After saying goodbye to Rossi and Reid, Jack rushed back to Los Angeles overnight. The originally anticipated five months of training had extended to eight months, which rounded up to almost a year away. It was already mid-January 2020 by the time he returned.
Back in Los Angeles, Jack felt a surge of emotions. In less than two years, he had transformed from an LAPD street patrol officer into an FBI agent. It felt quite inspirational.
As soon as he stepped out of the Los Angeles airport, he saw his beloved car, the Firebird, with its red running lights glowing, and the beautiful woman inside who caught everyone's eye just as much.
Even though they had video calls almost every day, Jack couldn't hide his excitement when he saw his lovely Hannah again. A long, deep kiss ensued until the cars queued behind them started honking impatiently. The Firebird then slowly moved forward, merging into the traffic.
That evening, everyone gathered at Jack's house for a party. Captain Grey was in the backyard, adorably wearing an apron and fiddling with the grill, while John was in the kitchen mixing a salad, and Wesley had raided his mom's stash of wine.
Jack nervously held Angela's three-month-old son, his movements stiff. The little guy was quite well-behaved, not crying or fussing, and staring wide-eyed at this unfamiliar person.
Jack quickly cast a long-lasting buff, which would last a year, and carefully handed the baby back to Angela. This was the limit of his skill's duration.
"It feels like time has fast-forwarded. So many changes. Should I be preparing for two weddings now?"
Tim and Lucy were inseparable, and John and Garris seemed very much in love, without any of the melodramatic twists from the original show.
"It should be three. Anderson and Cahill's wedding is set for August. I've heard they'll both be wearing wedding dresses. I'm already looking forward to it," Angela said, bouncing her baby son as she revealed this juicy news.
Jack was shocked. "Both wearing wedding dresses?" He couldn't help but imagine certain scenes. The two mature women must have something up their sleeves, right? Surely not, right? Otherwise, someone might just lose it?
Sure enough, Hannah's sour voice came from beside him, "They also invited you to be the best man. Isn't that a nice surprise?"
Angela, thinking Hannah was unhappy about not getting married yet, kindly advised, "You two are still young and have just joined the FBI. Why not enjoy a few more years of the two of you alone?"
She then began to vent about how hard it was to raise a baby with Wesley, taking turns getting up at night to soothe the baby, inadvertently saving Jack from a sticky situation.
But Didi's comment from the side immediately buried Jack back into the pit and even covered him with dirt.
"The biggest regret for Hunter and me is not having grandchildren. We'd love to be free babysitters for Jack and Hannah's kids."
"Haha, we definitely won't disappoint you, haha."
Jack forced a bitter smile, suppressing the soreness from the three twists Hannah gave his side.
Hannah wasn't an unreasonable girl and was relatively easy to placate. The marriage talk was more about the mood and the crowd getting excited than anything serious.
After all, she had just joined the FBI less than a year ago and was in the prime of her career. Jack, at 22, had just joined the renowned BAU.
For Hannah, being able to continue working and living in the same city was already very fortunate, even though they might only see each other once every one or two weeks when busy.
Compared to FBI agents who were separated from their families for long periods, there was nothing to complain about.
Zoey's campaign had reached a critical point, and Maureen, as her campaign assistant, was also extremely busy. Neither managed to attend Jack's homecoming party.
But a late-night rendezvous was inevitable. The two mature women were quite exhausted, and Jack meticulously took care of them, restoring their vitality.
Returning to Los Angeles, Jack had a busy week, and not just with romantic affairs. Unbeknownst to him, he had become a businessman.
Before heading to Quantico, Jack had handed over the gold he obtained from New Mexico to Chris, except for a nugget embedded in a Victory statue he gave to Hannah as an ornament.
Over the past six months, Chris had been managing a trading company for Jack, which now had a new business line, importing three-wheeled vehicle parts from Cerys for Mayor Roscoe.
Jack had casually mentioned it before, not expecting Roscoe to actually pull it off. She not only successfully became the mayor of Margrave but also gathered a team to start assembling imported parts.
After the Kleiner family collapsed, the industry they left behind in Georgia was quite extensive. The local FBI took the fall, the Secret Service got the credit, and the IRS got the right to distribute the spoils.
This wasn't just a simple seizure. It involved tens of thousands of jobs across Georgia. After over half a year of operations, the cake had been fully divided.
The FBI got enough compensation, and the leftovers were swept up by Ray King into Chris's hands.
Through IRS connections, Chris bought Kleiner Industries' transportation company and two machine shops at a low price, adding them to Margrave's existing industries, revitalizing the area.
Large quantities of parts were shipped from Cerys to East Coast ports, then trucked to Margrave, where they were assembled into simple, durable three-wheelers, rebranded, and sold to rural areas in the southern states.
After a period of fear and uncertainty, the townspeople found their lives unchanged.
The assembly plant required many workers, providing enough jobs for the townspeople, restoring the small town's peaceful life.
"So, you turned me into a millionaire in less than a year?"
Jack looked at Chris in bewilderment. Chris shrugged, his poker face showing a rare smile.
"Technically, it's 'us.' JK Trading Company is jointly owned by us. You officially hold 49% of the shares, so you're at most a millionaire."
After signing the last of the thick stack of documents, Jack wearily tossed the pen back into its holder and complained.
"Can't you change the name? It's a bit..."
"It's the first initials of our names. What's wrong with it? I don't mind putting mine first, calling it KJ Trading Company."
Chris raised his eyebrows, seeming displeased at Jack questioning his carefully chosen company name.
"Forget it, JK is fine. My bad," Jack quickly conceded.
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