I do not own Devil May Cry or any of the characters.


Healing

Marcus stilled, feeling something shift against his chest. A stab of pain shot through him and he tensed, resisting the urge to attack whatever was against his chest. He was aware of something lying on top of him, and of his arms being wrapped around that could feel their hands resting lightly against his chest and their obviously shirtless body against him. He knew there was something over his upper body, but it took him a full five seconds to remember where he was and who was lying on top of him, and why.

A shiver ran through his body as his body remembered it was cold. He felt Kat stir slightly, also shivering and pressing closer to him. He wrapped his arms more securely around her, wincing as he pulled her tighter against his wounds, though it was less painful now. It seemed he had finally made some progress healing while he slept, which begged the question, how long was he asleep. Kat sighed quietly, her arms slipping around under his shoulder as she did.

"Your hand's really warm," Kat said.

Marcus smiled, running his right hand up her back so that his forearm ran up along her spine to a spot between her shoulder blades where he spread his fingers to cover as much of her back as possible. She sighed contentedly, smiling and tucking her face into the side of his neck.

"We need to get moving," Kat murmured after a little while. "We still need to get to the portal."

"I really don't want to have to take this sweatshirt off," Marcus smiled, Kat laughing slightly and nodding.

"Me neither," Kat said. "It's warm."

Neither tried to move for a while longer before Kat finally sighed heavily and began to sit up, Marcus sitting up as well before she took a breath and lifted the sweatshirt off. Marcus clamped his teeth shut as the sudden rush of cold air hit them, Marcus's eyes instinctively flicking to her body for the barest fraction of a second as her eyes were screwed shut against the cold. In that second, his brain practically memorized her flat stomach, her B cup breasts still contained in her bra, and the goosebumps covering her otherwise smooth skin, marred only by a small white gunshot scar on her left shoulder. Then, Marcus had his eyes averted as Kat pulled her sweatshirt on and opened her eyes. Marcus risked a glance back, seeing her pulling her vest back on.

"Alright," Kat said. "Let's get moving before we freeze to death."

Marcus nodded and used the wall to climb to his feet, Kat putting Red Queen on her back before he had his arms around her again, both leaning into each other to try to regain some of the warmth they had lost. They made their way down the tunnel, Marcus's teeth chattering for a second ever once in a while but otherwise silent. As they walked, Marcus tried to count the steps. After what he thought was somewhere around three miles, they stopped to rest.

"Should we risk the surface again?" Kat asked.

"We need to change my bandages," Marcus said. "And you can't see well enough down here. Plus, I don't want to wear even less than I am now any more than I have to down here."

Kat nodded, turning Pandora into a laser cannon and drilling a way out, Marcus carefully lifting them to the surface with his spectral arm and looking around. It looked clear, no sign of devils anywhere. He lifted them out and sat beside the hole, Kat sitting in front of him and beginning to unwrap his bandages. Once she had finished she gasped then smiled. Marcus looked down, seeing that the gash in his stomach and the one across his chest were both completely healed, leaving only a pair of pearly white scars. his forearm was also healed, also leaving a scar. All that remained were the stab wounds, and those were almost healed compared to the last time they had seen them. They were still wide open and painful, but now they no longer stretched all the way through. They were more like four deep stab wounds rather than two going all the way through.

"Unfortunately, I'm out of paint," Kat said. "And I don't have much left for bandages."

"Just do what you can," Marcus said. "We'll make do."

She nodded, using half of the last of the bandages to cover the wounds, securing them just before a demon appeared behind her. Marcus grabbed her, leaping aside, its scythe cutting into his leg but not doing much damage, barely a scratch even. He landed hard then grabbed Red Queen and stood, readying himself as best he could. The devil leaned back, roaring before appearing behind him, scythe raised.

"Behind you!" Kat warned.

Marcus spun, knocking the scythe aside before splitting the devil in half with Red Queen. The Devil faded and two more appeared. Marcus blocked both scythes at once, gritting his teeth.

"Go!" Marcus growled. "Get underground!"

Kat scrambled up, grabbing her bandages and scrambled to the hole, sliding down the hole instantly. Marcus shoved the blades away then ducked under them and slashed at both devils, both vanishing before he could hit them, only for Marcus to dive, skidding down the hole and landing heavily beside Kat, who was holding her ankle in pain.

"You alright?" Marcus asked.

"Just sprained, I think," Kat said, carefully stretching her leg out in front of her as they looked up at the hole, seeing the devils staring down at them before vanishing. "Why won't they come down here?"

"Maybe they need the sand to teleport," Marcus guessed. "Or maybe they don't like the cold."

She nodded and reached into her pocket.

"Here," she said. "When you got cut it ripped your pocket and this fell out."

She held up Nero's necklace and Marcus felt his pant leg in surprise before accepting the necklace and slipping it over his head. Instantly, it flashed before glowing dully and Marcus groaned, holding his chest as his wounds burned.

"Marcus?" Kat asked, worriedly.

"It hurts!" Marcus groaned, pulling at the bandages.

Kat quickly helped him, unwrapping them quickly until the wounds were exposed and they stared in shock as they steamed, slowly sealing themselves. Within minutes, the wounds were completely sealed and Kat leaned around him to check his back, seeing that those were sealed as well."

"The necklace...healed you?" Kat blinked.

"Oh my God," Marcus breathed. "How?"

"It must be a Nephilim Crystal," Kat breathed. "It's a stone from the Demon World that increases a devil's power and regenerative abilities."

"I see," Marcus nodded. "Guess I'll keep wearing it for a while. If you put it on, would it heal your ankle?"

"I...don't know," Kat said. "Worth a shot, I suppose."

He nodded, taking the necklace off and handing it to her. She put it on and waited, but after several seconds of nothing happening, she sighed, pulling it back off.

"No good," she said.

"Keep it," Marcus said. "That way I know it won't get lost."

She smiled, nodding, and pulled it back on. Then, Marcus stood, handing her Red Queen to put on her back then Pandora before picking her up in a piggy back and beginning to walk away. As he walked this time, the sound of the water running alongside them began to slowly grow louder as the current slowly picked up. He glanced over at it cautiously but it was still blessedly free of any possible water-type devils. It was eery walking somewhere in the Demon world for so long without any devils finding them. Not that Marcus was about to complain. Even if it was cold, it was nice to not be fighting a new enemy every step.

"You alright?" Kat asked after a minute. "You've glanced at the river ten times in the last minute."

"Sorry," Marcus said. "Must be thirty."

Kat nodded, laying her head against him as he kept walking. He was, in fact, thirsty, but knew better than to drink any water in the Demon World. Even for someone dead or part demon, or both, it was basically stagnant. Dead, would be more accurate, if water could die. Finally, Marcus slowed to a stop, staring ahead of them. The path ended with a very high cliff, too heigh for him to lower them down with his Devil Bringer, and ending with a huge but possibly shallow lake at the bottom, several hundred feet below.

"Well, looks like we're going to have to either climb the hard way or risk the surface," Marcus said. "Your call."

"Let's rest here," Kat said. "Even if only for a little while. Then we'll decide when we're ready to move again."

Marcus nodded and sat down, setting Kat in his lap and wrapping his arms around her. She leaned against him but within seconds, she began to shiver. He slipped his Devil Bringer up the back of her sweatshirt, Kat sighing as the warmth radiating off of it reached her more easily. She relaxed against him, eyes fluttering closed. Marcus couldn't help but smile before looking up. Above, they would have to either fight their way through or outrun the Hell Sloths. Not exceptionally hard if he could sprint on his own. With her, he wouldn't be able to outrun them, and there was no telling how many there were. On the other hand, if she tried to climb down, she would fall. And if he did it, his muscles wouldn't hold out the entire way, and he would fall, though from lower. He could try to lower them down using his spectral arm in increments as far as he could, but there was no guarantee his arm would be able to get a grip while falling after he let go the first time. Also, the lake below looked too shallow to cushion a fall, and was giving him a bad feeling to boot.

"You should try to rest too," Kat murmured.

"I'm healed," Marcus said. "You're the one that's hurt now."

Kat smiled and fell silent. Marcus sighed, taking Red Queen from her. Surface it was. Once she was healed enough to move, he took Pandora as well, forming the usual laser and blasting their way out of the tunnel. Then, he picked Kat up on his back, Kat now wearing his own sword as he held Red Queen in his left hand. He looked back at her and she nodded. Then, he raised his Devil bringer, yanking them to the surface and landing at a sprint in the direction they needed to go. As he ran, his eyes scanned everything around them for demons or clouds of sand. He knew they couldn't teleport anyway. They had a distance limit, so they would have to appear somewhere in view before teleporting to them. Which would give him enough of a warning to react. As they ran, nothing moved. No devils appeared, and it was eerily quiet. Even the usual desert wind wasn't blowing.

Marcus held Red Queen tightly in his left hand, Devil Bringer ready to act, but there was nothing to fight. Or so it seemed. Suddenly, there were three Hell Sloths in front of him. He swore, holding up his Devil Bringer, their scythes sparking against it and stopping just shy of his and Kat's heads before he slashed all three, spinning and using Red Queen to block another blade before drawing a pistol and shooting the devil rapidly, killing it. He put the pistol away and turned, continuing to run. Devils began to appear on either side of them rapidly and he pushed himself to sprint faster, their scythes flashing behind Kat, all of them missing. Once he was clear of the hallway of devils, he jumped, Red Queen spinning into the air as he pulled out Pandora, the briefcase becoming a massive three-barreled laser cannon and firing a barrage of them, the explosions obliterating the devils. Then, he switched Pandora to a bracelet and caught Red Queen, landing on his feet and slashing two more devils before sprinting forward again. He looked around, Kat looking behind them, but there was nothing.

"Anything?" Marcus asked.

"No," Kat responded. "There should be more."

"Let's just pretend we got lucky," Marcus said. "We're almost there."

Just then, several dozen demons began to burst out of the ground. They were all lizards, wearing metal helmets with shields and ridiculously long claws on their free hands. As if that wasn't bad enough, several Kyklopses broke free from the ground behind them, their stone spider bodies standing level with the massive lizards. Then, several Nobodies broke out of the ground, all of them small for a moment before the grotesque slime arm growing out of their backs put a mask on each, their bodies growing rapidly to triple their original size.

"They're huge," Marcus breathed.

"That's a lot of demons," Kat breathed.

"Yeah," Marcus agreed. "Hang on tight."

She clung to him as he reached over to Red Queen, twisting the handle, the blade glowing cherry red as the demons began to close in. His eyes swept the line. This wasn't right. They were too organized. To ready. Hell Nobodies weren't even supposed to exist in this region of the Demon World. And Blades and Kyklopses never worked together. They hated each other.

"Kat, whatever happens, don't let go of me."

Kat squeezed tighter and Marcus dropped to one knee, driving his sword into the ground, cracks shooting outward from the impact point before the ground below them shattered. They fell fast, Kat instantly being thrown off of him by the initial jerk of falling. He instantly put Red Queen on his back, angling his body so that he flew toward her. He looked down, seeing an obviously very deep lake rushing up toward them. The only problem was that at that distance, even a demon would be killed on impact, water or no. He couldn't reach Kat in time. He held out his Devil Bringer, his spectral arm shooting out and grabbing her, yanking her to him and he caught her in a hug.

"Wrap your legs around me!" He shouted and she did as instructed.

Then, he formed Pandora into a laser cannon, firing straight down. A moment later, an explosion sent a massive geyser of water shooting up at them, hitting him with all the force of a semi but slowing their fall enough that when they reached the water, they slowed to a stop before surfacing, both of Marcus's legs broken without a doubt. Kat began to swim for them, holding him above the water, barely, then looked around. Marcus raised his Devil Bringer, the light shining across the water to a tiny island a short distance away and Kat began to swim toward it. When she reached it, she dragged them both out of the water just as a massive spined fin began to circle the small island. Marcus forced himself to look down, aiming Pandora, which was still a massive cannon, at the fin as it shot toward them and a massive spear-headed fish leapt out, its massive jaw open to swallow the entire island. Instead, Marcus fired and the laser blasted straight through, the entire fish exploding.

"I'm tired," Marcus said. "Go away fish."

He let Pandora turn back into a bracelet and lay back, groaning.

"H-Here," Kat stammered, shivering badly as she took off the necklace and handed it to him.

It shone even brighter than the last time and his legs began to release a series of loud cracks and pops, accompanied by Marcus shouting in pain. Then, there was a hissing sound and he groaned, lying back down before sighing.

"Done," Marcus groaned. "Put it back on. I want to try something."

Kat looked curious but put the necklace on before Marcus sliced his palm on Red Queen's blade and wiped the blood on the crystal. It glowed for a moment before Kat shouted in surprise and pain. Then, she grit her teeth, her face screwing up in pain and concentration for a moment before she relaxed, massaging her now healed ankle.

"It w-worked," Kat said. "And I n-never w-want that t-to happen a-again."

"Agreed," Marcus nodded. "This job sucks."

He took his sword back from Kat, the sword shapeshifting into a pair of gauntlets which lit on fire. He held them on either side of Kat for about a minute then changed them back into a sword, Kat feeling her now dry and warm clothes.

"Why didn't you do that before?" Kat asked.

"Keeping them on fire like that is both painful and exhausting," Marcus said before yawning. "Crap. I was hoping that I'd last longer than that."

"You need rest," Kat said before looking at him, able to see him shaking like a leaf even from a distance. "And you need to warm up."

"We I'm definitely not taking off my wet clothes," Marcus mumbled, barely awake.

"Good," Kat smirked. "I can only take being traumatized so many times in a day."

She grinned but he only managed a weak chuckle, head bobbing in his attempt to stay awake. She sighed, quickly taking off her vest and laying it behind him then pulling her sweatshirt off, straddling his waist and pulling it back on, covering both of them again. His arms snaked around her, tugging the sweatshirt down a little more before holding her against him as he lay back on the vest, as he had before. She rested her head on his chest and within seconds he was asleep.

"I guess you really were tired," Kat smiled, yawning. "Sleep well, Marcus. We've got a very long day ahead of us."

Then, she closed her eyes and drifted off as well.


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