I do not own…

It wasn't until late Abraham and Vasiliy Fet returned to the house. Eph and Nora had already headed back to the lab. They had a little run in with a human couple and some vampires. The vampires ended up biting the couple with their stingers. Fet wanted to kill them but Eph wanted to use them to work on a virus for the vampire. When they walked inside the house they were surprised to smell of good food and the sight of Kagome, Souta, Shippo and Sofia. Fet looked like he was gonna attack but Abraham stopped him.

"This is the woman I told you about." Abraham said "She is on our side."

"Hello Mr. Sertrakian, nice to see you again." Kagome said "We didn't want to be rude host, so we made dinner."

"Don't worry you guys, Zack and I watched her the whole time. She won't kill us." Dutch said as she helped set up the table.

"I wasn't expecting you here so soon." Abraham said

"We were hoping for a place to stay for a while. The headmaster lost his patiences and sent his human pets to get in.." Kagome said

After explaining their situation Abraham agreed to let them stay as they could use the help. Fet only agreed because the food Kagome made smelled good and was delicious. The place was already cramped but they were able to make some room. Fet's couch was only big enough to fit Sofia and Kagome and would have brought a blow-out mattress to Souta and Shippo. Kagome had offered her side of the couch to Souta and as she was gonna sleep on the floor with her sleeping bag. Thanks to her traveling in the Edo period she has gotten used to roughing it out. She didn't mind sleeping on a nice comfy bed but if she has to sleep on the floor she can handle it with no complaint. Eph and Nora didn't come back until near morning and once everyone had rested greeted Kagomes' group. There Kagome learned that they were planning on creating a virus for the vampires. Kagome didn't like they were using the couple as guinea pigs and wished she could have saved them but they needed something to fight back against the vampires.

After they left to their lab Shippo and Souta had left with Fet and Dutch go after a few nests in the area. Kagome had stayed behind as she didn't want to leave Sofia behind still. So with the okay from Eph, she took both Sofia and Zack with her to do some shopping. The priestess can tell that the young boy was bored and knew some fresh air would be good for him.

"So what are we getting?" Zack asked

"I needed some things to create a few protection charms. And I need to find some herbs for medical purposes." Kagome said

Zack asked about the protection charms and she explained about her being a Shrine Priestess in Japan. Both kids were amazed and in entrance about Japan and being a Shrine Maiden. They were able to find a small apothecary shop and an arts and craft store. Neither were broken into as it was below the line of importance to stock up on. Though they had a little run in with two vampires that were in the apothecary shop. Zack quickly placed Sofia behind him while Kagome unsheathed her sword and sliced them down. It was an easy kill so she didn't have to use her powers to ash them. She didn't think Zack should see that yet. After that they were able to catch a bus and got back to the house before the sun set. When they returned Abraham was sitting at the kitchen table doing some research, trying to look for a book about the Occido Lumen. Kagome was a bit worried for both his mental and psychical health. That's why she had gone out to get herbs, just in case. Eph and Nora returned a few minutes later from the lab. The couple has now gone towards stage 2 of their transformation. Nora was a bit worried that the Master would find out about the lab but Abraham assured her that as long the couple don't know, the Master won't know.

"Kagome…do you mind helping us with some blood donation?" Eph asked

He had already gotten blood from Nora.

"Are you planning on feeding them two pints of blood?" Kagome asked, walking over and rolling up sleeve. "I doubt that'll contain their hunger for long."

She didn't mind giving blood as she and Souta had the rarest blood type, O positive.

"If we find an effective pathogen, they won't need to live very long." Eph said as he placed a needle in her arm.

"Who won't need to live that long?"

Behind them was Zack.

"We have volunteer subjects." Eph said carefully. "They're infected."

"Are you going to cure them?" Zack asked

Before Eph could say anything Dutch, Fet, Souta and Shippo came back. It looked like Dutch and Fet had a fun time.

"Not exactly." Eph said

"Good evening, Dr. Frankenstein." Fet said he and Dutch walked over towards the kitchen. "How's the "mad scientist" business?"

"That odd couple turn yet?" Dutch asked

"They're turning fast." Nora said

"Poor bastards. You should've put them out of their misery." Dutch said

Once the bag was full Eph carefully took the needle out and placed a bandaid on her arm.

"What's going on here? What are you doing?" Zack asked

"We're working on the disease, Zack." Eph said

"You are?" Zack asked "How? What's your plan?"

"It's very hard to explain." Eph said

"So you don't think I can understand, or you just don't wanna tell me?" Zack scoffed

"Right now, both." Eph said, not liking his son's attitude.

It was quiet for a moment.

"Let me get a little further. Then I'll walk you through everything. I'm just trying to figure it out myself, okay?" Eph said

Not liking that his father was still treating him like a child Zack just went back to his room.

The next day Kagome was making a special tea to calm Abraham when she heard racked in his room. Sounded like he reached his limit and got frustrated. She went into his room to see him throw all his books around. Kagome placed hand on his shoulder and used her powers to calm him down. He tensed a bit at the sudden feeling but was able to calm down and sat in his chair.

"This is why they fear you. You truly are…a priestess." He whispered

"Yes. My brother and I are the last of our kind." She smiled before looking at the mess. "I'm guessing that you didn't find anything about that book."

She picked up a few books and Abraham noticed a piece of paper falling out of one of them. He got up to pick it up and smiled. It was the paper he was looking for. With this new information led him to ask Fet to take him to met with Mr. Palmer. The rich man was having a meeting with the press at a warehouse that was stock with items, for the city lockdown. The old man wanted to see the fear in his eyes that he was on the trail of the Occido Lumen.

/

A few days have passed since then and a couple of things have happened. Eph and Noras' virus didn't work well at first as it killed the vampires too quickly but after their next batch it worked. Kagome had to stop Abraham from using his old treatment in healing his body. She understood that he needed to keep on living but who knows what the side effects could do to him. So she had agreed to heal him instead for the time being. Neither of them had told the rest of the group about her being a Priestess. Abraham believed it was her own secret to tell and he didn't know how Eph and Nora would react about it. She didn't want to be used as a test subject as she knew her blood wouldn't do anything once it's out of her body. They both knew that Eph would have a hard time believing her powers came from her soul and would continue on experimenting on her till he gets results or drunkenly gives up.

Zack had gotten in trouble as he tried to go to Queens to see his mom as he didn't want to believe his mother was one a vampire. This led for Eph to take him to the lab and show him what they were doing. It still didn't break Zack's belief and tried to destroy the virus but Nora and Eph were able to stop him. Eph got pissed off so he grabbed his son and brought him close to the male vampire. He was through of Zack's deniness and showed what his mother is like now. It scared Zack when the vampire tried to eat him and Nora was able to stop Eph before this scar him even more.

Fet and Dutch have gotten closer and from what Shippo informed Kagome they were kind of dating. Told her it happened on the first day the four of them went hunting together.

The day after Eph, Fet and Shippo had decided to let the infected vampire out. The sun was about to rise so they knew the vampire would head for a nest. After trailing it for a bit the vampire ends up going to a nest that was a pschward. At sunset they went back again and the vampires were infected by the virus and this made the Master to have them kill themselves. Eph knew they had a winner and wanted to take this virus to an old friend of his that works at Washington, DC. Nora tried to stop him as this was too soon but Eph wouldn't listen.

Then the councilwoman, Justine Feraldo, had created a curfew and hired the police and other people that she calls peacekeepers to go door-to-door to make sure everyone is safe. She was using them to clear out the vampires. Fet thought she had a great idea while Nora was a bit hesitant as they are imposing martial law and suspending Constitutional rights. Kagome understood her reasoning as this kind of thing can cause riots. Criminals will use this to take advantage of people. Or even worse people will panic and attack anyone that shows any sickness.

It happened a few nights ago. The police rated an apartment building to check if anyone was infected. It angered a lot of people. While Eph had gone to Washington, D.C Kagome, Nora and Dutch had gone to Van Brunt Street to talk to the councilwoman, Justine Feraldo, to get Fet out of jail. Souta and Shippo were at the house looking after the kids. The people that were brought to the building were angry that they had to stay there until their homes were secured. The people tried to calm them down but when that wasn't working the lady herself came in to do it.

"All right, listen. I want you back in your homes as much as you do. But right now…your homes are not safe." She said "My crews, they're out there day and night, some of them losing their lives. But they will win back your neighborhoods for you. Give us some time and your support. But anyone showing symptoms needs to go into quarantine for 72 hours."

This made the crowd even more angry. Kagome and Nora looked at each other as they knew this lady doesn't know how this Strain works.

"We've got to find out if they're infected." Justine said "I know it's a pain in the ass being separated that long, but we've got to keep everybody safe."

After that was done the girls waited until Justine was done talking to everyone and was alone to approach her.

"Excuse me. I'm Dr. Nora Martinez. And I'm a biochemist with the CDC." Nora said

"And?" Justine said, without a caring tone.

"You don't need to quarantine people for three days." Nora said "I have a way of diagnosing people who are infected within one or two hours."

This surprised the Councilwoman.

"Yeah? How's that?" She asked

"We can show you." Kagome said "But first, you have to do something for us."

Once they heard that Fet was out and safe they began looking at the people that were sick. So far two out of three just had the flu. One had the vampire worms inside him. They placed him in quarantine, and Justine wasn't sure if she should kill him down or after the man turned. This is when Kagome decided to show them what she can do. She believed Nora might be more understanding about her powers than Eph would. Kagome laid the man down on the bed he was sitting on and used her miko powers to kill off the worms. Both Nora and Justine were stunned at what had happened. Nora checked the man again with the U.V light and the worms were gone.

"How did you…?" Nora asked

"I'm a Priestess. I am able to heal the sickness only in the first stage." Kagome said before standing up and looked over at Justine. "Are there others?"

"There is someone I would like you two to see." Justine said

She took them to another where her nephew was laying down.

"He got knocked down some stairs last night and landed on his head." She said "Our doctor, he thinks he'll probably be okay. But I noticed a little cut on his face there. I just wanna be sure."

Nora checked him with her U.V light and like with the other one he had the vampire worms inside him. Sensing that he was still in the first stage Kagome began to heal him.

"How come you didn't tell us about this?" Nora asked

"I wasn't sure if you would believe me. Even if you did, I didn't want to be used as an experiment." Kagome said

"We wouldn't have." Nora said

Kagome gave her a look, letting her know that Eph would. Nora couldn't help but agree.

"My Priestess powers come from within my soul. It was given to me by the Gods. My blood wouldn't have helped with your virus to kill them." Kagome said

"But you can?" Nora asked

"Yes. And that's why my brother and I have been fighting them. It's our job to protect mankind." Kagome said and looked at Justine. "My brother and I can help. But we are human. And I don't want us to be use as some kind of weapon. We do have our limits."

/

Later that night at Somerset Airport, Bedminster Township, New Jersey a private plane landed on their lot. Security had driven up to talk to the pilot as they weren't supposed to land there.

"Hello." security one said "You hear our radio calls? You were specifically instructed not to land here. This airport is within a restricted area. There's a quarantine. No incoming or outgoing aircraft within 60 miles of New York."

"We had an in-flight emergency. Our client was sick." The pilot said

"What client? Where is he? Let me see him." Security guy asked

"He left." The other pilot said

"Left? Where the hell did he go?" Security guy asked

They pointed towards the area where the gates were and the two went to check it out. They brought their security dog to sniff the outsider out and saw that the gate was sliced open. The dog went nuts at the smell of the outsider and went chasing after it. But it was too late the outside was far from the airport. A car was waiting for him at the edge of the woods to pick him up.

"Good to go?" The woman driver asked

The outside said nothing but nodded.

They drove off in the middle of the night without anyone seeing them.

/

While they were waiting Eph to get back. Kagome and the others were doing their best to do what they could in New York. One day Abraham had come back with a new member to their group. Palmer's ex-bodyguard Reggie Fitzwilliam. He had left Palmer as he couldn't live with what his boss had done. According to Abraham he has decided to help them out. The man knew a few things on what Palmer was up to but not with what they were for.

"Palmer is buying properties here, here, here, plus six or seven more upstate." Reggie said

He pointed to marked areas on the map.

"He was hiring architects, contractors. Offering to triple their wages." He said

"Why? What's he turning them into?" Abraham asked

"I don't know." Reggie said "Whenever the plans were discussed with Eichhorst, I was asked to leave the room."

"Conveniently, you have no idea." Fet scoffed

"That's funny. I don't remember you calling bullshit when I spared your life." Reggie glared "I do know he bought these industrial properties. And the team rebuilding them, it's the same team Stoneheart uses to build black-site prisons on contract for the US military."

"What's driving him?" Abraham asked

"Pardon?" Reggie asked

"This guy has all the money and power he ever needs. Why is he doing this?" Shippo explained

He has worked under Sesshomaru for a long time and knows what people like Palmer are like.

"Exactly. What does he want?" Abraham asked

"Palmer's been on the precipice of death for 50 years." Reggie said "Some people might make peace with that, but Palmer, he made a bargain instead." Reggie said

"Oldest story in the book." Kagome scoffed "He made a deal with the Master to become one of them."

"Wait. Are you saying that he started an apocalypse to become a muncher?" Fet asked in disgust

"Not just any muncher. An elevated one." Reggie said "He believes he's going to be the Master's partner."

"He may be a brilliant man but he really is stupied with this thinking." Kagome said "Beings like the Master don't want partners they want control. If anyone shows free-will and is not loyal, he'll destroy them."

"Sounds like something in Narukus book." Shippo muttered

Kagome nodded.

Then she started to feel faint.

"Wow, wow, easy there." Fet said as he caught her.

"Must have overdid it last night." Kagome muttered

All night she has helped Justine police crew in clearing vampires from homes and healing those in the early stage of being bitten. Fet and Dutch were there to see how she kills the vampires. They were a bit uncertain and amazed at the same time but were glad she was on their side.

"I'll say, you killed about 50 of those munchers last night." Fet said

"You should rest. We can take care of things from here." Abraham said

Kagome nodded and Shippo went to help her to lay down and rest.

"I gotta admit when I saw what she could do…it was a bit freaky." Fet whispered to Abraham. "Are you sure we can trust them?"

"Priests and Priestesses are protectors of the human race. Warriors of light for god as they used to call." Abraham said "We are lucky to have them. This is why the Master fears her and is trying to get rid of her."

/

In the Chambers of the Ancients…

"Pitiful, this city of New York." Quinlan said "I expected Constantinople, Baghdad before the Mongols, Rome. Those were cities. This is a factory, a machine. I can see why he started here."

The Ancients growled and twitched in thrones. They didn't talk and spoke directly into his mind.

"You indulged him." Quinlan glared, pointing to one of the Ancients. "You looked the other way for too long. Perhaps you're growing complacent."

They started to get agitated and stood up from their thrones.

"You should have stopped him 70 years ago, if not seven centuries ago." Quinlan argued.

He sighed and took a deep breath.

"I get no pleasure from your anxiety. I trained Vaun and the others to be better." He said "They failed us. I'm here now. I will stop him. But for my own reasons."

They started to calm down and sat back on their thrones but still snarled and growled a bit.

"I sensed him when he was injured. I need to know who got close enough to hurt him." He said "And I need human hunters who can work during the day. That is, if you have any left."

They told him that the one that hurt the Rouge was Abraham Setrakian and the only human hunter they had left was Gus, who had run off after Vaun died. Then they warned him that there were also two holy beings who were also hunting the Rouge Ancient. Hearing this intrigued Quinlan asked them more about them.