Chapter 8

Babe-sitting

"Why am I here?" Dante wondered as he navigated through the maze-like hallways of the hospital. It certainly wasn't his style to go looking after teenage girls he barely knew, especially when it involved visiting their friend in the hospital who had threatened him with a gun the night before. Yet, here he was knocking lightly on the door of the aforementioned friend's room. Either he was going soft, had lost his mind, or that old priest back in Italy had cast some kind of spell on him to protect this young girl on the off chance he would happen to run into her. Whatever the case, he really had little choice left in the matter now.

"Come in."

He peeked inside the doorway to see the girl knelt down by the bed, her hands clasped in front of her chest, her head bowed and her eyes closed. He noted her black dress and odd hairstyle, wondering what had happened to the chic young woman he had met at the party the night before. Dismissing his curiosity, Dante slipped through the doorway and shut the door behind him, glancing at the unconscious man on the bed. Sweat beaded the man's brow, pasting strands of black hair to his forehead, and his pale skin was flushed with an unhealthy pallor as he slept restlessly, his lips moving silently in his sleep. He certainly did not look like the same man who had pressed a gun against Dante's neck last night.

Returning his gaze to Robin when he saw her stir out of the corner of his eye, Dante watched as she made the sign of the cross and rose to her feet. The look of sorrow clouding her eyes made his own motivation clear to him; he knew why he had gone out of his way for her. Though he barely knew her, he felt a sibling-esque kinship to this young girl he could not explain, yet could not deny. It had appeared suddenly and unexpectedly at the realization of their slight connection through Juliano, but it took hold of him every time he looked into her emerald eyes, and it refused to let go. He couldn't say no to that solemn gaze no matter how much he might try. So, what would be the point in fighting it, really? Just go with the flow . . .

"You all right, babe?" he inquired, leaning against the wall near the door, his hands in his pockets. She shook her head silently, looking so very lost Dante momentarily felt entirely helpless. He found himself wishing suddenly that Trish were with him. She was so much better at dealing with these kinds of things. But, no, he had to go and be all the man and take care of this simple little job on his own. He knew she had thought he was being an idiot, and he knew he had pissed her off, but had that stopped him? No. He'd gone and left without her anyway. And he refused to call her for help just because he was in over his head in emotional crap.

Utterly unaware of his internal conversation, Robin had turned her attention back to the bed and her powerless companion, her shoulders drooping. "The doctors can't figure out what's wrong with him," she commented quietly. "His temperature just keeps rising and they can't find a way to break the fever. Maybe if they could figure out what's causing it . . . but he seems to be in perfect health aside from the fever." She glanced at him and frowned self-consciously. "I hadn't expected you to actually come to the hospital. I just called to let you know where to find me if you needed me."

"Hey, no problem . . ." He scratched the back of his head. "I just find this situation a little suspicious though, don't you?" She turned her green gaze back to him curiously but did not respond. "I mean here your friend is, practically in a coma for no reason modern medicine can understand. What are the other possible causes of his condition if it's not an infection or some kind of virus?" She blinked back at him. "I guess all I'm saying is that he seemed to have a bit of a happy trigger finger, and I'm starting to wonder if I'm the only dangerous being he's pointed a gun at lately."

"We're witch hunters. That's part of our job description."

"Nevertheless, do you know of anyone supernatural he could have pissed off recently? I mean, other than me? 'Cause his run of bad luck here reeks of paranormal activity.

"I don't know of anyone," she answered in a fragile whisper. "But he doesn't tell me very much about his life outside work--or even his life at work most of the time, for that matter."

"I thought that Doujima chick said you and this Amon guy are partners. Shouldn't partners share a little more information?"

Robin hesitated. "I don't think Amon really trusts me."

"Hmm. He really is a dumbass."

A glance at Robin told him she was still considering his question from before. "Do you think that what happened to Amon could have any connection to the witch you're looking for?"

He shrugged, combing his hand through his hair. "From what little I know of the witch, she's never used her powers like this before. Still . . . she just gained a lot of extra power with a little help from her satanic friends. Who knows what she can do--or will do?" A quiet sniffle drew his attention back down to the girl beside him. Tears were sliding down her cheeks. "Robin . . ."

Words came out of her in a torrent, her voice thick with tears. "Amon said something to me just before he passed out. He was already half-delirious at the time from the fever, but he said--" Her voice broke and she paused before trying again. "He said he was burning because of my fire." Her eyes looked up at him imploringly. "I'm a craft user, Dante, and my element is fire. What if . . . what if I'm the one doing this to him without even realizing it?"

A sob escaped her lips and Dante pulled her into his arms as she cried, gently rubbing circles over her slight back. He didn't have a complete answer for her, yet he suspected somehow that Amon hadn't meant those words literally. The guy may not have made the best impression on Dante, but Dante had seen the look in his eyes when he looked at Robin. As for the part about her craft--Juliano had mentioned something to him about it himself, though the old man was reluctant to talk much about the subject. Nevertheless, Dante could easily imagine that the fire which burned Amon had nothing to do with a craft at all. It was the fire in her eyes--the fire in her spirit, which could burn anyone who got close enough to her.

-----

Karasuma looked up at the sound of Robin's voice. She hadn't even heard the girl enter the office until she spoke. "Michael. Have you found out anything more about that witch?" Robin looked haggard, her hair frazzled, her eyes dark and her skin even paler than usual. Karasuma frowned with pity for the young hunter. She knew Robin felt somehow responsible for whatever had happened to Amon, though Karasuma couldn't imagine why.

Karasuma's eyes wandered from Robin to her strange companion as he drifted into the room behind her. The demon hunter, as Robin had named him when she brought him into the office the day before, noticed her attention almost immediately and shifted his cool gaze to meet her own. Thumbs tucked casually in the pockets of his leather pants, he glanced briefly at Robin and Michael who were still talking, before wandering across the room to her. The intensity of his gaze might have unnerved her if she hadn't been so used to working with Amon and dealing with his penetrating stares.

"You have something to say to me?" He sat down on the edge of her desk with a raised eyebrow.

"Just wondering where you fit into all of this," she answered honestly, arms crossed over her chest. "You waltz into our office tagging after the heels of our youngest hunter like a puppy, and offer to help us find a witch who may or may not have something to do with the case we're already working on. You don't have authorization to be here, nor do you seem to care. And most interesting of all, your appearance immediately follows the strange incapacitation of our lead hunter. You're damn lucky Zaizen is out of the country and the Chief is visiting his sick mother right now, or you might have been barred from the building already."

He smiled. "You witch hunters are such a friendly crowd.

"We aren't trained to be friendly."

"Oh, lighten up, Karasuma!" Sakaki sighed, leaning back on the back legs of his chair. "The guy didn't have anything to do with what happened to Amon, and you know it. Robin wouldn't have brought him here if he did."

A frown creased her brow. She didn't like the way Sakaki had taken to hero-worshipping Dante--and all simply because the man had an "awesome" motorcycle and a well-honed aura of cool. "How can you say that, Sakaki, when we still don't know what exactly happened to Amon?"

Scowling, Sakaki looked away, unable to answer her question.

"I did find something else though," Michael was saying as Karasuma returned her attention to the hacker during the silence following her question. "I don't know how helpful it is, but I think I found our witch's full name.

"What is it?" Robin asked eagerly.

"Like Dante said, the first name is Beatrice," Michael answered, "and from what I can tell, her father's name was Sparda."

Dante slid off the desk and rose to his feet, drawing Karasuma's attention again. His lips were parted in what appeared to be astonishment, and his pale brows were drawn together and creased with distress. "Want to run that one past me again, Mike?"

Michael looked up at him in surprise. "I was saying that I think the witch's name is Beatrice Sparda. Unfortunately, I can't find much information on her family except a strange rumor about her father not being completely human," he replied uncertainly. "Is something wrong?"

Dante turned away, letting loose a string of curse words under his breath so vulgar Karasuma found herself blushing in embarrassment. Combing his hand through his disheveled silver locks, he fingered the ivory-plated gun peeking out from beneath his coat before reaching for his back pocket. He pulled out a cell phone and flipped it open with almost enough force to tear it apart, punching in a number with annoyance. "I've gotta make a call," he muttered before pacing away to the corner and putting the phone to his ear.

"What was that about?" Michael asked quietly when the demon hunter was out of earshot.

"No idea . . ." Karasuma murmured, watching Dante pace in the corner of the room and straining her ears to hear his words.

"Yeah, so I made a mistake," Dante snapped. A pause followed his statement after which he growled softly in frustration. "Listen, Trish, I don't have time for this bullshit. I know I'm an asshole. You know I'm an asshole. Just get over it already and listen to me. This 'witch,' if that's even what she is, either has a risky sense of humor or has a hell of a lot of explaining to do. Either way, I've got a bad feeling about this whole thing." He paused again. "Yes, I'm asking for your help. Are you satisfied?" Another pause, in which Dante rolled his eyes. "I don't want to hear it Trish. This bitch knows I'm tailing her and I've got a feeling she let this bit of information drop just to taunt me. She would only do that if she were incredibly stupid or even more powerful than I thought. My gut tells me it's the latter. So, unless you want another Mundus trying to break into this world, you'd better stop yakkin' and start packin.'" He snapped the phone shut and clenched his fist around it with a growl. "Damn that woman."

"Dante?" Robin asked uncertainly into the silence.

"My partner's on her way," he replied nonchalantly.

"Your partner?" Karasuma inquired innocently.

"Yeah. Trish. My business partner."

"Business partner," Karasuma echoed with a knowing smile.

"Dante, did you recognize the witch's last name?" Robin inquired cautiously.

An ironic smile twisting his lips, Dante replied with a bitter laugh, "Yeah. I'd hope I could recognize my own last name."

"Sparda's your last name?" Robin looked confused for a moment. "It wasn't on your business card.

"I try not to make it common knowledge. Anyway . . . anything else, Mike?"

"I made up a list of witches with a possible connection to Beatrice," Michael replied reluctantly, clearly wanting to know more about Dante's connection to the witch, but not willing to risk Dante's anger. "We might be able to track her down through one of them." Pushing his glasses up on his nose, he waved a few papers in the air. "Who wants a sheet?"

"I'll take one," Sakaki spoke up, grabbing the first sheet.

"Hey! I wanted that one!" Doujima pouted.

"They're all the same."

"If they're all the same, then give me that one."

"Just work on it together!" Karasuma intervened in frustration. "We should work in pairs anyway." She snatched the last sheet out of Michael's hand, Robin already having taken one. To Karasuma's surprise, Dante pulled Robin's sheet out of her grasp, inciting an angry glare on the girl's face.

"I'll work with you," he stated, handing the sheet to Karasuma. "Miho, isn't it?"

"Wait!" Robin cried. "I--"

"Need to get some rest," Karasuma actually agreed with what she assumed Dante was intending by his action. "You're no help to anyone in a state of exhaustion."

Robin frowned.

"She's right, babe," Dante commented, ruffling the loose hairs on the top of Robin's head. "Promise me you'll go home and get some sleep."

Robin nodded half-heartedly, but it seemed to be the most they would get from her at the moment.

"So," Dante commented, directing Karasuma toward the door with a hand lightly placed against her lower back, "Shall we get started? My bike's parked out front."

Looking at Dante as the realization finally caught up with her that she was stuck working with him, Karasuma sighed. "We're taking my car," she retorted quickly.

"Ah, not the adventurous type, eh?" he asked, continuing to press his hand against her back, forcing her to increase her pace to elude his touch.

"You'll never find out." She punched the button for the basement when they reached the elevator, rubbing her temple where she could already feel a headache forming. This was going to be a long afternoon.

-------

The plot thickens . . . Have I mentioned I enjoy writing Dante dialogue? I've also realized that Dante is kind of a Nagira replacement for me since I couldn't really put Nagira in the story when it takes place at this point in the series. But I really like Nagira! Someday I'm going to write another fic and include Nagira.