A/N: I know, I'm a bad person, leaving you all with that nasty cliffhanger and then not updating when I was supposed to. I had a job interview yesterday.

In reference to the chapter, I had a little trouble properly describing the antagonist and a couple of details had to be changed due to my deviating from the story outline a couple chapters back. I hope it all came together alright. That and I added more angst.

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom.

Warnings: Language, mild gore, disturbing imagery, bugs (ew), and angst.

Dedications: Not sure who to make this out to...hm...how about my darling Star-Star, who's happily curled up on the shelf that serves as my desk and getting in my way? Lol.

Hope this chapter doesn't suck too badly. I was in a weird place when I threw it together. Enjoy anyway!

Chapter 10: What's Yours is Mine

Nero came awake with a groan, unsure when he'd passed out. The instant his eyes opened groggily he wanted to close them, head pounding. His first thought was that he hit his head somehow, trying to lift a hand to check himself for injuries, but found that his arms wouldn't move. He forced his eyes to stay open as he lifted his head, only to see that his arms seemed to be melded into the flesh colored wall on either side of him. A glance down confirmed that his legs were in the same state. It was a little disgusting how the wall seemed to pulse warmly against his back, the fleshy material sliding further down his arms as if slowly sucking him in.

Grunting, he struggled a bit, concentrating more power into his right arm, but not even his devil bringer seemed strong enough to break through the bindings. He could, however, see that it was flashing a frantic blue that was bright enough to shine through the thick brown…whatever that was wrapped around it. Great, now it tells me there are demons nearby. Like I didn't notice already.

Once he was convinced he wasn't going anywhere just yet, Nero tried to focus more on his surroundings, peering into the dimly lit area he was in. It was almost like a small atrium, the ceiling domed. What he could see of the walls were just like what was wrapped around him, brownish red and looked almost like it was perspiring in the heated air, like it was actually made of flesh. A thought he didn't want to linger on at the moment.

The ground was the same, though it looked softer, almost like mulch and the whole place stank of rotting flesh and old blood. Nero swallowed hard and tried to breathe through his mouth to save his nose from the stench. Littering the ground spread out before him were about a dozen of round protrusions. He wasn't sure…but he figured it was a horrifyingly good guess that they were eggs of some kind. If this place looked like anything, it was a demon's nest.

But why would a demon snatch him and drag him to a place it would instinctively kill anything to protect?

Nero narrowed his eyes at that thought, jumping a bit when the ceiling opened, letting faint light filter in and a large shadow dropped down to the floor, somehow managing to not crush any of the eggs. The ceiling snapped shut and cut off the light source. The young hunter forced his eyes to adjust to the sudden change so he could get a better look at the shadow making its way towards him, several sets of wet, sticky footsteps preceding its approach.

"You wake. I'd hoped you were dead." A gurgling, hissing voice spat. Hot, rancid smelling breath fell over his face and Nero immediately had to fight back his gag reflex.

"Jesus, ever hear of a breath mint? You could seriously use one." He shot back, turning his head to the side to avoid having to smell that again, but kept his eyes trained on the shadow that was coming more into focus. The voice promised something ugly, and damn if it didn't fulfill that promise.

The demon that had come up to him was large and resembled that oddly insect looking demon Dante had killed several days ago. It had an ant-like body with several sets of needle thin legs like the other demon at least, but this one's skin was a deep, bloody red, its bulbous abdomen covered in short, but sharp looking spines. Also unlike the other bug-demons, this one didn't just have a face that resembled a human's, but the entire thorax was the upper body of a woman, the deep red fading into a lighter pink that was a parody of human skin, another row of spines covering the narrow shoulders and down the arms that ended in another set of narrow, pointed feet instead of hands. Three sets of antennae adorned her head instead of hair; two laid flat against the back of the demon's head while the third set stood upright, twitching occasionally in the humid air.

"Such a petty human." The demon hissed again, leaning down further to be more level with Nero, full breasts swaying with the movement. "I had to pay another demon greatly to capture you. It wasn't worth the price."

Nero rolled his eyes. He'd been through this before with every other demon that thought it was high class and smarter than him. "Then why did you even bother? What do you want with me?" he demanded.

The demon cocked her head in a twitching motion that looked entirely unnatural and gave Nero the shivers. He wasn't particularly fond of bugs. They'd always weirded him out, looking more like aliens than natural life forms. And after his experience with the demonic parasite, they skeeved him out even more so out of sheer trauma.

"Stupid boy. What makes you think I want anything with YOU?"

That just confused him more and Nero glared at the demon as she pulled away from him, rising back up to her full height, which was massive. Then it dawned on him and his mouth fell open slightly. "Dante…you're after Dante."

"Perhaps you are not as stupid as I thought. But still useless and in my way. Of course I want Dante. Who wouldn't want the legendary Son of Sparda?" the demon replied as she paced slowly around the circular room, nimbly maneuvering her massive body as if it were as light as a feather, never once even bumping into the eggs littering the floor. "His father was a fine specimen indeed, but the rumors say the son has surpassed his sire. I believe this to be true."

"Let me guess. You want to test that little theory of yours and fight him to see whose better? I can answer that for you and save you the trouble." Nero snapped, struggling to get free of the wall again to no avail.

The laugh he got in reply was more like a wet cough. "Of course not. I know he is far too powerful for me to defeat. I do not want a fight."

"Then what the hell DO you want?"

"I want what you have."

Nero raised an eyebrow. "And that would be…?"

"To become his mate of course." She pointed out, antennae twitching again as if she were amused by the stunned stupid expression Nero had a feeling was on his face. "So stupid you are, mortal. And weak. Definitely not deserving of the Son of Sparda. He could do so much better than you."

A small part of Nero had a feeling that was true, but he could think about that later. "Yeah, well you overlooked an important fact. I already have that position; there isn't any room for your fat ass, so fuck off."

The demon jerked her head towards him, her too large eyes rolling a bit before they settled on him and Nero fought back another shudder at the sight, licking his dry lips as the ant-queen started hissing at him again.

"For now perhaps. I intended to kill you even before you elevated yourself to that status. Unfortunately, that parasite was not enough to get rid of you. Now I'm forced to kill you myself." Her irate tone eased a bit as she continued, sounding as pleasant as her voice allowed. "But it will be for the best. I can bring him straight here to the nest I've built for us and kill you before him. Then he will have no choice but to take me as his new mate." She sounded so sure of herself Nero wanted to laugh.

Instead he'd frozen at her confession there. "You…you were the one that sent that parasite?" he whispered in disbelief.

The demon's eyes rolled around again as she bobbed her head in a proud nod, looking a trifle smug. "Stupid human boy. Of course it was me. I sent it in the hopes that it would kill you and save me the trouble, leaving the path to Dante clear. I've watched him for years, seen his accomplishments. He is certainly worthy enough to overlook his human blood."

"What if Dante had gotten infected instead of me? That plan was just as stupid as this one!" Nero snapped.

"He's far too strong to die because of a simple parasite." She said with absolute certainty, her collective feet tromping across the soft ground once more and carrying her to the far wall that ripped itself open to let her pass. "The Son of Sparda will arrive soon. I've made sure of it. Make yourself comfortable with my children." The demon let out that wet coughing laugh before she disappeared and the wall sealed itself together once more.

Nero yanked at his arms and tried desperately to move his legs, but the wall held fast to him. He growled in frustration as he looked for an escape, knowing that wherever Dante was, the idiot was going to walk straight into a trap. And even if he knew it was a trap, the old man would come anyway.

He ceased his struggles when a soft sound echoed in the domed room. Nero held his breath as he listened intently, hearing it again. Something was slithering around out there. Heart starting to pound, his eyes darted over the ground, trying to find the source, small shadows darting over the floor as they made their way steadily closer to him.

Nero felt his heart stop completely when he spotted one of the shadows crawling slowly up his leg, more coming up behind it. As it crept closer he noticed it was a tiny demon, barely a foot long, its body black and lined with dozens of legs on either side of its thin body, like a centipede. It paused when it reached his chest, barbed feet hooked into his shirt as it lifted its head…or what Nero guessed was its head.

But he knew what it was the instant a round, tooth-ringed mouth spread open, excreting a little cloud of gray-black smoke before it latched onto his chest, easily tearing through his shirt and the flesh underneath. It was another parasite.

And there were at least five more crawling up his body behind it. All of them with their greedy mouths open and ready to dig into him like the one already burrowing into his chest. Red sprayed into the air as blood exploded from the hole the parasite on his chest had torn open and was forcefully wriggling its body into, burrowing deeper and deeper into him. Nero did the only thing he could do at that point.

He screamed.

-o-o-o-

The further down the street he went, the stronger the sensation of someone watching grew and Dante followed it relentlessly, ready to put this uppity demon down like a dog and crawl back into bed with his new mate. His devil side purred in delight at the thought of having a good fight and returning home to a willing young mate he still had a lot to teach. It was the one missing element in his life he hadn't known was empty until it was filled. He smirked as he jogged further down the street, finally catching a solid scent and he started to track the demon that had been challenging him.

He lost track of how long he was on the move, but he did stop in confused frustration when he realized he'd just gone in a huge, sprawling circle around a couple blocks. The scent of the demon had just looped back towards the office. Frowning, Dante ran down the street, wondering where Nero was. It was probably stupid of him to forget that the kid had followed him outside, but he'd been so focused on trying to catch a fleeting sensation and when Nero didn't say anything, he figured the younger grew bored and went back inside. Besides, the kid could take care of himself, right?

Of course, he wasn't that lucky.

The front doors to Devil May Cry were still open and there on the concrete at the base of the steps was Red Queen, minus her owner.

"Nero?" Dante turned in a slow circle, trying to see if the kid was anywhere nearby. He wouldn't just leave his sword like that. A sinking feeling settled in his gut as the older hunter crouched down to retrieve the abandoned weapon. He paused in the act of reaching for it, eyes widening slightly as he noticed the claw marks carved into the concrete, the grooves making a trail from where the sword lie, down the street about four feet before they stopped completely. Next to the noticeable marks were a few streaks of blood and Dante's breath caught. He brushed his fingertips over the cold ground. The amount of blood was barely noticeable. If it did come from Nero, then there was no way he was wounded badly…but the thought of Nero hurt at all filled him with a protective fury. The kid had suffered enough to last several lifetimes.

And just when Dante finally had him, Nero was taken away. Just like everything else he allowed himself to feel for.

"I'm not going to let you die, too." He vowed, standing straight and grabbing Red Queen as he turned to run back down the street. The scent he'd been following had obviously been staged to get him away from the office so whatever was after him could grab Nero. He picked it up against but instead it was leading him in an entirely different direction. Dante growled as he followed it. This was all his fault for putting something else, no matter what it was, above ensuring Nero's safety. Well, he'd rectify that mistake. It was time to show that cocky demon bastard just what the famed half-devil could do.