Author's Note

Wait what? Two updates within a week's time!? Yeah that's right peeps! I felt bad for making you guys wait so long, so I figured I'd treat you guys. I won't lie this one's a little... Uh long and IDK it doesn't feel right to me. I apologize in advance about the overall pacing of this story guys. But anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Nero stared at Dante as he mulled over everything he'd just told him. Nero had never seen the older man in such deep thought before. They sat there on Nero's bed in silence for a long time. He just sat there patiently until his stomach grumbled, drawing Dante's attention.

"You hungry?"

"Obviously. We've been sitting here for like two hours." Nero crossed his arms expectantly.

Dante looked at the wall clock and then returned his gaze to his roommate. "What?"

"Aren't you gonna say somethin'?" Dante merely blinked. "Cause I've got a lot of questions, and you're the only one I can ask."

"Not necessarily."

"...You want me to ask him?"

"...Not necessarily."

"Stop saying that. "

"Sorry." Dante truly was. He was still tryng to figure out everything in his head and was failing miserably at multitasking.

"So who is he anyway?" Dante made a face. Why hadn't he told him that already? "Come on, tell me already."

"...He's my twin brother, Vergil."

Nero nearly fell off the bed. "You have a twin, seriously?"

"You saw him, didn't you? And I told you I had a brother."

"Yeah, but you haven't really told me that much about him." He lied down and smiled. "There's two of you."

Dante gave a sad smile. "If only the world was so lucky."

"What do you mean?"

Dante thought of a way to explain everything without actually saying much. "Our likeness is only at the surface, kid. We're nothing alike in character", he said quickly.

Nero wondered what he meant by that exactly. By the expression Dante wore, he guessed it meant nothing good. He decided not to press on about it. "So...why'd you steal my underwear anyway?" He asked instead.

"Oh yeah. Sorry about that." Dante rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well?"

"Somehow sleeping in a bed next to my naked twin brother wasn't very appalling."

Nero blinked. Naked? "What happened to him?"

Dante shrugged. "I don't know. Didn't ask."

Nero sat back up. "You didn't ask? Aren't you worried? What if something terrible happened to him?"

"Well I'm pretty sure some pretty messed up stuff happened to him where he was at, but he'll tell me when he's ready."

Nero thought about Vergil's appearance for a while. He was so thin, sickly even, and his skin was really pale. Now that he thought about it, Vergil had a lot of scars too. Nero had never seen anyone like that before (No one living). Where exactly was he? Nero thought. Suddenly, Dante tapped the boy's face with the back of his hand. "Huh?"

"You're thinking too much." Nero merely blinked. Dante chuckled and stood up. "He'll be fine. Now, how about we get something to eat, hm?" He stretched and yawned.

"Haven't you figured out what any of this could mean yet?" He looked at his right hand.

"We'll talk after dinner."

"Okay...well can we get pizza today?"

"Really? I thought you hated pizza, kid. Have you finally succumb to reason?"

Nero stood up and stretched as well. He wasn't going to admit that he actually did like pizza now. "It's just been a while", he said.

When they reached the first floor Dante noticed he had voicemail on his answering machine, so he listened to it.

*You have one message from...Ms. Johns, received at 1:43 PM. Hi Mr. Dante. I just wanted to thank you for your services yesterday. I was truly impressed with how quickly you were able to come through with such short notice and how quickly you were able to finish. I left your payment in the mailbox since I was unable to reach you. I'm sure you won't mind the little bonus I left for you. Take care.*

After the beep, he erased the message. "Hey kid, did you that?"

"Yeah." Nero said leaving the kitchen. "Should I go get it?" He sipped on a can of soda as he entered the office area.

"Sure, since you offered." Dante said, sitting down behind his desk and putting his feet up. He slammed his foot on his desk, sending the receiver flying into the air, and caught it. Nero unlocked the front doors and stepped outside barefooted as Dante dialed the number to his favorite pizzeria and leaned back in his chair.

"Hey. Let me get the usual with some wings." He listened for a few moments and then laughed. Nero came back inside with a thick manila envelope. "No I'm paying it off today." Nero tore the envelope open and poured the money on the desk with wide eyes. "Yeah alright." Dante hung up the phonee, looked at the money in front of him, and grinned.

"I think a 'little bonus' was an understatement." Nero said, smiling. He picked up a handful of money and started counting it, and Dante took the rest and did the same. "I got 1110." Nero said finally. He put the money down and took a few gulps of his carbonated beverage.

"Well, looks like she doubled my pay", he said putting the rest of the money on top of the desk. "That makes three grand between the two of us, thanks to me."

"Oh shut it." Nero said, hoping to end his bragging before it got any worse.

"You know it's true." Dante pulled open the top drawer and pulled out a notebook and a black pen. He flipped several pages of the book before scribbling something down.

"So how are we looking this month?"

"Pretty good, if I do say so myself." Dante flashed a charming smile and rubbed his chin. Nero rolled his eyes. "No but seriously, at this rate we'll have a few grand left over."

Nero smiled then looked around the room. "So, you think we'll be able to get some new lighting in here this time?"

"Sure."

"And fix the plumbing of that thing you call the guest bathroom?" Nero sat at the edge of the desk, facing the front doors.

"Yup", Dante said, putting the pen and notebook away.

Nero took another sip of his drink and thought for a second. "And-"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, kid. We still need to eat, you know. If there's enough cash left over, maybe I'll get you that TV for your room. Maybe..."

Nero turned his head to face him. "Maybe? That's hardly fair. We both know what that means."

"Tough luck kid. Maybe if you had bills to pay , you'd understand."

Nero recalled offering to pay rent when he first got here, but Dante had adamantly declined. He decided not to bring it up, just in case the older man decided to change his mind. "You always get what you want", he muttered instead.

"Since when?" Dante asked raising a brow. Nero remained quiet. He couldn't think of anything honestly. "I hardly get the stuff I need, let alone what I want." Dante let that piece of information settle itself head Nero's head for a while. There was an awkward silence until the pizza arrived, and after the order was paid for and the tab paid off, it returned.

Nero stared at Dante as he ate his second slice of pizza. Dante sipped on a dark bottle of beer, and that same expression from earlier was plastered on his face again. What is he thinking so hard about? Nero wondered. He drank the rest of his soda and belched really loud. He purposely said nothing to see if the older man would respond, but he didn't.

Dante took another swig from his drink before actually touching his food again. He hadn't eaten much of his pizza, which was not like him. Dante noted that Nero had probably noticed his strange behavior. The two men made eye contact, and based on the look Nero gave him, he had noticed. "Something wrong?"

"I could ask you the same thing. You've hardly eaten anything."

Dante took a large bite of his pizza and began to talk win his mouth full. "I'm fine." Nero wasn't impressed nor convinced, but he didn't press on. They continued to eat in silence and avoided each other's gaze. After Dante finished his first slice he picked up another and took a bite. He dreaded that after this meal, he'd have to tell Nero what he thought about the "arm incident."

After Nero had told his side of the story, Dante had come up with two theories that could possibly explain what had exactly happened and why. The first one was fairly simple yet flawed. Nero's arm had housed Yamato, Vergil's precious sword. It was possible that it reacted to him when Nero walked into the room. The problem with this theory was that the whole arm had been affected. Why wouldn't have Yamato just manifested itself in Nero's hand? After all, Yamato hadn't caused his demonic arm to apear, so why would it have destroyed it?

The second theory was the one Dante honestly didn't want to share. It was more likely that the Devil Bringer itself had reacted to Vergil. He already had a hunch that Nero was Vergil's son. Based on that, it would be possible that Nero's arm reacted because of their blood connection. Nero had told him a long time ago that his arm had reacted right before Dante had crashed into the church. If they really did have a blood connection, it could explain that as well. However, Dante was still skeptical about this hunch of his, or maybe just scared to death that Nero was in fact his child. In that case, this theory wouldn't make much sense either. But why would it get destroyed? He pondered. That was the only thing he truly couldn't answer.

Dante finished his second slice of pizza and quickly downed the rest of his beer. He didn't know why, but he suddenly really wanted to get wasted. Maybe it was to forget these theories of his, or to forget that his evil twin brother was in his home right now. Dante sighed, drawing Nero's attention. "You want another?" He asked, sliding off of the desk.

"Yeah, thanks." Dante laid his empty bottle on the edge of the desk, and Nero picked it up. Normally, the teen would scold him for being a drunk, but for some reason he didn't seem to mind him drinking tonight. Nero returned from the kitchen with another bottle and handed it to him.

"I'm only letting you have this cause you got us that bonus, okay?". He said returning to his position atop the desk.

Dante chuckled, opening the bottle. "What are you my wife or something?" He took a long drink.

"You'd be lucky to have a wife like me."

Dante laughed, nearly choking on his alcoholic beverage. "Oh really? I don't see how having an eighteen year old male as a wife would be considered lucky." He took another swig from his bottle with a smirk on his face.

Nero groaned. "I didn't mean it that way, you jerk." His face flushed with a hint of anger as he grabbed a buffalo wing.

"Oh?"

"Just forget about it, jeez." Nero muttered, feeling a bit embarrassed. Date always knew how embarrass him to death, or make him as furious as a fireball. However, he also knew how to cheer him up when he felt like utter crap. Nero d had efinitely benefited from Dante's last skill those first several months of him staying here. Suddenly those dreadful memories tried to reel their ugly heads back to the surface again, but he really didn't want to think about them right now. He took in a shaky breath and took a small bite of his food.

Dante looked up at Nero and immediately recognized the expression he desperately tried not to wear. He only made that face when he thought about her. Dante feigned ignorance and took a wing as well. He proceeded to stuff his face and decided to say something. "Hey I'm just messin' with you, kid", Dante said in a softer tone, but the "kid" said nothing. "Nero?"

He turned his head to the sound of his name. "Hm?" Dante rarely ever called him that.

They stared at each other awnile before Dante finally broke eye contact. "Are you gonna finish that?" He looked down at the piece of chicken in the other's hand.

Nero blinked. "...What? Why wouldn't I? And why are you even worried about my food? There's still a lot left." He looked pointedly at the still-full platter of meat then back at Dante, who smiled. "...What?"

"Nothin'." Dante said, taking another wing. It worked. He thought. He had to remember to go easy on him. Though Nero would never admit it, Dante knew he was still in a volatile state ever since what had happened. This little talk they were going to have after dinner might not go over well with him, at all, and that honestly worried Dante, a lot.

They ate in silence for a little longer, until Nero wiped his hands with some cheap napkins and stood up. Just then a wave of demonic energy flooded the air, slightly shaking the rickety building. Dante looked up at the ceiling before meeting the questioning gaze of his roommate. "I'm guessing you felt that." Nero nodded. "Well judging from the amount of energy that was released, he probably just entered his demon form." He paused as the energy quickly left the building's atmosphere. "And now he's out of it."

"That's strange", the young man said, walking around the large wooden desk. "What was the point of that?"

"I don't know. My brother's pretty complicated. I can't always explain his actions." He said stretching.

"Well I'm gonna use the bathroom. We talkin' afterwards?"

Dante swallowed hard. "...Yeah." After the bathroom door clicked close, Dante sighed heavily. What was he going to tell him exactly? He didn't reallyknow exactly what had happened, but he'd said they'd talk. Maybe I should just lie to him, he thought, but that left an awful taste in his mouth. Dante sighed again, placing his head on folded arms atop his desk.

He had to tell him, but he didn't want to screw things up because of something that could very well be false. Dante racked his brain for anything, anything that could make a difference at this point. Nothing explained why Nero's arm was destroyed. A while ago, Dante had believed that Nero's arm was either possessed by Vergil or that Nero was his reincarnation altogether. For whatever reason, Dante had decided that none of those theories were probable, and now that it turned out that Vergil wasn't dead, they seemed even more unlikely.

Nero had said that he'd felt like he was being drained before the "explosion". If it were at all possible that Vergil's power had been in the Devil Bringer somehow, then that could explain a lot of things. It could explain why Nero had been able to resurrect Yamato, why that old psycho had believed him to be a descendant of Sparda, and why it had disappeared with Vergil's arrival. The only problem was that Dante hadn't ever been able to pick up his brother's essence at all, even when Nero used Yamato. It just didn't add up. Dante and Vergil could sense each other as long as they were in fairly close proximity to one another, which meant within a mile or two. In fact, he had sensed him yesterday in the rain.

Dante sighed again, for the millionth time and decided he had no real answer for his roommate. He would have to just tell him what he thought, and that would be it. Dante sat up and picked up another buffalo wing. They had already gone cold, but he didn't mind. He heard the bathroom door creak open and the soft sound of footsteps making their way towards him. Nero appeared from behind him and made his way to his seat. Dante decided to keep it casual instead of lecturing and let Nero ask his questions first.

It was hard trying to answer all his questions, seeing how he wanted an explanation to just about everything. After that Dante decoded to spill the beans, all of them. He started off harmless of course, explaining his first theory first and the abandoned ones second. Then he dropped the bombshell. Of course he said it pretty quickly, but that didn't make a difference, at all. There was silence for about ten seconds before he reacted.

"What?" Nero tried to meet his roommate's eyes again, but he really couldn't. He stared off into space instead and blinked. Dante really didn't want to repeat himself. He could see that the damage had already been done. Before Dante could think of something to say, Nero stood up. "You think...one of you... are..."

"Maybe", Dante nearly whispered, "but I'm probably wrong."

"Probably wrong? What the hell does that mean anyway!? You still don't know for certain."

"Exactly", he said in the calmest tone he could manage. "I don't know. I have no evidence and could be wrong."

"No evidence? You're looking at it!" They made eye contact for a brief moment. Dante took in the young man's appearance. His blue eyes, his snow white hair, basically everything was theirs. "You can't deny that." Nero said turning around and heading up the stairs. Surprisingly, Nero didn't slam his bedroom door. In fact, it didn't sound like he closed it at all. Before Dante could stand he heard the sound of boots on hardwood. Nero came back down the stairs with his dark denim coat and brown leather boots on.

Dante sighed. "Where are you goin', kid?"

"Don't call me that." He said opening the door. This time he did slam it.

I need another drink.

Don't worry next time we will get back to Verge and his struggle. Sorry! I know he's been like background noise as of late. Sorry again.