Of Blood and Steel

Disclaimer: I do not own Dante or Vergil, they belong to Capcom

Author's Note: Sorry for taking so long everyone. Hell has come to me in hand basket.

Dante sighed and looked at the calendar on his desk and noticed that he was running out of time to get the final gift for his boys. He had planned on getting two swords forged for them, each matching the boys personality. He was pulled from his thoughts by his brother slamming a coffee mug on his desk, looking rather annoyed. The younger twin sighed and leaned back, not really caring what he had done to make his brother angry this time. No he was more focused on why his two children were failing in some of their classes. He looked at the progress reports and knew he would have to talk to them soon. Instead he had something else to take care of at the moment.

"I'm heading out for a bit Verge. I need to go visit someone" Dante yawned getting up.

Vergil nodded, "Be careful Dante"

Dante nodded and made his way down to the depths of hell to a well known blacksmith. He was a very grotesque demon, but when it came to his trade no one matched his abilities. He turned and looked at the devil hunter with a twisted smirk. He set down a heavy hammer and went to his desk sitting down motioning for him to do the same.

"Can I help you?" The demon asked boredly.

Dante nodded, "I need two swords forged for my children"

The demon laughed, "That's costly. What do you want to use for the blades? I can use anything in this world of the human realm"

"I would like them to be forged of netherworld steel, one a claymore, and the other a katana" Dante replied softly, there was still more to be said.

"You seem to also have something else on your mind.."

The devil hunter nodded, "Yes...I want to be a part of those swords as well...What can I do?"

"Well" The demon pulled him to two molds and sliced open Dante's hand letting blood flow into each of the molds. "Some say the best gift is the gift of blood from a loved one"

Dante watched as his own blood lay in the molds and nodded slightly, "Makes sense. How soon can you get them done?"

"Give me two weeks" Demon replied and started to get to his trade, "So tell me how long do you plan on living anyways?"

"Hard to say. Now that Mundus is back, who knows maybe days or weeks" Dante laughed. With that he returned back to his shop and smiled faintly. The boys were home and already working on their homework.

He set a few things down and smiled weakly, "So are you two going to tell me why your failing your classes?"

The boys shot up and looked at their father scared, "We just fell behind. We didn't mean to Daddy! We promise straight A's this time"

Dante laughed a little, "Guys it's alright just do your best. Between us I failed a lot of my classes too"

The boys looked amazed, "Really?"

"Sadly yes" Verge replied and leaned against the wall, "Where were you idiot?"

"Cut me some slack I had to take care of something" Dante replied teasingly. He smiled and sat next to his boys, "Alright what are you two working on tonight?"

"Science" Sam replied.

"Math" Vergil added quietly.

Dante nodded, "Alright then lets get to work and then it's off to bed"

The boys nodded and continued with their work getting help from their father and uncle. Sam finished early and watched TV while Vergil continued to struggle with his math problems. Something had been bothering him from other comments he heard at school. Everyone was talking about their family around the holidays, the word that hurt the most though was mom. People knew that his and Sam's mother was deceased, yet continued to unconsciously remind the boys they wouldn't get to know her. Vergil was pulled from his thoughts as he felt a gentle hand messing with hair, only to meet the gentle eyes of his father. It was to much and the younger twin broke down.

"Daddy I'll tell you why I'm failing...It's not just the classes but I'm scared. At night I keep seeing you dying by the hands of some scary looking demon...You won't leave us will you?" Vergil looked up at his father teary eyed.

Dante sighed softly and laughed, "Vergil you don't need to worry I'm not going anywhere for a long time. I made a promise to not get myself killed or die, until I know that you and your brother are able to take care of yourselves. Trust me I still got a good twenty to twenty five years on me"

The younger twin laughed a little and hurried upstairs to bed followed by his brother. Dante smiled faintly and put the boys things away and went to his own room and sighed. On the dresser was his wedding band, and next to it was hers. He knew that the boys needed a mother, but he knew he could never love another woman like her. Memories came back to him and he could only let a small tear slide down his cheek. He was scared that Mundus would go after his children, but now was not the time to panic. There was still much more to be done, including hearing excited boys on Christmas day.

Ok another one done. Once again I'm so sorry for the long wait. A lot has been going on between school and trying to search for a job. Thanks for reading everyone, please review?