Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, form, or fashion own Without a Trace. If I did the show would be over because Sam and Martin would already be married.

A/N: This one's pretty short. Jack only went into the field a few times and the episode was more about getting used to having Vivian and Martin back. No worries though, more shall be coming soon. And also, I apologize for having two of the same POV in a row. I'll try to avoid that in the future.

Muzzy-Olorea-Trust me, if it were up to me the whole hour of show would be Martin and Sam making out in the break room…too bad though. Of course, I'm not sure how that would go over with CBS, but you never know. I'm slightly afraid that I can write Jack. I'm not sure this chapter is up to par though. Oh well, I have a whole season… and sorry about the weird chapter four that I sent you…

Jtsideout389-Thanks for the lovely compliments! I agree, Jack is a great agent and a good character as long as he doesn't date Sam…that's just gross.

POV: Jack Malone
Spoilers: Safe

Chapter Four: Spread Too Thin

Martin called me the night before.

"Hey Jack, this is Martin. I just wanted to let you know I'll be back at work tomorrow. My psychiatrist and physical therapist have signed me off and say I'm ready. If that's a problem just give me a call back…I'll uh, be at home all night so, yeah. I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning. Night."

I wasn't sure that six weeks was long enough for him to recuperate no matter what his doctors said. But he was determined and I could always keep him in the office until I think he's ready.

I didn't call him back though and I didn't call him when we got wind of the missing high schooler. In fact, we were well into the case before I even saw him.

I wasn't at all surprised that he was on the phone working out the canvassing. I was pleased though. And the fact that he didn't throw a fit or get grumpy because he realized I was sticking him with desk work was very nice. It always irritated me when agents couldn't accept the fact that they couldn't start where they had left off after an accident.

For example, Vivian not understanding why she wasn't out chasing the bad guys. I'm just trying to do what is best for my team. She's not ready to be running after fugitives and she has to know that. Has she already forgotten the Chelsea Prince case?

I had to check to make sure that I didn't have a huge sign plastered across my face that said "Yell at me" or "Blame all of your problems on me" after Danny pulled his "yes, sir" crap.

There are trained specialists who deal with potential bombs and clearing buildings every day. Danny is not one of them. There are other places he could be that would be more helpful. If he were to go into that building he would only be in SWAT's way. But of course he doesn't want to hear that, he's already lived through one near death experience.

Danny is just asking for trouble. He shoots through closed doors, acts way too much on emotion and smarts off to me. And now, thanks to a faulty wire in a bomb I can add "thinks he's invincible" to the list.

I gave specific orders to find the kid and stay put. Where in that statement is "try to talk him down" implied? Ryan is going to be in therapy for years trying to get over the fact that he tried to blow himself up with a bomb and still failed.

After this case, I was more convinced than ever that we needed a new member. It was never specifically the fact that Martin was shot, Vivian had heart surgery and Danny is acting reckless. It's a combination of that really, along with the fact that we've been working day and night with an injured team for a year and it's starting to get to us.

The last thing I would ever want to do is to bring someone new into an already tight team that cares about each other and can predict each other's actions before they actually happen.

But it's necessary.

Exactly like I said to Martin, we're just "spread too thin."

A/N-I'm so excited! Lost Time airs tomorrow! Yay! I'm just going to try and get as many of these done before tomorrow night. Next will be Viv's about thinking Jack is holding her back and witnessing the S/M hug. It will probably be pretty short too. Then Danny focusing more on the drama of "survivor's guilt" but also trying to delve into exactly what he was thinking with that kid. Then of course the S/M chapters…prepare for fluff. I practically shattered glass when I saw that scene I was screeching so loudly.

Anyway, leave me a review and I'll give you a cookie!