So remember, this is a different story (this one is a bit of a shout out to Criminal Minds)

Habit

William James wrote, habit is thus the enormous fly-wheel of society, its most precious conservative agent. Agent Bobby Goren leaned his head back on the head rest of his seat on the Acela Amtrak train that ran between D.C. and New York, thinking about the quote by William James. If habit was what kept society spinning, than habit was the thing that was going to help him stop this particular unsub from taking another victim. Bobby had been tracking this particular unsub for the past 6 months across various states. And, if this was the same person, he had just broken a habit in New York, and usually this was exactly the break the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI needed to catch a killer.

Bobby wasn't looking forward to his time in New York, he had left the city several decades ago, and left behind not many happy memories. The ties that had kept him in New York for his childhood through college were precisely the ties that now kept him away. He had opted to take the train solo, arranging to meet the rest of the BAU team working this case in Manhattan. Apparently the 2-7 in New York had caught the case, so Bobby was brushing up by reviewing the file of the two lead detectives, Logan and Benson, investigating the murder of latest victim. He was to report to the commanding officer, Lieutenant Alexandra Eames, as soon as he arrived.

Bobby was directed to a small conference room and was informed that the other members of the BAU had arrived. They were never welcomed by the locals, and he was used to the looks and the attitude, but he knew that some of the members of his team were not as thick skinned as he was.

He rounded the corner and through the glass windows of the conference room, he could see his right hand, Dr. Lucy Jones conversing with Detective Logan. Lucy was smiling and nodding, her body language open and attentive. She was a pro and talking with people, at getting them to admit to the damndest things. She was also keenly intelligent, highly observant, and possessed a phenomenal memory for detail. She could take a part an individual and dissect their psyche better than just about any one he had ever worked with, perhaps even better then himself. He stood, watching her for a moment, feeling a strange vibe that her flirting was not simply part of her job, that she was genuinely laughing at whatever the detective was saying.

"Agent Goren." A female voice interrupted his thoughts. "Lieutenant Eames." A petite brunette extended her hand and shook his firmly. "This way." She gestured toward the conference room without mincing words.

"Detective, where is your partner?" Eames asked Logan.

"Right here Lieu." A tall brunette walked into the conference room.

"So, what do we have?" Bobby asked Lucy, who immediately left her conversation with the charming Detective Logan and joined Bobby at the large white board covered in the case that the 2-7 was building.

"This is our guy." Bobby mumbled to himself.

"I'm sorry agent, but to be clear, this is our guy." Lieutenant Eames had quietly walked up beside Bobby. "Until I am informed otherwise, you are here to assist us, not the other way around." She snarked. Bobby flicked a glance in Eames direction, her expression was polite and professional, but she was definitely pinning him down with the pointed expression in her honey colored eyes. Bobby allowed a slight nod, acknowledging that he had heard the Lieutenant, and recognized that the state of New York had jurisdiction, for now. "We'll leave you alone, for a moment, to catch up with your, um, team." Eames said, looking at Lucy.

"What did you learn from Detective Logan?" Bobby asked as soon as the Lieutenant and Detectives had left the room. As he asked the question, his eyes followed the Lieutenant down the hallway, there was something familiar about her, something that drew him in. He couldn't place it, and was distracted by it.

"Not much." Lucy replied, watching Bobby watch the lieutenant.

"You never learn not much." Bobby returned his gaze to Lucy.

"What did you learn from the Lieutenant?" Lucy asked.

"I haven't spoken with her yet." Bobby admitted.

"Really." Lucy observed, she had sensed something between them, a familiarity between them.

"I'll let you know." Bobby replied, looking at Lucy, thinking about the way she had been laughing with the Detective.

Bobby had worked with Lucy for several years now. Even though he led the team, in the FBI they were of equal grade. She had seen him at his best, and she had seen him at his worst, and perhaps most significantly, she had seen him through his worst. So they had a professional relationship and they also shared a deeply personal relationship. They were expert at keeping things separate and expert at keeping the personal hidden. But in that moment, there was nothing separate in the emotions they were feeling. Bobby was distracted by how Lucy had interacted with Detective Logan, and Lucy had just commented on the current between Bobby and Lieutenant Alex Eames. Bobby was not looking forward to his time in New York.

Author's Note: If you are here, you made it through 3 alternative universes. What to do... should I add to these? Are you curious about them... or are they just too weird? I of course like "Crash" best (I love that Dave Matthews Band song as well), but I'm thinking readers will like "Academic" or "Habit". Anyway, what a slow Sunday... (I'm tired of reading for work, so I treated myself to some writing).