DmC

Devil May Cry

The sound of wailing sirens filled the air, government officials of every kind were trying to comprehend what had happened and how they were going to help the scared citizen. Kat looked at Dante, his hair had turned white from the battle with Vergil. The resemblance was even more striking now. She sighed, she was so confused, not sure what she felt, if she felt anything at all. No, she felt something, something as simple and ordinary as physical pain; the pain from her injures and the bullet wound in her shoulder was taking a well-earned first place in inflicting discomfort. It kept her focus and somewhat clearheaded.

"Dante…" he was scanning the city, the sky, the empty space where Vergil had disappeared of into. He had gotten a purpose when he had met Vergil. More than that, he had gotten answers, his memories, and a friend, no a family. His only living family, his twin brother, was now gone, fled somewhere where Dante couldn't follow. What now? He was back at square one. No purpose, no answer and no family.

I know exactly who you are.

Kat's words echoed in his mind.

You are Dante. Nothing more and nothing less.

He looked at the girl. At first, she had seemed so fragile and small. And a little weird. But despite her small stature and her injuries, she still walked strong, didn't break and didn't look down. Hell, no one would have guessed that this girl had held out under torture from a demon god.

"We should get out of here." He said. Kat nodded, looking slightly relieved. He took her hand again, rested it in his arm, supporting a bit of her weight. But where should they go? Were they still considered terrorists? That didn't really matter. He wanted to be left alone from humans and other beings right now, wanted some time to heal.

"Where should we go?" Kat asked. She had had a room at The Order's headquarters and Dante's sorry excuse of a home had been crusted to bits by the Hunter demon long ago. There was only one place that came to the now white haired young man.

"To Paradise." He said. Kat raised an eyebrow, that was pretty corny. Was Oblivion next? Nirvana?

"My old home. Sparda's mansion." Dante explained.

"Oh!" Kat said. It was safe and hopefully not infested with demons anymore, considering that it's heirs had just killed of the Demon King.

"We can go to paradise another time, if needed." Kat groaned at this lewd and rather bad comment, at least he seemed to be healing already. Dante laughed, well aware of its quality. Perhaps he wasn't exactly back at square one.

When they arrived at the mansion, the few remaining demons fled at the sight of Dante. The mansion was theirs now. Relatively safe, especially from humans and whatever demons tried to approach would not be very wise and therefore most likely not very strong. Eva and Sparda's room was the one which was seemed most intact and they made camp there. Kat, who didn't have the Nephilim's healing power, was looking more and more exhausted by the minute.

"How are you holding up?" Dante asked as he sat her down on the bed.

"I'm ok." She gave him a small smile. "I just need some rest."

"Alright." Dante still eyed her. "I'm going to look around, see if I can make anything work around here." The thought of a shower almost made Kat slip into a daydream. She tried to get comfortable on the bed, as Dante disappeared through the door, only to return seconds later.

"What's wrong?" she asked concerned. He pulled out one of his guns, the white one, and handed it to her.

"That's Ivory." He said, almost proudly. "In case something should happen. Just aim and pull the trigger. She's a good girl." He winked and when through the door again.

He wandered towards the backyard of the mansion. Something from the vague memories of his childhood, told him that the water and heat systems were in the basement, which was only accessible from the backyard. He had to smash through parts of the roof and the remains of the door with Rebellion to get into the basement. The yard itself was looking like a forest. Tall grass, weeds and bushes were growing wildly. The broken branches and turned up dirt, probably from demons, gave it all a haunted look.

The basement was a large square room with shelves covering an entire wall, all the way to the back of the room, where the water and heat system were. Opposite the shelves was a large desk and a sink. Dante looked around. Tools were everywhere, little pieces of wood were strewn across the floor and on the desk a broken toy sword was waiting for a caring hand.

A memory came to life. 5 year old twin boys were impatiently waiting in the basement. It must be winter, because he remembered his ambigious relationship with the red knitted mittens his mom had forced him to wear. They were connected by a long sling, which went through his sleeves, so he wouldn't lose them.
They were waiting for Sparda. The powerful demon's big hands were carefully making wooden swords. He had promised to teach them how to fight one day, but his sons had grown impatient and so eager, that they had nearly driven Sparda mad, so he was dutifully making their swords now, for the sake of his sanity.

"Here boys." Sparda held the wooden swords out of reach of the small grabby hands of his sons. "These have the same weight balance as regular swords, isn't that cool?" The boys nodded, starry-eyed. "If you practice hard, maybe one day you will fight with real swords." He had had a serious tone, that Dante had not understood then. They went outside and Sparda had taught them the basic of sword fight.

Dante made a silent promise to himself, that he would repair that broken sword some day. But right now he had to see if he could get the water running again. He found some valves and turned them all. A gurgling and hissing sound filled the room. He turned on the tap on the sink, but nothing happened. Annoyed, he looked around for other options, but eventually decided on what always worked for him: violence. He gave the pipework a double flying kick and much to his ego and satisfaction, the water began to run from the rusty tap.

"Hell yeah!" he shot a victorious fist in the air when he made the heat system work as well.

Triumphantly he walked back to the bedroom and barely dodged a bullet when he walked through the door. After an awkward backflip like movement, Dante looked around. Kat sat on the bed, pointing Ivory at him. Her eyes widened when she realized whom she had tried to shoot.

"I… I'm so sorry." She stuttered. "I heard a loud clanking noise and I thought it was a demon…"

"You wouldn't have hit anything, shooting like that anyway." Dante said jokingly. "Besides, I'm not that easy to kill." He smiled his quirky smile and Kat relaxed. Arrogant as he might sound, he was right. It took a lot more to than a bullet to even stop a son of Sparda.

"Is the water running?" Kat asked excited, yearning for a shower.

"Yeah, it should be." He went into what had been the bathroom. The sink was torn of the wall and bits of porcelain were everywhere on the floor. Dante cleared a small path through the debris with his boot and pushed the shower door aside. The shower itself was relatively unharmed, the knobs were still there, but the shower head was broken off and only a pipe remained.
Kat had followed him and was waiting excited as he turned the knob to get the water running.

"Yes!" She exclaimed happy as the water began spewing out from the pipe. Dante smiled as she began to look around for towels or anything she could use to dry herself off.

"Aren't there some sheets or something?" she asked when her search had proved in vain.

"I don't know." Dante got a mischievous grin on. "You could always just air dry. It's okay, I don't mind." Kat didn't reply, but the comment really annoyed her. Why was he so…! She wanted to stomp out of the room, but on the first step, the movement made her shoulder ache even more. She winced and clutched her fist, she was not going to let out a cry right now. Without looking back, she went into the bedroom. There was a sheet on the bed at least. It was dusty and a little dirty, but it would have to do, she was NOT going to air dry. She was so annoyed at him right now. Why did he have to be so reckless, noisy and… outspoken about his sexual thoughts? He could be decent and just keep it to himself, but no! This could be considered sexual harassment, she concluded. Either way, it was definitely not what she needed. Especially after what her foster father had done… No, she was not going to let herself be taken in by memories. Maybe she wasn't annoyed, how could Dante know about what her foster father had done? As she began to work the sheet of the bed, Dante left the room and disappeared into the hallway. At least he knew when to give a girl some space, she thought. Or perhaps he was just bored.

It took forever to get the sheet of, seeing as she only had one good arm. She got most of the dirt and dust of, and headed to the bathroom. She undid her belt and kicked of her boots. Supporting her weight on the wall with her good arm, she took of her socks with her feet, like a child. She looked at the cracked mirror and sighed, it wasn't going to be easy or painless to get the hoodie of. She was about to take her shorts of, the hoodie was put on hold for now, when Dante knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Kat said. He came in, carrying something that looked like black cloth.

"I found some of… Eva's clothes." He indicated to the cloth. "Your hoodie is getting pretty nasty, so I thought I might as well." He smiled.

"Thank you." She said quietly. They stood in an awkward silence for a few seconds.

"Can you…?" Dante gestured towards her injured arm. Confused, Kat smiled, shrugged, shook her head and nodded at the same time. Without a word, Dante stepped over and gently began to undo the sling. This caring gesture caught Kat completely by surprise. She cared deeply for this ruthless young man and she knew he cared for her, but she was tired and hurt, not just from Mundus' handiwork, but from what Vergil had done. She had opened up to him, fought for his cause, then he had simply betrayed them. After what she had gone through with her foster father and what Vergil had done, she had not expected to encounter kindness from anyone just yet. And now this rash Nephilim, with so great power, was helping her, so that she wouldn't be in pain, and she hadn't even asked for it.

Dante carefully pulled the hoodie off, making sure not to get her injured shoulder to move. When he threw it on the floor, Kat leaned in and rested her head on his chest, right above his heart. He stood completely still. What should he do? Should he talk? Cheer her up? Tell a joke? Tell her to stop and be strong? None of those would work. So he just stood there and remained quiet. She let out a muffled sob and he pulled her closer and gently embraced her, resting his head on hers, almost as if he was shielding her.

They stood like that for a while, until Kat broke free and game him a little smile. There were no signs of tears on her face, but she was sniffing a bit. As Kat began to button up her shorts, Dante took a hint and left the room, however not without a cheeky smile and a quick extra look. Kat sighed at his behavior, but didn't get annoyed like before.

There was no soap, but that would have been too much wishful thinking, considering the house had been abandoned for over a decade. Nevertheless the shower was a little dream come true. She rubbed of all the dirt and blood and gently rinsed her wounds. Then she just stood under the running water for a while. Eventually she stepped out of the warm water and covered herself in the sheet. The cloth Dante had found was a black sweater. And only a sweater. Was this intentional or had it been all he could find? She gave him the benefit of the doubt and put it on as well as her shorts, she was not going to walk around in only a sweater that stopped a few inches above her knees. Eva had been bigger than her it seemed seeing as the sweater was way too big for her. Then again, Kat's stature wasn't exactly impressive. She picked up the sling and her shoes and left the bathroom.

Dante was standing by the window, one of the lucky few, that hadn't been broken.

"Woah." Kat said and Dante turned around. "It's already dark. Sorry I took so long."

"Don't worry about it." Dante said quietly and shit a quick glance at the window again. His reflection stared back. Earlier he had thought he had seen Vergil, but then he had realized that it was himself. His hair had turned white, the same color as his brother's. He could really see the resemblance now. He walked away from the window, avoiding his reflection. Should he dye his hair? The idea felt weird, to him, it was only women and those scene or meterosexual guys who did that.

"I think it's the Devil Trigger that does it." Kat said. "It won't change back." She pointed at his hair.

"Oh." He ruffled his hair. Sparda's blood had caused this, his demon blood. His thoughts flickered to the portrait of the proud man, with the face torn of. This man's blood, this man's power flowed within him. He had Eva had given him these powers so that he could chose his own path in life, why should he hide the evidence of that? No hair dye then.

"What time do you think it is?" Kat put the sling on the floor beside the bed and sat down.

"No idea." Dante strolled away around and saw his reflection again, but only saw himself this time. "Past midnight?" It didn't really matter though, they were both exhausted. Kat lay down and pulled the giant covers up under her chin and closed her eyes. Dante messed around for a little while longer, then she felt him tug slightly in the covers. She turned and looked at him. He was getting in bed with her.

"What?" He asked, confused by her looks.

"Nothing." She lay back down, facing away from him. There was only one bed and she was not going to ask him to sleep on the floor, but she hadn't quite realized that they then would be sharing the bed. Her heard beat a little faster, but Dante seemed completely comfortable and was already half asleep. Shortly after Kat followed his example, comforted by his presence.

She was tied up in a room with no walls. Stretched out, bound by hands and feet, unable to move, she head demons approach. A vile laughter, which belonged to her foster father echoed in her head. Rage Spawn came crawling closer, these were tiny ones, smaller than her hand, dozens of them, and soon they were upon her, gnawing at her flesh and clawing at her mouth and eyes. She opened her mouth to scream for help, but her foster father's demon hand clasped down and silence her. He dug a finger in her shoulder and she watched, helpless as the rot began to spread from the wound. Fear and panic grew in her and all she could do was watch as the Rage Spawn gather around her shoulder and melted into a grotesque guillotine like shape and chopped of her arm…

Kaw woke up with a gasp, her body felt paralyzed and she was covered in cold sweat. She lay still, listening for the vile laughter, but the mansion was quiet, it had only been in her dream. As she tried to calm down, she felt the ringing pain in her shoulder. Her entire arm felt heavier and in the dark, she noticed that Dante's arm was resting on her. In his sleep he had made an attempt to stop her squirming from the nightmares by holding her down somehow and had woken her up in the process. He himself remained fast asleep. The impact of his arm slamming against her, still hurt so much that she had to blink a tear away, but she was thankful for what he had done, even if he hadn't been conscious. God knows where her nightmares would have moved on to, if he hadn't woken her up. Smiling shyly, she scooted closer to him and moved his arm around her waist. In his sleep, he instinctively hugged her and pulled her a little closer. Eventually Kat's heart calmed down and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

Dante woke up, holding her close. When had he done this? He thought confused. But Kat looked peaceful and he had slept surprisingly well, so it really didn't matter. He lay holding her for a while, enjoying her presence. Her shaggy hair looked like a bird's nest, tangled and curled. Her breathing remained calm and regular and carefully stepped out of the bed and headed for the bathroom.

When Kat woke up, Dante was gone, but the sound of the water from the shower narrowed the options of his whereabouts down. She rolled on her back, stretched and stared at the ceiling. Despite all that had happened, Mundus' torture, Vergil's betrayal, the nightmares and so on, she felt strangely optimistic. They were going to pull through this all and stand victorious on the other side. She sat up and picked up the sling, trying to tie a knot, while she half hummed, half sang a song.

"Did you say something?" Dante called from the bathroom. She hadn't noticed that the water had stopped running.

"It's nothing." She replied. She waited for him to come into the room and share her optimism with him. "Actually…" she began when she saw his silhouette in the doorframe, but stopped when she realized he was stark naked. Blood rushed to her face and she felt really embarrassed.

"You were saying?" he said completely casually as he tried to locate some of his belongings.

"I just wanted to…" her voice was barely audible. This was too awkward, Dante seemed completely oblivious about the indecency he was displaying and she was too embarrassed to say anything. The first time they had met, he had been naked too, but she had been too nervous about the Hunter demon, to really notice. She remained silent and lay down stiffly.

"It's nothing." She said as she pulled the covers over her head. Dante let out an annoyed sound and she sighed thankful when she heard him get dressed. She still felt that they were going to pull through and stand victorious, she just hoped that Dante wouldn't do it naked.