Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any of the Devil May Cry characters in this fiction, if I did, Kyrie would have died in the first ten minutes of the game, very brutally and with lots of blood, Dante and Nero would be together...and Vergil would be shirtless in the third game...and Arkham would wear a frilly princess dress for my entertainment.

Rated Mature for Blood, Language, Angst, Future Hot Man Sex, Hurting Nero (I actually tried not to this time! But Nero was just begging for it.), and Secrets that I will not reveal.

The story refused to wait for Angelo.

Chapter Two: Task for a Soul

Nero backed away until he was standing in the center of the kitchen, fists clenched and ready in case the demon attempted to attack him. He was starting to question if he was still asleep and dreaming some messed up version of wonderland but something told him that something was not right even if it was a dream. The white rabbit's ears twitched as it stood quietly with its hands clasped behind its back. Its beady black eyes looked over the young man carefully, the black smog thickening and drifting through the window as if it had a mind of its own.

"So what if it is?" Nero finally spoke, his azure eyes flicking from the rabbit to the smog that was slowly nearing him. His eyes were focused on the swirling smoke of the natural smog, tensing as he noticed a few unsettling skull faces twist through the darkness of the smoke. His eyes returned to the window, surprising him when the rabbit had moved to standing less than a meter away from him.

"I would prefer it if you would keep your eyes on me, boy." Nero took a step back at the sudden closeness, narrowing his eyes at the demon before raising his demonic fist and rushing forward. The rabbit disappeared the second he threw his punch, making Nero stumble slightly and struggle to maintain his balance. "How rude. I merely asked a simple question and you attack me."

"Well, sorry. I'm not much of an animal person. I find rabbits annoying, especially the talking kind." The young devil hunter glanced around the entire kitchen, unable to find the source of the demon's voice. The smog was filling the small area, slowly blocking his vision until he could not even tell he was in a building. Nero felt the sudden need to cough as he started to breath in the black smoke.

"Pity. I've grown tired of you already. You are not as skilled as I thought. If you were any match for the son of Sparda, you would have noticed I was behind you this entire time." Nero only managed to glance over his shoulder before he felt something sharp smack into the back of his head. He fell forward onto his knees, grabbing the back of his neck as he felt warm blood drip down his back and his left hand. The young slayer tried to get a glimpse of what hit him but nothing was behind him but the swirling smog. "I am disappointed. I suppose I should not have held such high expectations from a human."

"Shut up." Nero pushed himself back onto his feet, ignoring the pain from the back of his head and searching for the demon again. "Now I know why rabbits can't talk. They would be extinct by now if they did."

A small chime echoed off the clouds of black smoke, seeming to come from every direction and growing louder. Nero winced slightly, the noise turning into a shrill ping in his ears before clicking off. The rabbit appeared in front of him, staring at a small pocket watch it held in its hand.

"It appears I have taken more time than I estimated." The demon carefully tucked the watch back into the pocket of his suit jacket, ignoring the young hunter completely.

Nero growled in the back of his throat, finally having enough of the rabbit's superior act. He took a few steps back before charging the demon, watching as his devil bringer made contact with the rabbit's face. The smirk of victory never formed on the young man's lips as he saw the white fur crack like glass, a few drops of his own blood dripping down his arm. The beady black eyes stared intently into his as if still expecting something more.

"Are you done?" It tilted it's head with the question, twisting its broken image even more as it did. Nero glared at the black eyes staring into his while slammed his human hand into the other, only to break the rabbit's image more and cause his left fist to bleed. The ex-order member continued to slam himself into the glass image, the demonic rabbit merely watching him cut the exposed areas of his flesh. The demon suddenly lifted its head, its long white ears twitching as if it heard something.

"I must take my leave. I have an appointment that I must not miss." The rabbit's image disappeared, making Nero stumble forward again from the loss of the support under his fists. He raised his upper lip in a snarl, looking around for the damned bunny. "I will leave you a parting gift, boy. I am positive you will enjoy it if you survive it." The voice faded until the young demon slayer had to strain to hear it.

"Wait! Come back here!" Nero yelled as the smog swirling in the air thickened until he could not even see his own hand in front of his face. He was breathing heavily from trying to attack the demon and could feel his lungs being filled with the heavy smoke. The young hunter coughed a few times, quickly covering his mouth and nose with one of his hands. The air pressed against him like it was a physical being, attempting to crush any clean air still in his lungs out of him. His eyes started to burn as if there were needles pricking his retinas. Red, yellow, and blue flames danced behind his eyelids as he sucked in as much air as he could. He pulled his hand away from his mouth, screaming and hoping that someone, anyone would hear him.

"Dante!"

Dante groaned and shifted his position on the large bed. He reached a hand out to try to find the warmth of the younger hunter, refusing to give up and sleep without Nero snuggling to his chest. The older hunter furrowed his brow, keeping his eyes closed as he searched the sheets and came up empty again. Dante groaned in sleepy annoyance and opened one eye lazily. The other side of the bed that the younger man had been occupying for the last few months was empty. The warmth in the spot had grown cold, telling the sleepy hunter that Nero had got up a while ago. Only the scent of the younger man lingered, making Dante smile despite the disappearance. Dante shifted under the sheets again to glance at the clock, the smile on his lips fading as a frown took its place.

"What the hell could you possibly be doing at three in the morning, kid?" The elder sighed before he sat up, tossing the sheets off himself and searching for his boxers. He grabbed his pants instead when he found the silk missing, no doubt happily hugging Nero's sexy ass much like Dante wished he was doing at that very moment. He buttoned and zipped up his leather pants, wondering what 'punishments' to use if he caught Nero sneaking off somewhere in the middle of the night.

At least, he hoped the younger man was sneaking out. He hated the nights he woke up to Nero tossing and turning in his sleep from nightmares. More than once, he thought of driving to Fortuna and flattening the entire town just so Nero could sleep easier.

Dante stepped out of his room, not bothering to close the door behind him as he walked down the staircase. He suppressed a yawn as he looked around, finding nothing in the main office and deciding to check the kitchen. The older slayer rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he entered the small kitchen, his breath hitching as he suddenly stepped on something sharp. Dante opened his eyes to see glass sprayed across the tile floor, the single window shattered and letting the rain splatter across the counter top. A lone glass half filled with milk was sitting on the marble counter, a few claw marks on the side telling him that Nero was drinking from it while half asleep.

"Ki-" Dante stopped immediately when he caught a whiff of the surrounding air. "Shit. What kind of demon has the guts to break in here?" He asked himself quietly, narrowing his eyes at the window before walking back into the office area to grab Ebony and Ivory.

"Dante Sparda. Alive and well, I see." Dante snapped around at the voice, aiming his twin guns at its source. He raised a silver eyebrow at the tall white rabbit standing in the middle of the office, hands behind its back and head tilted to the side as if questioning the guns pointed at it. "A little jumpy this morning, are we?"

"Aren't you that messed up rabbit that sent me looking for a lost child about ten years back?" Dante asked, keeping Ebony and Ivory aimed at the rabbit. He narrowed his eyes, not liking that the white demon showed up just after Nero disappeared.

"I am glad to see that you have not forgotten me yet, son of Sparda. Although, I would prefer to be called 'Rabi' rather than 'that messed up rabbit'. I have come to make another request of you." The long ears atop the rabbit's head twitched slightly. "I doubt you will refuse. Otherwise, that boy will be truly be lost in-"

A loud bang echoed through the office, forcing the white rabbit to take a single step back. A spot of red bloomed on Rabi's suit like a flower, the demon not reacting in any other way to the wound besides stumbling backwards. Dante cocked Ebony again, glaring at the rabbit as if daring it to continue what it was saying. Rabi was silent for a moment, merely staring at him.

"What did you do to the kid?" The devil hunter hissed through his teeth, hating that everything bad seemed to draw to the younger man even more than it did to him at times. Rabi brought a hand up and brushed at the blood on his jacket, smearing it more than wiping it off.

"I sent him on a trip to the demon world. It was hard to get him there the same way I got out. I doubt he would have survived it. He was not a very strong fellow. Lively and pretty, yes, but he was very brash. He ran head first into a battle he did not know if he could win or no-" Rabi was knocked backwards again, one of its ears sagging a little at the second stain of red coating his suit. It took him another moment before he could speak again. "Careful, Dante Sparda. I am your only lead to the boy. Destroy me and you destroy your mate." Dante hesitated in pulling one of the triggers again.

"Mate?"

"Do bite marks on the side of the neck mean something else in the human world?" Rabi tilted his head to the other side, expressing his light confusion before straitening himself. "Nonetheless, it is either you do this task for me or leave the boy in the darkness of the demon world. It is your choice."

Dante glared at the rabbit, thinking of what the damn demon would possibly ask of him. He knew he could not leave Nero alone in the demon world, possibly only wearing his boxers. The elder felt a tinge of possessiveness at the thought of a demon wandering across a half dressed and nearly defenseless Nero.

"What did you have in mind?" Dante growled lowly in his throat, still not lowering Ebony and Ivory. Rabi adjusted his glasses so they would not fall off from another potential shot in the chest.

"I need you to open a docile gate to the underworld about twenty-one miles north of this city. You need to enter it within twelve hours from now, or you can rest assured the boy will be dead."