Common Foe

It took Imp about a week to get his shop straightened up completely. During that time, Marvin signed on with the Capulet Police Department, and told Dante that if he ever came across anything suspicious that could have potentially been up the devil hunter's alley, he'd let him know without question. Dante had yet to form any type of connections with anyone on the police force - not solid anyway, so this was new for him. He'd been jailed once or twice, but those incidents definitely didn't warrant any friendships to form, so it was nice to know someone who might be able to get in a word to him edgewise about potential jobs before anyone else knew about them.

Not to mention someone who could vouch for him whenever he got into trouble again.

Evelyn stayed with Regan during the day. Marvin had told her that she needed to relax about worrying over caring for her niece and thinking she might have been putting him at any impositions with her. As Marvin put it, he found taking care of Evelyn to be extremely distracting, and while she wasn't his own kid - who he'd begun to miss terribly - he had began to care about Evelyn just as much.

So he told her to go stay with Dante whenever she saw fit to. He actually wanted her to because, with as much as he'd lost himself, he knew Regan was also experiencing difficulties with this new demon half she'd acquired, on top of the loss of her own family and friends. Dante, he felt - while not the most consoling individual - would help her more than anyone else could whether he did so indirectly or not.

So Regan spent her days at the office, while Evelyn helped her to either clean the place up or to cook, because Regan felt that the least she could do was get Dante a home cooked meal once in a while.

Or pizza worked. Regan had to call Andy's pizza place when she realized that Dante's stove had apparently decided to kick the bucket the first night she tried to flip it on to cook him something decent. She was starting to wonder if he actually liked pizza or was just to broke to fix his appliances. Then again, this was Dante.

Dante didn't complain about her attempts to get things straightened out either. His place got cleaner everyday, and he had a hot redhead to watch taking care of the tasks. He ended up sitting back at his desk, taking a phone call or two while she worked on various things. But if she needed help in moving something, such as the pool table so that she could clean under it, he would get up to do it for her because he wasn't going to leave her high and dry when it was his shop she was cleaning up.

Lady stopped by and, during the middle of that week, she started teaching Evelyn how to play pool. The little girl was apparently a natural, and won a round against Dante, though Lady and Regan seriously wondered if he let her or not despite his claims that he hadn't. So Regan played a round with her, and when Evelyn beat her too, she decided that Dante had been telling the truth after all.

In the evenings, Regan helped Marvin find an apartment to move into, and it didn't take much time to do. Marvin found one that was three blocks away from Devil May Cry, and Regan helped by putting herself on the lease because she had extremely good credit, and the deposit wasn't as much with her on the deal.

Regan knew she would be welcome anytime there also, so she wasn't against helping the man out one bit. Evelyn loved the apartment to boot, and asked if she could live there, to which Regan and Marvin both replied that she could stay as long as she wanted to. Regan, after all, didn't want to deprive Marvin of Evelyn's company because, like he'd felt toward her, she thought the man could use the distraction from his losses.

A last effort that Regan made was to get her hands on Evelyn's birth certificates for adoption purposes only to find out that Evelyn didn't have any. It dismayed her to think of what she'd learned - that Nathan had originally had Evelyn just to kill her in sacrifice to Democrities - and she knew that was the reason that there were no certificates at all. It definitely made the process harder, but she and Marvin cooked up a story of a fire so that they could have the certificates replaced.

It would take a couple of weeks for the papers to come in, but that gave Regan a good bit of time to plan more thoroughly for the whole endeavor of becoming Evelyn's mother much more thoroughly, so it worked out in one of those strange fashions that wasn't expected.

Regan and Dante continued their affairs with one another at a casual pace. Things got heated, then cooled off, and neither were oblivious to the fact that even though they tended to argue, they also managed to make up over things fairly easily. Dante was starting to grow accustomed to seeing her around his shop, and on the flip side, Regan was getting very used to hearing comments about her ass on a frequent basis.

She was settled on top of a ladder now in the office of Dante's shop, unscrewing the light fixture because it'd been flickering whenever it was turned on. Regan wasn't a complete 'handy man' so to speak, but working on the ranch required knowledge of indoor maintenance, and Regan knew a little bit about electrical wiring because of it. So she'd decided to try to fix the device just to keep things in good working condition.

"I've never seen such a good looking handy man."

She'd heard the door opening just before those words hit her ears, and she snorted in amusement. Wearing a simple blue tank top and a pair of black cotton shorts and sneakers on her feet, with a utility belt around her narrow waist, she looked back to see Dante standing at the base of the ladder, looking up at her.

"Seriously, I've never seen a tool belt look so sexy. It's startin' to get me hard."

"Oh good grief," Regan rolled her eyes, "I'm sure you haven't, but I'm also sure that if I wore a potato sack, you'd say the same thing."

"It's a possibility."

Grinning, she chuckled softly before changing the subject of her currently accessories by saying, "You know, your shop has a pretty decent structure, but the wiring looks like it could use some touch ups."

"That's because I had to have most of it rebuilt, and I ran out of money before everything could be finished off completely."

"Rebuilt?," Regan asked, peering into the hole on the ceiling where she'd unscrewed the fixture.

"Yeah," he replied, thinking about the demonic attack that had rendered it asunder a good while back now. "Let's just say I had some unwelcome house guests."

"Oh, I gotcha," Regan replied as she pulled her hands away from the hole, and then gasped and grabbed the ladder when it suddenly shook without warning.

"Dante! Stop it!"

He grinned, having reached over to shake the ladder with her perched on it, saying in response, "It's not me, it's an earthquake."

"Sure it is, devil boy. Stop playing around. If you've got time for that, then climb up the other side and help me out."

Dante had stepped to the other side when she mentioned that, joking as he said, "But I might get hurt."

He heard her scoff, which made him grin as he worked his way up, and once at the top, he asked, "What do you need me for?"

Regan gave him a little grin that was suggestive, saying, "Well, I could get all pervy on you this time, but I'll do something you never do and pass up on the opportunity. Here," she handed him a flashlight, "just hold that so I can see and use both hands."

Dante took the flashlight, shaking his head at her as if she'd done something wrong. "See, you could have capitalized so hard just now," he began as he pointed the flashlight up for her. "You could've had me blushing, and telling you to shutup," he said in a girly tone of voice to mock her.

Regan couldn't concentrate for that brief moment, squeezing her eyes shut as she laughed. "I'm sorry Dante, but I don't think you were born with the ability to blush."

He chuckled, about to make a response when the front doors of the shop opened up and interrupted him. Lady came walking in with Imp trailing behind her, and they looked up to see the two on top of the ladder.

As they looked the two over, Lady asked, "Did you manage to get him off of his ass and help out, Regan?"

"Yeah, all it took was a sexy utility belt," she replied, smirking over the thought.

"I see, I guess his only complaint is that–," she stopped when she heard Imp snickering because he'd read her thought before she'd said it.

Lady grinned at him while Imp said, "Yeah, he is thinking that."

Dante snorted. He'd been thinking about Regan in nothing but the tool belt, proving Lady had a slight inkling of where his thoughts drifted to from time to time. But Regan asked, "Thinking what exactly?"

"Nothing," Dante grinned, "maybe if you're nice, I'll show ya later."

"Uh huh, what, that I'm wearing clothing instead of just the tool belt?"

"Damn straight," he drew out, glancing down at her chest. Before he could stare for too long though, he felt Regan pushing his chin up with her index finger, and he just grinned at her, focusing on the flashlight once more.

While she worked, Dante asked, "So, how's the shop doing, Imp?"

"Much better thankfully," Imp called back as he went over to Dante's desk and climbed onto it. "Everything's fixed again as of this morning, and I even got a "No Cloaked People Allowed" sign up outside of my door."

"Too bad you can't just say no evil assholes, right?"

"Yeah," Impa replied to Regan's question, "though if I did put that sign up, it would definitely get me some attention."

"There's a nice marketing scheme," Lady smirked, having come to stand by the desk with Imp while they talked.

"So what are you guys doing here anyway?," Dante asked. "Bored?"

"Imp needed a lift," Lady told him, "and I'm waiting on the mechanic to get done with Kalina Anne. He's supposed to call me any time."

Imp looked up after Lady had finished speaking to say, "I came by to letcha know that I found out some information, but I don't wanna tell ya until you can come down and focus on it."

Hearing this, Dante said, "I'll be down once Regan's done playing with my fixture."

Regan wanted to get offended, but she just couldn't. She started laughing instead. "Please tell me there was no innuendo in that."

"Regan, this is Dante," Lady chimed in. "There's innuendo in everything he says."

"Good point," the redhead snickered out, swatting Dante's hand when he tried to move the flashlight back and forth to make things difficult on her.

It was then that the front doors opened again. Lady, Dante, and Imp looked over to see Marvin walking into the office wearing his police uniform, holding Evelyn's hand who was trailing along behind him. He'd come by to take her out on his lunch break.

Looking up toward the top of the ladder, he smiled and asked, "Renovations still underway, huh?"

"Something like that, how was lunch?," Regan asked.

"Good. Evelyn got mint chocolate chip icecream, and I brought some over for you."

"Did they have any strawberry swirl?," Dante asked, looking down again. He saw Marvin holding up a bag that apparently contained what he was looking for, and he grinned, "That's what I'm talking about."

"I'll just go put them up so they won't melt," Marvin said with a smirk. "I've got to get going though, so I'm gonna run once I'm done."

"Hey Evelyn," Dante called down after Marvin had left the room for a moment, "you scared of heights?"

"Don't answer that, Evelyn," Regan instructed her. "He's trying to weasel his way out of this."

Evelyn had smirked and Marvin walked back in, seeming to be in a hurry, though that didn't stop him from patting Evelyn's head on the way out of the door as he said, "Don't let Dante con you into any work."

"I won't," she called back playfully, and said goodbye as Marvin left.

Regan had put her tools away, and they both began climbing down the ladder. Well, she did while Dante slid anyway, which shook the ladder and jolted it. Regan steadied herself, then rolled her eyes, saying, "You're determined to make me fall aren't you?"

Smirking, Dante walked past her, swatting her ass as her feet touched the floor, and she smacked at his hand. With the passing flirtations and a shake of her head over them, Regan looked down at Evelyn to ask, "So, did you enjoy lunch with...," before she stopped, seeing that Evelyn was completely transfixed on something in the room. Looking over to see where the line of sight was direction, she noticed that it was Imp whom she was focued on, and likewise, Imp was staring at her in return.

"Evelyn, that's Imp, he's–"

"Regan," Imp started, "come'ere."

Regan narrowed her brows, but then she heard Evelyn sigh. Looking back and forth between them as she stood up straight, the words they'd exchanged catching Dante and Lady's attentions, Regan asked, "What is it?"

She'd started walking toward Imp curiously, and as she did, Imp said, "That's not Evelyn."

The words caught Regan off guard, and her brows narrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Regan turned around to look back at the little girl, and once again, she was caught off guard. Evelyn had leaned against the ladder with a roll of her eyes, lifting her hand to crook all four fingers a few times as if to tell Imp to say just a little more.

"Definitely a demon," Imp went on.

Regan was still staring at Evelyn. She was too stunned to say a word. In her stupor, she heard Dante's answer to the sudden revelation.

"Arias," he rolled his eyes, and when he said that, Evelyn pointed at him as if to silently say bingo!.

Arias? Regan looked back at him, and then at the form of her niece before her when, with a man's voice, the small girl said, "It's about time someone caught me at m y game, all of the lace and frills were starting to get to me." In a puff of black smoke, the little girl's form changed to the tall, dark-clad demon.

Regan stared in both surprise and in horror. "You!"

"Yes, me," Arias said as if uninterested as he strolled toward them with his arms folded behind his back in the billowing smoke of his black robes, staring at one of Dante's pin-ups on the wall while he walked. "That's nice."

"Where the hell is my niece!"

At the sudden demand of information, Arias looked over at Regan, lifting a single brow. "Now, now, little Gateway, temper. You're starting to sound as irate as my dear ol' dad."

Regan was about to lunge for him, but Imp stopped her by putting his hand on her wrist, shaking his head. He never broke his gaze with Arias as he told her, "Don't let him get to ya."

"So says the tiny demon who'd love nothing more than to pick my brain," Arias told Imp, followed by adding, "go ahead, see what you can find in there," Arias tapped his temple as if to taunt him.

With a roll of his yellow eyes, Imp replied, "I'd rather not, trudging through that wasteland is like sledding in a sewer plant."

Lowering his hand, Arias smirked, then looked over at Dante, ignoring Lady altogether. "I trust my welcome will last just a slight bit longer. After all, I'm sure you got the message from Pearce."

Regan, confused, looked over at Dante to see him nodding his head. "Yeah, I got it. And I'm taking it you'd meant The Vicar, right?"

"Yes," Arias replied, "which I'm sure is the reason why the little mind reader came by, isn't it, Imp?"

Imp sighed out a breath, nodding his head, "Yeah, but I think you need to answer the lady's question. Where's her niece at, jackass?"

Snorting, Arias looked at Regan and answered, "She's safer where I have her than here in the city with The Vicar about."

"Oh yeah?," Regan asked him, folding her arms across her chest, "Because I tore him in half a week ago, so why don't you bring her back here?"

"I would, but tearing him in half," Arias started, turning his eyes toward her but not his face, "will not kill him. After all, you can't kill what's already dead, though I commend you for trying little lady."

Regan pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut for patience. Arias sighed with a dramatic roll of his eyes in seeing the sight, adding, "Just be patient." Waving a hand, he added, "She's completely unharmed, has been in Doc's mountain home this entire time with Marvin."

"But Marvin's here–," she stopped herself short, "you mean with your version of Marvin."

Arias raised his finger, "Exactly," then began pacing back and forth before them as he explained, "I loathe children, everyone knows that, but thankfully I've had a nice little pet to keep her company all of this time. She's just been doing what little girls do best, playing with barbie dolls and waiting for her dear auntie Regan to come and fetch her. Just as equally fortunate, I've been able to keep her waiting by telling her that you'll come for her once all of this mess with the monsters has been handled. Children are exceedingly hard to fool, but much easier when the lie is something they want to believe."

Dante was listening carefully even though he looked pretty damned bored, and as Arias explained all of that, he took in a slow breath and scoffed. Turning, he stepped out from behind his desk and walked around toward where Arias had paced. The illusionist came to a stop in front of him, and Dante spoke his mind as he walked over.

"So what's the deal, dark and dramatic? Who is this Vicar? Is that what Imp came to tell us?"

"Precisely. So, do you care to explain it, little Imp, or should I?," Arias asked, glancing over.

Imp rolled his eyes at Arias, folding his own arms over his chest like he might have been a miniature Regan standing there next to her, and he said, "You're the scene stealer, why don't you explain it."

"Oh, really?," he asked sarcastically, placing a hand over his chest, "I'd love nothing more." Arias didn't sound as if he'd meant those words however, sighing softly before glancing back at Dante. "But I'll do it since I know more than he does anyway. So without further ado, The Vicar is," he flitted his fingers as if searching for the words, "Democrities in the flesh, a shell he's created to traverse this world, simply a," he paused, "walking rotting corpse if you will. With the ritual so close at hand, it doesn't surprise me he could finally manifest something like that here. His power is growing the closer to the date we get."

"So," Dante began, "if that's the case, then that's why you were content to hide as Evelyn for so long, wasn't it? You're not here to collect Regan for him, you're just as much his enemy as we are."

"Well, it's much easier to hide in the form of a little girl while seesaw swingin' with the boys in the school and my feet flyin' up in the air, singin' "hey diddle diddle" with your kitty in the middle of the–," he stopped himself, "sorry, I heard that song in Marvin's car on the way over. I hate it when it gets stuck in your head."

Clearing his throat after lapsing into Walk This Way by Aerosmith while everyone rolled their eyes at him, Arias finally told Dante, "You're right however, Dante, and the reward would be...," he trailed off, stepping in just a tad closer, "an offer. I propose a truce between us. Temporary, oh yes, but I do believe that enemies of a common foe can put aside differences for a short while."

"Uh huh, saying I trusted you, which I don't, and neither does anyone else in here. So here's a counter offer. Give me some valid proof that you're not being a two faced bitch and I won't blow your brains all over my floor. How's that sound?"

Dante and Arias held gazes for just a moment after that before Arias finally smiled and looked at Imp. "You said you would rather sled in a sewer plant, but I'm offering you this one rare opportunity to look into my cranium, little telepath, and tell me what you see. Am I truthful, or am I plotting against you?"

Dante, Regan, and Lady all looked down at the short demon, and Imp pursed his lips in thought. Finally, he rolled his eyes and said, "Alright, fine, but if you slip anything in there to show me that I don't wanna see, I'm gonna pay Dante to kick your ass on principle right here, right now."

"Fair enough," Arias replied. "Then please tell me what I'm thinking, and don't worry, I'll refrain from playing any Jeopardy theme music."

Imp sighed in annoyance and let himself read Arias's mind as he'd offered, seeing if there was any motives behind teaming up with Dante and his friends other than simply wanting to get rid of Democrities. It didn't take him long at all to realize the truth either, being let right into his true thoughts, and Imp almost stumbled over.

Regan blinked, glancing from Imp to Arias, before asking, "What is it?"

"Goddamn," Imp muttered. "Alright, he's telling the truth."

"How do you know?" Dante asked him plainly.

"Because he has a level of hatred for Democrities that rivals the one you have for the demons that killed...," Imp trailed off, "you know who."

Dante's mother. Imp had heard Dante thinking about his mother's death one day when he'd stopped by the shop. He didn't know Dante too well then, but understood well enough that the event had hurt Dante a lot, and somewhere inside deep down in a place where the devil hunter would never completely get over it. From what Imp could tell, Democrities had done something of the same to Arias, but Arias kept what exactly it was that had happened locked away from Imp's mind, apparently unwilling to share a vulnerable story of his past.

But Imp, as powerful as he was, had managed to catch a slight glimpse of it anyway, and though Imp refused to show it, he was somewhat shocked over what he'd thought he saw stashed inside of the powerful illusionist's mind.

"What did Democrities do to you?," Imp asked him.

Arias 's expression was completely unreadable as he normally kept it while he replied to the question. "Just suffice it to say he gave me the will and motivation it would take to overthrow him. I've been waiting for this ritual to occur for five hundred years," he added, looking back over at Dante. Any farces he normally liked to play were now gone, and instead, he seemed completely serious, a side of him showing through that was evidently rare to be shown.

With it in place, he told Dante, "During the last Gateway Ritual, Sparda found the Black Moon Temple - as I'm sure you know already - and destroyed it, along with every demon that populated it, except one."

"You?," Dante asked, unimpressed.

"Yes, even though I," Arias smirked, "well, let's just say I wasn't too keen on living back then. In the end however, he handed me a sword named Venom, which I introduced you to in that factory, and told me that he wouldn't deny me a chance for retribution."

"Wait a second," Dante held up a hand and walked away from the demon, asking, "you're trying to tell me that Sparda, who dedicated his life to saving humans by killing demons, spared the life of one, gave him a sword, and told him to go have at it?"

"Yes, essentially. Do I need to get the telepath to confirm that as well?"

Dante sighed out a breath, finding it hard to believe. As he did, Arias held up his hands, "I'll be the first one to tell you Dante, in most cases, you'd be absolutely right to doubt me. But this time, you wouldn't. When I heard that Democrities instructed Nathan to drag you into this because of your father, I was extremely worried. Would you like to know why?"

"Sure, might as well tell me."

"Because you're Sparda's son, and if you're capable of even half of the carnage I witnessed your father exude, then I knew that history would repeat itself, and I might have lost my chance to have vengeance."

Arias walked on toward the center of the room, and he began to add on the way there, "This is why I had no qualms fighting you at first, I didn't want you taking my right for retribution away from me. This aside, I was doing fine, I had Evelyn ready, and Regan, as you well know, was put into place, but it all started falling apart, and all because of Democrities and his need to drag you into it. And knowing the untrusting nature of demons, Democrities decided to release his Vicar form and come collect the Sacrifice and the Gateway on his own because he'd lost faith in me, not that he had any to begin with.

"I found myself unable to continue without some extreme plot revisions after that, namely taking on the form of the girl while putting her somewhere that she wouldn't be found. I couldn't let Doc have her. He was in line to take Nathan's place and would have told Democrities' minions exactly where she was. So I took matters into my own hands and killed Doc, then whisked little Evelyn away while Marvin and dear Lady were distracted."

Lady sighed, remembering that night vividly. "So, now The Vicar is here. What are you planning besides that? To keep Regan and Evelyn safe until after the time for this ritual passes?"

"Not specifically," Arias replied. "In two weeks, when the next New Moon rises, or the Black Moon as those ancient humans called it, Regan will find herself unable to resist heading to the Temple any longer. You might have already felt it, Regan, those odd changes to you becoming more and more noticeable? As if something's calling out to you? And you may have even considered going to the temple just to check it out on your own."

Regan didn't want to admit it, but she gave a nod of her head. "I hadn't wanted to go check the temple out, but I have been curious about it. It's popped in my head a few times without reason."

"Mm hmm," Arias replied, looking over at Dante. "She'll eventually seek the Temple herself, out of mindless need. She'll just feel compelled to go there, unreasonably, to the point that she'll nearly feel insane if she doesn't go there. So whether we keep her safe or not, she would still go anyway."

"And what about Evelyn?" Regan asked. "This ritual can't proceed if she isn't there to be killed, can it?"

Arias smiled only slightly, turning to face Regan as he explained the answer. "Evelyn is the one variable of this whole messy plot I could actually control. Keeping her under the impression she was safe with Officer Holt in the mountain home - while simultaneously making you all believe she was the same in your care - has definitely helped to keep the focus off of her. Though, all of it's still in the air," he waved a hand with a roll of his eyes given over his next words, "especially now that my little secret has been let out of the bag."

So, basically, with his emergence, it might be easier to figure out exactly where Evelyn had been taken. Dante also had the thought that if they went to get the child, Regan would eventually seek to go to the temple without her own free will in place, and also with the Vicar around, it would make it twice as risky for the child to be in Capulet.

Reading his thoughts, Imp spoke up, "Evelyn needs to stay in the mountain home."

Regan gave Imp a surprised look, and then turned it on Dante with even more expression when he added, "I'd call you a mind reader, but that's already obvious."

"Dante," Regan shook her head, "are you serious? Keep her in his care," she waved a negligent hand at Arias.

"I'm so thrilled for your confidence," the black clad demon remarked sarcastically.

"Look," Regan snapped at Arias, glaring over at him, "I already don't like you because you killed me. Whether or not you're seriously set on some kind of revenge trip against your father, I'm still not going to be excited about leaving my niece in your care."

"I'm not excited either, but what has to be done, well, speaks for itself."

Dante didn't seem to be too interested in the conversation anymore. Instead, he'd actually picked up one of his pool sticks and started setting the table up. When Regan saw this, she looked at Lady with an expression that asked 'what the hell?' and then glanced back over at him.

Dante wasn't oblivious though. But he didn't comment, not just yet, asking Imp, "Feel like playing a round?"

"Sure thing," Imp replied, hopping down from the desk before heading over to the pool table where Dante lifted him up by the back of his shirt to stand on the edge of the table. "Got a mini-stick? Any references to what's in my pants and I'll kick you."

Dante had just grinned, turning to take one of the regular length sticks to hand it to Imp even though it was about twice as long as he was tall, replying, "Sorry, just the regular ones."

Imp shrugged and took it before he heard Regan asking, "So you're not even going to discuss this?"

"There's nothing to discuss," Dante replied. "You can leave her in the mountain home where she'll be fine, or send someone after her, potentially leading the rotting corpse to her, or bring her here where he already is and where you might go a little nuts in two weeks and head for that Temple. It's best just to wait it out until all of this bullshit can run its course."

"Wait it out?" Why didn't Regan feel as if she could do that? She agreed with Dante's points, but waiting it out just didn't seem to be a viable option to her. Neither did just standing here any longer. Not to mention, she didn't know what she could say anyway. With a sigh of breath, she muttered, "Fuck this shit," and turned to walk away, snatching Demoncaller from where she'd left it resting in order to head up and onto the roof of the shop through the ladder upstairs where she'd learned that Dante liked to spend some of his time alone in thought over the course of the previous week.

"Well," Lady started once Regan left, "I think she took that well. Though, I can't say I'm excited about your new alliance, but what do I know? He's just the son of an enemy."

Dante gave Lady a shrug, and he replied with the words, "She'll be fine shortly. As for the Drama Demon here, I think, if he'd wanted to cause trouble, he could've done so being in Evelyn's disguise a long time ago."

Lady knew he was right about that definitely, but she still didn't like it somehow. Though, what was there to like about the situation? "Well," she started in forced acceptance, "if you need me, you know how to find me. I'll let you know if I spot any rotting corpses walking around."

As she headed to the door, leaving just the three men in Dante's office, Arias muttered out, "I'm such a likeable devil, I almost feel choked up by the excitement." Then he glanced at Dante's desk and saw the picture settled atop it. For a moment, he looked over the visage of Eva, his memories taking him back to the last Gateway ritual and what Sparda had told him.

Mundus was the cause of what had happened with Dante's mother, where Democrities was one of the causes for what happened to Arias five hundred years ago. Arias wasn't about to spill the beans to Dante however, not about Mundus killing his mother, or about the Demon King's workings over Vergil Sparda - sadly, Vergil's fight hadn't gone victoriously.

Arias knew that whenever Dante found Vergil again, that was when he would learn of the truth behind his family's demise, and in the meantime, Arias wanted Dante's head clean and clear of anything distracting in order to make sure his own plans went smoothly.

But in seeing the picture of Eva, Arias knew that he and Dante had more in common than would ever meet the eye.

But Dante caught Arias staring at the picture of Eva, and he didn't like it. So he asked, "Care for a round, Black and Mild?"

"No actually, Sparky," Arias looked back over at them. "I'm going to go walk about. If at all possible, I'd like to see threats coming before they arrive."

"Suit yourself."

Arias did just that, vanishing in a puff of black smoke that wafted away quietly. Dante just turned his pool stick down to the table and hit the ball while Imp leaned on his own pool stick, the end against the floor, his hands wrapped around the top of the object.

"So, you're taking this pretty calmly. I thought you'd at least be pissed that you'd been duped about Evelyn."

"Not really. As long as she's alright, it's no big deal, though I'll have to make sure she stays that way. As far as I'm concerned," Dante started, heading around to the side of the table where the white ball had ended up, quietly judging distances, "if Arias hates Democrities as much as you say he does, he's not going to do anything to betray us. Sure, he might be using us to keep himself safe," Dante lowered the pool stick to the top of his hand where he aimed to hit the ball, "but he's the first demon I've ever met who apparently didn't hate my Pops."

"Since when do you care?"

"I don't." The tip of the stick hit the white ball then and smacked into the red striped one, Dante standing up straight to watch his handy work as the ball fell into the corner pocket. "I just thought it was interesting." Glancing over at Imp, he added, "I thought you woulda picked up on that already."

"Eh, I did," Imp waved his tiny hand, "I just wanted to see if you'd admit it out loud or not."

Dante snorted in amusement while picking his next target on the pool table. "So what about the Drama Demon. Did you happen to glimpse anything else in there that might come in handy?"

"You know, I did see a slight bit of something he was trying to keep hidden. I mean aside from the extreme loathing he has toward his own Dad, and the truth that he wanted to put aside differences without strings attached, it was a memory from a long time ago I almost saw, the reason he hates Democrities so much."

"What was it?"

"Not sure," Imp shrugged, "he closed back up before I could get a good grip on it. But from the short glimpse I got, if I didn't know any better, I'd say it had to do with love, as in the love of someone who was close to him."

That did surprise Dante, and after knocking another ball into one of the pockets, he lifted a brow at the short demon who just nodded his head in return. "Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Doesn't sound possible, but if you think about it, it kind of makes sense in a way. And the only reason I could ever see Sparda sparing the life of a demon is because he might know how to love or at least feel for another and maybe even sacrifice themselves for their sake."

"You never even met Sparda," Dante reminded him, "how the hell would you know why he'd spare a demon's life?"

"Because unlike you, I studied," Imp told him, grinning coyly.

The ugly face proved to be what knocked Dante's streak off balance, the blue ball going bouncing off the corner of the pocket he was aiming for and he scratched with the white ball. Shaking his head slowly and sighing out a breath, he hated to admit it, but Imp was probably right.

"Why do you always hate to admit whenever I'm right, Dante? Because you never are?"

"No, because I'd hate to have to shoot you right afterwards to cover up my incorrectness."

"I'll keep that in mind," Imp chuckled. He tugged his pool stick up and went to go putt as he liked to call it. On the way over, he asked, "What about Regan? You really think a little time of sitting alone to herself's gonna make this all better?"

"Well, I'd just annoy her even more," Dante pointed out, "and that's not gonna help."

"You actually make sense for once. I guess we all have our moments though."

"Bite me," Dante replied, waiting for Imp to shoot. As he waited, he thought about the situation and let a little sigh of breath. He didn't feel great working with Arias either, but if Imp was right, and Arias hated Democrities as much as he hated demons in general for killing his mother, then they'd probably do pretty damned well to have him on their team.

When it was over, they could always turn on each other and fight just to get over the frustration that working together would cause in them.

Regan was a little different on the other hand though. Afterwards, Dante wondered if she'd leave, go back to the life she'd come from. He didn't want her to, honestly. Even if she lost that demonic power she'd been given, became strictly human once again, he wanted her to stay. Hell, she could be his receptionist. She'd make a hot one anyway.

"Don't worry," Imp chimed in after he'd taken his shot. "She probably won't go anywhere. She feels the same way that you do."

"And that is?"

"Don't lie to me Dante, just lie to yourself. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Dante did know. If Regan was feeling the same way, then they'd gone down a path they hadn't been specifically aiming to without even knowing it. Dante was a little surprised that it he wasn't more annoyed by the notion, but he was actually liking the closeness he'd developed with the redheaded rancher.

He might not admit it out loud to her, but he knew he loved her somewhere deep down. She just needed to realize that despite his indifferent attitude, he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. It wasn't easy for Dante, after all. He'd lost his mother, and then his brother, and even though he didn't like to admit it, it'd hurt him. So the thought of developing feelings for this woman only to lose her to some ritual made it harder for him to come to terms with.

Maybe sometime, he'd let her know. But for now, he was content with the knowledge that the feeling was mutual.