Dante sat back, his mind dissecting everything Lady told him in an effort to figure out where Nero went. As it stood, the man had no clue. Nero had nowhere else to go unless he came to Devil May Cry.
"Are you sure he didn't decide to take a walk somewhere?" he asked, looking at her.
He watched her push her sunglasses up into her hair and her eyes looked dark. Dante wondered if she was angry or worried or some odd combination of both. He'd be surprised if she was something other than angry, given her short acquaintance with the kid.
"No. His things were missing too. He just took off with everything he had."
Dante thought for a bit, his thumb and forefinger rubbing against the stubble on his chin.
"Okay, so let's go over what happened last night step by step," he started. "You got him home, and then what happened?"
Lady sighed. "I got him home and showed him around the place. I showed him the weapon room and told him it was going to be his room once I got things out. He gave me lip once I started discussing rules—"
"Rules?" Dante had to interrupt her there. "Really, Lady?"
He watched her lips form an angry pout. Dante would've thought it was cute, but the murderous glint in her eyes, told him he needed to think differently.
"Yes, Dante. I discussed the rules for living together since he'll be staying with me during your training project."
The demon hunter raised his hands up in defense. The dark tone in her voice was enough to let him know she was angry. Pissed beyond reason? She wasn't there…yet. During the years, Lady matured and managed to keep her temper under control. This resulted in a cool, level headed woman who remained in control of a situation if it ever turned dire. But when pushed the right way, Lady could rival any devil triggered demon and he wasn't in any hurry to be on the receiving end of that wrath.
"He gave me some lip about it—"
"Not surprised," Dante snorted interrupting her, which earned him a dark glare.
"—And I clocked him with a couch cushion."
"You're kidding me," Dante chortled, but saw how serious she was when her lips didn't bother to crack a smile.
That was when he realized what the problem was. Nero wasn't the type to give in easily, nor was he the type to play well with others. It was the reason why he worked solo on missions rather than partnering up with anyone or work in a group. Lady and Nero were horrifyingly similar in those aspects. Both liked to deal with things on their own terms and neither liked to relinquish control to someone else if they could help it. Their pride usually got the best of them in different ways. Nero's pride clouded his judgment and prevented him from making sound decisions. It stopped him from truly learning from his mistakes and he always had hell to pay for it later. He also held his pride like he held his heart, close to the chest where it remained vulnerable.
Lady was the same when she was younger, though now that she was older her pride didn't stop her from asking for help now and then. She acknowledged she was human and knew she had limits which was why she was in such high demand as a hunter. She knew when to kick ass and take names and knew when to step down and let someone else deal in order for the job to get done with efficiency and ease. But in Lady's instance, her pride kept her from making connections—emotional connections—that endeared her to you, that made her human despite her biological makeup. Despite her success as a demon hunter, despite the money, the cool condo in the nice neighborhood or the brand new bike, despite the myriad of weapons or the fame—or was it infamy in her case?— she was lonely. Her pride had kept her from making any meaningful bonds and she silently suffered for it.
So now he had to deal with two hot heads, two people with similar personalities that were ultimately on opposite sides of the same coin. If Nero was too emotional, then Lady wasn't emotional enough. If Lady cared about how Nero carried himself or his well-being, then Nero didn't care enough—or he secretly did care, but put up a front of not caring out of spite.
Maybe Dante should've thought about them more before bringing them together? Ah, guess he had to deal with the consequences of his choices.
"He can't be mad about you smacking him one." He paused to think for a bit.
Though he doubted her clocking him in the face might have been the reason he left, Dante was pretty sure that the idea of an alpha male type like Nero, being dominated by a confident woman like Lady must've stung a little. Or rather, in Nero's usual melodramatic case, when things didn't go his way, he ended up screaming and yelling until he was blue in the face, so it must've stung …a lot, more than he should've let it to.
"But he's held grudges against me for less," Dante admitted.
Lady didn't buy it as she shook her head. "You're full of it."
"Well maybe," Dante said, standing up and placing his hands, palms flat, against his desk. "If you were actually nice to him—"
"Excuse me?" She crossed her arms over her chest and bent her knee slightly, her hip dropping with attitude. "What part of me inviting him into my home and offering to help him is me not being nice?"
Dante would've sighed if he wasn't so annoyed with her just then. The attitude, her tone, the emphasis. She just proved to him how exactly she wasn't nice.
"You socked him in the face," he answered and Lady straightened up, as though ready to defend her actions to the death.
"And I would've done more if I didn't think about you and why you're doing this for him." She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts as well as her patience. "I understand you're worried, but I can't be all Miss Susie Sunshine to him when he's been nothing but a bastard."
"So an eye for an eye?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm surprised to see that you're vindictive type."
"You're kidding me right? I let him in the weapon room and let him hold Kalina Ann."
"And you want a Good Samaritan award for that?" he scoffed.
"I'm flabbergasted that you think I'm not nice. I'm nice to you!"
Dante let out a dry laugh. "You shot me in the head twice," he said, slowly walking around the table, beginning to count the ways she's been nice to him over the years. "You rip me off on almost every job to date, you refuse to date me even when you know you like me," he said and stopped to look at her "And let's be real here, I'm quite the catch eh?" he winked at her and she frowned.
"You're completely oblivious when it comes to my or anyone else's feelings and despite knowing you for all these years, you refuse to open up, let me get close to you to understand you, to prove to other people that you're not as cold as you appear to be, that you're not some self centered bitch who doesn't give a damn about someone unless there's dollar signs involved. So yeah, you are nice to me Lady. Took you thirteen years, but we're the best of friends."
She looked shocked, her mouth slightly open. Then she blinked, as though coming down from it and blinked a couple of more times as she looked elsewhere looking wounded and hurt. He never expected himself to go off on a rant. One would think that getting all that off one's chest would make a person feel better, but Dante felt like shit, especially seeing that wounded look on her face, he suddenly regretted going too far. He didn't mean to cut her that deep. All he wanted to say was that it took awhile for him to chip down that guard of hers and thirteen years later he was still chipping long after his chisel had worn out. It seemed like once he made the point he wanted to drive it home and thus let other things slip out.
The only thing left would be for Lady to start crying and Dante wasn't sure how he was going to handle that. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. What do you say to someone you care about after ripping them a new one? Saying I'm sorry just wasn't going to cut it.
She looked at him and Dante felt his lungs expand as he took in a breath and held it.
"Have you ever thought… maybe this is something he isn't ready to deal with?" she asked, and Dante nearly choked as the breath he held was let out.
He wasn't expecting that from her, but then again, considering the topic and how things turned for the worse, he didn't blame her for wanting to shift gears. Still, it wasn't like her to let something like that go.
"It's been a year," he replied, walking towards his sword stand.
"And that's enough time?" she asked. "Just because he isn't at Fortuna doesn't mean he's going to forget about her."
"I never said he would." He wrapped a hand around Rebellion's grip. "But I know that if I left him there, he was going to get worse. He was going to let his negative emotions fester and it was going to kill him."
"So you thought bringing him over here was going to fix him?"
"Not fix," he said, gripping the sword hard enough to make the leather of his gloves wince. "Help. We need to let him know that he's important, that he should care because he's alive for a reason."
"Oh I see." He heard her footsteps approaching from behind. "We're his personal cheerleading squad."
He opened his mouth to say something to counter her snark, but she cut him off before he could voice anything.
"Are you sure he can cut it? What happens when things get a little too hot for him to handle? I mean, I playfully clock him with a pillow and he takes off in the dead of night, is he capable of handling it maturely?"
He let go of Rebellion and turned around. "He can and will," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Lady looked skeptical as her eyebrow raised.
"Like, right now?"
"Just try to understand his situation."
"I understand his situation just fine. Oh no, wait. I'm too much of a self centered bitch."
And there it was. What he ripped on her before came and bit him hard in the ass. Dante really had a way with women.
"I, Lady, who's only interested in someone only if I see dollar signs, failed to realize that the reason Nero's lashing out is because of the guilt, the guilt of moving on even when he thinks he doesn't deserve it. That he's taking it out one everyone because he's too chicken shit to off himself, because deep down, he secretly wants to be happy and wants to change. Did I cover all the bases? Or is there something else I'm missing because the dollar signs are in the way?"
Well…fuck. Dante honestly didn't know what to say to that. He did regret what he said to her earlier and apologizing now would seem so out of place. He never meant to imply that she was so heartless, but it happened and now there was bad blood between them and that of course didn't sit right with him.
"My, my, the tension sure is thick in here."
The couple drew their attention towards Trish, who sauntered in with a hand on her hip.
"Do I sense some trouble in paradise?" The blonde smirked and looked at Lady, who brought her sunglasses down and looked away. From where Dante stood, he could see the skin around her scar flush a bit.
"She lost the kid." Dante said, pointing a casual thumb at Lady. No sense in sugar coating it though he could feel the glare she was sending him for being blunt. But at least the topic at hand was the kid, for now.
"You mean the kid from this morning?" the blonde asked, walking over to Dante's desk. She sat on the edge, crossing one leg over the other one.
"What?"
"He showed up pretty early," Trish said, leaning back on her elbows. She looked towards Dante. "I thought you called him in for something since he wouldn't really talk to me."
The man shook his head.
"The phone rang and I let him pick up," she continued. "It was a job."
"And you let him take it?" Lady asked.
"I tried to stop him," Trish said, shrugging.
Lady rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you did."
"I told him Dante would take care of it after he came back from running some errands." Trish leaned up, sitting up straight. "But he wouldn't listen, said he was perfect for the job."
Dante sighed. Of course the kid would take on a job. It made sense if he wanted to show Dante he didn't need his help.
Trish raised an eyebrow at the couple.
"You guys don't think he's in trouble?"
Dante shrugged.
"I don't know Trish, he could be."
"I doubt it," the blonde said, "I know he isn't in the best shape since he looks like a strong wind might carry him." She crossed her arms over her chest. "But I think you guys are underestimating him."
"He could get himself killed," Lady said.
An amused smirked appeared on Trish's lips. "Is Mama Bear concerned about her little cub?"
Dante saw Lady's shoulders tense. "Maybe I wouldn't be if you actually tried to stop him."
"Unlike you, I'm not his babysitter," Trish said, turning her nose up at Lady, which only made the other woman angrier if the color of her pink cheeks were anything to go by.
"Ladies," Dante said in what he hoped was a calming tone. As much as he would be delighted by the image of Lady and Trish going at it, they needed to focus their attention on the situation at hand.
Luckily for Dante, the shop's phone decided to give a shrill ring, cutting through the thick tension between Trish and Lady like a knife. He picked up the phone and put the receiver to his ear.
"Devil May Cry."
The man winced, holding the receiver some inches away from his ear as the voice on the other end yelled a string of profanities and complaints. Dante waited until it was over and put his ear to the receiver again.
"I hear ya," he said, and grabbed an old pizza napkin and pen. He scratched something up real quick and put the receiver down.
Trish leaned over to see what he had written. "Well?"
Dante walked over to his sword stand and picked up Rebellion.
"The kid's going to need some backup."
When Nero woke up that morning, he decided he wanted to take his life back. He didn't need Dante butting in out of concern and he sure as hell wasn't going to do anything Lady told him. He didn't have to be there and he didn't want their poorly disguised pity. So he decided to actually do something about it instead of letting them take control. He showed up to Devil May Cry in the hopes of letting Dante know he was leaving. To where? He didn't know, but the point stood that he wasn't going to stay and have Lady micromanage his life or have Dante throw a pity party because of what happened to Kyrie.
But showing up to Devil May Cry only resulted in a missing Dante and a very available Trish, who was amused by his presence. Nero didn't like dealing with the blonde demon much, not when she tried to make him uncomfortable by practically shoving his face into her tits. The woman was insufferable when it came to getting a reaction out of him and Nero hated that he always fell for it like it was the first time every time. Well, he decided that he wasn't going to fall for her stupid tricks and if the succubus wanted to tango, then he would be ready. Though when he walked into the shop that morning and saw her there, sitting on Dante's desk, leering at him as the phone rang, leaning forward just enough to give his eyes ample access to those enormous globes of hers, Nero decided he was fucked. The man gathered his nerve as the phone continued to ring. Trish licked her lips and he thought of a snake getting ready to strike its prey. He picked up the phone and thankfully found his voice because his throat felt dry and itchy as a result of being allergic to Trish.
It was a job and he immediately got the details down, ignoring Trish as she told him that Dante would take care of it. This was his chance to prove himself to Dante, a chance to get the hunter off his back once and for all. When he hung up, he expected Trish to stop him, but the female hunter only shrugged and wished him luck. Not that he needed it. It was a simple enough job: eradicate some demons that took up shop near a small town. Apparently, the town was built near some ancient underground ruins and the threat of demons being so close was enough to get the mayor calling. The town was a good three hours out of the city, but Nero managed to make it before things got out of hand. The town was safe for the moment and all they needed was for him to eliminate the threat.
It all sounded so good on paper and when Nero finally made it down past the catacombs, so deep inside that the only source of light was the bright glow of his Devil Bringer, he thought it was going to be a piece of cake when he met face to face with the pack of demons. Only that wasn't the case. It felt like a trap when the area lit up, random torches bursting into orange flame. The area seemed like a coliseum, the walls lined with large stone steps that could've been seats in another era. The demons themselves were slow, but that didn't make the battle a cake walk. He exerted almost all his strength and power the first hour or so, hacking and shooting until there was nothing but a pile of smoldering limbs and just as quickly as he brought the demons down, they seemed to regenerate and come back up again.
And that was where he was now. Struggling to figure out a way to make the demons stay dead while trying to keep himself alive. At least they were stupid as they were slow and he could easily lure them, but that hadn't proved to be helpful in any way since they would all follow the one he was trying to kill. It was like they shared one brain and the brain was the size of a peanut.
He managed to finally pin one of those behemoths down and it sprayed a thick, mustard colored liquid. Nero flipped back, narrowly dodging the attack, but felt the sting of a few droplets eating their way through his clothes and onto his skin. The pool of goop that lay around the demon's head began to erode the stone, creating a crater. Nero pumped the Blue Rose at it, but it only served to spew more of the harsh liquid in self defense. He felt a presence behind him and he rolled out of the way, another demon bringing its fists down on the spot where Nero once stood.
Nero needed to get his sword back, which from the red glow of its blade was revved up and ready to go. He used his Devil Bringer to bring the surrounding demons down, snatching them up and slamming them into the ground hard enough for the stone floor to visibly crack. That move stunned the ones he didn't want to deal with and he focused on the one pinned by his sword. He ran towards it, ripping the blade out, making the demon shrill a cry. One of the other demons got up sooner than Nero expected and he used his Devil Bringer to bring himself towards it, his boots connecting with the demon's dome shaped head, sending it flying back through a stone entry way. He turned around to deal with the last piece of the demon he had pinned and was astonished to see the pair of legs off, running in panicky circles as its thighs regenerated.
"What the hell?"
He ran after it, not wanting it to regenerate any further when the ground shook violently. The stone floor split open in the middle and two maces attached to chains came flying up. Nero dodged back in time and skid back to avoid falling. The body of the creature attached to the monstrous sized maces roared as it emerged from the ground. The lesser demons around it, the ones that appeared too stupid to even exist, walked slowly around, trying to figure out a way to get to Nero. The large demon roared again once it was out and sent its maces towards Nero in an instant. Luck had appeared to run out on Nero's side as he was thrown across the area and pinned against a wall. He screamed in agony as the mace spun rapidly, ripping into him, and crushing him at the same time. The pain was bad, but the burn was worse. The smell of his clothes burning as they ripped off layer by layer only made him think of the smell of burned animal hair, intoxicating and thick with a bitter undertone of burnt flesh.
He heard an explosion then and the mace finally dropped to the floor with Nero following after. When his body hit the ground he groaned, folding into himself as the pain hit his body in waves. Thankfully, his demonic energy began working at repairing the damage done to his chest, though his shirt and sweater were now a lost cause. His chest throbbed as he coughed. After filling his lungs with much needed air, he got on his knees and pushed himself off the ground. He staggered when another explosion went off near the large demon and he saw it shoot its mace in the direction where the explosion was coming from.
Nero hunched over, panting as he tried to muster the strength to get up.
It was then that he felt a strong grip on his shoulder. A pair of hands hoisted him up from behind.
"You look a little worse for wear, but you still got some fight left in ya," a familiar voice said.
Dante let Nero go before the younger hunter could shake him off.
"Looks like you could use a hand around here," the demon hunter said, grabbing Rebellion by its grip and pulling it up from his back. "Lucky for you, this looks like one hell of a party."