Sam Ax stared at the number on his phone in surprise. It had an international dial code of 64. He knew many ex-seals who had now settled internationally but not many of them had settled in New Zealand. The number on his screen was one of the few numbers that he recognised on sight because it was never stored in his phone and never written down.

When Michael and Fiona left Miami, it was agreed by all parties that they don't communicate often. Asides from the lone Christmas card that was always addressed to Chuck Finlay rather than Sam in case it fell into the wrong hands, they almost never spoke to each other. Michael had taken to calling Fiona "The Mrs" in their correspondences for the same reason.

Through Christmas card upon Christmas card, Sam came to be aware that the Westens had finally settled down and were more or less out of the spy game. Likewise over the Christmases, Michael came to be aware that Jesse Porter had not only met someone but was now married with a child to boot.

"Is this who I think it is?" Sam asked, hardly able to believe his ears.

"Nice to hear from you too, Chuck." Michael laughed.

"We don't have to go by aliases anymore Mike, this line isn't being monitored." Said Sam.

"Maybe not but my status been compromised," Michael replied.

"You sure?" Sam asked in surprise.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure. The New Zealand police know who I am now." Michael replied. While the police hadn't actually said it straight out, Michael could tell from Constable Te Wera's questions that he was aware of Michael's past

"How did they find out?" Sam asked.

"Well, none of us have actually changed our names here so it's not that hard to obtain files on us." Michael admitted.

"What?" Said Sam, incredulous. "You send me cryptic Christmas cards when you never even changed your name?"

"The cards had to be cryptic because everyone in Miami thinks I'm dead. We don't have that problem here in New Zealand. Plus I'm a civilian here so I didn't really need to live under a cover. I wanted a break from all that." Michael replied with honesty.

"So what made them dig into your past?" Sam asked.

"I got involved in a case," Michael tried to explain.

"You're taking on jobs again?" Sam shook his head with disbelief.

"It's a long story. Let's just say that a kid filed a report with the police and he put me down as his guardian." Michael explained.

"Not Charlie." Said Sam.

"No, it was Charlie's friend." Said Michael.

"What's his name?" Sam asked.

"Finlay Weiss," Michael replied without skipping a beat.

"You're kidding." Sam said upon hearing the name.

"Fiona thinks it's hilarious," Michael smiled in reply.

"Why is he involved with the police?" Sam asked.

"He filed a missing persons report for his teacher when she didn't show up to work." Michael replied.

"They found her?" said Sam.

"Yes. Sam, she's dead." said Michael.

"Wait they don't think that it was you?" Sam asked.

"Not yet," Michael replied.

"What are you going to do?" Sam asked.

"I'm going to have another meeting with the police. I will know more after I've spoken with them." Michael replied. "But Sam, I need a favour from you."

"Anything you want, brother." Sam replied in earnest.

"Keep an eye on the local chatter in Miami for me. I don't think agencies in America know about me yet but it's only a matter of time." Michael requested.

Michael was sure that while international agencies were as yet unaware of his resurrection, local agencies in New Zealand probably were. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear from them exactly.


Three Days Prior

Stephen Te Wera found himself in the office of the Chief Commissioner with one other person whom he hadn't met before.

"Glad you could make it Steve." Said the Commissioner.

"What's this all about?" Stephen asked.

"This is Jonathan Richards." The Commissioner responded, pointing to the stranger, "He's with ASIS."

"Richards." Stephen started at the name.

"Don't worry." Jonathan laughed, "We're not actually related."

"What's Australian intelligence doing on a New Zealand homicide case?" Stephen asked.

"Anne was one of our operatives." Jonathan replied, matter of fact.

"That explains why I couldn't find anything on her." Stephen smiled. Though he hadn't expected the school teacher to be an undercover intelligence agent, he did notice how odd it was that she had no relatives in New Zealand apart from an adopted daughter.

"Who was her daughter?" Stephen asked, mystified.

"She's the catalyst for Anne's mission." Jonathan explained.

"She's missing." Stephen noted.

"Yes we do need to find her." The Commissioner agreed.

"I had a look at your report and I came across a familiar name." Said Jonathan.

"Who are you talking about?" Stephen asked.

"Michael Westen," the agent replied. "You probably haven't heard of him but I have. If he is who I think he is, he may be able to help us find the girl."

"Who do you think he is?" Stephen asked.

"He's like the Harry Potter of American Intelligence." Jonathan smiled at his own analogy. "Everyone's heard of him but no one really believes that he actually exists."

"You think that he can help us?" Said Stephen.

"First we need to confirm that he is who we think he is." The Commissioner replied.