*...And, Kelley's back! I told you he'd still have a part to play in Watchmen. His true purpose won't emerge for awhile yet...but I promise it'll be worth it. ;)

My apologies for any confusion I created when I accidentally posted this chapter out of order. If you read this chap already, you need to go back, so you can read the one that actually came before it.

Greg was going out of his mind with possible scenarios by the time he reached the Plaza that was home to the temporary Field Office for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

It wasn't like Director Kelley to call him up out of the blue and demand for him to immediately appear at headquarters. The last time was right after we came home from Okinawa, when that ridiculous Agent from the Tokushu Sakusen Gun showed up for a second round of questions with me. But this call felt different, less confused, and more anxious.

The building was humming with activity as he strode through the ground floor. Crime never takes a vacation, and neither can everyone who's dedicated to solving it. If Greg was honest with himself, he had to admit that the position with the FBI was nowhere near as satisfying as it used to be, before he'd known the turtles. The guys' particular method of investigation and warrantless confrontation allows them to move so much faster than those of us who have to operate under the restraints of the law. The mind-numbing snail's pace of a typical case made Greg want to scream sometimes.

A couple of individuals greeted him as he continued toward the elevator, and he merely nodded to acknowledge them without stopping to make conversation or get drawn into giving assistance. Even when he wasn't actively working inside Intelligence, people seemed to gravitate toward him with questions of surveillance and computer issues. Once you've got the experience, word gets around, he thought ruefully.

The ride up a couple of floors in the elevator felt faster than normal, but that should have been a good thing. According to his boss he needed to be here by a certain time, and the exact hour was already drawing near. Greg only hesitated for a beat outside the door that led to Kelley's office, then knocked firmly.

"Come!" Director Kelley's usual booming voice greeted him.

Greg turned the doorknob and looked inside the room. "Sir?"

"Heffernan." Matthew Kelley rose to his feet. "Come in and shut the door."

The man's words hung strangely in the air, as though there was a deeper meaning behind them. Since his boss was already standing, Greg didn't bother seeking out a seat.

"Sir, what is this about?"

"I was hoping you might have some idea," he replied, indicating a brown paper-wrapped package on the desk in front of him. "This was left for you by a courier roughly two hours ago. Mentioned you by name, but as you can see, there's no return address. A few minutes later the phone calls started, wanting to know if you'd received it.

"By the fourth time, personnel handed the caller off to me. Guy wouldn't tell me who he was, but he sounded foreign. I could tell he was covering up some kind of accent. He sounded calm, but there was something off about him. He told me that you were old friends, and that you needed to receive this package before 4:00pm. I tried to get more information out of him, but he hung up pretty abruptly."

"Did you trace the call?" Greg asked.

Kelley shook his head. "It came from a disposable cell. There was nothing to trace. Do you have any idea who might be trying to contact you? Clearly, it's not against the law to send someone a package, or to make sure that they get it. But the way he sounded on the phone just rubbed me the wrong way, and I couldn't get it out of my head."

Greg wondered if Kelley could hear his heart beating faster. The answer seems obvious. I can't think of anyone other than Takashi who would fit that description, and need to contact me through the FBI. He reached for the small package on the desk, fingering it lightly as if it could explode the moment he laid a hand on it.

Before he had time to think about it, he ripped part of the paper to reveal a box. Greg dug out his keys and used a sharp edge to cut through the tape that was sealing it. He sensed Kelley hovering over him as he opened the flaps of the box, and drew out a cell phone. He handled the device suspiciously, ignoring his boss.

"Why would someone send you a phone, Heffernan?"

Greg shook his head as he looked at his watch. "I don't know," he said vaguely.

"I'm not sure I believe that," Kelley said. "You don't look half as confused as I would be."

"Director, I don't know what's going on, but it's apparent that someone is trying to get in touch with me. I apologize that they used the Bureau for this." Greg backed up, inching toward the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kelley demanded.

Greg looked at his watch again. "I think this call would be handled better in private."

"This has to do with your friends, doesn't it?"

Greg barely repressed a scowl. "It has to do with me, and I'm going to take care of whatever this is. Please don't start this debate over my friends right now. I'd rather not be caught up reasoning with you when this phone rings."

"I understand if you want to head out, Greg; I'd want my privacy too. But if you're leaving, I'm going with you."

"Sir, this isn't the time—"

"Do you have any idea how many times I could have had you arrested, Heffernan? How many lies I've told through my teeth in the last couple of months? I know there's something serious going on around here, and I'm done being left out of the loop. I want to be inside the loop, Greg, or you can forget about getting any further cooperation from me."

Greg drew air in angrily. "I don't have time for this! I should have left already!"

"Then lead the way, Heffernan, and I'll be right behind you."

The younger man turned and stalked out of the office, not waiting to see if Kelley actually followed. The silent elevator ride down to the ground floor was awkward, and Greg refused to even look at his boss. I should have known this arrangement wouldn't work out in the long run. It's clear that we're going to have to cut ties with him entirely, and the FBI for that matter. I wonder if Victoria has any contacts that are up high enough to protect Kat, Brandon, and me.

He continued ignoring Kelley as he traveled through the parking garage to retrieve his Jeep. His car was in sight when he finally looked back briefly. For all the large man Kelley was, he certainly wasn't heavy-footed. If he hadn't known his boss was behind him, he probably wouldn't have realized that anyone was there.

Greg tried to calm down his rapid breathing as he hesitated outside his Liberty, instead of getting in and driving away. The phone was still in his hand, and he took the opportunity to study it a little more closely. It wasn't a disposable toy like the one the Akiudo were using, and it made him feel paranoid. He wanted to take the device apart and search for a GPS chip or something else that the gang could ostensibly use to track his location. Judging from his watch, however, there wasn't enough time for the project before the call that was supposed to be coming. It left Greg with one bold option.

"What are we doing?" Kelley asked.

"Waiting for the phone call. Isn't it obvious it's supposed to be coming?" Greg snapped. He lingered outside the Jeep, watching as the final minutes ticked by on a clock.

Even though he expected the phone to ring, Greg still jerked when it went off in his hand. He took a deep breath before answering. "Hello?" he said flatly.

"Agent Heffernan. I'm so pleased that you were prompt."

Amidst the sensation that the air was being sucked out of his lungs, Greg's mind analyzed the voice on the other end. The stranger had made no attempt to hide his accent from him.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Greg fumed sarcastically.

A chuckle met him. "It's the most interesting thing, Agent, to find a new lease on life by ending your own."

His rage boiled over in a loud swear. "Now listen to me, you blood-sucking bastard! If you wanna talk, we're gonna do this my way. I'm not using some wretched phone of yours that could be bugged. Here's my number – call me back!" Greg recited the digits clearly, and hung up the phone before he could hear anything else Takashi had to say. He dropped the device on the pavement, and smashed it underfoot as hard as he could.

Kelley was startled. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving," he replied, snagging his regular phone off of his belt.

"You let me in that car or I'll put out an APB on your vehicle so fast it'll make your head spin!"

Greg hit the button to unlock all the doors, but refused to look at his boss as the man hopped in the passenger side.

"Heffernan, what was the point in destroying that phone?"

"They can't track my phone."

"Who can't track your phone?"

Greg waved him off momentarily as his cell phone vibrated. "What do you want?" he demanded of the caller.

"I dare say that was rude, Agent." Takashi's infuriating voice said smoothly.

"You haven't seen anything yet!" Greg shot back. "Tell me what you want. What's your game here?"

"I don't play games, Agent. With what is at stake, it would not be wise for you to play games with me either."

"What are you talking about? You're the one who wanted to get in contact, so spell it out for me, old man. Exactly what are the stakes?"

"The Shitenno behave more strangely than I ever imagined they would," Takashi said thoughtfully, as if he hadn't heard anything that Greg had said. "I don't understand their attachment to this city. I suppose if I were to spend some time here and had a chance to get to know New York, it might make sense to me. I have only been here a short while, but I have at least learned that I am better off avoiding the subway."

Takashi laughed, and Greg felt like chills were overtaking his body.

"The subway?" he repeated. "It was you?"

"Now be serious, Agent," the man said patronizingly. "How could a dead man kill someone else?"

Intelligent speech was escaping Greg for the moment, and it gave Takashi a chance to continue.

"I was hoping you might tell our mutual friends that I have come to enjoy some quality time in their beloved city. Can I trust you to let them know that I called?"

"You will be dead before this is over!" Greg exploded.

"It was nice talking to you, Agent. We will have to do this again."

Takashi hung up too quickly to hear Greg's colorful response. An ear-splitting yell left the man's mouth as he slammed his hand against the steering wheel.

"Heffernan, what is going on? You have 30 seconds to tell me who you were just talking to!" Kelley ordered.

Greg shook his head. "This is so far beyond anything you want to be mixed up with, Sir."

"I'm here, Greg, and I already know too much! Telling me who just called you and what they had to do with the attack on the subway isn't going to change that!"

He turned in his seat to face his boss. "The Akiudo are back."

"The slave traders?"

"They're not slave traders anymore. I don't know what their premise is currently, but it sounds like it's going to be worse than it was before."

"I'm confused. I know that their leader is in Prison—"

"Was in Prison, Sir! I take it that you haven't heard any of the international news out of Japan."

"I see things from time to time, but—"

"There was a supposed assassination attempt on Takashi's life, while he was in Police custody weeks ago. Does that ring any bells?"

"That escaped me, I'm afraid."

Greg braced a hand over his temples. "You might not believe a word of what I'm about to tell you, but I couldn't make this stuff up. The Akiudo came to spring Takashi, and they set up an impressive ruse to convince the authorities that a vigilante seeking revenge took him out, along with several officers. That's the story the Media is covering.

"Do you remember my friend Detective Kimura? The woman I was questioned about by that Special Agent that came from Japan? She was there. She knows what actually happened, and the gang almost got away with taking her too. That madman is on the loose, and now he's here. He's here, Director, and that means nothing good for New York City."

"Did he claim responsibility for the attacks on the subway?"

"Not in so many words, but it was insinuated."

"Then we have to report this! We have to tell the authorities who they should be investigating!"

"Are you suggesting that we tell the Police that a dead man from Okinawa has resurrected his gang and turned up in Manhattan, just to plan some attack on our subway system? We have no proof to connect him to the crime, no way to verify for them that he's alive other than Sayuri's witness, and no knowledge of his location!"

Kelley sat back further with an unfamiliar look of defeat in his dark eyes. "Then what on earth are we supposed to do, Greg?"

He started his car with a twist of his keys in the ignition. "This is why vigilantes exist, Director. I can't think of anyone else who's going to be able to stop the Akiudo."