An: Stand alone story not related to any of my other stories. Kind of inspired by the show Cold Case. Disclaimer I don't own anything related to Cold Case or Person of Interest.

Warning rated for language and the use of racial slurs and offensive terms.

I. Paying Penance

Present day...Riker's Island New York, New York

"This is a copy of your discharge papers, 50 dollars in gate money and all personal effects confiscated at time of arrival." the security guard stated as he handed over the former inmates belongings.

Floyd reached into the plastic bag and pulled out a small gold ring savoring the familiar weight in his hand after 52 years.

I bet your lady's been waiting a long minute for that ring. She out there waiting for you?" The guard joked out as he watched the inmate stare at the ring in his palm.

"No" Floyd replied softly as he cleared his throat and gathered the rest of his belongings from the counter.

"Bad luck my man, she get tired of waiting for you?" the guard asked in sympathy.

"No "Floyd whispered sadly as he stared down the hallway passage leading to his freedom.

"Well take it easy out there my man, the worlds changed a whole lot since you were locked up." The guard advised.

Floyd gave the guard a slight nod as he made his way out the exit of the compound.

James rolled over in his bed as he picked up his ringing cell phone "hello"

"Jimmy it's me." a panicked voice replied over the phone.

James rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he sat up in his bed "What the hell do you want! Its Saturday morning?"

"Floyd's out. What should we do? What if he comes after all of us? Should we have someone handle the situation" the panicked voice rambled on.

"Lucas calm down, the man's been in prison for over 50 years, he has no contacts, no money, no job, and he's not a threat to any of us. He's a man without anything to live for, he'll probably end up on the streets or even better just kill himself." Jimmy replied as he sat up in bed.

"But what about what we did, we..." Lucas trailed off.

"Lucas he has no proof, no evidence, no credibility. So I want to relax, take a trip to the Hamptons, spends some time with that new young wife of yours. What happened with Floyd was in the past and it doesn't matter anymore. Now keep your mouth shut and don't bring this up again ever." Jimmy gritted his teeth as he hung up on Lucas and made his way to the bathroom.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face Jimmy walked back into his bedroom, pausing as he saw a tall figure wearing dark grey men's coat, looking out his floor to ceiling windows.

"Who the hell do you think you are pal? I'm calling the cops!" Jimmy professed heatedly.

"Don't worry they'll be here soon enough Jimmy" The man responded as he turned around.

"Floyd, you look…,"Jimmy trailed off as he took in the appearance of the over six foot man, noting his greying hair and the piercing green eyes that struck fear into his heart 50 years ago, they still burned with the same level of hatred.

"It still matters," Floyd stated as he looked around the bedroom uninterested.

"What?" Jimmy asked in confusion.

"What you took part in, what you did that night." Floyd repeated as he glared.

"Look Floyd it wasn't my fault. I didn't do anything that night. I just…"Jimmy started before he was interrupted.

"Just… did nothing, and then you ran away with your friends," Floyd gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Floyd let's just talk about this," Jimmy pleaded in a panicked voice as he slowly backed away.

Floyd tilted his head slightly, giving Jimmy an unimpressed look, before withdrawing his gun and shooting Jimmy twice, in the stomach.

As he approached, Floyd watched Jimmy withered on the floor bleeding as he gasped for life. He stared into his eyes as he leveled his gun to Jimmy's head and pulled the trigger once more.

"One down two to go." Floyd whispered out as he walked passed Jimmy's dead body towards the door.

You don't know what you're doing. You should go around back and flush them out the front and I'll take them down before they get away," Shaw stated as she tugged on the riffle.

"No Shaw I'll use the rifle and you can go in through the back," John replied as he tried to tug the rifle back.

Shaw narrowed her eyes at John, "Rock, paper, scissors."

Finch closed his eyes and sighed as he listened to Sameen and John arguing again.

He quickly glanced over at Bear as they both continued to listen to the arguing, "You know Bear, sometimes I ponder if I should be consulting Detective Carter about parenting tips."

"We heard that Finch." John and Sameen replied simultaneously before they continued their bickering.

"So who's the vic?" Joss asked Fusco pulling on her latex gloves as they made their way into the crime scene of the tapped off apartment.

Fusco held up his note pad "Victims name was James Bradford or Jimmy to his friends, he's a big wig corporate lawyer. From the looks of this place he was doing pretty well for himself." Fusco replied as they made their way further into the apartment.

"Yeah, to bad all this nice stuff couldn't save him" Joss replied as she looked at the dead body on the floor as the medical examiner stood over the body taking pictures.

"Have any preliminaries for us Davis?" Joss asked the coroner as she looked down at the dead body.

"Well the estimated time of death was a few hours ago around between 8 and 10AM. From the positioning of the body and the smearing of the blood. I can determine that the victim was standing, facing his attacker. He took two shots to the lower abdomen, the attacker probably watched as the victim tried to stop the bleeding with his hands before coming closer to put one final round in his head at point blank range. My team is still sweeping the scene to collect any trace evidence or fibers.

"Damn someone must have really wanted this guy dead." Fusco stated as he looked down at the body.

"Do we have any witness statements" Joss asked as she looked from Fusco to the Uniform standing by.

"Yes ma'am. Two witnesses came forward saying that they saw a tall older white male, wearing a suit and a dark grey winter jacket come out of Mr. Bradford's apartment after the gunshots were heard." The uniform relayed of his notes.

Joss and Fusco cut each other glances as they heard the description of the possible suspect.

"Thanks." Joss replied as she sucked her teeth and walked towards the front door with Fusco right behind her. Once she and Fusco were in their car she yanked out her disposable phone and called John.

John frowned while he watched Shaw put the rifle back in the trunk off the car after they had taken care of the drug runners that were working out of an old factory.

"Told you I was a better shot than you." Shaw said smugly as she got into the driver's seat.

John rolled his eyes as he slid into the passenger's side. Before he could make a smart ass reply his phone started to ring. He pulled it from his pocket and smirked as he saw the caption '#1Detective' pop up on the caller ID. "Hello Detective you must have read my mind. I was just about to call you to report an incident."

Joss felt her eye twitch as she heard John's voice "That incident wouldn't happen to deal with a dead body in an apartment would it?"

John raised his eyebrow at Joss's odd question, "No it has to do with some drug runners in the Bronx missing knee caps, which Shaw's responsible for by the way."

"Snitch" Shaw muttered under her voice as she listened to John tell Joss she shot the drug dealers.

"So you've been in the Bronx this whole time?" Joss questioned as the wheels began to turn in her head.

"Since 0600. Why?" John asked.

"Unless you have a twin I don't know about. It seems that someone's taken up the man in the suit persona and is killing." Joss replied as she rubbed her eyes.

John touched his chin as he listened to Joss update him on the man murdered in his apartment this morning.

"So what do you want me to do?" John asked.

Joss let out a sarcastic laugh "I would say stay out of the matter and let the police handle it but I know you won't. So for the time being keep a low profile and try not to shoot anyone. I'm not busting your ass out of prison again."

John grinned at Joss's response. "Yes ma'am"

"Don't call me ma'am John, do you have anything else to ask me." Joss asked.

"Yes," John replied.

"What is it?" Joss questioned, hoping he wasn't about to add another problem to her day.

"I never did get all the details behind how you got that sample of another man's DNA in order to fool the FBI." John stated.

John snickered as heard her yell what the hell into the phone before hanging up.

"You know one of these days she's just gonna haul off and shoot your dumb ass," Shaw stated as she maneuvered down the side streets heading for the library.

Floyd sat on the foot of the bed in his motel room as he rubbed the small ring in between his fingers while he listened to the soft jazz melody of her favorite song, as he closed his eyes he laid back on the bed and dream of days long past.

August 1961 Kansas City, Kansas.

"Here take this it will help keep the swelling down."

Floyd clenched his side as he looked up at the small bag of ice. After a moment of contemplation he accepted the bag of ice and held it to his soon to be black eye.

"Them boys sure did a number on you. What did you do to deserve that" The young girl asked.

"Ain't none of your damn business." Floyd replied as he picked himself up off the ground.

"Like hell it ain't. Especially when you and your little white friends come around my daddy's shop causing a scene and scaring our customers!"

"Whatever Negro," Floyd replied back.

Before he knew what happened, Floyd felt a blunt smack upside his head. He stared at her in shock, mouth slightly agape, as he held the side of his head.

"The name's Yvonne, so remember it, and I better not catch you or your friend's rough housing over here again, or I'll do more then just hit your scrawny ass upside the head with a broom." Yvonne fired off as she stuck her tongue out at the boy, before turning on her heel and re-entering the diner.

Floyd re-opened his eyes as his memories faded and reality set back in as he stared at the ceiling listening as the lyrics of the song flooded the room.

*"They may take you from me, I'll miss your fond caress. But though they take you from me, I'll still possess...The way you wear your hat. The way you sip your tea. The memory of all that…No they can't take that away from me"

As the music faded Floyd continued to stare at the ceiling as a silent tear fell down his face.

*Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong-1956 recording "They can't take that away from me"