Daddy Day Care

A world weary devil-hunter builds an orphanage for desperate street children.

Authors Note : Nero's 10 for this fic, and Dante's son. This might seem kind of similar to my other fic 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' but they are different. They share themes but the messages are different. This one's more about fatherhood and responsibility.

This story was heavily inspired by Rhiw's 'Like Father, Like Son' fanfic. If you haven't read that, I would definitely recommend it.

Don't forget to review!

Disclaimer : I don't own Devil May Cry.

CH. 1 – If I'm lyin', I'm dyin'

BRRING! BRRING!

The ringing sounded like booming in Dante's ears and he snapped awake, his vision blurry and his head throbbing something wicked. His eyes shot to the source of the shrill sound directly next to him. Shit, he couldn't even remember how much he drank last night. His hand went to rub his forehead; his eyes closing heavily .

BRRING! BRRING!

Dante ignored it a second, slouching up from his splintered desk and covering his eyes - blaring pain ringing behind them. Why the hell was it so FUCKING bright in this store?! "Lady!"

BRRING! BRRING!

"Lady! There's too much light in this place!" Dante shouted.

BRRING! BRRING!

Dante slammed his hand on the desk, the phone receiver popping up out of place and into his hand. He put the receiver up against his ear, sniffing and rubbing his nose. "Devil May Cry."

"IT'S ALL NATURAL LIGHT YOU DICK!" Lady shouted from the top of the stairs. "IT'S THREE IN THE FUCKING AFTERNOON!"

Dante put the phone against his bare chest, glaring death up the stairs. He was really hoping Lady could feel how much death he was glaring up the stairs at her. "Lady, I swear to God I'll come up there!"

"AND DO WHAT?!" Lady shouted from the top of the stairs.

Ohhh boy, she didn't even want to know what Dante would do. Why, he would … he would … actually, there's nothing Dante would do. He never did anything to either of the women that lived with him. Wow, what a bummer that was.

"Err … hello?" the voice said from the other side of the phone.

Dante's attention completely switched to the phone now, placing his ear intently against it. "Yeah, Devil May Cry …"

"THAT'S WHAT I FUCKING THOUGHT," Lady shouted.

Dante gritted his teeth, swatting Lady away with his hand even though she wouldn't see it and hearing Lady's footsteps walk away as he sank into his desk. "Yeah, Devil May Cry. What can I do for you today?"

"Err …" the voice on the other side was lost for words, "good afternoon, sir. I'm calling from Capulet City Hospital. We have a patient here asking for a Mr Dante?"

His mind became alert right through the hangover and he immediately snapped up on the desk. "Aaliya?"

"That's right sir she …"

"How is she? Is she okay?" Dante asked.

"Well actually, that's what we're ringing about sir, I'm afraid she went into a highly critical condition this morning."

Dante's heart pulsed. "But she's okay, right?"

"She is pulling through sir, but we don't know how long that will last for. We feel she should be with some next of kin in this very crucial time, so are you Aaliya's father?"

Dante rubbed his eyes, his head shaking heavily.

"Sir - are you the …"

"No, no I'm not," Dante said, "she's an orphan, I just visit her a lot."

"Right." the nurse said, "errm … we normally have a strict policy against people who are not next of kin meeting with patients."

"She doesn't have anyone else," Dante said, "let me see her."

"Well, we are aware of this sir, so we are willing to make an exception as long as you have a third party nurse in the room with you. Can you make it within the next hour?"

Dante nodded. "I can be there in the next ten minutes."

"Okay well please hurry sir, we have no idea how long she has."

Dante flipped the phone into the air.

It landed back into the receiver with a SLAM.

Aaliya wouldn't die today. Not on Dante's watch. He scrambled off the desk, crashing onto the floor and then haphazardly throwing his red leather duster over his form and strapping on his boots.

He needed a vital star.

He jostled on the top drawer on his desk, clambering it open and sifting through all the shit that cluttered up the drawer. Everytime – every goddamn time - he opened this drawer, he made a silent plea to clean it. And everytime – every GODDAMN time – he didn't do that. He sifted through, his hand reaching in deep and pulling out his prize.

A green star-shaped bottle that glistened in the light.

This was exactly what Dante needed. He speed-walked out of the front door and down the steps of his entrance.

It was bright outside, the sun beaming through the dusty desert roads.

It seared his face with heat, and his hand went to cover his eyes. Summer in Capulet city was just – way too hot. He couldn't even start to think how the Sparda Day marchers would be feeling. He sprinted forwards through two alleyways and across the streets. He then hopped over a fence and passed by two hobos asleep on dirty mattresses.

The Sparda Day parade was in full swing now; a group of men, women and children dancing and clapping through the streets. Flurries of red and gold and green were prickling through the march, and a harmony of drums and whistling echoed through the streets.

Dante tensed, his eyes shooting to the people. Why the hell did they have to pick today to do this? He wouldn't be able to get through the streets, not this way anyway. He scanned over the crowd, looking for any walkthroughs or spots that were less crowded. There wasn't a lot of options. Dante pivoted right, looking up at the building next to him. He could take the rooftops to get past them. His eyes hastily surveyed the alleyway he was standing in.

Other than a few transients to the far side, the alleyway was devoid of people.

That worked for him – all the people were probably way more interested in the march. He started sprinting forwards towards the building, immediately grasping up onto it and climbing up the side. He clutched into the soft spots, using them to boost his body up the side, his feet clutching into the jagged building-work that was oh-so-famous in Capulet city. He sped up on the final portion of the building, boosting himself over the top and landing on the top of the building. His eyes were darting around, checking for anyone who might have seen him.

The buildings were relatively close together; a decrepit mess of brown bricks and smoking rooftops providing a stark contrast with the beaming sun.

It wouldn't be all that hard to scale the buildings in this area, but he would need to be careful once he got to the hospital where the buildings started getting farther apart. He started bolting forwards and triggering almost immediately. He then began pouncing over the small gaps in the buildings, accelerating his forward momentum. In this state, he was always so much angrier – and so much hungrier – than in his normal state. He needed to keep his devil trigger on a leash – but fucck did it come in handy when he needed speed or aggression.

The spaces between the houses were getting further apart; now the buildings looking more like a squabble of drab colour. Instead of smoking chimneys, there was uneven rooftops and jagged laces of white stringing from the buildings as a result of the parade.

Dante needed to be even more careful now, jumping even farther forwards to make the gaps between the buildings and sprinting towards the hospital.

The hospital was just across the street.

His eyes were squinting as he bolted forwards. Aaliya was in that hospital, and that information made him boost every step even faster forwards. He leapt and pounced and dodged over the buildings with all the grace of a lion.

Dante didn't want to waste time waiting for nurses, so he jumped his way across, untriggering whilst in midair. He bounced off the hospital wall, deftly climbing past windows and clotheslines that were stupidly connected between houses and the hospital because people had nowhere else to hang their clothes. His city, ladies and gentlemen.

Aaliya's window was up ahead.

Dante's adrenaline surged, and he swerved underneath the window, kicking himself through the open window and landing on his feet.

The sickly thin girl lay in front of him – a gown of white covering her thin form and a messy crop of black hair covered her meek face. At first her face dropped but then her face became a beaming smile when she noticed Dante. "Dante," she said, her body completely still and her face strained, "we have a front door."

Dante's heart straight up went out to her. She had been here for a while, but she hadn't looked this bad since from when Dante first met her. "And what kind of entrance would I make coming through the front door?" Dante asked, coming to sit on the chair next to her.

Aaliya chuckled weakly, coughing and sniffing. "A normal one?"

Dante shook his head. "A lousy one. Anyway I bought you something."

"Flowers?" Aaliya said with a weak smile, "you shouldn't have."

For a kid, she was real sarcastic. "No smart ass, I bought you help," Dante said, searching through his pocket with hand, "something that will make you feel better."

Aaliya sniffed, trying to look out the window. "How's the parade looking?"

From where they sat, the parade echoed quietly through the room.

Dante was still digging through his pockets, forgetting where he put the star. "It's looking nice. I saw at least a few several hundred people in that parade."

Aaliya's eyes were on Dante's. "What did it look like?"

"Colourful," Dante said, "a lot of red."

Aaliya smirked. "Like your outdated red coat?"

Dante found the vial, pulling it out and shaking it. "It's not outdated. It's chic. Here, this'll make you feel better."

Aaliya shook her head. "I don't want it."

Dante tensed up at this, showing her the vial in his hand. "What are you talking about? It'll make you feel better."

Aaliya shook her head again, her eyes fixed on Dante's own. "I don't want to feel better."

Dante winced, dragging his chair closer to the sickly thin girl. "Aaliya …"

"There's nothing out there for me, Dante. Nothing I would want to feel better about, anyway."

Dante shook his head. "There's me, Aaliya. And I don't know what I would do if you died."

Aaliya frowned, looking down to her thin fingers and coughing briefly. "Dante I'm tired of this …"

"Na c'mon, Aaliya," Dante said, "I really have no idea what I'd do if you died."

Aaliya frowned, her brows furrowing in thought. "I'm not so sure …"

"You can come live with me," Dante said, "we can do anything you want together."

Aaliya's face turned into a weak smile. "I can?"

"Sure you can," Dante said, "you can crash at my place and we'll read magazines and air guitar and talk about girls."

Aaliya chuckled. "You can't talk about girls with a girl."

"According to who?" Dante asked.

She struggled, swallowing slowly. "It's the ... rules."

Dante frowned, trying to keep his face straight for her. "We'll make an exception to that rule in the Devil May Cry store."

Aaliya chuckled again, her face fully focused on Dante's own. "Okay, I'll try your medicine."

Dante was relieved to hear these words, popping the cap off the vital star and slowly placing it against her mouth. He hoped to high hell this worked. "It'll taste like shit …" he said.

She choked on the liquid, groaning as she drank it down her throat.

"Sorry," Dante said, wincing at the sight, "really sorry about the taste."

She almost threw up as the liquid went down her throat.

Dante briefly held her down, finishing off the liquid and then throwing the star away. "Sorry again. How you feeling?" Dante asked.

"That burned all the way down my throat, Dante," Aaliya said.

Dante chuckled. "My bad, I'm so used to it now that I forgot that's what it tastes like."

She shook her head. "I still don't feel all too good."

Dante's heart beat a little harder at that. That wasn't a good sign. Vital stars always kicked in straight away. "Let's give it some time," Dante said, "how these doctors treating you?"

"Good," she smiled, "yesterday I ate fish with peas and chips."

"You could have saved me some, you fat bastard," Dante said. It was ironic because she was so sickly thin Dante immediately regretted the joke.

Aaliya smirked. "Sorry, orphans only."

Dante wasn't gonna do anything to discomfort her in these moments, so he avoided the fact that he too was an orphan. "Alright, how do I get membership to this club?"

Aaliya's eyes thoughtfully went to the air. "I guess you could kill your parents," she smiled.

"Are you a psychopath, Aaliya? Because if you are I need to know that."

Aaliya smiled, her body too drained to laugh, and shook her head. "Not that I know of."

"Well that sounds like really hard work anyway. I mean I'd have to plan it all out, file paperwork for the insurance, the tools necessary to pull off the murder, it would just be a really long process," Dante said.

Aaliya did chuckle at this, coughing violently into her hand.

Dante frowned again. "You're not feeling any better?"

Aaliya shook her head, smiling weakly.

That was the only plan Dante had in his head. He couldn't think of any other plans that would save the little girl's life. He was starting to feel really helpless. "Is it bad pain?"

Aaliya nodded. "Like a thousand on the scale."

Dante frowned, leaning even closer to Aaliya. "Please pull through this, Aaliya."

Aaliya started shaking her head.

"Don't …" Dante struggled, holding her hand, "don't leave me in this dark, depressing world all on my own."

"Dante," Aaliya said, "I know I'm looking brave and all, but I'm actually really scared. So I need you to be brave to balance it out. You're not doing a very good job."

Dante shook his head, standing up and going over to the wall, his hand going to rub over his hair.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Dante shook his head again, his eyes going to the ceiling. He was really hoping that the vital star would kick in sometime soon. "You're such a retard," he half-laughed, brushing his lips with his tongue, "you're the one in critical condition and you're asking me if I'm okay."

"I don't want you to feel bad," Aaliya smiled.

His face dropped as he turned around to face her. "You're pretty good at it. You should consider it as like a long-time career or something."

She smiled again, twitching her fingers. "You don't know what I would do to live with you, Dante. I wish I had met you earlier."

Dante's cheeks warmed at this. "You really wouldn't Aaliya. I'm a … I'm a total slob."

She shook her head, the tears slowly forming in her eyes. "I'm so glad I met you, Dante," she said, "you've lit up my life."

Dante shook his head. "Aaliya … seriously, I'm gonna cry if you keep talking shit like that."

"There should be more people like you in the world. I've never met anyone like you before. And I really hope you keep bringing happiness to children's lives all round the world."

"Aaliya, don't … please don't talk like you're going to die."

Aaliya shook her head, a thin glean of sweat covering her body. "You're like the dad I never had, and the brother that I never had."

"Aaliya," Dante said, placing her hands in his own.

She looked into his eyes for a brief second and smiled. "Maybe one day we'll meet up .. .we'll meet up aga -"

Her body began seizing up, coming up off the bed.

Dante's eyes went wide. His face dropped, losing all of it's colour. Oh no fuck! What the hell was he supposed to do?! He tried to keep her from hurting herself then he realised that was a futile effort if she died. Why couldn't he do anything about this?! He dashed towards the door, swinging it open. "Doctor!"

She was seizing up on the bed, her body involuntarily going against her will.

"DOCTOR!"

She was making mewling sounds but nothing else was leaving her throat.

He fumbled over to her, clutching her hands in his own. "Don't die on me, Aaliya …"

Doctors rushed into the room, bleary shouts about medicines and nurses and IV's. They enveloped her, pushing Dante back whilst surrounding her small form.

Her eyes were deep pools of green.

Dante knew at that instant moment that he would never again forget those eyes of green. The green eyes that burned holes into his memory. The eyes of a life that may never again breathe another breath.

"She's not stabilising!" one of the doctors shouted.

Dante shook his head, his hands going onto his head, as he watched her eyes. Aaliya …

Then with one final breath from her sickly thin throat, the heart monitor flatlined.

Dante froze, every muscle in his body tensing. The world seemed to stop for Dante at that point. All of time and energy felt like it was in that one moment where the monitor had flatlined. His thoughts stopped whilst he just watched the lifeless body of the girl remain still and unmoving – her eyes shut like she was asleep. But the total absence of movement from her body told Dante that she wasn't asleep. She wasn't asleep.

And Dante was aware of this – and he was aware of it for a long time – that she would die; but for some reason it only just registered that she wouldn't actually ever reply again to anything Dante said.

He sat back in the chair, his eyes concentrating on Aaliya's face. And In what seemed like a blur, doctor's began whizzing past him and moving to check on her and take down details of her death but Dante remained seated. Even when a nurse came up to him, asking him something like 'sir are you okay?' he couldn't work out the words to say to her. He'd met the girl at least once a day every day for the past month, and now … it was like there was a giant hole in Dante's heart that gnawed away at his sensibilities. Only just holding back an unbridled anger that threatened to destroy Capulet city.

Dante only ever knew this pain one other time in his life. It wasn't like the pain of fighting with demons, it was a pain that was deep inside him. One that stabbed at his heart and that he couldn't get rid of no matter what he tried.

He didn't remember much of the walk back to his shop, nor did he remember getting into the shower whilst Lady shouted shit at him. He turned on the shower head, the steaming water cascading down his body. And yet, he didn't even know if it was hot or not. He was sure it was; he could see the steam; but It didn't cure and it didn't heal. It just … did nothing.

The night came just as slowly. And whilst he lay in his bed, his thoughts were on Aaliya. Sleep didn't come, and neither did relief from the pain, just a constant process of thoughts that flurried through Dante's head.

Maybe Dante actually shed a few tears that night - for the life of him he couldn't remember.

oooooooooooooooooo

Daybreak came far too early, the clock reading 9:03 as Dante bolted awake – the sleepiness making his muscles cry in protest.

Lady sat in front of him, her eyes scanning his body.

"You need to stop perving on me for like an hour," he said, slumping back into a laying position. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Dante, are you okay?" Lady asked.

"Yeah," Dante said blankly, shrugging his shoulders on his bed. "I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine."

"No I am," Dante said blankly, "really."

Lady was silent for a long while. "Look, Dante, I'm not gonna pretend to know what happened yesterday. But I know that there's something different about you. You seem … off. Distant. Like you don't want to be here."

Dante said nothing, his eyes focused out the window.

Lady stood up and came and sat on the foot of his bed. "You want to talk about it?"

"No," Dante said, "I want to do something about it."

"Do what?" Lady asked.

Dante didn't really know the answer to that question.

"Dante, I've never known you to mope."

"I don't mope," Dante fired back, "I be awesome."

Lady smirked. "That's the dick I'm looking for."

Dante said nothing, his eyes scanning left and right.

"So what can you do to fix this problem right now?"

What could he do ... he could do something. He could fix shit. He could get things done. He bolted up in his bed, his eyes going to the wall.

"Dante," Lady said.

He would not fall prey to guilt. He would do something about this. Something that made sense and that would redeem Aaliya's death. Something that would raise it to a high pedestal whilst also giving something back to her.

"Dante, are you -"

"Shhh, I'm thinking," Dante said.

Lady's mouth dropped open. "Okay I know you're upset and all, but don't think I won't smack you one around the face."

Dante's mind raced even faster. What?! What could he do that would make the pain in his heart go away? He couldn't mope, he knew that much. But he had to do something! Something to make sure there were no more future Aaliya's ever. Something to make sure that Aaliya would be the last orphan to die in his city on his watch. Something to make sure that he maintained control in these situations. He slammed his hand down on the table.

Lady flinched, leaning back on the bed away from him. "Dante, talk to me."

What could he do though?! He fell off the bed, rushing to the window.

The old building across the road was dry and run-down.

An orphanage – Dante could build an orphanage. He could make sure that all the children were properly fed, as well as being protected under the watchful eye of a grizzled-devil hunter and his entourage of beautiful women.

That was it, Dante knew what he had to do.

He needed to build an orphanage in Aaliya's name.

He needed to prevent Aaliya from ever happening again. He started pacing out the room.

"Dante," Lady said, "what the hell are you …"

"No time, Lady, busybusy, shit to do and people to see."

"Dante …" Lady sat dumbstruck as Dante exited the room.

Authors Note : I want to try introducing you to new songs, so the first one that I think perfectly catches the theme of this chapter is Real by Kendrick Lamar. How much love I gots for you guys?

Expect updates soon, but reviews will definitely speed things up. They give me a way to gauge if this story is actually being read and liked (y)