Author's note: Sorry folks. I know this took a while but the last two weeks were complete insanity. I had visitors at my house and then went away on a much needed vacation to California but jet lag caught up with me finally.

Anyway, I was stuck in limbo last week so I did the only thing a half-coherent fanfic writer can do… read lots of fan fiction. It went something like this:

1. Did a Midori run which will always leave you warm and fuzzy.
2. Read the end of Defying Gravity by dementedchris and marveled at the great writing style again which meant I lost the WAFFy feeling because… wow… sad stuff in that (but a nice ending ^_^)
3. Went through most of chibi-angel's stuff and got warm and fuzzy again.
4. Started to read new stuff. Favorites are currently : Broken Piece by Linay, both stories by Chiki, An Alternate Time and Place by Kyaa-Kyaff and Tanuki To Ryuu A Tale of a Meiji Romance by ChaosBurnFlame because Kaoru kicks ass in that story.

As a teacher of mine once said "A true writer spend 20 percent of their time planning, 10 percent of their time writing and the rest reading what else is out there."

Sorry for the delay again. I have the next chapter completely planned out so barring anything really chaotic over here, it'll be out soon and yes it's the last chapter. Tossing around the idea of a third installment because I'll have loose ends to tie up after this and because I love Europe, especially Venice and I think the Canals of Venice just sounds cool.

Yuki and Nemo, I so owe you e-mail. I've just been half dead most of these past two weeks. I'll get back to you guys sometime during the week.

* * *

Chapter 11

"So we have a plan right?" Kaoru asked, leaning forward from her seat in the middle to squeeze between the two front seats and talk to the people there. Aoshi looked forward at the road impassively. Kaoru frowned.

"Kaoru-dono is right," Kenshin said leaning forward as well, trying to ignore the fact that there wasn't that much space between the two of them. "We should think about what we're going to do. After all, I don't think the dam will be open to visitors this late."

"And it's a US government property," Kaoru added. "With everything that's been going on lately, they'll have armed guards."

"We'll just beat through them!" Sano said squeezing forward too. Of course attempting to fit three people in the tiny crevasse proved too much.

"Baka!" Kaoru cried, feeling herself get wedged in between the two. "Get back in your seat."

"OI! I was just trying to help!"

"How is cramming yourself up here helping??"

"There was enough room but I guess someone has been enjoying the buffets too much!!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Maa maa, let's not…"

There was a screech the trio was lurched forward and then thrown back in their seats. Aoshi glared at them from the rearview mirror while Megumi turned around to berate them with words.

"Stop fighting!" she yelled. "If you so much as utter another peep before we get to the dam, I will have Aoshi stop this car and you can WALK back to Vegas."

The three in the back lowered their heads and Aoshi revved up the car, turning back onto the highway and speeding through the darkness.

Two minutes passed before Megumi heard it. She threw an angry look behind her but the three in the back were still looking at the ground. Then it happened again. This time Kaoru wasn't fast enough and the smirk was still on her face. Megumi stared at her angrily.

"Kamiya Kaoru, what is so…"

Kaoru couldn't help it. She started laughing out loud. And it didn't take long before Sano and Kenshin to join in.

"Okay… MOM," Kaoru finally managed.

Megumi glared and then broke out into a half smile before she joined in the laughter. Aoshi shot her an unhappy glance.

His foot trailed towards the brake, ready to slam on it and break the rest of them out of their laughter. Had they all gone insane? How were they laughing at a moment like this? Everything was on the line now. If they failed in meeting and defeating the Juppongatana, Las Vegas was doomed. The whole world was doomed. Misao was doomed.

There was so much riding on them right now that it tore at Aoshi's mind, the way they could be laughing. But then he heard it, beneath all the laughter there was another sound. Relief. It wasn't that they all were ignoring the impending events. They knew what was riding on this, they knew the seriousness of the situation. This was just their release.

His foot moved away from the brake and pressed firmly on the gas. "If you are done playing around, I believe we need a plan," he said.

Kaoru caught his eyes in the rear view and giggled. "Sure thing, Dad."

* * *

Misao sat on the bed and let her feet dangled off the edge. Bored as not the word for how she felt. Completely and utterly devoid of any feeling but boredom was a much closer approximation to what was pounding in her head. Quarantine was horrible and all there was to do was get stuck with needles and try to ignore the worried looks doctors kept giving her.

That's it! Misao thought to herself. I am not sitting on this bed anymore. Even if I am stuck in quarantine, there should be a computer or something I could use to help. I'm not an invalid, I just have a couple of bumps on me.

Looking around, she searched for anything useful but all she saw were health monitors. She'd have to go outside to really search. Her bare feet hit the ground and she tried to ignore how cold the marble floor was. The monitors started to blip as she moved away. She pulled the IV bag behind her and headed towards the office door, opening it to glance down the main hallway.

It was still rather amazing how quickly the CDC had converted the office building into a makeshift hospital and research center. Office rooms became hospital bedrooms, conference rooms were labs, and the hallways were lined with sterile plastic making the whole place sanitary.

A couple of guards in Hazmat suits heading at her but she just looked a bit embarrassed and pointed down the hall to the bathrooms. It was enough to convince them there wasn't really a problem anyway and let her continue her search.

Halfway to the bathroom, Misao saw it sitting on a desk. Walking in, she quickly headed towards the laptop, surprised to find it on. Looking at the screen, she realized it didn't belong to the office building but to one of the CDC researchers. A complex 3D model spun and Misao couldn't help but stare. It was obviously a model of what was causing all this hubbub. Funny, it looked almost deceptively simple like that.

Suddenly there was a long wail and Misao jumped away from the computer. It took her a second to realize it wasn't coming from the laptop but from outside. Slowly pulling the IV with her, Misao stepped outside, almost getting run over by a number of doctors ran past her.

Curious, Misao walked towards the room they had disappeared into. She heard a lot of yelling and something in her told her to stop, to not look at what was going on. But she couldn't stop. And when she arrived at the door, she wished she had listened to that little voice.

One of the other patients was thrashing on the bed. Two large soldiers were trying to hold him down but agony was giving the man unfathomable strength. A doctor gave him an injection but it did nothing. The heart monitors were going off the wall and underneath their wail, Misao could barely hear what the doctors were saying.

The patient turned his head towards her and Misao saw it, pure agony caused by the final stage of the disease. His neck was only visibly affected part but she could see from the bumps in the gown that it had reached his chest. But it wasn't his face or his disfigured body that was scaring her down to the core, it was the look in his eyes as he stared at her, pleadingly, begging her to make it end.

It suddenly occurred to Misao, the way Aoshi had reacted, the way they doted on her here, the way the man looked just now… it may have looked simple on a screen but this wasn't simple at all. And it was going to kill her.

* * *

The night's sky was barely visible beneath the harsh lights that illuminated the Hoover Dam. Her dress barely made a sound as she strode across, heading towards the man who stood in the middle.

Yumi smiled. Things were going very well tonight. Despite having let Saitou and Hiko escape, she had done her job. The Hiten organization was as crippled as Tokio and wouldn't be a factor. And after tonight, she was going to be queen to a new empire, Shishio's empire.

Her only regret was that he couldn't be here himself to watch it unfold. But his wounds were still healing and if there were a firefight, then he would be in danger. Yumi's eyes flicked over as one of her henchman brought Madgaria over next to her.

She smiled as she looked at the man in front of her. "One sister as promised."

Shougo looked at her with pure venom. "Sayo, are you all right?"

The nun slowly nodded her head and looked up him with the smallest smile.

"Payment first," Yumi said, stepping in front of the girl.

Shougo reached into his pocket, causing the guards next to Yumi to tense for a moment. She held up her hand as Shougo pulled up the tiny plastic case. He tossed it over to her and she caught it with ease, handing it quickly back a man holding a laptop.

"My sister," Shougo said evenly.

"One minute," Yumi smiled. "We need to check the merchandise."

Shougo hid his nervousness well. Looking over at his sister he nodded slightly to let her know that everything was going to be okay. It was a bit too early to do so. Yumi's gun shot up and pressed against Magdaria's temple.

"Password," Yumi said evenly.

Shougo shook his head. "I want my sister back first."

"The deal was the cure."

"The information is there."

"Encrypted with a password that is threatening to erase the disk in thirty minutes."

Shougo shook his head. Yumi pressed the gun to Magdaria's head and the younger girl blinked nervously. She looked up at her brother and he read it in her eyes. He knew she was right… but he couldn't bring himself to make the right decision.

"The password," Shougo started. "The password…" He stopped for a moment.

"Yes?" Yumi asked. "You have until the count of five before I spread your lovely sister's brains across half this dam."

Shougo looked at her and tried to steady himself.

"Five."

He looked around, desperately searching for a way out.

"Four."

"Sayo…" he started.

"Three."

She smiled at him, a sad smile of what she knew was coming.

"Two."

"STOP!" Shougo shouted. "Just stop."

"Good," Yumi said. "I would hate to have things end this way after all the trouble we went through to keep her alive. I think you would understand that."

"Don't do it, Shougo," Magdaria pleaded.

"I can't let it end like this," Shougo said firmly. He turned to Yumi. "I don't know the password. Only Sayo does."

Yumi blinked and looked down at the girl in her arms. "What? That's absolutely ridiculous! Why wouldn't you know the password to your own files?"

"You must really think I'm stupid," Shougo shot back. "When your man made me that offer and I refused, did you really think I believed you would leave us alone? That disc is the only place my research is stored. But it wouldn't be enough. I know how you yakuza work."

"Apparently not too well," Yumi replied. "We got into your lab and stole the original virus."

"A mistake on my part," Shougo replied, "but I knew it would be useless to you without the cure. So after you broke in, we destroyed everything there and stored the information on this disc. I encrypted the data and let Sayo pick the password."

Yumi paused and looked at him with a slight smile. "Of course. You knew we would take her hostage."

"And kill her when I refused to cooperate," he said softly. "It would be quick, though. Quicker than anything you planned to get the password out of me. And in the end, you'd still have nothing."

Yumi laughed. "How endearingly noble! You were both going to die to save the world but the brother will take the torture to spare his sister." She shook her head. The tech behind her whispered something and the amusement slipped from her eyes. "The password now," she said turning down to the girl, "or we'll start on what your brother feared so much."

"Sayo will tell you the password," Shougo started, "as soon she has driven away from…"

"NO!" Yumi and Magdaria said at the same time.

"No one is leaving until I get that password," Yumi added.

"I won't tell them," Magdaria said plainly.

"Please, Sayo, just get away, they can't kill you until they know the password," Shougo said.

"This wasn't the plan!" she cried.

"I spent my entire career trying to save you," Shougo continued evenly. "I'm not going to let it end like this, not when I am so close in fulfilling that."

The approaching vehicles quickly drowned off Yumi's long triage of expletives. Their descent onto the dam had not been noticeable until the very end and she barely had time to call out a command before the gunfire started.

Dragging the girl by the collar, Yumi dove for cover, barely registering that Shougo had just gone down in a hail of bullets. Pulling out a pistol, Yumi looked to the end of the dam that the attack was coming from with a frown. It couldn't be…

Tokio watched the fight from the safety of the ridge high above the action. She wasn't happy to be here but it was the one concession she allowed her husband and Hiko. The only true regret she had was not being able to see the look on Yumi's face when she realized that the Hiten wasn't about to back down.

Yumi was cursing, angry that everything was going to hell. Somehow, their location had been found out. Worse than that, Tokio was apparently coherent enough to round up her troops. It couldn't get much worse then this, right?

* * *

Misao ran back into the office and slammed the door shut, locking it behind her. She took in a few deep breaths until her heart stopped pounding against her chest. She tried to banish the thoughts of that soldier's agony but it seemed forever burned in her memory. Looking down at her own hands, she couldn't help but notice that the little bumps had grown and were moving up her arms.

Screw that, her inner voice said. You are Misao Makimachi. And Misao Makimachi is not going down without a fight.

She moved to the laptop and quickly minimized everything, locating the dos prompt and using it to telnet into the JIA system at home. It took a few seconds before everything was set up and running.

A little message box popped up and Misao jumped as she read the message. Quickly she typed a reply.

Okina… yeah it's me and no I'm not in bed. Need some help.

Misao watched the screen and waited for a response, fingers crossed. She knew her boss would either call the CDC right away and inform them she was out of her bed or maybe, he would let curiosity get the better of him.

Go ahead

Misao smiled.

Need to figure out how to get into the Juppongatana system and get the cure.

They don't have it.

What?

Long story. Aoshi and company are trying to get it now.

Where are they?

Somewhere outside of Las Vegas… heading towards the Hoover Dam.

I'll call him. Start bringing up information on the dam.

Okay. Tell them to be careful. Things are about to get more interesting there.

What do you mean?

* * *

Aoshi let the jeep turn off the main road and head down the dirt path. If the map Megumi was holding was right, they should be able to come to an unguarded part of the cliff surrounding the Dam. After that… well, that part of the plan was still being worked on.

"We don't have repelling equipment," Kaoru sighed, "so we can't climb below the guard station. There could be maintenance entrances…"

"But looking for them would take too long," Kenshin filled in. His brow furrowed in thought. The first part of the plan was the only logical recourse. They couldn't just charge through the main gate. It was going to be guarded by Juppongatana guards and they would create too much commotion trying to get past them. Swimming through the water would have been another way but… there was no way to predict currents and he didn't think floating through the Hoover Dam's water works would be a fun trip.

"What the…" Sano said, watching as the Hoover Dam came into view.

Kenshin blinked, pushing his thoughts away to see what Sano was speaking about. At first he thought it was the sheer grandeur of the dam itself. Even at a moment like this it was hard not to marvel at what humans could build if they put their minds to it.

But all thoughts of humanity's greatness was lost in the tell tale signs of gunfire. There was a nasty fight going on top of the dam. Kenshin frowned and strained his eyes to examine the figures illuminated by the artificial lighting of the bridge. No, the Juppongatana were not fighting the Dam's guards. They had probably eliminated them before every stepping foot onto the structure.

"What's going on?" Kaoru said as Aoshi stopped the car.

"Looks like the Hiten just joined the party," Kenshin said unhappily, opening the door and stepping outside.

"Are you sure?" Sano asked.

Kenshin stared at the firefight and nodded slowly. There was no mistaking the tall gait of his shishou even crouched down and so far away.

"Well, that makes things difficult," Megumi replied. They sat in silence for a minute before a melodic tune suddenly filled the air. Aoshi moved quickly and frowned at the unknown on his phone.

"Hello?"

* * *

"Aoshi!" Misao cried as soon as he picked up.

Mi… Misao? Is everything all right?

She blushed a bit at his concern and pushed on. "Hai. Listen, I'm calling to help you a bit. The Hoover Dam is very complicated but I think…"

Misao! Why aren't you in bed?

She paused. "Never mind about that now. Listen to me…"

This is not the time. We can han…

"NO YOU CAN'T!" Misao yelled, trying to push away her tears but the image of the soldier was burning in her mind. She couldn't end up like that.

Misao?

She broke the sudden silence. "Listen to me, things are about to get very messy over there. You'll only have a few minutes before…"

Things are already 'messy'..

"The US Army arrived already? But they're mission plan said they wouldn't get there for another ten minutes."

* * *

Aoshi blinked. The US Army? But that wasn't the US Army on the dam right now. "No, it looks like the Juppongatana and the Hiten are the ones right now fighting each other."

Then it's going to get a lot worse. The Army sending out a task force. Looks like everyone figured out things at the same time. The cure is up there, right?

Aoshi frowned at the almost pleading nature of her voice. "We thinks so, yes."

Then listen to me. I've got your cell phone location so I can lead you to a maintenance shaft from where you are. I've got some of the guys back home working to disable the security systems so you won't attract too much attention. You need to move fast because once the Army gets there, it's just going to be a blood bath.

"All right. Start directing."

Give the phone to Himura.

Aoshi blinked. "What?"

Your arm is still broken.

He looked down at his bandaged arm. "You're not exactly one to be talking about going in with injur…"

Aoshi, there's a lot of climbing involved in this. Give the phone to Himura.

Aoshi paused and thought about it. She was right. He knew that. The splints allowed him limited movement, enough to drive a car but climbing…

"Misao," he said softly. "When this is over…"

I know, we'll have a nice long talk.

He frowned. It wasn't what he meant to say but he handed the phone over to Kenshin who began talking with Misao as Aoshi filled in the rest of the group on what was going on.

"Sano," Kenshin said turning to the tall man. "You'll come with me. The rest of you stay here and get ready to move if the army…"

"Wait a minute!" Kaoru cried, moving towards him. "Why is Sano going?"

"Because I'll need someone strong and tall enough to help boost me in some place," Kenshin explained.

"Then I'll come with you too," she said firmly.

"You need to stay here and make sure that Megumi and Aoshi are safe," he said.

Kaoru frowned. She knew he was right. But it didn't make it any easier. "Just… come back, okay?" she said softly, looking at the ground.

He reached out and took her chin in his hand, lifting her head up. "You know I will. Because…" he said, catching her eyes. "Because…" he repeated softly.

Kaoru's eyes blinked, watching his violet eye search hers. Her heart starting to beat a bit faster. Was he going to say…

"I owe you two months rent," he said with a smile and a small blush.

Kaoru blinked and blushed. Baka, she chided herself as he walked away. Exactly what did you expect him to say? Of course… when she had said it, she had had a double meaning behind it. Maybe…

"Oi, no lovey words for me, kitsune?" Sano called out, following behind Kenshin.

"How about don't get too shot up," Megumi called out.

Sano smiled. "I didn't know you cared!"

"I don't!" Megumi yelled back. "That's why I'm not putting you back together if you do!"

With a trail of expletives, Sano disappeared down the shaft, followed by Kenshin who was listening to Misao's explanations.

* * *

Yumi cursed. She had been doing a lot of that. But at least she could take refuge in the fact that after their initial surprise, her boys were starting to come together and fight back. A quick phone call meant reinforcements were on the way but the fight wasn't the worst of her problem.

The tech behind her was dead but she didn't need to be a computer expert to understand what was about to happen. In five minutes she was about to lose the single most important thing in her plans.

Turning to the form that was huddled on the ground she frowned. "I need that password, right now," Yumi yelled over the gunfire.

Magdaria didn't say anything, her sobs at the prone form of her brother the only sound she way making.

"God damn it!" Yumi yelled, grabbing a handful of cloth and pulling the girl closer. "The password right NOW!"

But Magdaria didn't respond. Her eyes were locked on her brother. He had done it. He had fulfilled their part of the plan. And she knew that it was almost time to follow him. It wasn't fear that was holding her back, her faith was stronger than that. It was that accursed blond woman who had her pinned by the collar.

Turning around finally, Magdaria caught Yumi's eye and smiled. Yumi balked a bit and realized all too late what was about to happen. The young nun acted quickly, hoping she would be forgiven for striking another person as her fist connected with Yumi's face.

Yumi's head snapped back, her grip let go and Magdaria stood up quickly, suddenly providing a target for the firing horde. Before either side could issue an order, she went down, hitting the ground hard just as a hatch on the floor opened up.

Kenshin surveyed the area, making sure that the data Misao was getting from the satellites was accurate. This hatch should open up to somewhere that was protected from the bullets but there should be several people here.

He saw them, all on the ground and bleeding. Yumi started to move again and Kenshin pushed out of the hole, moving towards her and delivering a debilitating temple shot. Yumi's eyes fluttered a bit before she fell into unconsciousness.

Kenshin moved from her to the tech on the ground and suddenly saw the computer.

"Misao, there's a computer here next to Yumi… there's a countdown threatening to erase the data."

That's got to be it but… how long is left?

"Three minutes, twenty seconds."

That's… that's too long. Himura, is there anything there with the password, a piece of paper or…

Kenshin started looking around frantically, knowing that time was counting down in more ways then one. The US Army would be here in a minute, the Juppongatana were going to realize that something was wrong with Yumi soon and the data, the cure, would be gone in under three.

He knew Misao was right. No code-breaking program could work that fast. There had to be another way to…

Kenshin thoughts trailed off as he watched Sano suddenly move quickly behind him. He was sitting at a prone figure, picking her up softly. Kenshin frowned as soon as he realized from the outfit who she was.

"Magdaria," Sano said, shaking the woman softly.

The young woman blinked and looked up at him, a small smile on her lips.

"Sano! Ask her if she knows the password!" Kenshin yelled over the noise.

Sano looked at her, knowing she had heard the request. But it was obvious in her eyes that she didn't have the strength to talk. Then he saw more in her eyes, all the hopes of what might have been slowly fading away as the last bit of life ebb onto the ground. In that silence, Sano suddenly understood.

"SANO!"

Sano blinked and turned back to Kenshin. The redhead was looking at him, trying to ignore the increasing sound of army helicopters.

"Irene," Sano said to Kenshin before turning back to Magdaria. "Peace be with you."