Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own Devil May Cry. I do, however, own all rights to Heather, Michael, Aeva, and Loren.

Summary: A former apprentice of Dante's and ex-lover of Vergil, Loren, comes back from a decade-long gig in Europe to find that her man has wed another women. Consumed with jealousy and twisted love for him, she vows to kill Heather and her kids, and take back that which is hers. Meanwhile, Heather is with child once more, and both Dante and Vergil are nervous about the identity of the father. Which is it this time? The elder twin or the younger?

Queen's Quornor: Well, here we are again. And yes, it has been a long time since I updated, and for that I'm sorry. Things have been a bit...hectic lately. This chapter's been written up for quite some time now, but I never had time to actually post it. Sorry!

Poison

She's back. She's come back. After all this time, she's back.

The litany continued in Vergil's mind as he trudged towards Devil May Cry, where his brother and Loren were waiting. A full decade had passed since she had broken his heart, and now she had come back.

More than likely, she wanted to resume their relationship, exactly where they had left off. How was he going to tell her that he had a mate and child, possibly another on the way?

Dante had agreed to stay at the shop when he arrived, to help watch Loren. There was not telling how she'd react to the news that she was too late, and Vergil was already mated to another. The elder Son of Sparda steeled himself, then went up the stairs and inside.

Dante was in his customary place behind the desk with his feet up. He nodded lazily as his brother came into view, and his azure eyes slid to the woman perched on the edge of his desk. Vergil surpressed a sigh at the sight of her, knowing that she wasn't going to take this well no matter how he worded it.

"Loren," he greeted, his voice carefully emotionless.

Her plump lips spread in a temptress' smile, venomous green eyes half-hidden by long, long lashes. "Hello, Vergil," she purred. "It's been a long time."

"Ten years is nothing to our kind," he replied. She tilted her head, scrutinizing him closely, then smoothly rose to her feet.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you." Vergil crossed his arms, coolly watching the alu. "I haven't been mad at you for a long time. You mean nothing to me now."

Loren laughed lightly, slinking over to him with a provocative rolling of her hips. "I doubt that. I remember the way you looked at me ten years ago, how you reacted to a single glance or caress. You can't stand there and tell me that you feel nothing for me, Vergil. I know you too well."

"It's been ten years, Loren." Vergil didn't move as she wrapped her arms around his neck and molded herself to his body, sin dancing in her bright green eyes.

"So prove it," she murmured, fastening their mouths together in a hot kiss.

She remembered what he liked. He had to give her that. But as good as the kiss was, Vergil didn't react to it. He didn't even lift his arms to hold her against him. After several moments of fruitless effort Loren pulled back to look at him, confusion in her gaze.

"I already told you. I feel nothing for you now."

The alu stepped away. "I hurt you that much?"

"There's no place in his life for you anymore, Loren." Dante tapped his heart meaningfully. "He's got a little bite here that proves it."

Loren stared at him, then her eyes flared and she whipped back to Vergil. "A mate?" she demanded hotly. "You have a mate?!"

"Both of us do. You obviously didn't want me, so I found somebody who did." Vergil watched her scowl, unmoved. "She has given me a nestling already, and carries another."

"A human?" Loren spat, balling her fists tightly.

"You can't help who you fall in love with," Dante remarked off-handedly.

"Shut up!" The alu's venomous eyes flared with rage. "How dare you lead me on like that! I've been dreaming of you for the past ten years! I came back just for you! You made me fall in love with you, and then you dump me - me! - for some filthy little human whore?! You fucking bastard!"

Yamato's razored edge was against her throat in the next second, and she glared at its master as his chilling gaze bored into her own. "Know this: I love my mate, and I won't tolerate anybody talking about her like that. Do not test my patience, Loren, or you will regret it. You should remember that, as well."

"I think it's time for you to go, Loren," Dante said, getting up from his chair. "Go cool off for awhile, and then we'll talk."

Vergil wiped the thin line of blood from Yamato before sheathing it. Loren stepped back, one hand held to her throat. The disbelieving anger in her eyes did bother him, but he gave no outward indication. He had loved her once, and she had broken his heart, fully aware of his feelings. She didn't deserve to know that she still affected him, if only in her pain.

"I'll be back," she hissed, malice dripping from every syllable. "You once said that we were meant to be together. Mated or not, I don't believe that you have left me to the past." With a toss of her fiery hair, the alu stalked past him to the doors. She paused with one hand on the cool metal, and turned so she faced the elder twin once more. "You were mine once, and you shall be again. Your 'mate' could not have erased the mark I left upon you."

The door slammed open and fell closed, announcing her departure from Devil May Cry. Dante went to his brother, noting the shock in his wide blue eyes. "Bro? What's wrong?"

In reply, Vergil shed his coat and turned towards the wall, pulling his vest up and over his head. "Man, I didn't ask for a strip-show," Dante deadpanned, rolling his eyes and taking a step back. "Heather isn't here, and I don't like you that much."

"Is there a bite or scratch or scar on my back?" Vergil demanded, looking over his shoulder. "Anything at all?"

The younger twin gave him a puzzled look, but obligingly took a look at his back. "I don't see anything."

"Try triggering."

"Where anybody could see?"

Vergil snarled impatiently and dragged his brother into the bathroom. "Now look at my back with your devil's eyes," he growled, turning around again.

His own devil stirred when the familiar crimson light flashed, but Vergil forced it back down with a brutal thrust of will. It was another devil, but this was Dante. He could be trusted to see his back and not harm him.

Almost immediately he heard a sharp intake of breath from behind him. "What is it?" he asked, bracing himself.

"There's a pattern here." A claw traced the center of his back, accompanied by the dual-toned voice of his brother's devil form. "Looks like a bunch of scratches centered around a bite. Completely invisible to human eyes, and nothing but scars now."

"She marked me," Vergil snarled. "That bitch, she marked me!"

"You had no idea she'd done this?"

"Loren was very fond of biting and scratching during sex, as I am. But it never occured to me that she would dare mark me." Vergil glanced back at his brother. "Could you draw a picture of it?"

"It's pretty simple. No problem." The light flashed again as Dante's trigger ended, and he took one more look at his brother's back before getting out of the bathroom. "It's probably a territorial mark. It couldn't be that powerful, since she wasn't very strong when she lived with us."

"Yet it managed to stay in place, despite ten years and thousands of miles between us. Territorial marks don't last forever, but mating bites do. I didn't mate her to myself." Vergil slipped his vest back on. "I may have wanted to, but I didn't."

"She still didn't mate herself to you. Your ritual with Heather wouldn't have taken if she had." Dante slung himself into his chair, his boots easily clearing the pictures on the right side of his desk. "Speaking of which, do you think we should tell her about Loren?"

"Out of the question." The elder twin shrugged into his coat and left the bathroom to plop down on the sofa, fingers unconsciously raking his hair back into place. "She does not need to worry about such things right now. Nothing can be allowed to disrupt her pregnancy."

"Agreed, bro. She's been through enough already because of us." Dante's eyes went to Rebellion beside the desk, and Vergil's fingers tightened on Yamato's sheath. "No old flame is going to get between us and her if we have anything to say about it."

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She crouched on the roof of city hall, distinguishable from the gargoyles squatting around her only by the wind blowing her hair across her face. Unaware of the chilly night air on her naked arms and shoulders, she stared down at the busy streets below, her mind roiling.

How could he betray her? No woman could compare to her magnificence, her perfection. That she'd been replaced by a mere human...

Her fingers tightened around her dagger-whip, curling into white-knuckled fists.

Grief had driven him to that woman, whoever she was. He had been driven to madness by her absence, and thought he'd fallen for the human bitch. Now that she was back, he would realize his mistake and abandon his so-called 'mate' to her meaningless fate. He'd come back to her, she would greet him with open arms, and they would start over. Everything would be as it should have been ten years ago, had she not left. The Vergil she knew would never have touched a human female, much less fallen in love with one. He had simply transferred his affections to the first female available. He would realize that with time.

And if he could not realize it on his own...

Well, she had no qualms about nudging him in the right direction.

A flash of green sparked in the sky and a winged form soared over the city, invisible in the night but for a pair of glowing poison eyes, visible even from the streets below.

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Queen (looking at something off-screen): I am very, very sorry I took so long to post this. I will never take so long on a chapter ever again so long as I live. I reiterate how sorry I am, and hope that you all forgive me. (glares at somebody) Can I have my meds now?

Dante: Here you go. You can go back to the couch now.

(Queen gets up with a bottle in hand and slowly disappears down the hall. Her seat is taken by Dante a moment later. He puts a piece of paper down beside the computer, and a few words from her little speech are visible)

Dante: You must forgive her for the attitude. Queen had surgery the day after New Year's, and some of the internal stuff hasn't quite finished healing yet. It doesn't help that she has to go to class when she should be concentrating on healing, either. I'll try and get her to write the next chapter as fast as possible, but at this point I think she'd be more likely to stab me than actually listen. She'll be more compliant once she feels better. Now, I need to go get her an ice-pack, or I'll never hear the end of it. Until next time...

(transmission ended)