Next part of the Grace storyline, this time delving into Agent Velasco's backstory!

"So Agent Velasco, if you don't mind me asking, what made you decide to join the FBI?" Tobias queried, his eyes leaving the road for a second to glance at the woman in the passenger side seat before flicking forward again.

"Following in the footsteps of my dad, I guess" Agent Velasco replied quietly, staring out the window thoughtfully.

"Oh? He was an FBI agent as well?"

"Yes. He was an extremely talented agent who was a founding member of the unit that I'm part of now. He was tragically killed in the line of duty a month before my 15th birthday."

Tobias frowned, his grip tightening on the steering wheel as he kept driving. When he spoke again, his voice was soft and gentle. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't bring up bad memories for you."

"It's okay, detective. His death is always going to sting, but it doesn't hurt as much as it used to. As they say; wounds heal, but scars remain."

"Profound."

Agent Velasco chuckled gently. "I guess. So, after graduating high school, I enrolled at NYU and graduated from there with a masters degree in criminal justice before joining the NYPD. After serving with them for several years and being promoted to detective, I attended a seminar led by Agent Chance, who served with my father. That seminar inspired me to join the FBI, and from there I worked my way up to Agent Chance's team, where I'm now his second-in-command."

Tobias stared at the road, his face impassive. It wasn't much further to the homeless shelter where their person of interest was currently staying. "Agent Chance knew your father, huh? He doesn't look that old…"

The woman laughed. "I said much the same thing to Agent Chance myself when we met at that seminar, but it's true. My father was Agent Chance's mentor when the latter first joined the FBI and was the one that recruited him into the unit. Our first case together, I finally took down the man responsible for killing my father and brought him to justice for his crimes. Agent Hayes joined a year or so after that, if I recall correctly."

"Was she another NYPD recruit?" Tobias queried as he pulled the car into a parking space just down the street from their destination before stopping.

Both of them undid their seatbelts and stepped out of the car, stretching to ease cramped muscles after what had been a surprisingly short journey. Agent Velasco shook her head. "Agent Hayes is a former LAPD detective. We joined the FBI at the same time, trained together at Quantico and kept in contact afterwards when she was assigned to the Los Angeles field office. Her team was responsible for a huge chunk of their solved cases. A couple of years back, Agent Chance was looking for someone to replace another one of our members who had decided to re-enlist in the Navy, and I'd heard from Agent Hayes that she'd been offered a transfer to a field office of her choice due to closing a particularly nasty case, so I mentioned her name to Agent Chance and the rest is history."

"And how long ago did you realize you had a crush on her?" Tobias wondered as they walked through the doors into the building's reception area.

The agent shook her head, idly looking around at the room. The walls were painted with a surprisingly charming mix of blue and white, giving the room a calm atmosphere, and a long fish tank sat on an oak table against one wall, a school of neon tetra fish darting through the water, causing the plants that filled the tank to rustle gently as they moved. Beautiful. Tobias thought quietly, turning his attention back to the woman who he was temporarily partnered with. "Not long ago. I think I always felt like she was attractive, but I didn't really attribute those feelings to me having a crush on her or anything until she joined Agent Chance's unit."

"I know you said you'd talk to her, or at least that you'd think about it, but I still want to emphasize that it's a really good idea. I'm pretty sure that she does feel the same way about you" Tobias encouraged gently.

Agent Velasco nodded, but Tobias could see a glimmer of hope in her eyes. He knew without a doubt that she'd be talking to the other agent before the day was out. "We'll see, detective. Anyway, we're here to do a job, so shall we get on with it?"

"I think we should."

They walked over to the counter where a Japanese woman slightly younger than Tobias was sitting, reading a magazine. The detective coughed quietly, reaching down and knocking one hand a couple of times against the polished wood. She looked up, a startled look coming to her face as she saw the two. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in. Welcome to the Antonio Olivieri Centre. I'm June Katagiri. Can I help either of you with anything?"

She spoke perfect English, Tobias noted, but had a very faint Japanese accent that gave her voice an interesting lilt. Tobias nodded, reaching down and tapping a finger lightly against the badge on his belt. "Hi, June. I'm Detective Grace, this is my colleague Agent Velasco. We're looking for a man named Fletcher Carney. We were hoping to talk to him about a case we're working on."

June paused thoughtfully, nodding a couple of moments later. "Ah, yes, of course! Sorry, Detective, I should have guessed. An NYPD officer was in here just before asking about him. She introduced herself as Officer Phillips and said you'd probably be in soon."

"I know the officer you mean, yes. Is it possible for us to speak to Mr. Carney now?"

The woman got to her feet. "Of course. Please, follow me."

She led Tobias and Agent Velasco down a corridor into a room filled with bunk beds. Sprawled on one of the beds, fast asleep, was an older-looking man with limp brown hair, lightly tanned skin, and stained clothes. June nodded to him. "That's Mr. Carney. Is there anything else you need, Detective?"

"No, that's all, thank you."

As June nodded and left the room to go back to her desk, Tobias knelt down next to the sleeping man, pulling a torch from his pocket and flicking it on at a low brightness. "Mr. Carney?"

"Ugh. Get that light outta my face, dammit…"

The man's eyes cracked open and he groaned, rolling over and burying his face in the pillow. Tobias grimaced. "Deep sleeper."

He clicked the torch to a slightly brighter setting and raised it again. "Mr. Carney, this is important."

"I said get that light out of my face!"

Tobias stepped back just in time to avoid the man's grabbing arms. Steel-gray eyes glared at him from under heavy eyebrows, and Tobias fought back the urge to vomit at the smell of cheap booze on Fletcher Carney's the detective shut the flashlight off and slipped it back into his pocket, his temporary partner scowled. "Mr. Carney, please! We need to talk to you about a case we're working on!"

"No. Now go away!"

"Jennifer Reynolds was murdered!" Agent Velasco snapped.

Instantly the man sat bolt upright on the bed, blinking wildly. "Ms. Reynolds is dead, huh? Jesus… I'm sorry to hear that. She was a sweet girl. I don't see how I can help though."

"We know you met with her to give her evidence of art forgery that she was supposed to take to Jason Gardner. What we don't know is why someone would be willing to kill her for that evidence" Tobias said gently.

"I wish I could help you, I really do. Yes, I took photographs of art forgery that were supposed to go to Jason Gardner. Yes, I put them into a parcel and gave them to Ms. Reynolds so that she could give it to him. But I don't know who had her killed."

Tobias's mind worked quickly. "Did you see anything, or anyone, unusual last night when you met Ms. Reynolds to give her the package containing the photographs?"

The older man paused thoughtfully, as if remembering something. "Now that you mention it… I did get the feeling that there was someone watching us during our meeting. I remember leaving almost as soon as I gave her the package, looking behind me every few steps to make sure I wasn't being followed. I didn't actually see anything out of the ordinary, but you know how sometimes people just get a sense that something bad is about to happen, right?"

"Right."

"That's the feeling I got while I was meeting with her. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help with the case, but that's about all I can remember."

"Now, I just have one final question for you. You're a veteran, right?"

"Aye. USAF Master Sergeant, retired."

Tobias nodded. "Thank you for your service to this country, Master Sergeant. And also for your assistance in our investigation. We'll leave you to sleep now."

As the older man nodded, before turning over to go back to sleep, Tobias and his partner left the room, making their way back to the lobby, where June was once again at the desk. As they passed her, Tobias paused. "June. Can I give you something?"

The girl looked up at him. "What is it, Detective?"

Tobias pulled a business card from his wallet and handed it to her. "This man's a family friend. He owns an organization that specializes in helping homeless veterans. If any of the people staying here want help…"

Nodding, she tucked the card into a pocket. "I'll keep that in mind."

Bidding her farewell and thanking her again for her help, the two investigators left the building and stepped out onto the street. "Just when I was starting to get bored of waiting…"

They turned to see a strange man leaning against the wall just to the right of them. He took a step away from the wall, raising himself threateningly. Tobias reached for his gun instinctively, but a laugh from the man caused him to pause. "I'm not here to hurt you. Not unless you refuse my request, anyway."

"What do you want?" Agent Velasco queried, her voice hard and cold.

"I've been sent to make a deal. My bosses can be… very persuasive. Stop your investigation into the art forgery ring and go home, and in return you can have the Libra Killer. Don't stop and… well, things will have to get serious."

"Sir, trying to bribe an agent of the FBI is a federal offense." Agent Velasco said simply.

"Then it looks like I have no choice."

The man drew a switchblade from his pocket, flicking it open. The dark-haired federal agent Tobias was temporarily partnered with smirked slightly, nodding to the detective. "I've got this."

She took two steps closer to the man before he had time to react, bringing her knee up into his groin. As he doubled over in pain, she grabbed his wrist and squeezed it until he was forced to drop his weapon, the metal switchblade clattering on the ground as she kicked it towards Tobias, narrowly missing the blonde detective's foot. She forced the unknown man flat against the wall and held out a hand expectedly to Tobias. "Handcuffs?"

Tobias, still slightly shocked from what he just watched, blinked in surprise as he pulled his handcuffs from his belt, passing them to her. "Holy shit. You disarmed him almost before I even had time to process you moving!"

"Years of martial arts training. Guess that's just one more thing to be grateful to my father about." the agent replied, chuckling slightly as she clicked the handcuffs shut around the mystery man's wrists.

"Guess so. Well, at least we have someone new to question. Back to the Precinct?"

Agent Velasco nodded as they led the now handcuffed man back to the car. "Back to the Precinct"