Note: Oh hey, long chapter before I take a short break. I'm glad everyone's enjoying this. Also, to answer some questions that I got: Vergil will not be appearing (though I have a separate project planned for him in the future) and I address the Kyrie issue in this chapter. Nero is a good boyfriend okay. Totally faithful and what not! Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

-3-

Lady wasn't going to let someone being a complete ass-hat ruin her evening. If the kid wanted to throw a bitch fit because he couldn't handle a couple of jokes at his expense then he was of no loss to her. She had better things to do with herself.

"Hey sexy, wanna go to a party?"

Like being sexy and going to a party.

"Sure," she said, shrugging. She joined the group of drunken frat boys as they laughed and hollered down the street, excited about beer or tits or both.

She tore off and tossed away her corsage, making sure to also shorten her tube dress since she wasn't at the wedding anymore. They finally reached the large house decorated with Greek letters and a lawn swarming with loud college students.

"Welcome beautiful." The guy at the door smiled as he stamped her hand. His eyes never wavered from her chest.

"Are you 21?" he asked, hoping that a compliment and what he thought was a charming smile would get him brownie points with her.

"Yes, the girls are 21." she smiled. "Now move before all the good alcohol is gone." She shoved him aside and went in.

It was a typical house party, full of underage drinking and horrible pop music to appeal to the girls the boys hoped to sleep with that night. Not that these kids needed crappy music to get laid because from the massive army of cheap alcohol bottles assembled on the kitchen counter, they had enough shitty alcohol to knock down an elephant.

Speaking of horrible booze, Lady was going to have to put her former bar-tending skills to good use. Just because she was supplied with bad alcohol didn't mean she had to endure horrible drinks. She grabbed a bottle of Devil's Springs vodka and went to work.

Nero wandered into the party about an hour later, frowning at the dumb stamp on his hand and the fact that his wallet was five bucks short. Guess with the girls going in for free the frat boys had to make their money by taking his. After blowing Lady off, he thought about going to his hotel room and just calling it a night. But the idea of turning in so early made him uncomfortable, especially when she probably expected that from him. Nero wasn't the type to let what others thought bother him, but that woman had a way of getting under his skin. He could just picture her smiling smugly and frankly that just pissed him off. Who was she to judge him? She wasn't any better than him and was most likely knocking boots with some desperate waiter. He felt more at ease with that thought and looked around the crowded living room. Everyone was either over drinking or over sexed. A few girls winked his way and he walked on, ignoring them. He managed to somehow get through the herd of dancing drunk people and got to a line that led to the source of everyone acting like inhibitions were a thing of the past.

Nero wasn't a big drinker, but if he was going to come and suffer through this frat party he might as well get something out of it. Even if that something was cheap alcohol and being "accidentally" groped by a horny college girl or two.

He wondered why everyone was waiting on line instead of just going to the counter and taking whatever they wanted. Was there some kind of alcohol cap? From how drunk everyone seemed to be he didn't think so. He moved forward to skip when the guy in front stopped him.

"Hey, don't cut! I finally got a twenty!"

Nero raised an eyebrow. Twenty dollars for cheap booze? No college student would be willing to part with that much money over shitty alcohol. Something was up.

"What's going on up there?" he asked.

Cheering and laughter could be heard from the counter.

"Dude! There's this really hot chick making everyone drinks."

Nero nodded. "Let me guess, she's making everyone drinks while offering something on the side?"

The guy's lips slit into a huge grin. He beckoned Nero with a finger to come closer to hear a secret.

"She'll let you squeeze her tits for the right price." The guy reeked of beer and dipping tobacco.

"A twenty?" Nero pulled back, getting away from the guy's sickly smell.

"Yes! How did you know?"

Nero rolled his eyes and made the guy turn forward since he had no further use of him. The crowd up front broke into another cheer. He decided the girl up there had no self respect and was probably someone with huge daddy issues if she was willing to just flash her tits to anyone. Charging twenty bucks for a grope? Daddy must've cut her off. Maybe he could get her to flash him and he can act unimpressed just to knock her down a peg or two. Though, knowing him, the plan would backfire and the girl would want to show him more than just her silicone globes and he wasn't in the mood to fight off her drunken advances. Being randomly groped was just fine for tonight.

"This taken?" He felt thin arms enveloped him from behind.

"Yes, hands off," he said, peeling the young woman off. He wondered if being there was even worth it anymore.

The line finally moved after the crowd dispersed. Nero could finally see the counter now and to his surprise and horror he saw her. Pink tube dress, cocksure smirk, and amber tainted shades. She wasn't doing much—emptying out a bottle of vodka into a shaker—but it was enough to make his nerves bristle. She was the last person he wanted to see and the urge to leave the line rose. He could save himself a headache if he left without her noticing.

"Finally! My turn!" The guy in front of him took out his twenty and licked his lips excitedly.

Or he could get a quick photo of her acting like a gold digging whore on his iPhone for blackmail.

Nero stayed and moved up in line to get a better view.

"I got my twenty." The guy handed Lady his money. She took it with a sly smirk on her lips. " Now let me feel those bad boys."

He leaned forward and Nero took that as his cue to take out his phone. Lady pulled back slightly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Close your eyes."

Nero snorted. The guy in front of him would have to be a complete idiot to fall for such a trite trick.

"Okay!"

What a dumbass. Lady produced two stress balls and handed them to the idiot with his eyes closed. Surely the guy couldn't be that drunk to not know the difference between stress balls and actual breasts.

"Oh yeah! They feel amazing," he said, giving the stress balls a nice firm squeeze.

Nero felt his jaw go slack. It was actually working? They were just stress balls and they weren't even the same size as her—

Lady smirked when she caught him looking.

"See something you like?"

A slight heat spread out on the bridge of his nose and onto his cheeks. Nero focused his gaze on the counter, trying his best to control the anger bubbling inside of him.

"Not even if you were the last woman on the planet," he grit because he knew better. It wasn't like he was looking with interest anyway because he was trying to gauge their size in comparison to the stress balls. So really, he was just making an observation in order to prove his hypothesis. Which was that the two did not equate in terms of size and mass. So in conclusion, Nero was looking at her tits for science.

Lady removed the stress balls from the drunken guy's hands. He opened them, giving her a glazed dreaming look as she fixed her top a bit to make it appear as though she actually let him cop a feel.

"Thanks," he sighed, happily.

"You're welcome, handsome."

Nero moved up, disappointed at his lack of blackmail material.

"I can't believe that actually worked."

Lady smirked, tossing the twenty into a bucket of money. "Yeah well, they're too drunk and stupid to know the difference or catch on." Nero raised an eyebrow at the bucket of money.

"You don't like my grope bucket?"

"Grope bucket?"

"There's about five hundred dollars in here."

"Holy—"

"So what would you like, kid?" She got the shaker ready.

"What? I don't get offered a squeeze?"

She tossed him a stress ball.

"Squeeze away, it's on the house." She loaded the shaker with some ice. "So what will it be?"

"I don't know, as an alcoholic, what would you recommend?" He asked, squeezing the stress ball as tight as he could and wouldn't you know it, he was a little less angry.

"Judging from your pout, how about a Shirley temple?"

He tried not to pout, opting for a more pissed off frown as he squeezed the stress ball as hard as he could muster again. But that only made her raise her sunglasses at him for a wink. He noticed her bi-color eyes as well as the light scar across the bridge of her nose. Unusual, he thought, but hardly an attention grabber for him when she was this walking contradiction.

Even as she made whatever it was she was making with the sea of alcohol bottles at her fingertips, she moved with such finesse and quickness that it was hard to tell if she was pulling tricks. Was she a professional bartender? Or was she just really good at messing around? It bothered him that he didn't even know her real name. If it had been anyone else, he wouldn't have really bothered to care, but she was different in that she was also a threat. She was an invisible enemy he was at the mercy of and Nero hated being at a disadvantage, especially with someone who matched him tit for tat in the snark department without much effort.

"So, I'm guessing you're here to recapture whatever youth you missed out on?" he asked, tossing the stress ball over his shoulder. He thought he heard someone being hit, but he was pretty sure they deserved it.

Lady chuckled, getting two glasses.

"Nope, I'm just here to sink my cougar claws into the pool of unsuspecting youth since no real man would want me." She poured the mixture from the shaker into the glasses and handed him one.

"Good thing their combined IQ is about a seven. Makes it easier for them to fall for your obvious tricks."

"Of course," she said, raising her glass. "Cheers."

He watched her drink from her glass before taking a sip of his own. To his surprise it actually tasted good. Considering the cheap alcohol she was working with, he thought it was going to taste like ass.

"Is this your way of apologizing to me or are you calling a truce?" he asked in between sips.

"Neither."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Think of it as an introduction."

"First impression?"

Lady shrugged. "Why not?"

"Well this impression isn't any better than your real first one." He snorted thinking that scamming college boys—no matter how stupid and drunk they appeared to be—out of their money using her tits wasn't any better than her being a rude bitch earlier, despite him being an asshole to her first.

"What are you taking about? You're almost done with your drink!" she pointed. "I must say that makes you fond of me even by a little."

Just because he enjoyed the drink she made him didn't mean he liked her any more than before.

"Whatever." He downed the rest of his glass.

Lady finished the rest of hers and reached for a pack of beer.

"Want to play beer pong with me?"

As tempting as the offer sounded, he just couldn't shake the feeling that this was not going to end well. "I don't want to play," he said, placing his glass down.

"Oh come on, we'll play using this kitty beer." She showed him the Mike's Hard beer as well as a bag of stacked cups. "Plus, my aim is terrible so you'll probably end up winning."

He didn't know if he could trust her. Something told him that she was like a serpent. Smooth and cunning with her words as she slithered and coiled around you, hypnotizing you until the first strike. How many men has she lured with empty promises and false hopes? How many have dropped dead before they realized she'd already bitten them? He tried to discern her ulterior motive but he couldn't read her well with those damn sunglasses she had on.

"Fine." Finding out meant giving in and he knew it was a small loss compared to the war he mentally declared on her.

"Good." she smirked, walking past him, the bottles in the pack of beer clinking together in tune with the sway of her hips. His eyes automatically followed and he realized then that he'd been bitten. He mentally cursed himself.

They walked towards the back of the house where the party spilled out into the yard. They found an empty table on the back porch that looked to be the designated beer pong table if all the half empty cups of beer and random ping-pong balls were anything to go by. Lady swiped two ping-pong balls from a bowl near some potted plants and tossed one at Nero, who caught it with ease. After she split the beer and cups between them, they began setting up. Neither said anything as they worked and Nero was grateful because he wasn't sure what else to say.

"Okay. So this is how it's going to work." Nero looked up from pouring the last of the beer into one of his cups. "Every shot you make, you get to ask me a question and vice versa if I make a shot. Drinking is optional given the fact that these things are filthy."

Nero scrunched his nose at the dirty ping-pong ball.

"First to eliminate all their opponents cups not only wins, but gets away knowing more about the other."

He nodded. Fair enough. He'd played the game enough times when he was in school and he had great aim.

"Lady's first," he said, going for the old bow and scrape routine as he mocked his respect for her.

"So classy and gentlemanly."

She got ready, looking at which cup she wanted to target with such concentration Nero thought it was almost cute in a pathetic sort of way. It was like watching a puppy trying to jump up a really high bed only to reach the edge and fall right off.

She threw the ball and Nero watched it land swiftly in the farthest cup of his formation. He looked surprised at first before suspicion set in. He looked at her, but she didn't seem to be bothered by his scornful gaze. Instead, she just shrugged.

"Lucky shot?"

He sighed.

"What do you want to know?" He removed the ball and set the cup aside.

She pondered a bit, opening one of her bottles and emptying it into a cup. She took a sip and wrinkled her nose from either the bubbles or the taste.

"Okay, here's my question. Where's your date?"

"You work fast."

She shrugged, drinking from her cup again. "Innocent question. Means nothing."

"Then why ask it?"

"Because I'm curious why a cute kid like you would be dateless on a night like this."

"You think I'm cute?" He was amused that she of all people would be interested in him. Though given her behavior he wouldn't be surprised if she liked him. She reminded him of those kids that teased the ones they liked, because they didn't know how to express their emotions.

"Sure. I find you cute in the same way I find feral ferrets that foam at the mouth cute." she smiled, taking another drink.

His mouth hardened into a scowl. Alright then, his mistake for giving her the benefit of the doubt.

"What was your stupid question again?"

"Where's your date?"

"Currently studying abroad."

Lady winced.

"What?"

"Nothing." she said, forcing a smile. "I'm sure she's having a wonderful time."

He ignored her, taking aim at one of her cups. The ball bounced off the rim and landed somewhere on the ground. He couldn't help but suspect that she moved one of her cups without him noticing. He said nothing, knowing that she'd deny it. She picked up his stray ball and made her second shot without much effort.

"Where abroad is she?"

"Brazil," he said in a clipped tone.

"Brazil?" Lady sucked her teeth, shaking her head in sympathy.

He glared at her. "What?"

"I'm sure she's fine and totally not surrounded by ridiculously good looking men."

He blinked. "She's what?"

"Think of it this way, kid. If she cheats, it doesn't really count!" she quipped, bouncing her ping-pong ball.

It took him a minute to process, because it all just sounded utterly ridiculous.

"How?"

"Well," She began as she caught the ball on its way up. "She's not on US soil so it can't be held against her. Plus, they're like an hour ahead or something, so technically if she cheats, it doesn't really count here since it has yet to happen."

"You are so full of sh—"

"So what if she gets gang banged into the next century by a horde of deliciously good looking Brazilian men—"

"What the f-"

"—Because when she comes back," she picked up her cup. "She'll teach those fumbling virgin hands of yours a thing or two about pleasing a woman."

He could have sworn he saw her wink through her glasses as she took a swig.

Annoyed wasn't even the right word for how she made him feel at the moment. It went beyond just getting under his skin. He hated how easily she could read him without knowing him that well. Her quips made him angrier than they should have and he couldn't understand why.

Nero didn't want to think about it and decided to take his shot. The ball missed, hitting the rim of one of the cups and ricocheting off towards her. She was so swift in catching it that Nero blinked, taken aback by how fast her reflexes were. She made a toss using the same ball and it landed into one of his cups.

He was beginning to think she was lying to him about being a terrible shot.

"So, what's going on with you besides being a virgin?" Lady asked.

His eyebrow twitched.

"My virginity and its standing are none of your business," he grit.

She nodded. "Fair enough. For the record, I think it's nice that you're…how old? And still have your v-plates."

Nero had to resist the urge to fling the table at her. As it stood, he couldn't do much but glare, which resulted in her looking amused.

"She wants to wait…" He cast his gaze aside, "...or whatever," he mumbled lamely, scratching the bridge of his nose as heat and embarrassment took over his face.

"So, she wants you to wait until you put a ring on it?"

He looked up. A what?

Lady shook her head.

"What is it this time?" he asked.

"It's just when a girl says she wants to wait, it means that she's—"

"I don't want to know." It came out so rushed it sounded like a single phrase.

She opened her mouth to say something but Nero didn't want to hear it. Instead, he took his shot and made it.

"Yes!" He even sounded excited about it which didn't seem to impress Lady as she took another sip of her cup.

He could practically feel the eye-roll she was giving him on his small victory. But Nero didn't care. He'd made his first shot of the night and the way things were going he probably wouldn't make another one so this was his chance to get as much information out of her as possible. But what to ask her? She looked at him as she took another sip and set her cup down. She was waiting for him and he didn't know what to ask. He studied her face for a moment, hoping to be able to read something off her, but nothing came and soon his gaze fell down her neck and towards her-

"They're real."

Nero blinked, then frowned because honestly, he wasn't like those perverted tools from earlier. "That wasn't my question," he said, angrily.

"Then ask one before the night's out," she said as she impatiently bounced a ping pong ball.

He sighed. His mind coming up with nothing that would make her confess something worthwhile.

"How do you know the infamous Sparda clan?" he asked, bored.

"Dante. College. Couldn't get rid of him since," she answered not missing a beat.

He snorted.

"Typical. What did you do? Feed him after midnight? Sleep with him?"

"Ew, no," she said, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"Ah, a woman with sense," he complimented. "A rare breed."

She bounced her ping pong ball. "But I banged Vergil though."

"And the respect I just gained for you has suddenly been lost."

She didn't seemed offended by what he said and just shrugged, throwing her ball and missing for the first time. Nero threw his next and made it. The young man didn't bother trying hiding a smug smirk.

"What's your real name?"

"Pass."

He almost did a double take. "You can't pass!"

"Fine then, Tracy."

He glared at her. "You're lying."

Lady shrugged, throwing her ball and landing in one of his cups.

"Yes!" she cheered.

"No!" he barked.

She pouted. "What?"

"You owe me an answer, Lady."

She gave him an exasperated sigh. "I already told you my name."

"I don't want your stripper name. I want your real one." He spoke, punctuating his words so that she got the message loud and clear.

"Jesus Kid, it's not that important why don't you ask another—"

"POLICE!"

They both froze.

"RUN FOR IT!" some random drunk yelled.

Before the pair could react, a sea of panic-stricken college students rushed out towards the yard to escape, swarming them in the process. Nero was pushed every which way until he finally got some steady footing. He looked behind him and saw Lady, pushing her way against the crowd as she tried to go into the house.

"What are you doing?" he hollered after her, pushing his way through to get closer to her.

"I forgot something!"

"What?" He got close enough and grabbed her hand. "Forget it, let's go!"

She looked down at his hand holding hers before looking up to look inside the house.

"But, my grope money!"

"Oh for the love of!"

He couldn't be bothered as he pulled her towards him, using the force of the crowd to propel them forward as they ran out towards the yard. Once outside the crowd began to thin as people split up, climbing over fences, ducking into bushes and jumping into the near by lake. Nero spotted a neglected high fence in the distance and figured it was their best bet since no one else was bothering to climb it.

"Over there, we'll climb the fence." He pointed. "Come on."

When they got to the wooden fence he let go of her hand and watched their backs, making sure the cops weren't near by.

"Come on, Princess, I'll push you—"

When he turned around to help her up the fence, he was surprised to see her already at the top, a leg on each side as she straddled it.

"You coming or not?" she asked, swinging her remaining leg over to the other side.

He opened his mouth to say something, but he could only gape at her. He shook his head, snapping out of it and jumped, his hands catching the top of the fence as he pulled up his weight. Once at the top, she nodded, giving him the okay before they fell at the same time on the other side.

"Well, looks like we're in the clear," Nero said, dusting off his hands as he looked around the yard they were in.

"Let's hope so," Lady replied, brushing her self down.

Nero had to admit, he was impressed by her climbing the fence without his help. He didn't really peg her as the athletic type, considering how she dressed and carried herself. Though, now as he watched her adjust the length of her dress thanks to the soft moonlight, he could make out a nicely shaped thigh. Its firm muscle flexed as she pointed her foot, checking her leg for something or other he didn't care. She worked out, that much he could see, a runner he concluded as his eyes ran up the length of her leg and towards the swell of a well formed ass. Didn't seem like she was a stranger to squats either, he thought, tilting his head slightly as his eyes took in the curve of her ass some more.

She looked up at him from her lowered position, bi-colored eyes peeking up from tinted amber shades that danced lowly on the bridge of her nose. His cleared his throat, trying to act as though he wasn't just gawking at her a mere second ago.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, softly, her voice serious.

His brow frowned, not sure what she meant by that.

"What?"

A deep, almost guttural growl came from the darkness before them.

"Kid," She leaned up really, really slowly. "Shit just got real."