Mona wakes a few hours later, a haze fogging over her thoughts. Her face still hidden in Nero's rising and falling chest. His warmth seeps from him, surrounding her in its desert. His arms are wrapped protectively around her, keeping her close to him. She carefully moves her head back so she can look up at him, finding him already awake.

"I'm sorry," he admits without shame. "For the way I treated you yesterday. For the way I have been treating you."

"Thank you," she whispers, shocked. She didn't peg Nero as a man who would apologize willingly. "And I'm sorry for blaming you. That wasn't fair."

He nods and the two were quiet for some time.

"I should go check on Dante," she finally says. "I feel bad for stabbing him."

She tries to pull away from him, but he keeps her there with a smile.

"I'm sure Dante is fine. He's been stabbed before, several times in fact. He has that effect on people," he explains.

"Are you one of those people?"

"I will neither admit or deny anything."

She shakes her head, smiling. Deciding that he will probably not let her go, Mona relaxes back into him. It felt nice having normal human contact. Recently the only time she's been touched or held is when she's being attacked. Except for the night Dante held her at the studio.

"I really do need to go check on him," she says after a few minutes of quiet bliss.

"If you feel you must."

"I do," she answers and untangles herself from him. "Besides, I'm still a little upset with you." She picks up a sweatshirt and throws it over her head.

"I apologized!"

"You did," she adds, slipping on a pair of flats, "but I'm still angry. You can make it up to me by going to the store and picking up the items on the list on your desk. The list I left on your desk two fucking days ago," she says with a smile and narrowed eyes.

"Alright, alright," he sighs sitting up, "Just try not to stab Dante again. I know it's hard, what with him being a jackass and all, but do try to resist the urge."

Mona shakes her head in amusement and walks across the hall to Dante's room. She opens the door quietly and winces when it creaks back shut. Dante rests propped up in bed, magazines and a pizza box is strewn across his lap. She leans against the door for a moment, taking the time to observe him. He's nicely built: a strong chest and shoulders, arms well defined. His legs look even stronger. He would make a good dancer.

"What," he asks with an eyebrow raised, "are you smirking at there, hot stuff?"

"You. You're very well built."

"Why, thank you. I do t–"

"You'd make a good ballet dancer."

Dante's face snaps from smiles to stoic. "I am not a tutu-wearing leotard guy."

Mona rolls her eyes and sits on the edge of the bed. "Men do not wear the tutus. Besides, male dancers are incredibly strong. And women tend to love them. Not to mention they are incredibly disciplined and go through years of rigorous training and instruction. Some of them can actually go on pointe shoes, which is pretty incredible." She stops for a minute and purses her lips. "Then again, I read an article about The Big Ballet and the girls weigh no less than like, 220 pounds each. And all of them can go up on pointe shoes! Which is just absolutely amazing! Do you know how much strength that takes? I've seen videos of them dancing and they are all so beautiful."

Dante listens to her ramble with his eyebrows still raised. He smiles at the ecstatic tone and enthusiastic arm movements.

"Yeah," he says when she's finished, "I'm still not wearing the tights, doll."

"Too bad. You'd look hot in them."

Dante tosses a magazine at her and she ducks to the side.

"So, Trish has you confined to bed rest?"

"Yes. The witch says I'm not allowed to move for another day. It's truly killing me, not being able to work. Not being able to do anything but eat pizza and relax," he says, feigning exasperation.

"Oh, yes. I bet it's just horrible."

When Nero walks in carrying bags and bags of groceries, Mona begins a simple routine. The headphones in her ears keep her from hearing him enter and he takes the time to observe her: her black halter leotard sits over a pair of neon blue tights with an x-ray over the top of them. The fuzzy socks are what have him smiling at her. A kind of sad softness crosses her features. The rosary around her neck moves as gracefully as she does. She reminds him of the wind.

"So, you gonna fuck her with your eyes," Dante asks from his desk, "or go put the groceries up?"

Nero quickly turns away from her and heads to the kitchen. "I thought you were supposed to be in bed, old man?" he snaps.

"Eh," he shrugs, "I got bored. Besides, I like watching her dance. Apparently, you like watching her too." Dante smiles and crosses his feet at the ankles on his desk. "Though, I don't think you were watching for the dancing."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Dante sighs. "It means, my sweet oblivious child, that you have the hots for her. Not that I blame you. Hell knows I've thought about her before. Nothing wrong with it," he says holding up his hands at Nero's glare. "It's just a shame it took Sitri for you to figure that out."

Nero sends daggers at him and heads into the kitchen quickly. He does not 'have the hots' for Mona. She's a friend: a friend that he cares about and doesn't want to see anything happen to. He doesn't have the hots for her. So he's realized that she's a sweet person who has never dealt with anything like this before. He had been inconsiderate to her feelings.

Mona comes up behind him and puts her arms around his shoulders. "Did you get the ju– Oh, you did!" she yells happily as she pulls out the juice from one of the bags on the counter. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." He passes her a glass and continues to put away food. "I didn't even know what half of this shit is. I had to ask people. There was a girl there that I just gave the list to and she got everything for me."

"You know for someone who fights demons and risks his life, you sure are helpless."

"I am not helpless," he says defensively.

Mona holds her fingers together in front of her. "Little bit. You couldn't even buy the gro–" she breaks off in a squeal when Nero picks her up and throws her over his shoulder. "Nero!"

Nero ignores her as he spins her around the kitchen. He smirks the more she squeals and smacks at him. Damn the groceries.

Mona reaches down and pinches his butt hard between her fingers.

"Ow, hey!"

"Ooooh! Big touch demon killer cant take a pinch to the ass!" she shrieks the last word when he pinches her thigh.

He lowers her further down his back, making her scream all the louder and wrap her arms around his middle.

"Pull me back up!"

His laugh echoes in the kitchen. She bends herself around his side and Nero lets go of her legs to hold her like a sack of potatoes.

"Nero, knock it off!" she laughs.

He carries her around the kitchen that way while he puts things away. She struggles futilely in his arm. Eventually, after five minutes or so, she gives up and just hangs there with a sigh.

"When you two are done flirting with each other, I need you in here," Dante yells into the kitchen.

Mona looks up at Nero and the two lock eyes. Nero sets Mona down on her feet and backs away from her. She walks quickly out into the living room, leaving Nero to finish his chore.

"We weren't flirting," Mona defends herself.

"You were and it was disgusting." Dante sets his magazine down. "Trish here," he gestures to her across the room, "found out what happened."

Trish smiles knowingly at Mona. She blushes and looks away from the brunette.

"Turns out, someone drugged Dante. Bunny, her name is. Someone came to Bunny before work, gave her five grand to slip a pill into Dante's beer before the 'show'. She doesn't know who it was, or what it was she gave him." She looked at Dante in a 'you should have known better' way. "My guess is it was something that weakened him enough for something to latch itself onto him, taking control of him for only a moment."

"It's never been done before," Dante says with a scowl.

"No," Nero states, dropping his body onto the couch, "but we've never exactly dealt with anything like this before."

"Oh, that's very comforting," Mona grumbles sarcastically.

"Well, babe, it's odd," Dante says sitting up. "See, we've always dealt with these things pretty much face to face. Normally, when they want something, they just go full force at it," he explains gently.

Mona thinks quietly for a few minutes before she responds to them. "Now that you mention it, I've never actually seen Matrem. I mean, I've seen her, but… It's always been in reflections, mirrors, or my dreams. I've never physically seen her. It's always been others trying to hurt me. Never her. Why?"

Nero cocks his eyebrow and leans back into the couch. "Now, that is the question, isn't it? Why is she getting others to do her dirty work?"

Trish shrugs and crosses her legs, looking at Mona. "Well, she could be trying to wear us down. Maybe she thinks one of us will be killed and that would make it easier to get to you. Look what happened with Dante."

Dante shakes his head and crosses his arms over his chest. Mona gets very quiet and lost in her own thoughts. Why hasn't Matrem shown her face in reality? Was she not strong enough? Maybe there was something keeping her from Mona?

"They're trying to break me," she whispers quietly as the thought makes its appearance. All three of the hunters turn their gaze on her. "I need to go to the studio," she says. "Rehearsal starts in a half hour and I need to be there."

Before any of them get the chance to objects, Mona grabs her purse and jacket and walks out of the door. Dante nods to Nero, signaling him to go with her. He gets up and follows her out of the door.

Trish lets a frown take residence up on her delicate features. The poor girl has had her entire life turned upside down in a matter of a day. It's amazing that she's done as well as she's had, given everything that's happened to her.

Dante stands up from his desk and says solemnly, "Put the protections up again. Triple them this time. I've going to see a man about a dog."