Chapter Four

(A/N: all right, anybody else has been waiting for Ailie and Dante's showdown? I had fun writing this one, hopefully I don't disappoint anyone. ~M.G.~)

Vergil had just found a way to contact his previous employer when his phone buzzed.

"Yes?" He answered when he saw Nero's number. "I see…then I shall be there in a few hours. How is she? Ah, it is regretful I shall miss it. The same to you."

Abandoning his search, Vergil made for the motorbike he had bought cheaply and raced back home.

~B~R~E~A~K~

(Showtime!)

Ailie had waited patiently for Dante to return, slowly loading her .9mm Beretta and several other magazines, effectively making the other hunters nervous. She had placed the album on the desk to fully catch his attention, hoping he would see it before he sat, making him an easier target. She finished the other clips and lined them neatly on the edge of the beaten green velvet of the pool table before cocking her gun and laying it on her knee.

"Just so I'm clear on this…" She turned to the other four, Lady and Lucia having shown up a little while ago. "This was all his idea and no one else really wanted to go along with it, but had no better ideas at the time, correct?"

Murmurs of agreement faintly sounded from her comrades.

"Then all of my bullets are meant for that thoughtless ass hat. Perfect." A sadistic grin crossed her features. "Oh, won't this be fun…"

"I want to watch the show!" Nero said with his own twisted smile. "It's about time-"

"I suggest you guys leave." Ailie interrupted him. "I don't want to shoot anyone that doesn't deserve it."

"Aww!" He protested.

"Good idea." The two women agreed, pulling Nero along behind them. "C'mon, don't fight us."

They had been gone about twenty minutes when Dante finally ambled into the shop, the tinkling of the bell above the door announcing his arrival. Ailie fired off a shot at the annoyance, the metal twisting into an unrecognizable shape as it thudded dully to the floor.

"So it finally got to you too, huh?" Dante asked her, smiling as he made his way to his desk. "You got some more practice in, I see?"

"I'm about to…" She replied too sweetly as she turned the pistol over in her hands.

"Need some pointers-" He started before his eyes caught the object on the desk. "Where did you-?"

Three rapid shots rang out before he could react, the slugs slamming into his left leg and hip.

"No, but I could use a target." She growled as he slumped against the antique furniture.

"Wait a minute!" He groaned as she fired two more shots, these two embedding themselves in his chest.

"No." She said as she stood, aiming the still smoking barrel at him as she advanced closer. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say when you've been lying to me all this time. You bastard, I trusted you!"

As her rage built she kicked at his injured leg, but missed as he swiftly moved out of the way, removing the five bullets from his flesh, the skin where they had been healing nearly instantaneously. "Dammit, stay still…"

"Calm you tits babe!" He pleaded. "Look, let me explain, I did what I thought was best-"

"Bullshit!" She screamed, aiming another shot at his head, which he dodged. "You could have told me the truth, that was the best option available to you. Vergil trusted you to look after me while he was gone, not jump to crazy conclusions and lie to me!"

Another shot he dodged.

Another slug slammed into his right shoulder.

"That was three years of my marriage, of my life, that I can never get back! Did you even stop to think of what you put Nero through?! Dammit Dante, I've been the boy's mother for so long now, I feel like he's my own! Making him act like that; have you a heart at all?!"

Her comment made him mad.

"Look here!" He bellowed. "I did what I thought was best, not just for you, but for everyone else too!"

"Didn't I say I don't want to hear anything out of you?!" She retorted, firing the last shot of her magazine and missing him again. She reloaded quickly and aimed for him once more.

Dante could see the only way to calm her down was to subdue her. Much as he hated going up against her, he pulled Alastor from the holder on his back and pointed at her.

"If it's a fight you want, then c'mon!" He taunted her.

Ailie grabbed the Sais she kept at her hips, holstering the gun at the same time. With no hesitation, she charged him, weapons ready to impale. He blocked her and shoved her sideways.

"What's the matter darlin' lose your edge?"

In a move he wasn't expecting, she launched one knife, causing him to block that one and distracting him as she launched the other one. He managed to catch it before it impaled him through the forehead.

"And now I have your weapons," He teased her, holding them up for her to see. "Are you done yet?"

Ailie fired off two bullets, making him duck to avoid them.

"Guess not…" He said, tossing them back to her. "How long are you gonna keep this up?" He questioned her tiredly.

"Until I've made my point!" She growled again, firing off five shots in a wide diameter, trying to hit him in any way she could.

"Shouldn't you know by now that won't work?"

"Quit being so cocky!" She yelled and charged him again.

Oh shit…! He thought as he holstered Alastor. Up close he wasn't sure he wouldn't actually hurt her. Ailie used a back roundhouse kick to try and knock his legs from under him, but failed, allowing him to grab one arm and spin her around so her back was facing him, her arm twisted in front of her.

"Let…Go!" She tried to get away.

"Look, if you keep fighting like this, you're gonna hurt yourself even more than you already are." He tried pleading with her.

With a grunt, Ailie kicked her foot out, her boot connecting with his knee and allowing his grip to loosen so she could twist away.

"Hey that actually hurt…" He grumbled.

"Well it sure as hell wasn't supposed to feel good!" She swung her fist for his face, nearly connecting if he hadn't moved just in time. "STAY STILL DAMMIT!"

"So you can hit me? I don't think so babe."

This time he moved first, grabbing her fists and using them to gain leverage to shove her against the nearby wall. He hadn't realized how rough he'd been until her felt her back connect and she groaned in pain, her other injuries now aggravated.

Before he could apologize he felt something really sharp tear through his right leg, his hip, and his chest. Stumbling away from Ailie he looked at what had hurt him and froze.

"I suggest…" A cold and familiar voice threatened him. "That you step away from my wife."

Bewildered, the hunter looked up to see his elder brother standing between the two of them, standing protectively in front of Ailie, blue eyes narrowed coldly at him. Holographic blue copies of Sparda's Force Edge hovered in the air, and Dante realized he had been subjected to Vergil's Summoned Swords.

"Look bro, I can explain-"

Before he could finish, Ailie fired her last bullet, this one connecting between the devil hunter's eyes, knocking him unconscious.

"Good shot!"

The pair left standing turned to see their comrades had come back in at that moment, Nero grinning like a fool.

"Are you alright?" Lucia asked anxiously, coming forward to tend to Ailie, who had now slid down the wall and to the floor, breathing heavily.

Vergil turned to look at the woman, who was now looking up at him with a smile.

"You look different." She told him.

Vergil crouched down in front of her, searching her aura and eyes for any signs she had believed any of Dante's ridiculous prattle. He found nothing negative directed towards him and smiled, reaching out to cup her face in his hands.

"And you." He said softly. "Have not changed at all."