Disclaimer: Just borrowing them for a bit. I promise to give them back when I'm done (if I have to).

Timing: The weekend before "Beachhead"

A/N: This is the prologue for a series of short stories I plan to do on Jack's reactions to some of the events in seasons 9 and 10. I don't plan to do every episode but there are a few events in particular that have stuck out to me each time I've watched these seasons. They will deal almost entirely with times when Sam was in a tight spot and Jack was afraid he was going to lose her. Expect a combination of angst, fluff, and hurt/comfort. The title of the series was inspired by the following conversation from the episode "The Shroud."

Jack: I've always been the one who caused the worry, not the worrier.

General Landry: It's not easy; don't second guess yourself. This is the best possible course of action.

Jack: Exactly! Action… good. Sitting around… bad.

Prologue: Need

By the time Sam arrived at Jack's Washington, D.C. apartment she knew something was wrong. Although he had greeted her with his normal bear hug at the airport, his cocky grin was absent and he was unusually quiet during the drive home. Jack normally spent most of the drive making jokes and doing his best to get her giggling. He may have given her grief about giggling when they were both on SG-1, but over the past few months it had become clear that he absolutely loved being the one to cause it. Tonight was different, however. Jack barely said two words during the trip; he simply entwined their fingers and stared out the front windshield with a pensive look on his face. Shutting the door behind them, Sam grabbed hold of his hand and led him towards the couch in his living room. Pulling him down beside her she turned to him.

"Jack, what's wrong?"

"Why don't I get us a beer? You hungry?" Jack responded, ignoring her question.

"Nice try." Sam admonished as she gripped his hand tighter refusing to let him rise from where he was sitting. "Talk to me, Jack. I know you well enough to know when something is bothering you. What's going on?"

"They need you…" Jack mumbled with a sigh.

"Who?"

"The SGC."

"We both knew that this was likely to happen eventually. You know as well as I do that there aren't many technical experts that also have my field experience." With the new threat that the Ori posed Sam wasn't surprised to hear that her time at Area 51 was coming to a close. She would always enjoy research and development, but she had been serious when she told Cam that if the world needed saving again she would be there. She just hadn't expected it to need saving again so soon.

"I know it was only a matter of time, and I agree with Landry that you're the best there is, but signing the orders that will send you back into harm's way was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you." Jack replied quietly.

As Jack spoke he reached out to brush Sam's hair behind her ear and gently caressed her cheek. She pressed a kiss into his palm in response and then nestled into his side resting her head on his chest. She didn't say a word, merely gave him a squeeze and waited for him to continue. Jack had never been good at expressing his feelings, and she had learned through the years that in the rare moments he opened up it was best not to interrupt.

"Somehow it was different when I was leading SG-1. No matter how bad things looked I took comfort in the fact that I was there to watch your back and you were there to watch mine. I felt like I could protect you when things went wrong, although I think you ended up doing most of the protecting." Jack was rewarded by a giggle from Sam for that statement, which brought a grin to his face momentarily. "Even when I was in command of the SGC I knew that if you were in trouble I could suit up and lead the rescue mission myself. Walter probably would have had a fit, but I would have done it anyway. Now I'm going to be stuck in boring meetings across the country worrying and feeling helpless because there's absolutely nothing I can do if something bad happens. I promised you I'd always be there for you, but now I'm afraid I won't be able to keep that promise. And honestly, Sam, that terrifies me; I'd rather face an entire goa'uld fleet than know you are in danger without being able to do a damn thing about it."

"You're wrong, Jack. You'll be able to always be able to help me no matter where you are." Sam finally replied as he pulled her even closer into his side.

"How do you figure that? I don't think being stuck at my desk in the pentagon will be much help to you if you're captured by the Ori."

"Remember when we were stranded in Antarctica?" Sam questioned turning her head and looking up so that she could see his face.

"I try not to." Jack grimaced.

"You told me about the time your parachute opened late."

"I try not to remember that either."

"You also told me that the only thing that got you out of that alive was Sarah. She gave you a reason to make it home. That's what you give me, Jack. No matter how far apart we are, or how much trouble I'm in, you'll give me a reason to fight to make it back. Knowing you love me will be enough." Sam finished by shifting so that she was face to face with Jack and brushing his lips with a kiss.

"I do love you, you know." Jack whispered pulling her into an embrace and nuzzling her neck.

"I love you too." Sam whispered into his shoulder in reply. They held each other like that for several minutes simply enjoying the comfort of each other's arms before Jack pulled back slightly.

"It's still not going to be easy for me." he complained.

"And when is anything we do ever easy?" Sam questioned giving him a slight smirk.

"You do have a point there." He chuckled starting to feel a little better. "You have to promise me you'll be careful though. The SGC may need you, but so do I."