A/N: This Fan fiction is nearing completion. The next chapter is its last. It is very touching in my opinion. But I'm a drama queen… so…aheh… This chapter is basically tying up loose ends, so its length is not overwhelming. Don't get comfortable, though, because the next chapter is quite long. Please enjoy these final chapters of A New Enemy, A New Ally

Angie, meeting Marie's father, could do nothing but hold her breath. This man had been the cause for the murder of much of the neko population, and here he was standing before her. When Sydney murmured something into the walkie-talkie held in his hand, Jonas Smith found where his mistake had occurred. His identity was already known, and he'd exposed it stupidly. As quickly as he could, he ran from the hospital, leaping into his car and escaping in 60 seconds flat.

"Damnit!" screamed Sydney, slamming his fist against the wall. "We came so close to catching him and he got away! He had an escape plan all along it seems…"

"Director, look!" shrieked Angie, pointing to two empty seats. The strange lady and her son had fled as well. There was no way to track them now. It was a painful defeat.

A week passed, and the receptionist's condition had been diagnosed. It was an airborne strain of the disease, NRCV. It was fatal, and it caused her to go into shock. It was the infection of the boy's arm that caused her to contract it, and because the virus spread so quickly, its effects had intensified and attacked more brutally and rapidly. Luckily, Dr. Chase had known what to do. With Victor's antidote, he was able to eliminate the virus before it fed on the defenseless receptionist's heart.

Marie's anger and hatred had intensified even more so than the virus that created those emotions, and it was consuming her. Victor worried, because she'd grown very depressed and distant. He and Derek barely spoke with her. She was always researching her father.

"Marie, you need to get off the computer now, okay?" asked Victor firmly, but with gentleness in his voice. Her aura had taken the anger out of him, and his mood swings when in her presence ceased.

Her hand was trembling violently over the mouse, her wide eyes glued to the screen.

"H-he knows, Victor… He knows I'm here…" she whispered, pointing to the e-mail she'd opened minutes earlier. Victor read:

My daughter, it has been too long I was hoping you would have been dead by now…. I am, however, aware that the virus has been extracted from your body, but it doesn't matter now. I still have a hold of you, no matter where you are. Your wretched mother pleaded for me to spare you, and look what happened to her… It is your fault she is dead. And it is your fault the neko population decreased years ago, because of the virus your mother just wouldn't let me give to you in its entirety… The NRCV, as you call it, has become more powerful. You and your friends at Caduceus will fall before it, and you will suffer for what you have done to me. I am filled with despair, every time I hear your name. I never wanted you, and to know you're alive deeply disturbs me. I was not meant to be a father, and I will wipe you off the planet. Face me… Avenge your mother…

--Jonas Smith

"Marie…" Victor said lowly, putting his hand on her shoulder. She was crying by this time, now understanding why her father had attempted to kill her. He didn't want to be a father, but she was then born and was the ghost that haunted him. That is what drove him to insanity, and it is that that inspired him to create a virus in order to kill her. It was his sick and terrible pride. But, it had failed. Thanks to Derek and Victor, she survived and this created rage in Smith. And her mother…

"My mom… My mom is dead because of me! Why?!" she shouted, tears falling to the floor. Victor didn't know what to do, because now Smith wanted a confrontation with Marie. His intentions were evil, Victor knew that much. And with Marie breaking down, Smith's plan was already taking effect.

"No, Marie…" Victor began. "You are not the reason for her death… Don't you see? It was your father; he's trying to poison you with guilt… He's a murderer Marie, you're not. I'm sure your mother loved you, your father is just screwed up in the head."

"You mean it…?" Marie asked, staring into his eyes.

"Of course I do. And you know I don't lie. You're a wonderful person Marie; you make people happy and someone as compassionate as you could never be the cause of someone's death."

"Thank you Victor…" she said, smiling. "But… I… I miss her so much… So much…" Marie wept for several moments, pouring out her feelings. In Victor's warm embrace, she settled down in the arms of the brotherly figure she dearly cared for. And he was alright with it. He allowed her to cry until she recovered from the depressing memories that had flooded into her all at once.

He gripped her tightly by the shoulders, looking her in the eye. His expression was stern and showed no emotion, but inside he felt sympathy for her. He then spoke.

"Be strong. Your mother wouldn't want you suffering this torture because of the painful memories of her death, she wants you to move on and get on with your life. You only have one life Marie, and if you waste it crying, what good will it do? I stopped crying long ago, because it never got me anywhere. I am who I am today because I dealt with the problems and pushed forward. Let her go, Marie. She will be happier, and so will you."

Something in Victor's words had gotten to her. She stood up straight, fought back the flowing tears and stared at him with new eyes; eyes without pain and without sorrow. Everything he'd said was right, and she was finally ready to believe it.

"Thank you. That's just what I needed to hear. I'm going to make it all the way to the finish, no stopping short! I'm going to take Jonas Smith off the Earth and avenge my mother!" she declared proudly and with great confidence.

At this, Victor smiled and his eyes glistened with passion. Never had he convinced someone of anything so deep, nor had he spoken with such confidence himself. He dug so deeply into his heart and soul that he was able to say just the right things… And he was overjoyed, though it did not show on the outside.

She accepted his and Derek's support, and in the following weeks, a plan was developed.

Victor had spent night after night researching, cracking codes, and breaking into forbidden websites in order to locate Smith's personal lab. Marie was extremely uneasy and nervous after they did indeed pinpoint his location, because it meant they were that much closer to facing him and, for her, killing him. She had never killed anyone, but in order to gain, sacrifice must be made. The sacrifice was to lose her innocence and to murder her own father, but in the long run, it would all be better.

Prison would not hold him; hell was his final destination. Marie made that very clear, because she couldn't live freely if he was alive.

It was then settled. Jonas Smith would die at the hands of his offspring, and Derek and Victor would back her up all the way, erasing the virus from records and from existence. The laboratory break-in was going to be one of the most intense experiences they would ever face, but they all knew it was for the best. They counted down the minutes; tonight justice would be paid.