A/N: Alright guys, I've decided to put this back up. The website that I was using wasn't giving me the raving reviews you guys do. There won't be any smut scenes except maybe some light stuff and fluff. If you want to read the chapters with smut scenes go to mitsuki – heartnet . deviantart . com (without the spaces) or look up Babes on the deviantart website.

Regular Font: Current

Italisized Font: Memory or Flashback

Chapter 1: A Squirming Bundle

Nero huffed as he walked down the street. The bone chilling wind whipped against his face and the water droplets against his skin felt like ice shards. It was flat out pouring and he was miserable. How could he have screwed up that job so badly? It was supposed to be an easy; get in, kill the demons, get out. And then a stupid civilian had to get in his way. One old man yelling about the end of the world was all it took to wane his concentration and the whole ceiling of the chapel went caving in. Ugh. He shrugged farther into his coat, his shoulders hunched as he passed a couple hugging close and sharing a useless umbrella. He took out his hands from his pocket to flip up his hood and zip up his trench all the way before putting his hands back in his pockets.

Most people walked along the streets quickly, wanting to get to shelter and out of the rain however; Nero didn't really care whether he got soaked or not. If he got wet it wouldn't matter anyway, he was already soaked to the bone the moment it started to poor and the chapel ceiling crumbled. He just wanted to get the night over with and get back to Devil May Cry to see the old man. His face warmed at the thought of seeing Dante after so many days of not being at DMC. He had been gone for a whole month after all. And Nero wanted to see his lover again after traveling around doing job after job. The word lover made him blush harder. It was true after all, even if he wasn't used to using the term. After things with Kyrie, he had realized that even though he loved Kyrie, it wasn't as deep as he or she thought that it was. He really only loved her as a sister, since she was the one who had cared for him since they were young. But Dante was different. Since he first saw the devil hunter he had felt attracted to him and honestly, after everything was over he still had his mind on the red clad devil hunter.

At first he thought his feelings were just of adoration considering that the devil hunter was more skilled (even though he didn't want to admit it) than he was. But after he had moved into Devil May Cry, with much fighting with Dante and him ending up paying for a pizza once a week, he started to feel more for him. The first time he realized he thought Dante was hot, he thought he just had raging hormones. Of course a teenager his age would think that, but when he stayed up at ungodly hours thinking about how Dante had looked "sexy enough to fuck" while moving around the office and how he had felt his chest ache when he saw Dante get injured during missions, his thoughts changed and he thought he had a crush on him.

He had been totally and completely wrong about that. He was in love with the silver haired beast. He loved the way his cockiness never got the better of him, how he only shaved when his stubble began to grow into a beard, how he looked like he had so much fun when they were on missions that he liked, everything. Not to mention how much... stamina the half-demon had.

Nero blushed at that and briefly thought about their nights in bed before he shook his head, trying not to get a hard on in the middle of the street. Nero sighed as he passed a pizza shop. Dante would have surely waited until Nero got home before they ordered pizza, because god forbid the old man order it himself and they purposely put olives on it.

"Whenever I call they always add olives, even when I don't mention it!" Dante complained. "That's why I want you to order it from now on." He said defiantly sitting back in his chair with his signature smirk on his face.

"The only reason they always put olives on it is because their tired of you creating 'tabs' because you can't pay for your food." Nero said flatly before dialing the phone to order.

So without missing a beat he strode into the shop and walked up to the counter. The man at the counter turned to Nero and smiled, clearly knowing the white haired devil.

"Back again Nero?" He said in a kind voice. Nero nodded.

"Yeah, just getting back from a job." He explained and the man nodded.

"The usual?" The man asked and Nero nodded. The man turned from the counter as Nero sighed and took out his wallet. Another fifteen dollars down the drain because of Dante's black hole he called a stomach.

"I'm putting the money behind the register; I gotta stop by the shop next door." He briefly explained, setting down the money and exited the building and entering the pouring rain again for the third time that evening.

The store next door sold custom bullets for pretty much the cheapest you could get anywhere but at an honest price. There was a certain type of bullet he had been looking to see that he could get and he wanted to see how much they would be. With all the money he was raking in, he wouldn't mind getting a present for the old man's birthday. Dante in all of his ignorant glory didn't know that Nero knew when his birthday was and honestly; the only reason he knew when Dante's birthday was, was because Lady had drug him away from Dante long enough to tell him the old man's birthday was in a few weeks. And when he said drug he meant it literally. Lady had decided that she wanted to talk to him and burst into the office while Dante had decided that he wanted attention before jumping the poor teen. Nero was not only embarrassed but angry as well.

So, now he was on his way over to the custom bullets shop to see if they had the bullet he wanted and could put the insignia on the bullet that he wanted. Nero passed by an open alley, not really noticing it was there until he heard a wailing scream come out of the darkness in a long, stretched out cry. He halted in place, as stiff as a board before he heard the cry stop. Looking around he didn't see anyone else outside on the soaked pavement, only the reflections of the street lights on the puddles and dark windows of closed stores.

The wailing came again only this time in a constant scream. He turned his head to the alley, knowing it was coming from the deep shadows and turning around to follow it. Backtracking quickly he hurried cautiously down the alley looking for the cause of the screams. The further down the alley he got the darker it got and he realized that even though there was no roof over head that the buildings got taller and taller. He got closer and closer to the sound and the wailing got loud enough that Nero's ears hurt, but he walked closer to it. Finally he got close enough that the alley broke out into four separate alleys and the moon shone down on a squirming bundle of wet cloth. Nero swallowed walking closer to it, hearing it cry lightly now and Nero heard his heart thumped loudly in his chest.

'Is that...?' He trailed off in his thoughts as he knelt down and pulled back the cloth.

In the middle of a cold, dark, damp alley, Nero found a bundle of blonde hair, pale skin and frail arms. The baby was wailing in discomfort and had its eyes clenched close in fear. Nero looked around the dark alley to see if anyone was present to look after the poor child. He knew if he found someone he'd give them a piece of his mind for even thinking of setting a child down in such a dangerous place. However, seeing no one he looked back down with a concerned look on his face. How could someone just leave a baby in the middle of an alley like this? Not to mention it was pouring outside and it was the middle of winter. He sighed to himself and wrapped the baby up in the cloth before glancing around again.

"I-is someone-" A hacking cough. "..there?" A feminine voice whispered, barely heard over the pouring rain. Nero looked over and peered into the darkest part of the alley. It was just barely noticeable but he found a mound lying on the ground and he picked up the child to walk over to the person who had spoken.

"Is this your baby ma'am?" Nero asked and as he got closer he could see how in horrible shape she really was.

The woman was beaten to hell and bloodied up. On closer inspection he could see that one of her arms was missing and her body was riddled with cuts. The smell of blood was strong around her and so was the remaining stench of demons.

"My baby..." She said again in a whisper before coughing again. "Where is my baby...?" She muttered and Nero knelt down with the child.

"Right here ma'am. Your baby isn't hurt." He explained and she smiled a little bit in the darkness.

"Good..." She paused, taking a deep breath and looking at him with scared eyes before continuing. "I'm sorry to ask you this... but you seem... good hearted..." She struggled to speak and he looked at her with worry.

"Do you want me to take your child to your husband?" He asked and she shook her head.

"My husband is dead... He died two months ago when our baby was born..." She coughed and her voice began to get weaker. "Could you... could you protect her? Protect my child?" She asked and Nero fought with himself for an answer.

How could he protect a child when he had trouble protecting himself with his work and his clients? But this woman was dying and this child had barely even begun to live. With all the demons around him on a daily basis how was he supposed to protect something so fragile? He sighed before nodding to her. He had to. There was no way he could leave such a young being in an alley for the demons to come back and get. She smiled at him.

"Thank you... Her name is... Thera... She was born two months ago... on... this day..." She said reaching up with her bloodied hand to touch her baby but her hand fell to the ground lifeless before she got to touch her baby for the last time.

Nero clenched his jaw shut in remorse and closed his eyes. The baby continued to wail in his ear but he chose to ignore it as he stood up and turned with Thera in his arms, his eyes scanning the empty alley in front of him.

"Shit, what do I do now?" He asked and sighed to himself. First thing was first. He had to get the kid to quiet down. He didn't need some other idiot clambering down the alley to find him with a dead woman and a crying baby. "Okay Thera, how is this going to work?" He asked the infant not expecting an answer but, for his sanity, asked anyway.

He held her close, not sure how to hold her and bobbed her up and down. Awkwardly he shushed her, and soon got to the point where he was bouncing her in his arms gently and switching from foot to foot to comfort her. Once she had quieted down she was gurgling and giggling at him. Her eyes opened to reveal glowing amethyst eyes.

Nero, looked at her questioningly before sighing and making his way out of the alley. He at least had to get the kid in some warm clothes or something so it didn't die from frost bite. He exited the alley and glanced around for any infant stores.

"Of course I'm not gonna find any. I'm in the shitty part of the city." He mumbled to himself as he walked slowly back to the pizza shop.

When he entered he gently put the cloth back over the baby's head so it wouldn't attract too much attention. The old man from earlier at the counter walked up to the counter, his eyes fixed on the bundle in Nero's arms. Guess his idiotic plan of hiding the baby didn't work so well.

"How old did you say you were kid?" The man asked with suspicion in his voice. Nero blushed like mad.

"It's not my kid!" He burst but remembering he had Thera in his arms he quieted down. "I'm babysitting for someone for the time being. She kind of dropped her on me." Nero only sort of lied. The man nodded as a woman came out from behind the counter and huddled next to Nero.

"Can I see her? She seems to be a bit uncomfortable." The woman asked and Nero reluctantly handed her over.

"Sure Rose. You wouldn't happen to have any dry baby clothes on you would you?" He asked scratching the side of his nose. "She kind of got wet because I don't have an umbrella." He said sheepishly. She looked up at him with a frown.

"I'd say so. She's soaked all the way to the bone!" She scolded and turned from him with the baby held close to her chest. "I have some but I don't know if they'll fit. You're lucky I had a baby last year." She said and he scratched the side of his nose in embarrassment before sitting down.

"Thanks Rose." He said before she disappeared with the baby. The man walked around the counter and handed him the pizza. He put his hands on his hips causing Nero to look up at him after he had set the pizza on his lap.

"I don't think you're going to be able to carry both at the same time, so I'll let you borrow my car if you promise to bring it back in the morning." He explained and Nero smiled at him.

"That'd be great Jerry. Thanks." He said and they both waited for Rose to come back downstairs with Thera.

When they came back down the stairs Thera was dressed in clothes that were three sizes too big for her, but were dry none the less. Her outfit was a forest green T-shirt that was over flowing the black over-alls she was wearing over top. She had little green socks over her feet with brown booties to keep her feet warm and a cap on her head. Rose was rewrapping her in a new blanket to keep the rain and wind out of her face.

"Sorry their boys clothes but that's all I have." Rose explained and Nero shook his head standing up with the pizza in one hand.

"They're fine. Thanks. I'll make sure to give them back when I return the car tomorrow." He explained and Rose tipped her head to the side in question.

"You let him borrow the car father?" She asked and Jerry nodded as he turned to walk back behind the counter and fill an order out.

"He can't carry a baby and a pizza at the same time all the way back to his place." He explained and she nodded.

"Okay well take good care of her. She has really pretty eyes you know. I wonder what the mother looks like." Rose complimented. Nero chuckled.

"Thanks Rose. And I will. Bye guys." He spoke walking outside with the pizza in one hand and Thera in the other. He walked over to the car and unlocked it using the key in the underside of the cars wheel cover. Once he had set the pizza inside he looked over at the bullet shop and back to Thera before sighing and walking back into the pizza shop. "Rose? Could you watch Thera for a while? I need to pick up something for Dante." He asked and Rose walked around the counter to look at the child for a while and Nero thought she was doing to say no, before she sighed and held her arms out.

"Fine Nero. But I'm not gonna be the babysitter of a babysitter for too long." She said taking the baby. Nero nodded.

"I know. It's just for a few minutes." He explained and jogged out of the store and into the bullet shop.

The man at the counter glanced his way before going back to reading a "Hunters Monthly" magazine. He had a bored but irritated look on his face which only went back to the bored look while he looked at the magazine.

"Kids aren't allowed in here." He stated and Nero glared at him.

"I'm twenty. Thanks for the compliment though. I came to look for some bullets for a friend's birthday." He explained and the man put down his reading parchment to look at him steadily.

"I.D.?" He asked gruffly and impatiently. Nero rolled his eyes and took out his wallet before showing him his Driver's License. The man nodded once before getting up from his chair. "What kind of bullets were you looking for?" He asked and Nero took out a piece of paper with the brand of bullets for Dante's gun. He handed it to the man and the man briefed over it before his eyes widened. "These sure are expensive bullets kid. How many rounds did you want?" He asked in awe and Nero tipped his head to the side in thought.

"I haven't really thought about it. How about ninety rounds?" He asked and the man looked at him in shock.

"Can you afford that? It's about a dollar ten for each round. That's a helluva lotta money." He asked and Nero looked at him seriously.

"Of course I can. I wouldn't be suggesting unless I knew I could pay for it." He explained and the man only shrugged before walking over to the case of bullets and extracting five cases of twenty bullets.

"Did you want any engraving on them?" He asked as he straightened to look at Nero and Nero nodded pulling out another piece of paper. He handed that slip of paper to the man and the man looked it over before grinning.

"Person must be pretty important for you do draw something like this." He said and walked over to the register, placing the papers on the counter. The first slip of paper said "Speer Gold Dot 230gr JHP (23966)" and the second slip of paper had Nero's name in scripted cursive writing and the woman from the Devil May Cry sign lying on top of his name. Lady also had the audacity to add devil horns and a tail because he had to ask Lady to draw the whole thing seeing as his artistic talents sucked. He had chuckled at it though and thought it had actually looked good.

"Yeah, I suppose he is. The old man's been putting up with my bull shit for two years now. Thought I'd get him something as thanks." He explained and the guy nodded.

"Alright the custom engraving is going to be an extra sixty for the total on all of the rounds along with the regular price, plus tax. The total's one hundred and sixty four dollars and thirteen cents." He explained and Nero took out his wallet again before taking out a wad of bill.

"Sweet, I'll still have enough to get him some shiner for his sword." He mumbled to himself as he put down the exact change and shoved the rest of his money into the wallet before securing it in his back pocket. "About ten grand left." He said grinning at the guy.

"What the hell do ya do for a living?" The guy questioned and Nero gave him a smirk.

"If I told you I'd have to kill you." He said seriously before bursting out in laughter at the guys face. "Nah just fuckin' with you." He said and put his hand on the table. "I'm a bounty hunter." He explained and the guy nodded.

"Must be getting a lot of jobs for as much money as you have." He concluded and Nero scoffed.

"Helluva lot more than my partners been getting. He only likes ones that interest him." He said and the guy stopped counting bills to look at him.

"You wouldn't happen to be talking about Dante would you?" He asked and Nero paused from looking around the shop to look at him.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" He asked and the guy laughed.

"He came here a couple of weeks ago asking if anyone had come in talking about him. The guy's been coming in here almost daily." He asked and closed the register. "On days he didn't have anything to do he'd stop to talk to me since this shop doesn't get that much business. Talks about how his partners been doing a shit ton of job and hasn't been at the office for a while." He explained and Nero nodded.

"Well then. It was nice to talk but I have a few errands to run before I go back to the shop." He explained and waved behind him as he walked out of the shop. He continued down the street to the pizza shop before entering and seeing Rose playing with Thera. "Okay, ready to go. I put the order in that I needed and it should be done in a few days." He said and Jerry gave him a thumbs up from the kitchen. Rose handed him Thera and he waved before setting off for home.

DantexNero

Dante sighed in irritation as he set down his magazine and tossed an empty beer can onto his desk. He had been waiting for Nero to get home like he said he would be two hours ago. Dante didn't want it to get to him, telling himself that Nero was probably just shopping or being held up by Lady. However, Lady walked into the shop with Trish in tow, demanding he pay his debts off. Again. And as the sun set more shops around him began to close, his fingers fidgeted with the sides of his magazine. So, to fix all of his problems-for the moment anyway-he set the magazine down and got up from his chair so he could pace.

And after a half an hour of pacing and his nerves being stretched into a thin almost nonexistent wire, he turned to the door to hear the beeping of a car horn, signaling that a door was locking. Surprised he glanced out the window to see Nero stepping out of a car and he flew back to his desk, propping his legs onto the desk and picking the magazine back up. He had to make sure it seemed like he was keeping his cool, even if he was going to tell Nero that he had been worried.

Nero entered through the big double doors before closing out the horrible weather and basking in the warmth of the office. Dante's eyes scaled down his form to check for any injuries that had kept him out all night but he only noticed pizza and a bundle of cloth being held close Nero's chest. Nero turned from the door and walked over to the couch silently.

"Hey." Dante said briefly and Nero waved distractedly. Dante watched Nero put the small wiggling bundle on the couch before he took of his rain coat. "What is that?" Dante questioned looking at the squirming bundle that was now gurgling.

"What is what?" Nero asked trying to avoid the conversation. Dante glared at him.

"That." He said pointed to the wiggling blanket. Nero turned and picked it up. "I found it lying in an alley." He said pulling back the blanket. A small head of blonde almost silver hair popped out of the blanket and Dante forgot how to breathe.

End of Chapter Quote: "...when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?" Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of the Four (Doubleday p. 111)