Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry.

Does Nevan seem a little OOC? Young!Dante has his mind in the gutter. DMC2Dante is more mature. I think it's reasonable Nevan would change her approach as he changes.

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It was good to be home.

He should have stayed longer, kept looking. But he knew he wouldn't have found Vergil, and the longer he kept looking the greater the odds that he would get lost and come home just in time for the Apocalypse.

Home.

Yeah, this wasn't just a shop, he'd lived here for years now.

He'd felt a little embarrassed giving Lucia the pep talk, but if it made her feel better it was worth it. He remembered finding out (remembering) he wasn't human. Of course he'd had bigger problems at the time. So had she. There'd been no one to tell him it was all right, except memories of his mother.

Trish was going to be outraged at him for sticking her with the cleanup on the island. He'd better head over there. Tomorrow.

He smelled steaks cooking and headed for the kitchen. It was getting on to dawn, there probably wouldn't be more calls. Lucia had gone to bed already.

Nevan was cooking, some real big juicy ones. Mom would have said something about the female demon getting stuck with the domestic stuff and there might be some truth to it.

"They'll be ready in a second, Sugar," was how she greeted him. A minute later, steaks cooked medium rare, she put them on the big plate and set it down on the table.

"Thanks, Nevan." He dug in. This was the first human food he'd eaten since getting back. One of the annoying things about the Underworld was that unless you wanted to eat raw demon, which he drew the line at (only the powerful ones left bodies, anyway), once he ran out of the stuff in his pockets there wasn't any human food. His demon side, on the other hand, was used to being half-starved (he only fed when he killed demons, on their deaths) and being surrounded by that much power made him uncomfortably full. Not a good combination.

The steaks were cooked enough they weren't raw, but not enough to destroy the flavor of meat. There was already a glass of tomato juice ready, and Nevan had gotten out some strawberries and a bowl, waiting on the counter.

She was leaning on the counter with her elbows, chin leaning on her hands, regarding him with a slight smile.

He swallowed, and before taking another bite asked, smiling, "What?"

"You're a creature of habit, Sugar. Same old things."

"Yeah. So?"

"So nothing."

"You seem to be in a good mood."

"I get to look at you. Every girl's dream, Sugar. Of course I'm in a good mood." She winked.

"I bet you wish I always fought like I did at the tower." He laughed.

"Hmm." She came from around the counter, trailed a finger up his front. "You should. Why do you bother with that useless body armor, Sugar? You're depriving everyone of a wonderful view."

"It looks cool."

"Doesn't it make you hot?" That finger tapped him again.

"If I started taking it off, no one would want me to stop."

"I know I wouldn't." The finger traced a lazy circle. "We should play strip poker sometime. Or are you too mature for that now?"

He'd never played strip poker with her. He hadn't played strip poker since that time at the Love Planet with Enzo and about six girls. He'd deliberately lost some to tease them… Ah, memories. He grinned at her. "Lucia would blush as red as her hair. Who would we get to play with us, anyway? I don't want to see Trish…"

"She wants to see you, Sugar." Nevan looked equal parts peeved and amused.

"You don't want to see Alastor," Dante finished.

"I haven't seen him in days. I think he's sulking in that big sword of his." Nevan sniffed.

"Yeah." Dante frowned. "He is the strongest devil arm I've got, but I need to practice with the others."

"No, you don't, Sugar," Nevan corrected him.

"What? You're trying to talk me out of using you?" He blinked at her.

"I love it when you use me. You're so… forceful," she purred.

"Uh, yeah."

"But it's hardly fair, is it? You use me just as much as the others for fighting, and then you also play me. Not that I would mind having you all to myself, Sugar." She winked, "But it's hardly fair."

"But you need to feed, so I need to kill stuff with you."

"I can feed… other ways, Sugar." She smiled. "The roar of the crowd… you feel it too, don't you? All those people crying out for you, worshipping you, loving you. Isn't it… stimulating?"

"Yeah. It's addictive." He sighed. "This was the first big job in a while. Maybe things are cooling down."

"Maybe, or maybe they're about to heat up."

"Yeah." He nodded. "There were two guys there that had fought my father. I think they might be some of Mundus' generals trying to get me. But I was expecting more of them to have made a move by now, before I get any stronger. They really screwed up, letting me grow up."

"You've exceeded all expectations, you big boy," she agreed.

"But they should know how strong I am. They've got Vergil." He sighed. "I can't retire, Nevan. There's Lady, but she's going to be getting old… few more decades still in her, though. Lucia's a good kid, but… I need to smash Mundus' allies somehow. Maybe that way, when he revives and my son faces him, or I face him, he'll be acting alone and won't be very tough. Not just that."

"Vergil."

"Yeah." Dante downed the tomato juice and wished idly it was something stronger. Maybe the Vie du Marlians knew how to brew something that would affect half-breeds? "So I'm stuck hanging around here, spending my whole life waiting for them to give me the chance I need."

"You waited, and Mundus came to you, Sugar. You'll win," Nevan assured him, a warm hand on his shoulder.

"Eventually." And there was that cocky grin of his, he'd never lost it. "They're not going to know what hit them."

Nevan laughed happily a little. "You got that right, Sugar." She stood up. "Eat up, before it gets cold." She slinked away to the other side of the counter, heading to the freezer to get ice cream.

How long would it be, though? How long would Vergil be stuck there? Would his hypothetical son (or daughter, Mom would kill him for being sexist), have to fight his own uncle?

He gulped down the rest of the steak, ready for more when Nevan came with the strawberry sundae. "I really need to try new things once in a while. These have been my favorites since… forever. Thanks, though."

"No problem, Sugar. It keeps me busy. It was boring in that tower, and it would be boring to be stuck in the guitar all the time."

He took his time on the sundae, vanilla one of the few spices he could still tolerate. "This is good ice cream."

"It's all natural, homemade. Just cream, vanilla… the basics, sugar."

"Doesn't have those tastes. Thanks." His sense of smell was getting even more sensitive. Preservatives and stuff… he could ignore them, yeah. He lived in a city, he was surrounded by bad smells. But it was nice to be able to enjoy something without having to ignore bad tastes.

Everything they bought now was organic. It added to the price tag, but he was worth it.

"Hmm." Nevan looked pleased with herself.

In that slinky black dress she looked like someone about to go out to an expensive restaurant, not someone making a meal. Somebody's really high maintenance mistress, which she had been. Or something like that. He hadn't really asked for details, besides guessing that she was a succubus. Maybe she'd been the Madame? Was that how she was so good at running things?

She was putting things away now, glancing at him over her shoulder with an indulgent smile.

She liked… well, demons liked power. And she'd sort of made herself his most valuable devil arm, even if she wasn't the strongest. Made his life a hell of a lot easier. He hated paperwork and details and people who gave him shit. Nevan could handle anyone.

The devil arms took orders from her because they knew whatever she told them to do he'd approve of. So she'd sort of made herself his second in command?

Trish was Trish, and his… partner, whatever. Not under his command. So she wasn't competition, exactly. It was a good thing they weren't fighting, though. Not that that wouldn't be hot as hell… if only Trish looked different.

Every test he could run showed demon, so… if Trish were human, maybe it would be different.

He had to have that son. Hell, eventually something had taken down Sparda, who had about… hell only knew how many millennia of combat experience. Dante was stronger than him, but he didn't have the finesse. And you could never have too much, not enough raw power. He'd needed Trish for that shot at the end. He'd just been exhausted.

He had centuries to think about that, though, judging from Matier's people. Centuries to find some human woman like Mom, someone who would teach his children that humans weren't just weak prey.

Someone he could love.

He'd always wanted that. Lady… He shook his head. Old thoughts.

"Penny, Sugar?" Nevan asked, heading back with a Bloody Mary for him and a box of chocolates for her, though he knew he was welcome to steal a few. He was paying for them anyway.

"I thought fighting Mundus would be it, I guess. Now I feel like when I started this place."

"You're older, and just a tad wiser," Nevan assured him thoughtfully. "You've grown up. And survived."

"Ever since Mom died… Hell, ever since I was born. Losing family, finding them… give me that." He took the Bloody Mary. "It's never over."

"Not until you die, Sugar," Nevan informed him, looking sympathetic. "You feel like it's not good enough, because you keep failing, even though you keep scoring. I know, Sugar. I helped you kill the Bloodgoyles, and you told me about the Plasmas."

"Vergil's out there. I know he's not dead. I can't rest until I find him. And they're going to keep me from finding him unless they have some plan to use him to kill me. And I don't want him to kill me."

"That would be the ultimate failure," Nevan understood somehow.

"Sorry. Just seeing Lucia and those Secretaries. I killed a bunch, she probably did too. Didn't want to ask. But they're family. Demons, trying to kill you, but," he sighed and shrugged.

"You'll find him eventually," Nevan assured him. "Bring him home. You won't lose."

Dante snorted. "Don't flatter me. I just got enough of that from Lucia. She hero-worships me. I don't want to hear it from you, I might start to believe it, and my ego's monstrous enough as it is." He still smiled, pleased.

"You won't, Sugar."

"That's a nice thing to say."

"Remember what I said, when we met?" She popped a cherry cordial in her mouth, after licking it.

"'Welcome, sir?' You were the first to call me sir, like a knight. Trish said I was a Legendary Dark Knight."

"'I'll treat you so nicely, you'll never want to leave.'" She laughed just like she had then, tongue smeared with chocolate.

And she'd kept that promise, he knew. Just wished he knew if it was just because he was a customer/her master, or because… Maybe things would be simpler if he'd slept with her. That was what she was for… no, she was more than that. But if he'd slept with her maybe he would have thought that was it.

He'd spent a lot of nights regretting he'd turned her down.

How many centuries would it take him to refine his control enough to sleep with someone he loved without hurting her? Tearing her apart? Sparda had managed, but his self-control must have been as legendary as the rest of him, living for so long around humans.

Maybe… they were adults. Maybe just… a friends with benefits thing?

"I keep my word, Sugar." And she smiled like a knife to his heart, winking. But that wasn't all it was.

Thing was, though… if he did sleep with her, it would end up being more than just a one night stand. Thing about Nevan was, just being around her was addictive. Playing her was worse. Sleeping with her? He doubted he'd be able to enjoy being with a human after years of it. It would seem like, like stale bread next to one of those dark chocolate cherry cordials she liked so much.

"Yeah, thanks."

He'd never want to leave.