I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time.
Anna Freud

Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"It's not as bad as it looks Jack."
Jack stood there next to his wife Sara of 5 years and looked over at her like she had grown another head. They were standing in the gym of a high school decorated with candles and artwork made out of paper. Jack had been miserable pulling at his tux since they had left his parents house 15 minutes ago.

"Yeah sure ya betcha." Jack said complainingly. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Jack you were the one that offered our services remember."

"Yeah but when I said we would chaperone Emma's dance I didn't think I was going to have to wear this." Jack said as he waved his hand over his outfit.

"Honey it's prom, what did you expect?" Sara stated as she giggled but quickly stopped as she saw the unamused look on Jack's face. To make it better she quickly readjusted his bowtie so that it would not bother him anymore. Once done he mumbled a quick thanks and started looking around him. It reminded him of his prom, well what little he remembered of his prom, he had not stayed long for either of them. Though this prom did have the standard bad decorations, though he would not tell Emma that since he knew she had worked on them for weeks with her friends, bad music, girls in big dresses and guys in uncomfortable tuxes. They had been there for 5 minutes and Jack was already thinking of ways to get out of here.

Jack and Sara had set about checking on everyone and talking to the other chaperones. An hour into the prom Jack heard an all too familiar voice calling out to him.

"Uncle Jack!" Emma called from a little ways away. Jack turned around and saw his niece standing there in her pink dress. She looked like an angel, her brown hair being held up in a bun with little curls framing her face. She was dragging her poor date behind her and he looked like he was having as much fun as Jack was.

"Emma, did you just get here?" Sara asked coming up beside Jack.

"Hey Aunt Sara. Yeah the waiter was so slow!" Emma said throwing her hands up in frustration. "I was so worried that we would not make it here. I mean he was so rude and he split some soda on Jamie's dress and didn't even apologize…" and as Emma spoke a million words per minute Jack zoned out along with Emma's date. His wife all the while listening intently to her but Jack was gone. Jack was starting to get hot in his tux and he really needed to get out of this place, get some fresh air. It also looked like Emma's date needed some air too and by the looks of the ladies they could continue talking till the sun rose. Jack had remembered earlier that the area outside the back of the gym had been set-up too.

"Hey." Jack thought for a moment, he really should know this guys name, his niece had been dating him for almost a year now. Jay, Jason…no…Jordan that was it. "Jordan, you want to step outside for a moment?" Jack said pointing towards the door.

"Uhhhhh Mr. O'N." Jordan started before he was cut off.

"Ahh ahh ahh what have I said about calling me Mr.O'Neill? It's Jack; and I'm not going to give you a speech again I promise. I just really need to get some fresh air and you look like you need it too." Jack finished and looked almost pleadingly at Jordan.

"Yeah I actually could use some air. This tux is hot." Jordan said as he started pulling at his bow tie. Jack motioned to his wife that he and Jordan were going outside and they made their escape.

The night was clear, not a cloud in the sky. The area behind the gym was set up with Christmas lights strung over the back patio that led to the Football/Track bleachers and down the hill towards the lake where a gazebo was set up. Jack walked over to the bleachers and took a reclining seat over a couple of bleachers so that he could look up at the stars. Jordan looked nervous for a moment before hesitantly taking a seat.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Jack looking at the stars and Jordan looking at his hands.

"It was nice of you to come here to chaperone the prom." Jordan began. "Emma's been looking forward to this for a while." Jack looked at Jordan with a quizzical stare. "She feels left out some times. She doesn't have stories about her crazy parents or any brothers or sisters to fight with." Jordan paused for a moment. "You make her feel normal, because even though you are barely around so are most aunts and uncles. You come in and hang out with her and then go back to your home. You are the only thing normal to her when it comes to family since her grandparents are raising her. When you show up in town its like she gets rejuvenated." Jordan finishes. Jack sat there in shock.

"I don't do anything special." Jack finally stated.

"That's what she likes. She likes that for a moment she can be just like everyone else." Jordan finished.

"She is like everyone else." Jack stated.

"I know that, but I don't think Emma wants to see that, at least she's not able to see it yet." Jordan finished. Jack sighed and a long silence ensued. Jordan joined Jack and started looking at the stars. They figured if their other halves wanted them they would come and get them. Some 30 minutes later they heard the door open from the gym and the guys looked to see if it's their dates. A girl, with blond hair pulled up with red jewel accents with a black dress trimmed in red, and a guy, with brown short hair in a tux, walked out, like so many couples before them. The girl saw Jordan and Jack on the bleachers and acknowledged them.

"Where are you taking me James?" the girl asked as she continued walking with her date towards the lake.

"You'll see in a minute." James said. James didn't seem to notice the two. So Jack and Jordan looked at them for a moment like they had all the other couples that had gone towards the lake and then went back to star gazing.

A couple of minutes later Jack shot straight up from where he had been sitting and started looking around. Something was not right; Jordan looked at him confused and sat up. Jack jumped to his feet and jumped off the bleachers, Jordan close behind him; as he ran off towards the lake. There were a few couples at the shore along with a few chaperons. Jack looked around but he did not see what he was looking for. He walked over to one of the male chaperones, "Did you see a girl with blond hair in a black dress with some red in it with a guy?" Jack asked as he caught his breath. The man looked at Jack for a second thinking over it.

"No I don't remember ever seeing them." He turns to the lady next to him. "Leslie do you remember seeing a girl in a black dress with red in it with blond hair?" Leslie thought about it.

"No I haven't, I would remember that dress combination." Leslie replied as she pointed out all the girls at the lake right now had light pastel colored dresses on. Jack ran his hand through his hair and then made his way back up the path to the gym looking for signs of someone going off the path.

"Jack what's going on?" Jordan finally spoke up.

"Something just doesn't sit right." Jack said as he continued to look at the side of the path. Jordan looked at Jack and then helped Jack look for anything out of place. As they got closer to the gym Jack started to get worried and looked back over his shoulder towards the lake. Off to the left was the field house that was situated at the end of the football/track field beyond that was a field and some trees that led to the lake; off to the right was a forest that started near the gym and went towards and around the lake. Jack studied the forest section harder; he and Jordan would have noticed someone walking in the field.

"There Jack." Jordan says as he grabs Jack by the arm pointing towards the woods nearer to their position. Jack squinted to see what Jordan was pointing towards.

"What do you see?" Jack asked. Jordan walked into the forest where he had been pointing Jack followed right behind him.

"This." Jordan said as he pointed to the red hair jewel that was in the tree branch. That was all Jack needed to see before he made his way deeper into the forest. They every now and then stumbled onto another clue. Five minutes after entering the forest they approached a clearing and heard the sounds of struggling. Jack and Jordan both broke out into a run into the clearing where they saw the couple they were looking for. The girl had just fought James off of her and the two were circling each other. It was obvious that the girl had been taught to fight and she was good but she was also at a disadvantage; James was not wearing a long dress.

"What is going on here?" Jack said in a commanding voice as he made his way towards the two. James looked towards Jack while the girl was still cautious keeping an eye both on James and an eye on Jack.

"Nothing." James answered immediately. "Just showing my date the stars." Jack raised a questioning eye towards James while getting a good look at the girl. Her hair had fallen a bit and she was supporting a few burses but nothing major. James was also looking a bit rough and had a few scratch marks on his face.

"All the way out here?" Jack asked as he signaled Jordan to walk towards and check on the girl.

"Less light pollution here, you can see the stars better." James answered.

"Alright here is how it's going to go; you are going to stop Bull Shitting me." Jack stated.

"Sir?" James asked.

"Let me tell you what I saw. Jordan and myself were looking at the stars and I saw the two of you walk out of the gym heading towards the lake, which is ok. Until I thought about the fact that your date asked you where you were going and you said 'You'll see in a minute.' Something about that just sounded a bit off so I followed you out here. Then I come all the way through the woods and see you both fighting. I asked you what is going on and you say nothing. That did not look like nothing. Will you now tell me what the hell is going on?" Jack commanded. The guy looked at his feet. Jack looked towards Jordan. "How is she?"

"She's fine Jack she just wants to go home. If it's alright with you I want to escort her back to the gym. I know Emma would have no problem taking her home." Jordan answered. Jack looked again at James and then over to Jordan and the girl.

"Yeah that sounds good. Take her by the Principals office first so she can tell them what happened or make an appointment for Monday to tell her side of the story." Jack stated. Jordan and the girl walked back towards the woods and the school. When they were out of view Jack decided to try one more time. "Why did you bring her out here?"

"Honestly she asked for it." James said while looking Jack in the eye.

"She asked for a fight?" Jack asked doubtfully waving his left arm in the air towards where the girl had just left.

"No!" James said with a pause. "She said she wanted to ummm…"

"Look I don't know what you have been told but she did not look like she wanted to do anything with you; at least not whatever ummm was." Jack stated waving his hands in the air for dramatic impact. "You must have read all the signs wrong." Jack stated.

"No, no I didn't." James quickly replied. Jack looked at him to continue. "See last week we were talking with a group of friends and one of the couple said they were gonna reach home base tonight. So later on when I was taking her back to her dad's I asked her if we were gonna and she said mmhmmm." Jack raised a questioning eye at this.

"She say anything else after that?" Jack asked.

"Uh…no." James answered.

"You sure she was paying attention to what you were saying. You sure that wasn't a hmmm? As in repeat what you just said." Jack stated. James stood there in shock for a moment thinking it over. "Look I don't know anything about this girl but it looks like to me that she isn't one to get into trouble. So are you sure she said mmmhmmm."

"Well she is top in our class and she is trying really hard to get into the Air force. I messed it up big time didn't I?" James stated looking ashamed.

"Ya betcha." Jack answered. "Let's take you to the Principal's office so you can explain everything." Jack started walking towards the forest as James followed sluggishly behind.

"Sam's never going to want to go out with me again is she?" James asked.

"I don't think so." Jack replied. James looked sad for a moment.

"How could I be so stupid?"
A/N: Ok everyone wave to the new beta this week...Amber. Thanks:-). Now as always read & review...if it is aweful, tell me...if it's awesome, tell me...you are still confused, tell me...I promis though one more chapter of confusion for those that still are then I promise it will all make sense. Oh and to those that reviewed last chapter I can't remember if I replied but thank you all!
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