Summary: What if it wasn't Spike who Buffy confided in after she was resurrected? What if it was someone she just met… who happened to be a demon slayer himself? Takes place during season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Featuring Dante of Devil May Cry 4.

Series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Devil May Cry

Pairing: Dante x Buffy

An Accidental Meeting

After her death and the peace that came along with being in heaven, Buffy did not know how to face the frightening world of the living. It was all so painful, so dangerous, so terrifying. None of her friends could know that resurrecting her was the worst thing they could ever do. She could never tell them that the place her mind was in when her cold lifeless body was buried six feet under the ground was heaven. Every second living in this dangerous world made her body ache and long for the bliss she once knew. She didn't want this. She wanted to go back. Back to the world of the dead.

Buffy sat quietly at the Scoobies' usual meeting place, The Bronze. She knew none of her friends would be here tonight, which is precisely why she came. They all act so cheerful around her, happy to have her friend back, having no idea what kind of torment the slayer is experiencing. Buffy couldn't stand being near them, their happiness reminding her of her lack of it.

Spacing out as she often does ever since her death, Buffy didn't notice the unique-looking person sitting on the bar stool to her right.

"Hey, babe," A voice called. Buffy's face jerked up as her mind returned to Sunnydale. Even in her half-alive state, Buffy realized the man looking at her in a scrutinizing fashion was beyond a hunk. He had strong yet beautiful features. His face looked as if it could've been carved by Michelangelo himself. This stranger had hair as white as snow, making Buffy want to cringe as bleached hair reminded her of a certain someone she definitely did not want to be reminded of. He had a long coat of red leather, on top of a black leather vest along with way outdated cowboy pants and boots. "Something wrong, lady?"

Once more the easy-going voice of the stranger brought her out of her fantasy world. Buffy perked up and said "Oh, uh, no! I'm fine. Couldn't be finer. I'm so fine; I have fine arts collectors lining up at my door." Buffy didn't have time to fully absorb the embarrassment her unintelligent word choice caused her before she heard her questioner snicker, obviously not trying very hard to conceal the fact that he was laughing at her.

"You're funny, I like you." The man says; his thin lips curled into a sly smirk as he looked at Buffy, as if she's a new toy he can't wait to play with. Buffy looks at him wide-eyed, realizing how other-worldly the man in front of her looks. His light stubble added masculinity to his somewhat feminine features; his unusually bright ice-blue eyes felt like they pierced right through her soul. Buffy could feel a shiver ripple down her spine as she looked into the depths of those small spheres. "Dante," said the relaxed voice that came out of those beautifully carved lips. Buffy started again, wondering if she should blame the alcohol for making her especially spacey tonight. She looked down to notice a uniquely gloved hand extended towards her, waiting for something.

"Oh!" Buffy exclaimed when her brain finally started working again. "I'm Buffy." She said as she firmly shook his large muscular hand. Dante's blond eyebrows crunched together in surprise at the strength of the small woman's handshake. He shook her hand even more forcefully as if to compete with her strength. Buffy's round eyes widened with shock. When their hands parted, both Buffy and her mysterious acquaintance had to rub their sore hands after the other's harsh grip.

Dante chugged his glass of beer, wiped his mouth and then looked back at Buffy. "I bet I can drink more than you," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Is that a challenge?" Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her full glossy lips. There was no way Buffy was going to back down from a challenge from this Dante guy. She could tell even by the way he dressed that he thinks he's ten times better than anyone in The Bronze.

"And if it is?" Dante asks, already knowing what her answer will be.

"I accept." Buffy replies with a smile.

2 hours and innumerable alcoholic drinks later, Buffy's blonde head collapses onto the counter. Dante smirks triumphantly before swaying off of his stool. Catching himself before he falls face-first onto the floor, he grabs Buffy by the arm and picks her up onto her feet. Dante turns to leave the bar, putting the half conscious Buffy's arm around his shoulder so that they both help each other walk. They leave the club and walk through the dark alley, using each other to balance their unsteady feet.

Buffy opens her eyes. "What time is it?" she mutters.

"Past midnight, that's for sure." Her acquaintance replies.

"I have to go patrol…" Buffy says, her brain too jumbled to be careful about what she's saying.

"Patrol?" Dante asks with a scoff… or maybe it was a laugh. Buffy couldn't really tell. "For what?"

"Vampires." Buffy quickly replies. In her drunken state, she didn't realize what she was saying.

Rather than laughing at her this time, the white-haired man just said calmly, "I don't think you should be doing anything but resting. I'm taking you home."

"…can't go home." Buffy slurred. "…not going back…"

"Why not?" Dante asked curiously, regaining his footing to keep himself from falling on top of Buffy. They continue walking down the dark streets of Sunnydale with no clue as to where they're heading.

"My friends betrayed me," Buffy says, now leaning on Dante's shoulder, her shivering body looking for warmth to protect her from the night air.

Dante had to use a good bit of strength to keep from falling over in the opposite direction. He put his arm back around her to keep steady. "Some friends," Dante says with a voice oozing with sarcasm.

"They didn't mean to betray me," Buffy says, "they brought me back, but I didn't want to come back." Buffy could feel her eyes getting moist. She didn't care if this stranger with his arm around her thought she was a lunatic. She just wanted to get all of this pain eating away at her off her chest.

"Brought you back?" Dante asks, "From where?" He half wondered if what the girl in his arms was saying was just drunken gibberish. But seeing the tears welling in her eyes made him wonder what brought her to the club all by herself in the first place.

"Heaven." Buffy says, tears beginning to run down her soft cheeks. "When I died, I felt like I was in Heaven. And then they brought me back… back to this Hell." Suddenly, as if knowing her sadness, rain started pouring down. It looked as if the sky was crying with her. Dante quickly threw his leather coat over Buffy's shoulders. The coat was so big on her it flowed past her feet. He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her behind him while she held the coat closed across her chest. He ran fast, causing Buffy to stumble over her feet more than a few times in an effort to keep up with his demonic speed.

Dante led them to a run-down motel that smelled like mold and wet wood. Buffy didn't care much since she was safe from the rain and away from her friends. She felt a small twinge of guilt when she thought of her friends wondering where she disappeared to without any sort of notice, but that guilt quickly went away when she realized they probably expect her to be off fighting vampires at this time of night anyway. After Dante checked them into the place, they ascended the creaky old stairs to their room. Once in the cozy confines of the room, Dante stripped the wet clothing from his upper body.

Buffy felt a surge of warmth spread through her when she looked at the finely toned muscles of the mysterious man's back. Buffy removed the jacket from her shoulders and sat at the edge of one of the beds. The wooden panels holding up the mattress creaked with her weight.

"A little heavier than we look, are we?" Dante raised his eyebrow at her yet again.

"Very funny," She says with a sneer. "Couldn't you have picked a better place?"

"Sorry, princess, but you'll have to make do with this." Dante replies as he turns around and runs his fingers through his wet hair. The sight of this man's perfect chest and abs made her heart skip a beat. The two stay silent for a while. Dante looks her in the eyes and asks "You say you've been to heaven?"

Having sobered up a bit, Buffy realizes how stupid that must've sounded to this strange man. There's no way he would believe she was brought back from the dead. She purses her lips and looks down at her feet, refusing to answer out of fear that he'll mock her.

"You're lucky," He says in a serious, almost envious tone. "I've been to Hell."

She looks up at his face, the seriousness in his features incomparable. "Huh?" was the most intelligent question she could come up with.

Suddenly, a loud crash followed by a scream came from downstairs. Without a second thought, Buffy grabbed a stake out of her purse, as Dante withdrew two guns from the holster around his waist. Buffy runs down the stairs to see a gang of vampires crashing through the windows and attacking the man at the desk. "Hey, you!" Buffy yells as the vampires look in her direction, "Yeah, you, barf-face! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Before the slayer has time to blink, Dante runs past her with a huge sword in his hands. "Yeah, someone like me," he says. "Sorry, babe, but you're too small and fragile for these big guys."

"Are you insane?!" Buffy asks as she casually stakes a vampire that was coming up behind her. "You can't kill these things with guns and swords!"

"We'll just have to see about that, now won't we?" Dante asks as he all-too-enthusiastically waves his sword around, almost effortlessly chopping the vampires to pieces. Buffy stares in disbelief for a second before remembering the vampires quickly approaching from all sides. She only manages to stake two of them before bullets quickly fly past her face and leave the vampires as nothing but piles of dust at her feet before she's even able to blink.

With all the vampires gone, Buffy looks up at the man with the guns and the huge sword and asks "What are you?"

"Guess it's about time I give a proper introduction." he says with the same mischievous smirk. "The name's Dante, and I'm a demon slayer."