Whoever this cadet who had hurt her was, was in serious hot water.

AN: So what do you think? Hope you enjoyed.