A/N: Hey! For those of you that received a second update thing on Ch. 9, read it! I feel terrible about it, but I forgot to hit save before I uploaded the chapter… there was more to it and yeah… I blame my crazy week… but! My gymnastics team qualified for regionals last night! So I'm more than a little tired, but hey, most of the time I write better when I'm not thinking so hard…

Disclaimer: I only wish…

Running from the Past

Dante stared at the spot where the kid had just been, what on earth was going on here? Nero didn't remember him, it seemed, did he remember himself? If he didn't, the elder slayer knew that they were in for a world of trouble, how do you calmly explain to someone that they are part demon but it's okay 'cause they're one of the good guys?

"Damn…" the man in red sighed, looking at the clouds as though they'd answer his problems. He paused for a second before pulling out a well-worn cell phone and punching in a number by memory.

"Dante, what do you need, I'm in the middle of something." A few gunshots rang through the speaker.

"I found the kid."

"Really? That's good. Hold on… Trish!" Dante heard Lady call out, probably tossing the phone to better use both hands in combat.

"Hey Dante, you found Nero?" Trish was always spot on in her intuition

"What are you guys doing? Need help?" The hunter knew it was quite the distance between where they likely were and himself but he could probably get there in enough time to lend a hand.

"Nah, just a large low level nest, they're weak but there's a lot of the suckers." There was a quick crackle of electricity and the phone gave a mild burst of static in protest. "So what's the punk been up to?"

"We have a problem, is Quasi nearby?"

"No. Do you need me to ask him something?"

"Yeah, ask him if amnesia could be one of the side effects of the potion." There was a pause after Dante told her what he wanted relayed.

"How much does he remember?" the demoness' voice was sharp, the white haired man could practically hear the gears in her head turning.

"I don't know, he ran off before I could find out, he doesn't remember me, I know that much. I'm gonna try and find him tonight and get him to come back with me."

"Good luck Dante, try not to scare him too much." Trish told him and Dante gave a humorless laugh.

"I'll try."

Nate didn't stop running until he was back home; he slammed the door behind him and leaned against it, panting heavily.

"Nate, what's wrong?" Janice was in the living room, reading a book.

"I… some guy… he…" the teen couldn't seem to catch his breath, not because he'd just run, but because of the shock and panic that now gripped him.

"Nate. Breath." The twins mother commanded, leading him away from the door and into one of the kitchen chairs. A cup of tea was quickly made, the older woman thought it would be needed, the boy whom she'd come to think of as family looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack. Once they were both seated with a drink in front of them she said

"Alright, what happened?" Nate ran a human finger around the edge of the cup then took a small sip.

"I was walking around town and then this guy just grabbed my arm and started talking to me."

"Did you know him?"

"No. But he seemed to know me, I think he's related to my past…" the former brunette was still avoiding eye contact.

"And you ran away?" Janice was confused by this, Nate always seemed eager to know more about his past, who he'd been before all of this."

"He… felt weird." The teen had a confused expression on his face, as though he were trying to explain something that he himself didn't understand.

"What do you mean by that?"

"It was just… when he was there, there was this… pressure… in my head. God, I'm going crazy." He put his head on the table and didn't move. "And he had this gun…"

"Like yours?"

"No, not at all. This thing was a handgun but I've never seen a handgun like that before… it was… well it was beautiful." Nate didn't know how else to describe it. That silver weapon of death had scared him a little but somehow it seemed… comforting, like he knew how much it had helped others or something weird like that… There was a polite knock on the door and Janice rose to get it.

"Hello." The teen heard her greet, he took a sip of his tea and nearly choked on it when he saw the person in the doorway. It was that man again!

"Hi, my name's Dante, I'm a friend of the kid's." he gestured at Nate when he spoke.

"Who, Nate?" Janice looked back at the boy when she said this, a question in her gaze, he nodded and her face hardened just a little when he did.

"I'm sorry, but he's been through a lot lately, can you come back another time?" the man in red looked a little disappointed at this.

"But I…"

"Another time." Janice insisted, closing the door in Dante's face. She walked back over to the table and sighed.

"How did he find me so quickly?" Nate whispered.

"He looks a little like you." She observed quietly, running an affectionate hand through his hair. Nate froze.

"It's alright… she's with the Savior now…" Kyrie and her mother both tried their best to comfort the sobbing four year old.

"Mom…" the boy reached back even as he was carried away. That night Kyrie's mom held him in her arms and stroked his hair softly until he finally cried himself to sleep.

The memory made his eyes sting a little, so that was why Kyrie and Credo were both family and neighbors…

"Nate?"

"Just a memory…" he whispered, wiping furiously at his eyes, getting up from the table to just be alone for a little while, he really needed to mull this over. Alone. The teen's arm throbbed in warning, telling him the darkness that seemed to be taking him over was growing… eating more of him away. He growled low in his throat then stopped as soon as he realized he was doing it. I can't possibly be human, can I? The white haired boy thought, as the scales stretched up and over his elbow.

A/N: So that's all for now! I should be using this time to work on my English final but… this is much, much more fun…

Till next time,

-Winged Element