Chapter Two

Lady sat on Dante's desk, usually she didn't bother with more than leaning on it since Trish usually had her ridiculously tiny rear parked on it, but today Trish was mercifully absent and Dante was as usual late. It had to be payback for calling him to her place late on a rainy night a week ago why else would his place be otherwise so mysteriously empty and the doors unlocked. He didn't leave them unlocked very often, usually when he lost his keys or knew Trish was around, but for neither to be true…yeah the man was getting payback for calling him out and then kicking him out in all of a half hour.

What did he want her to say when he asked? I need you to tear my clothes off and make me forget for one moment that I can't change what is? Shaking her head Lady shook that thought out of her head, nose twitching a little as the smell of sulfur reached her nose. In half a second all of her nerves went tense, that smell only preceded the appearance of demons, or when eggs rotted but she doubted Dante even knew what an egg was let alone had any in his fridge. After all the guy ate pizza for his every meal of the day.

Her hand inched toward the holstered weapon at her hip when a snicker stopped her. Her gaze roving the room at light speed as she tried to place it and eventually landing on a man standing before her. He hadn't been there before which she didn't like and had her hand wrapping around the grip of her gun. People appearing out of thin air made her nervous, which she blamed entirely on her father from way back when. He had a very bad habit of appearing out of nowhere and then beating her up or throwing her off the edge of a building before she killed him. Eyebrows furrowing she stared waiting for this apparent demon to do something to make her draw, and he just stood there serene as ever an amused grin on his face as he tsked his tongue and wagged a finger at her.

"Now, now Lady you don't want to do that do you?"

"And why the hell not?" She asked her voice carefully neutral despite her posture breathing tension.

The man laughed, "Because I have something you want desperately."

His emphasis on that last word made her pause in thinking about all the different ways she could kill him and he wouldn't be able to do anything to stop her. Eyes wide in surprise to the point that they showed a lot clearer than she usually allowed that her eyes weren't the same color. Probably didn't help that her red lensed sunglasses were sitting in her pocket rather than on her face. But he knew, this demon actually knew just how much she was willing to risk in order to get her mother back. To change history as it had been written already so that she could once more have her best friend in her life.

"You can't give me that, no one can give me that. She's dead!" She practically screamed shaking her head in both denial that she wanted that and to get the thought out of her head that she was actually entertaining asking him what his cost would be to do so. Fate had had its say already there was nothing she could do to change that. Her only purpose now was to kill every demon she could before one of them managed to take her out instead.

And with that thought she swung her right hand up her gun in hand and pulled the trigger shooting a window pane across the room rather than the man who had been standing there. Still tense and breathing hard in her anger Lady pushed off the desk and stood in the middle of the room searching for any sign or sound of her new target. Dante could have the case she'd been planning on just asking for help with this demon, he was her's to kill and the others could wait until she'd succeeded.

A whisper of a laugh echoed just as she finished thinking that she'd kill him fading at the same time that the door burst open. Still on edge Lady whirled Beretta pointed at the half-demon that owned the Devil May Cry. The look on his face saying that he was more than a little amused at her sudden jumpiness.

"Hey babe, I thought we were over this." He murmured lowering the muzzle of her gun to point at the floor with an index finger.

"Shut up. You're late, I should shoot you." Looking her typically annoyed self when he wasn't on time Dante merely shrugged and sauntered to his desk sitting down and kicking his feet up onto its top.

"You wanted to see me babe. Not my fault other cases popped up."

For a moment she just stood there as she holstered her weapon and rolled her eyes at him before walking over with an agile grace that said if he pushed any more of her buttons tonight he might find himself reliving the first time he met her.

"I have a case you might like. Interested?"

"Ye-…" He cut himself off as his nose caught the fading scent of sulfur and he turned his gaze to hers, "So you had a party while I was gone. I'm impressed, I thought you had a thing about respecting people's space."

"It was one, and he wasn't interested in a fight." She grumbled annoyed that he had gotten completely off topic.

"What was he interested in?" Leaning back in his chair Dante gave her a not so subtle look up and down before waiting for her to answer arms crossed over her chest.

"None of your business, are interested in the case or not?"

A long pause settled in over them. Dante clearly thinking although the grin on his face also said he probably wasn't thinking about whether or not he wanted to take the job and more whether or not this demon was worth continuing to annoy her about. Finally he shrugged.

"Why not, I just wrapped up my last one. Another case wouldn't hurt."

Lady nodded, "Good."