The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) field team stationed in Los Angeles was quite unique.
Historically, while the BAU had field personnel, most of the team consisted of office-based analysts and consultants recruited from universities and research institutes. These consultants were similar to California Bureau of Investigation (CBI)'s Patrick Jane, a fake psychic but also a psychological expert.
Occasionally, they would accompany detectives to crime scenes, but for the most part, the BAU provided assistance to local law enforcement agencies through written reports.
The usual process involved local police departments or sheriff's offices providing leads and detailed case files. The analysts and consultants would then sit in front of their computers, analyzing the materials. Based on their education and accumulated experience from previous cases, they would conduct behavioral analyses and psychological profiles of the suspects, summarizing their characteristics and likely background to assist local authorities in solving the case.
Typically, this type of profiling was like shooting arrows in a pitch-black room. The archer had to rely on everything but vision, including experience, but whether they hit the target often depended on luck.
Rossi's decision to form this BAU field team had proven to be quite successful. In less than six months, they had solved several cases and even thwarted two serious terrorist attacks just in time.
This made JJ's job increasingly hectic. Her role was to sift through requests for assistance from various law enforcement agencies, prioritizing them based on importance and urgency.
As the number of requests from headquarters and other locations increased, JJ was inundated with emails and phone calls every day.
Of course, that didn't mean the rest of the team had nothing to do when they weren't on the field.
Rossi had his new book to focus on, and occasionally took time off for book signings.
Reid's mentor, Jason Gideon, had left the BAU and was now teaching at the University of California. As a fellow expert in psychology, he occasionally invited Reid to give lectures or act as a teaching assistant.
Hotchner, in addition to his administrative duties, was also heavily involved in the criminal behavior research project—a permanent initiative in which all team members participated. This involved visiting high-security prisons to interview cooperating criminals.
The last time he and Reid visited Terminal Prison, they encountered a riot, which was part of this research project. The project's goal was to gather more case studies and experience for behavioral profiling.
To prevent any more mishaps, Jack, the team's muscle, became indispensable. Every time they visited high-risk prisons, either Hotchner and Jack went together, or Emily joined as well.
Even during occasional downtime, everyone had to return to their roots as analysts. Although many cases, after JJ's screening, didn't require them to be on-site, they still needed to provide analysis reports.
These reports were crucial, as the success rate of profiling shaped the BAU's reputation. Although the 1990s, when psychological profiling was viewed skeptically as nonsense, were long gone, the accuracy of their analysis was still highly important. A solid reputation within the law enforcement system ensured a steady flow of critical cases.
While most of these cases were handled by the BAU headquarters in Quantico, both Hotchner and Rossi insisted on retaining some for the field team.
Analyzing these cases was akin to grinding through small tasks in a game, slowly accumulating experience through paperwork.
With all that said, it was clear how difficult it was for Jack to take a vacation. After carefully organizing his workload, he finally managed to secure some time off. He bought a plane ticket and boarded a flight to New York.
On the phone, Hunter and Didi had been vague. The gist was that they had an old friend who had been deprived of his freedom by an unscrupulous guardian and was currently confined in a nursing home.
The elderly couple, with few contacts on the East Coast, had managed to hire a lawyer and even went to court, but they lost the case. It seemed that both the family court judge and their old friend's private doctor were compromised. Desperate, they sought Jack's help to figure out how to get the elderly man, Joe Mason, out of that cursed nursing home.
Wearing sunglasses and listening to Taylor Swift's "Welcome to New York" on his headphones, Jack walked out of John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Since joining the BAU, Jack had been to Maryland and Connecticut but had somehow never made it to New York. And now here he was, finally in the famous Big Apple. But there was no time for sightseeing in this world-renowned financial center.
Leaving the airport, he rented a Camry and, following the GPS, drove west to a small town by the Hudson River called Cold Spring.
It was a beautiful town, filled with antique shops and bookstores. Small enough to walk through in half a day, Jack drove around for a while before finding a tiny, nondescript motel. Hunter and Didi were already waiting at the door.
Standing behind the elderly couple was a large, bald man—white, in his fifties, with deep wrinkles but still a tough-guy appearance.
Jack took off his sunglasses and looked at the man through the car window, feeling a bit puzzled.
In this world, there was indeed a famous action star named Bruce Willis. Jack had seen a few of his movies. On screen, he looked a bit more handsome and always had a full head of hair, though his height maxed out at Tom Cruise levels.
Jack hadn't paid much attention to this world's celebrity oddities. He had seen many such variations, like Nicolas Cage, who in this world hadn't gone bankrupt or worked as relentlessly. He also didn't look the same, more resembling Jack's impression of a goofy, average-looking Nicolas Zhao Si. Cage often starred in slapstick comedies, competing with Jim Carrey for roles.
But now, standing in front of Jack was a bald, rugged man who looked far more like the Bruce Willis from his previous life.
The man gave Jack a strong hug, and the Hunter couple introduced him as Frank Moses, a former senior CIA operative, now retired.
Jack's mind went numb. He couldn't for the life of him figure out how Hunter had gotten mixed up with R.E.D. (Retired Extremely Dangerous). How did Rick Hunter, a lifetime cop from the West Coast, and Dee Dee McCall know someone like this?
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