A/N: I apologize AGAIN, for making you all wait so long for such a drab followup to my last chapter that was not only longer, but ten times better. I fell out of the loop with this story though I never forgot or misplaced the plot (for once) and admittedly, there was about a two month gap between the first half and the second half being written. There also may be some inconsistencies and spelling errors, but it's past midnight and I'm exhausted. Deal. Ha. Also, big sorry's to those of you who have been updating and I haven't reviewed. That's just not nice. I'll try and pick up my slack.
Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom.
Warnings: Er...OoC?
Dedications: To all of you who are currently about to read this chapter and especially those who plan on reviewing it. And to those of you who are worried about leaving reviews because you are self-conscious about your spelling abilities or english isn't your first language, please don't think that I would ever judge you over something so trivial! I love all my readers and I just want to make sure you're all having a great time reading my stories.
Chapter 11: Haven
The wind rushed by in a dull roar as Dante continued to drive further and further from the city. It hadn't been long since they had lost the demon, and he wasn't going to risk giving it a chance to catch up by slowing down. He glanced over his shoulder, not trusting the mirror, but only saw a dark, empty street behind them. The sky was overcast and completely black, the air carrying a sharp chill, but he found the cold invigorating. The same could not be said for his smaller partner who had remained quiet since the Nightshade fell off the car and seemed to disappear.
Dante looked away from the road again briefly to check on Nero. The kid had saved them both and then crawled back down to the floorboards. He wedged himself under the dashboard again and didn't look willing to come out any time soon. Dante wasn't going to make him, either.
At least, not until they hit a particularly nasty rut in the road and Nero lifted a hand to brace himself against the jolt, leaving a smear of blood on the passenger seat.
The instant he saw that red mark that seemed overly bright under the streetlights they passed, Dante almost slammed on the brakes as his heart seemed to stop. "Hey, kid, you hurt?"
Nero lifted his head slightly, just enough for Dante to get a good look at his face. The pale yellow of another streetlight briefly lit up the boy's shadowed form and gave Dante more a glimpse of a ghost than of the feisty child he'd grown accustomed to. Nero's face was ashen, the dark lines under his eyes nearly purple; but it was those large blue eyes lacking in their usual fire that really indicated something was wrong.
Again Dante considered stopping the car; that glassy-eyed, pale-faced look was not a good sign. And Nero still hadn't answered his question, but it was obvious to the devil hunter now that he was paying closer attention that the kid was shivering violently.
"You are hurt. Where? How badly?" he demanded.
Nero continued to stare up at him, eyes half closed as small white lines of strain appeared around his mouth. The boy shifted with a pain-filled grunt and lifted his other hand. His right arm was completely unwrapped and Nero either didn't notice or didn't care. Those small, nail-less fingers were now tipped with wickedly sharp talons that were stained with the black blood of the Nightshade. But that wasn't what horrified Dante. It was the amount of red, human blood that stained the grayed skin that made the hardened devil hunter feel ice-cold inside.
"I'm cold…and sleepy…my leg hurts," Nero finally mumbled before his head hung down again, as if he didn't have the energy to hold it up anymore.
"Kid? Hey!" Dante stomped his foot on the brake, unable to keep himself from doing it anymore. Once the car skidded to a stop on the side of the deserted road, he reached down to feel for the kid's pulse. Nero was still alive, but he wasn't fully conscious, barely grumbling a protest at the hand shaking him. "Nero! Get up!" he snapped, worried and uneasy. The longer they stayed stationary, the more the hairs on the back of Dante's neck stood up.
He growled at the situation, leaning over to pull Nero off the floor and back up into the passenger seat. The boy hissed and went tense, eyes squeezing shut as he gripped at the blood-stained denim sticking to his right leg. Dante would rather tend to it right then, but stopping when they had barely gotten away from the Nightshade last time would get them both killed, blood loss or no. He prodded at the visible tears in Nero's pants, and was relieved when no fresh blood welled up. It seemed to have already started to clot and heal, it just looked awful.
He shrugged out of his coat and wrapped it around the still shaking child as best he could without moving him too much. As bloody as his leg appeared and as much as he wanted to check Nero over for any more injuries immediately, the fact remained that they were still being hunted. In this condition, the kid wouldn't be saving their asses a second time. So it was up to Dante to find them a safe enough place for them to hide in; because travelling with Nero like this was not even an option.
"Try to stay awake, kid. If you die, I'll be the worst guardian ever." Dante muttered and sat up in his seat again, slamming his foot down on the accelerator this time; the car fish-tailing before it gained traction and leapt forward on the road again. As he drove, Dante continued to silently remind himself that the boy wasn't completely human and blood loss might not kill or damage him as it would a normal person. It was the only thing he could cling to and use to stave off the growing concern that was making him feel sick.
-o-o-o-
He was unsure when he'd fallen asleep, but when Nero awoke, he felt groggy and nauseated, surprised to find himself practically crushed against a solid chest; a heavy weight hung over his shoulders and surrounded him with the smell of leather, dried sweat, blood and gunpowder. The boy's nose wrinkled as his eyes flickered open wider for a moment. The movement of him rousing gained attention, because he heard Dante's low voice not a second later.
"You awake for real this time, kid?"
Nero grunted as the weight around his shoulders was lifted, forcing his eyes open again to see Dante's red coat being tossed to the side, landing in a heap next to where they were sitting on a bed. He frowned at the loss of the heat it had provided, shivering slightly at the cooler air of the room rushing over his back.
"Where 're we?" he mumbled, wondering why he felt sick to his stomach just from having a nap. As his mind began to really wake up, though, he started to remember: the monster coming to Dante's place, jumping out the window to escape, pain that he couldn't have even imagined in his worst nightmares; Dante driving them out of the city…the monster nearly catching them and then Nero had…he had…
He had attacked the monster back.
Nero shuddered and couldn't seem to stop. His body quivered uncontrollably from head to toe and he was suddenly wide awake but couldn't focus on anything. All he could do was review those images flashing in his mind and shake.
Dante cursed to himself when he noticed the kid dissolving into a severe case of panicked shock. Wide blue eyes stared at nothing, glazed over in terror, pale skin going sheet white as his small body tried to shake itself to pieces. He swore he could even hear the kid's teeth chattering.
He tugged Nero back against his chest and tried not to squeeze him too tightly. Dante didn't know what else he could do at that point. "Relax, Nero. You're safe." He wasn't sure if that was entirely true or not, but the kid didn't need to hear that.
Worry had made Dante's foot heavy as he'd driven them to the nearest sign of civilization after leaving the city behind. Nero had stayed out of it for most of the drive, occasionally coming to but only briefly and never fully lucid. He had chanced stopping twice to check the boy's leg, but it hadn't bled anymore and didn't appear to be poisoned, the deep gashes must have been nearly closed by that point. That had been the only comfort as he'd forced them to the closest haven he could find, which was unfortunately a dive motel across from a truck stop.
After getting one of the smallest, worst smelling rooms in existence, Dante had carried the unconscious Nero into the shared public bathroom long enough to rip the already ruined pants to get at Nero's injured leg. Under the drying blood, it hadn't looked as bad as he'd feared and though the wounds had been large and raw looking, they had been closed. He'd risked going out to the car to dig out the bag he'd packed in the trunk to find a change of clothes for Nero and the first aide supplies stuffed in there to wrap the wounds though they were pretty much healed already; and once the injury had been tended to properly, Dante couldn't think of much else he could do besides hole up in the crappy little motel room with Nero and hope the kid woke up somewhat normal once he got some rest.
That had been the hardest part; forcing himself to sit still in one place that wasn't exactly defensible with the kid wounded and a seriously pissed off demon hot on their tail. But they were relatively safe for now, though the longer they stayed, the worse off they'd be since they were giving the Nightshade a chance to catch up. The one upside to the awful room was that, though it wasn't far from Capulet, it smelled just bad enough to cover their trail, however temporarily. He already planned to try and contact Lady once the sun was up so they could regroup.
Dante wasn't sure how long he'd sat there waiting for Nero to wake up fully, so by the time the kid was conscious and started having his little episode, he had no clue what time it was. Eventually, though, Nero calmed enough to lift his head and look around the small, dim room. There wasn't much to look at; just the bed they sat on, a narrow bare floor, a small dirty window, a radiator crammed against one corner to keep the room somewhat warm and the door that opened into the hall leading to the front desk and only real exit.
"…it stinks in here," Nero huffed after a stretch of silence. Dante let out his held breath as the last of his concern started to melt away.
"If you can complain, I take it you're feeling better."
Nero looked up at him and slowly shook his head. He was still too pale and was even looking a bit green. "Feel sick," he mumbled before dropping his head back down against Dante's chest, rubbing his face roughly into the other's shirt.
"Not surprising," Dante replied, staring down at the top of Nero's head as his heart ached a little at the sight of the usually feisty kid cuddling against him in misery. He couldn't help but hug the kid close again. "You lost a lot of blood, kid. But it could have been worse. You'll be back to normal in a day or two." Time they didn't have, but again those details didn't need to be said aloud. Nero had taken enough rides on the emotional rollercoaster for one night. They both had for that matter.
Nero didn't seem to have heard him, hands curling around the devil hunter's shirt to keep a firm grip as if afraid he'd be put down and left alone now that he was alert and most of the danger had passed, staring down at himself now that the room had been looked over. "Dante?"
The kid didn't hold on to him or call him by his name often and Dante decided that he liked it. It made him feel like Nero had really accepted and decided to trust him. It was nice that they could find a moment to bond after getting through that hellish ordeal.
"Hm?
"….why are my pants ripped?" Nero demanded with an accusing little frown.
And there went the moment.
