He comes in the night

The story continues.

A.N.: Another month, another chapter. I hope you guys are still enjoying this.

Thank you to Miiip for following and faving this story.

Chapter 7

"Brother-in-law? Was that for the guy's benefit?" Dante asked the woman.

She looked up at him clearly confused.

Dante explained, "Vergil is legally dead. Has been since we were kids. A burnt-out shell of a house and large quantities of blood will do that to you. Fortuna's authorities wanting to get their hands on pop's inheritance hurried things along. Twenty-five years later a guy turns up claiming to be Sparda's son, yeah, that will have gone swimmingly. I doubt Vergil would bother for the sake of a human's feelings, no offence meant."

"None taken. But you forget how persuasive Vergil can be. One of those looks of his and the poor guy at city hall gave the licence immediately, no questions asked."

"No answers given either, I'm sure."

She giggled.

"No, no answers given," she said.

oOo

She remembered the occasion vividly.

It wasn't unusual for Vergil to ask her to drive into the city with him. That day he directed her towards the historical centre. She parked the car and followed Vergil toward the Main Square.

In an unusual intimate gesture he grabbed her hand. Then, hand in hand, they started walking towards City Hall. 'Why City Hall?' she wondered.

Once inside Vergil went straight to the clerk's desk and said, "My name is Vergil Redgrave, son of Sparda. I require a marriage licence."

The man didn't even look up from the papers he was perusing.

In a bored voice he rattled off, "Birth certificate, identification, Social Security number, and proof of residence for both parties, please."

"You mistook me," Vergil said in a cold, polite tone of voice. "That was a demand."

The clerk looked up.

"Wh…what did you say your name was, Sir?" he asked hesitantly.

"Vergil Redgrave, son of Sparda," Vergil repeated.

"Yes." The clerk only hesitated a moment. "I'm afraid His Holiness, ruler of Fortuna does not accept any claims-"

"I am not interested in the fools at Fortuna and what they do or do not accept. I am here for a marriage licence," Vergil interrupted in a dangerously calm voice.

The clerk came to a quick decision.

"Right, Vergil Redgrave, son of Sparda. No papers or proof of identity, I presume? That's fine, Sir. Absolutely no problem," the man added after a quick look at Vergil.

The mounting irritation in the half-devil's eyes could not be mistaken.

"Resident of Capulet City, I take it. You wouldn't be here otherwise, would you?"

The nervous laughter quickly died out when the man's gaze met Vergil's cold stare.

"And the lady? I … um … I need her name too."

"You do, do you?"

"Vergil, stop pestering the poor guy." She addressed the clerk. "My name is Eve Harding. I live at Walker's Nest, the house that belonged to my parents, Joe and Evelyn Harding. It's in the very outskirts of Capulet City, The Plains."

"I know The Plains. My gran lives there. I know the Harding place as well. Fine property."

"The licence?" Vergil asked.

The man jumped at the sudden question in that emotionless voice. Beads of moisture trailed down his face as he handed the paper to Vergil.

"Here you are, Sir. With my congratulations for your intended marriage."

"Thank you," Eve said.

Vergil just glared.

A fortnight later they were married by the Reverend Howard Jones in a little chapel on the coast two days' travel south of Capulet City.

oOo

"You are my brother-in-law," she continued. "Vergil and I were married, mated, … you name the ceremony and we've probably gone through it. I'm Vergil's wife, mate, and property, and he was going to make damn sure of me."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Of course. Our first mating ritual bound him as much as me, as have others since. If I'm his property, he's mine just as much."

"Don't know whether to congratulate or commiserate. Vergil is such a fun guy to be with. But it explains why Solaris' spies were after you. And Vergil's an idiot to let you walk around the City on your own."

"He doesn't know. It's just a one-off."

"The third 'one-off' by my reckoning."

She looked at him. "How do you know?"

"Trish and Lady stopped some demons that were too interested in you, but they lost track of you. That was you, wasn't it?"

She sighed. "Yeah, it probably was. Guilty as charged. This Trish and Lady are friends of yours?"

"Friends. Sometimes associates, sometimes rival devil-hunters when we're hunting the same paycheque. So how come Vergil didn't know you were in the City?"

"He knows I come to the City, but he thinks I come by car and park in the underground garage. It's just that driving has become too damn difficult carrying these around." She pointed at her belly.

Dante understood. "Twins. Figures. That's why he married you. You carry his kids."

"Don't be stupid. We've been mated for two years. Pregnancies don't last that long, not even part devil ones."

"Why else would he mate with a human?" Dante studied the woman next to him. "Unless you're a witch. Did you use some spell or a potion on him?"

She stopped not caring that somebody nearly collided with her.

"What! What's wrong with the two of you?" Her voice was shaking in anger. "Why do you think witchcraft is involved when a woman manages to attract a Son of Sparda?"

He turned towards her. "This is Vergil we're talking about. No feelings, no emotions, no ties. They hamper him in his goal to get more power, whatever he thinks he would do with it."

"How long since you two met? Perhaps you should talk to your brother," she snapped.

"I don't need to talk to him to know what he wants! Rule the Demon Realm, or the Human Realm, or even both!"

She had him shouting as well. Why didn't the stupid woman understand what kind of man his brother was?

"You're wrong," she said. "He might have toyed with the idea when he was a teen, but Vergil grew up. Now he wants to follow in his father's footsteps and protect this world."

"Yeah? And all the lowly humans that inhabit it? To Vergil they're nothing but vermin. He despises them, like he despises his human side. Why do you think he's so cold, emotionless and cruel? Or are you going to tell me he's become the perfect loving husband?"

"No he isn't," she answered. "He's Vergil, and he'll never be the lovey-dovey type, but he's no longer the man you used to know all those years ago. He married me, didn't he? And he's no longer a slave to Mundus. You really should get reacquainted with your brother."

"No thanks. I like my life as it is. No complications, least of all the kind that Vergil comes up with."

"And what kind of complications would that be? Defending this world from demons? Stopping the planned invasion from the Demon Realm? I thought you would be involved in those anyway. Or is Dante, Son of Sparda going to ignore it because he prefers his uncomplicated life?"

"I've been protecting this world longer than Vergil. Needed to protect it against Vergil and his insatiable hunger for power too."

Dante felt irritated, his usual 'couldn't care less' approach torn to shreds by this woman. She made him justify his actions. Surely she was a witch that she could rattle him like she had done.

"Talk to Vergil," she insisted. "You two are formidable forces that oppose the demon realm. Just imagine what you could do if you worked together. You'd be unstoppable. Together you'd be stronger than Sparda."

"Yeah, as long as we didn't try to kill each other."

"You've worked together against a common enemy before. You were still teens when you defeated Arkham who'd taken your father's power. You could do it again. You're stronger, more powerful now. You could conquer your biggest enemy and take revenge for what he did to your family."

Dante was surprised. "Seems Vergil filled you in on our life's story. Don't know how you did it. Vergil's more firmly closed than a giant clam. You sure you're not a witch?"

She shrugged. "I ask questions until I get answers. A bit of patience pays off you know, even with Vergil."

"I see. Nagged the story out of him. No matter. I'm gonna take you home. Make sure you're safe. Then I'll continue fighting this war my way, without Vergil. Fighting Arkham was just a very short-lived unity. Moments after we were trying to kill each other. This time wouldn't be any different."

"I hope it isn't genetic."

Dante was confused at the sudden change in topic. "What?"

"I hope that being a totally stupid, stubborn jackass isn't hereditary. This poor world doesn't need more fools like you and Vergil."

"Jeez! Bitchy. Does Vergil let you get away with that? Always figured he would go for something submissive."

"Shows how much you know your brother."

Dante had a strange sense of déjà-vu. The tone of voice reminded him of Eva talking to Sparda, and to her sons after their father had gone. This woman had the same steely determination and no nonsense approach his mother had had. Was that why Vergil had been attracted to her?

They arrived at the bus stop in silence. Dante was sure the woman was ignoring him. When her bus arrived she got on without a look in his direction. He followed her, determined to see her home safely, and sat down next to her.

"I can get home on my own," she said. "I've done it before."

"I said I was gonna take you home," he answered.

"Why? If you don't care about your brother why would you care about his mate?"

Dante didn't answer. He remembered the pain he had felt as a boy when he had thought his twin was dead and the joy when Vergil had returned years later. But the man who had returned thirsting for Sparda's power was not the brother he remembered. Yet at Temen-Ni-Gru he would have done anything to stop Vergil from jumping into that hellish place. Then more pain on Mallet Island when he had found the amulet and knew he had killed his brother.

"Well?"

The woman's question cut through his thoughts.

"Well what?"

"Why are you here? Why do you want to make sure I'll be safe?"

"Making sure babes are okay is my speciality."

"Babes? Honestly? Tsk."

Dante didn't answer. Some of the things the woman had said were turning around in his head. Formidable forces, unstoppable. Before they had been separated Vergil and he had always been better together. Their differences hadn't mattered then. They had formed a unity. Just like they had been against Arkham, their last joint fight. Together you could take revenge; you'd be stronger than Sparda. To beat Mundus, destroy him; avenge the family and the life they had lost. Could it be possible? Had Vergil changed as much as his mate claimed? He must have changed enough to take a human mate. Perhaps it was worth a try.

Meanwhile Dante had followed the woman off the bus and down the dirt road towards her house. The fence around the place was nothing special, but he could feel the strength of the wards Vergil had put on the place. Vergil's mate opened the gate and turned towards him.

"I'm home safe as you can see. You can go now," she said.

"Think I will stick around for that talk with Vergil," Dante answered.

She held the gate open and he walked in feeling only a slight resistance from the wards. His brother hadn't shut him out completely. That was practically an invitation.

The old farmhouse looked welcoming, well maintained, loved. It didn't have the grandeur of the Sparda mansion he remembered from his youth, but both places had one thing in common: they were family homes. Dante had difficulties imagining his brother in this setting, but this place had become Vergil's home. Two years they'd been mated, according to the woman.

From the open door she said, "Are you coming in or staying out here in the yard?"

He bounded up the steps to the front door and followed the woman in. Inside the 'old farmhouse' feel continued. The furniture looked as old as the building, and as solid.

"You can wait for Vergil in the lounge. I'll be in the kitchen."

Dante looked inside at the table strewn with papers on both sides as if two people had been working on it, and the comfy sofa with a stock of heavy leather tomes next to it.

"Mind if I come with you? I'm not into Vergil's light reading."

"Sure, come along. Just don't get in my way while I'm preparing lunch."

The kitchen didn't seem to have changed from its original design, but one of the doors was hiding a large fridge.

"Care for a drink? Homemade lemonade? Or would you rather have a cold beer?"

"Beer, thanks."

Dante sat down in one of the easy chairs in front of the old open fire, planted his feet on the little table between the chairs, leaned back, and sighed contentedly.

"Great place to catch a few zees," he said, drank his beer, and closed his eyes.

A familiar sound brought him out of his half-sleep.

"Did you just say 'Pizza'?"

"I've got pizza for lunch. Is that okay with you?"

"More than okay, especially after the shit Trish and Lady have fed me recently," Dante said.

"I've only got pepperoni. And I ran out of olives, so no olives on the pizzas."

"Pepperoni pizza sans olives. Don't wake me up. I'm having a great dream."

"I don't understand. Do you want pizza or not?" she asked while getting a second pizza from the oven.

In the short time it took to bring it to the kitchen counter the first one was half gone.

"Pepperoni pizza is my favourite, but I hate olives," said Dante grabbing another quarter. "Where did you get them from? That place could become my favourite pizza parlour. "

"They're from Walker's Nest, the Plains," she said deadpan.

"The Plains? There's no … wait … Walker's Nest? That's here? You made them? You're talents are wasted on Vergil, Sis."

"How would you know?"

"Hey, I'm not gonna argue about my brother. Not while there's pizza. Don't want to spoil my appetite," he said, taking a slice from the second pizza.

From the entrance to the kitchen a cold voice said, "Leave. I did not invite you."

Without turning Dante answered, "Hi, Vergil. You didn't invite me but Sis did. She said we should talk and I was just starting to think it could be a good idea when you turned up."

"It is not the first time my wife has had a bad idea. I am sure you agree that we have nothing to say to each other."

"Okay, skip the talking. Action suits me better anyway. Let's stop this invasion."

"I neither require nor want your help for that. I work better alone."

"Of course, like that time you jumped into the demon realm. That was a gigantic success."

Ignoring his brother's taunt, Vergil said, "Leave. I won't ask again."

He was standing just inside the kitchen looking deceptively relaxed, but Dante noticed the way he held his sword, subtly different, ready for a lightning attack.

The younger twin swung off the chair and pulled out Rebellion. The two brothers eyed each other, concentrating, waiting for that one moment, the right opportunity to strike or to defend against the inevitable attack.

The tense silence was suddenly broken by a clap as loud as thunder, followed by the rattling of metal on metal. With a start they looked to the source of the disturbance. Vergil's mate was still holding on to the handles of the big old cast iron pot that she had smacked down on the kitchen worktop.

"The two of you better not trash my kitchen with your ridiculous fighting," she said. "You can get out in the yard and fight like the stupid mongrels you are, or you can put your weapons away and listen to each other. Just for a change."

"It's none of your business, woman," Vergil growled.

"My kitchen, my business," she snarled back at him.

"My brother, my business," he retorted. "I do not require him or his childish behaviour. Nothing good can come from his presence and I do not need his help."

"It wasn't Dante who was lying on my doorstep like a heap of garbage, was it?"

"A heap of garbage, huh? Your search for power really went well, Vergil," Dante said. "Sure you don't need my help? "

"Foolishness, Dante. I know what I did wrong. I am no longer the arrogant boy I was then. I have changed. That's what happens to most people when they grow up. They learn."

"As far as I can see you're still an arrogant bastard, Vergil. Always convinced you know better. Sis is right. If we want to end this war we have to take on Mundus. If we fight together we can beat him, Vergil, and we don't have to like each other for that. Or have you got another power-crazed plan up your fancy sleeve?"

"What I do is none of your concern, Dante."

"It is when there's this much at stake."

"NO! Leave my house! Now!"

The red flicker in Vergil's eyes told Dante that it would be pointless to continue. He ignored the call of his devil to attack. Fighting his brother, though entertaining, would be a waste of time and effort at this moment. Besides, he didn't want to get in his new sister's bad books by destroying her kitchen. When they'd won the coming war – if they won the war – he would come back and kick his brother's ass from one side of his yard to the other. Stupid, stubborn jackass.

The woman caught up with him just as he'd reached the gate.

"Sorry about that, Dante," she said somewhat breathless from running the length of the front yard.

He shrugged.

"It was worth a try. Should have realised he's still the same pig-headed idiot, despite his shit about growing up."

"Pretty sure you're both as immovable as each other," she said smiling.

He grinned. "You could be right."

"If he changes his mind, and he comes to you, will you help him?"

"Won't happen. I can't see him admitting he was wrong."

"But if he does?" she persisted.

He looked at her, scrutinising her face.

"If you can get him to come to me then you really are a witch, and I wouldn't want to cross you," he said with a smile. "See you around, Sis. And be careful out there."

"Will be. Thanks, Dante."

He raised his hand in greeting as he passed through the gate, and walked away along the dusty track toward the city.

ooOOoo