Chapter Text
Prologue
The news reported that the strange demonic tree ceased its activity and was not a threat anymore. Patty turned away from the TV that her mom was watching. Nina didn’t pay her much attention, eyes on the screen, glass with alcohol and ice-cubes in her hand.
As Patty left the room, she thought it was bizarre for their world, which knew that demons could always invade any moment, to treat everything with such carelessness. There was not a word about Dante or his agency on the news, although Patty was sure he was in the middle of all of it.
A month has passed since her eighteenth birthday. If the tree was rendered harmless, it meant that she could also relax and return to ordinary life. It's time to go to the agency and, no, not make sure that everything is okay with Dante, but give him a scolding for missing her party and not taking her for their traditional sundae.
Patty stopped at the mirror. A bunch on the back of the head, serious eyes, a dark blue soft tracksuit. More comfortable closing replaced the dresses in her wardrobe in the last years as her interests shifted. It seemed that she was in it yesterday, and like yesterday, she sat all day in the library.
Thinking again about the latest events, she froze.
‘What if something happened to Dante? Nonsense! He always manages!’ She was worried in vain. Trying to banish her worries, Patty showed her tongue to her image and smiled. Then she checked if she had closed her room and quietly left the house.
Life suddenly raged around the agency. A shabby-looking minibus with a blue sign “Devil May Cry” on the side was parked right in front of the entrance, the back door of the car was open, and someone inside was rattling tools. The door to the building was also wide open. Scolding sounds came from the inside until something broke and a guy jumped out into the street.
"You must be kidding me!" Patty froze in surprise, staring at the guy. He was barely older than her, wore a strange-looking sword on his back, and most importantly, his hair was like Dante's. However, she had never seen such a frustrated and helpless expression on Dante's face.
Girlish laughter came out of the car, which annoyed the guy even more, and then he looked to the side and saw Patty.
"What do you need? The agency is closed."
Patty immediately wanted to put the boy in his place. How can he talk to girls or potential clients like this? However, there was something more important than that.
"Where is Dante?" she asked calmly.
“Everyone needs Dante,” it looked like her question made the guy even more displeased.
“This is not an answer” Patty was getting angry, so she walked past the guy, who made another indignant exclamation, and straight into the building. At least inside, there were people she knew. Lady and Trish were sitting on Dante’s table while Morrison was smocking on the old couch.
“Patty! Hello!” both women seemed to be happy to see her, smiles on their faces. It has been a while since they saw each other, but they did not seem to change. They looked good, and Patty was happy to see them, but she couldn’t smile back as she slowly realized Dante was not there.
Patty was silent for a second and then asked again: “Where is Dante?”
“Who is this girl? It looks like anyone can just walk in the Devil May Cry!” the guy came back inside.
“She was here long before you, Nero,” Morrison chuckled from the couch. “Patty, this is Nero – Dante’s nephew. Nero, this is Patty, Dante’s old client turned into a little sister.”
“I am not his sister,” Patty slowly turned to the guy and nodded, still unable to summon a friendly smile on her face. It was the first time she met somebody from Dante’s family in all the years she knew him. “Nice to meet you, but really, where is Dante?”
Two women on the table exchanged whispers and laughed, probably, about her statement that she was not Dante’s sister. Then Trish faced her again and informed: “Dante is in hell.”
Patty slowly repeated Trish’s words in her head and felt the need to sit down, but there were no chairs nearby, so she tried to stand still.
“How did this happen?” Patty asked in a low voice.
“Yeah, he is together with my old man cutting down that stupid tree,” helpfully supplied Nero, who seemed to relax a bit and went back outside. Patty exhaled. At least it seemed planned.
“I haven’t visited Devil May Cry for several months, and now this happens?” Patty finally laughed with relief – Dante was okay, but well, in hell. It was not his first time. Still, it was not what she had imagined.
“Dante got his ass kicked by a demon king,” Trish kept talking, always happy to shed light on Dante’s mistakes as a true friend, “slept in ruins for a month, and then kicked demons’ ass in return.”
“And now my pops and my uncle are in hell while I’m loading boxes here,” Nero was back, carrying several boxes. Patty watched him, trying to find a family resemblance and remembering that Dante never talked about his brother, at least with her.
“Don’t mind him. He is bitter because they didn’t take him,” said Trish.
“Called him dead-weight,” added Lady, and Patty could see Nero getting red-faced and all frustrated again.
“I kicked both of their asses, you know?” he said with a threat.
“Not enough if they left to hell right away,” they kept shamelessly teasing him.
“You two! I had enough of this!” Nero completely lost his cool and dropped whatever he was holding to get into women’s faces. As they started to argue, Patty passed them and sat near Morrison. He immediately lost his cigarette and smiled at her the same way he was smiling when she was a little girl.
“It seems like there has been a lot of ass-kickings lately,” quietly said Patty, talking only to Morrison now.
“Business as usual,” Morrison nodded, looking at the fight in the middle of the office. Now women were also standing.
“Not as usual. Dante ended up in hell only once before. Well, that I know of,” Patty said, and they looked at each other, recollecting the events of that terrible night when she almost lost her mother and then had to jump into hell herself to find Dante and wake him up.
“Very true. But this time, Dante is with his brother, apparently,” words were quiet and thoughtful like he couldn’t see the whole picture.
“Morrison, how did this happen? I thought his brother was dead,” this statement earned her a curious look from an old man. However, she did not fidget and looked right back.
Like most people, she knew about Sparda since childhood, but she learned about his twin sons when she was sixteen while reading her predecessor’s books. However, because Dante never talked about his brother, Patty assumed it was a sensitive topic and did not ask any questions herself.
“Evidently not. Everyone was surprised. Dante even more so,” Morrison seemed uncomfortable without full knowledge of a situation, but then he focused on Patty again: “I will not ask how you know about that there is even a brother.”
“I am, by the end of the day, the last offspring of the powerful sorcerer. So it was inevitable that I would learn about Dante’s family eventually,” Patty trusted Morrison, so she wasn’t afraid to say something like this to him.
Morrison hummed but didn’t reply anything to that, and Patty thought that it was because he was not sure himself how this story unfolded. The argument was mainly between Nero and Lady. Trish did not take part in it, but while she was standing with their back to them, Patty got a suspicion that the demoness was listening to her conversation with Morrison.
“The van is ready!” one more girl appeared in the door frame, and Patty sighted at her top and shorts that barely covered anything. Another beautiful woman to surround Dante, together with Lady and Trish and their minimalistic outfits. ‘Haven’t they heard that oversize is trending now?’ Patty stopped herself right there.
The argument stopped at once, and everyone seemed to collect themselves. It was back to business. Even Morrison stood up, and Patty followed.
“Well, we have to go and do some demon cleaning,” Nero seemed to forget all of his sorrows in the perspective of fighting. Instead, his face lit up, and he made some warming-up movements with his arms and shoulders. Well, now he resembled Dante a bit.
“There are still plenty of demons out there, plenty of work and money. Dante is going to miss all the profits, and I will have to lend him money to pay for this place!” Lady shared her excitement with Patty and waved “goodbye.”
“Don’t do anything stupid, Patty Lowell” Trish looked at Patty and crossed her hands under her breasts. Patty didn’t answer, wondering if Trish could smell the pages of demonic books from her morning reading on Patty’s fingertips.
“How Dante is going to get out of hell?” Patty asked her instead, but the woman smiled.
“He is a big boy and will figure something out.”
Patty followed everyone outside and watched as they were loudly loading in the van; the stream of smoke came from the drivers’ side until it was her and Morrison in front of Devil May Cry.
“Trish is right. Dante is not alone in this. His brother has a sword that can cut through space. The man tore off his son’s hand to get it, so it must be worth something.”
Patty thought that it could be true, but then, wouldn’t they be back already?
“You are awfully quiet today,” Morrison said when she didn’t reply anything.
“I’m stunned by the news.”
“I know, I know. It’s Dante. Do you want a ride to the train station?”
“No, I will stay behind, do some cleaning up. This place is in desperate need of it.”
They laughed as if it was some kind of an insight joke.
“Okay, Patty. Take care.”
Morrison left, lighting up another cigarette as he went towards his car.
Patty went back inside. She closed the door and turned around to face the silence of Devil May Cry. All the news finally caught up to her. She hid her face into the palms and slowly lowered herself on the floor right there.
She was not crying as she whispered to herself: “Dante.”
Chapter 1
Patty was sitting on the dirty floor of Devil May Cry and tried hard not to become a crying girl. It’s been several months since she saw Dante, and now, he was in hell, without a date to return. Patty felt cold, which had nothing to do with the temperature in the room. She still vividly remembered how she found him in the portal all these years back, pierced by his sword and barely breathing.
He ‘walked it off,’ though. He persisted and withstood everything. Now, it was not like Patty doubted him, but hell with hordes of demons was much worse than almost everything in the human world.
Now she was worried about Dante more than when the Qliphoth tree was hovering in the sky.
‘What will I do if Dante never comes back?’ the selfish thought made Patty angry, and she stood up.
She eyed the office, especially the empty chair at the desk, where Dante was usually sitting. The unhappy thoughts invaded her brain again, and she set to work to banish them.
It was a known routine: open windows and then start from the top. Was she nine, or maybe ten, when she came to Dante for the first time and decided to take care of the place? By now, Patty could perform the excellent cleaning with her eyes closed. She knew these old tables and couches, windows and stairs, sound systems, and the cracking floor intimately. To some extent, it felt more home than the mansion she was living in now.
Patty looked at the tower of pizza boxes – Dante’s favorite. Like a strawberry sundae. She started to take boxes outside while also getting angry. She would not think about Dante. She would get the job done.
Several hours later, Patty landed on the couch, exhausted. It was dark outside; she closed the windows some time ago. Patty kicked off her shoes and laid down. She would go home tomorrow, spend the night here, on this couch. She knew that Dante’s and guest’s bedrooms were upstairs, but she never went there since she moved out. She was not even sure whether they were used, whether beddings were made. She mostly stayed on the couch with Dante sleeping in his chair, legs on the table when staying here.
Patty looked at the office table again. Of course, it was empty. Now, it was even free of pizza stains, erotic journals, and Patty reconnected the telephone but then disconnected it again – there was no one to pick it up. The room was silent. Her work, for now, was done; there was nothing else but to think.
So, Patty was a descendant of the alchemist and powerful sorcerer – Alan Lowell, but it destroyed her childhood and her mom’s – Nina’s – life. Once Dante dealt with the devil that hunted Lowell and Lowell’s relic was destroyed, Patty didn’t particularly care for family history.
Some years later, Dante ignited her interests in her heritage and demons, though not in a way one could have predicted.
Patty knew that Dante was not entirely human for a long time. She saw him with more holes in his body than humanely possible, but she never minded it, and it was not what prompted her to read about demons.
It was also not because she was afraid of Dante or wanted to use his devil’s powers for something.
The reason was that Dante stopped hugging her, and she wanted to know why. It was not like they hugged a lot before, but she always knew she could count on one when in a sad mood. However, suddenly, this opportunity was lost.
When she simply asked, he fed her some stupid joke and evaded the discussion.
But for her, this was too important to drop it. Dante was her friend, he meant a lot to her, and in some perspectives, he was even closer to her than mom, so she ventured on her first ‘investigation.’
She thought of possible reasons from a human perspective and could not come up with the answer because he still enjoyed having her around, and they kept spending time together. She was painfully aware that if Dante wanted her out of his life, she would never be able to step into the Devil May Cry again.
Once she couldn’t come up with anything, she turned to the devil’s side of Dante. Patty didn’t know where to read about such things until she realized that everything she needed was in her home. She stepped into the library in old Lowell’s mansion for the first time to read about demonic perspectives on the issue of hugging people you care about in the human world.
Surprisingly, it didn’t take her long to figure things out, but the reason she eventually came up with was the biggest embracement of her life. The library, though, became her favorite place in the house since.
Two years ago
The last time Dante hugged her was when she was fifteen, a month short of sixteen and again ran from home to the Devil May Cry.
Patty loved her mom dearly, but years of running and hiding from demons did a number on Nina. There were periods when she would spend days in front of the TV, with a glass of whisky in hand, staring blindly at the screen. She was a quiet drunk. The first time she saw her mom like this, she was scared and lonely, but more importantly, helpless. There were no words she could say or a portal to jump into to fix things. That’s when she ran to the only place where she felt safe. Somehow, she always ended up in Devil May Cry.
So, it was during another of Nina’s episodes, and Patty cried on the train. Tears stung, angry and helpless, but she tried to get rid of them before arriving at the agency. She liked to meet Dante with a smile on her face.
This time, the place was empty; Dante was obviously on another mission. At least the power was on, although not the hot water. She took a fresh newspaper and some new journals from the post box, disposed of the old ones.
“Why is he buying this crap if he seems to use them as a pillow or hide behind during conversations?” Patty asked herself, looking at pictures of naked women. ‘Wow, this lady must be uncomfortable in a pose like this!’ She laughed to herself and threw everything away.
Patty was unsure if it was because there was a lot to do or because she was tired from the events at home, but she passed out on the couch at some point. The dream was not good, and she shacked but was happy to wake when somebody slammed the door. Patty raised her head and saw Dante, froze near the door like he regretted making a loud entrance. She smiled at him and waved her hand, indicating that it was nothing.
Dante smiled back and entered the room. It was dark, light coming only from the outside, and Patty struggled to see whether he was injured or no. Probably, even if he was injured, it was already gone. He put away his weapons; guns made loud and protesting noise as he left them on a table. He took off the coat and threw it on the chair. Then he turned around and came to the couch, lowering himself on the floor near it. Patty remembered that she thought that he must be exhausted to sit like this.
“I need to start closing the door,” he commented as she sat up, legs still on the couch, feeling a bit sleepy.
“Then you will have to chase me for a spare key all the time. You will lose yours on the first mission, anyway,” Patty was pretty sure in her words, and they both smiled again.
Patty couldn’t make out the time on the clock; it was so dark, the longest line pointing at number 3. Was it fifteen after 2 in the morning? Or maybe 5?
“Hey, kiddo,” Dante called Patty, and she faced him again, ready to argue that she was not a “kiddo” anymore, but the man continued: “are you okay?”
Suddenly, Patty couldn’t talk anymore. The tears she shed on the train seemed not to be enough. She struggled for a moment, trying to find her voice, and then resorted to a joke: “Hey, I’m not the one with holes in my shirt.”
This time Dante did not laugh. Under his attentive gaze, she gave up and looked away.
“I …” Patty started, but she was not sure how to continue. It seemed she couldn’t complain about living in a big mansion with her founded mom, going to a fancy private school, and having everything she could buy with her family’s money. So, what, that her mom was an alcoholic? At least, they were not hunted by the demons anymore. Really, she had nothing to complain about, especially comparing to her life ten years ago. Yet, somehow, she was still unhappy. “Can I hug you?”
Patty always asked but never waited for an answer. She lowered herself, throwing arms around Dante’s shoulders, ducking and hiding her face in his neck. She shut her eyes, trying to make all her worries go away. She even held her breath until she felt Dante’s arm also reaching her shoulder.
He didn’t say anything, so Patty continued breathing to avoid crying. Inevitably she felt the scent of Dante. He smelled of weapons and himself, under the coat of something unpleasant that he probably encountered on his mission.
The position was uncomfortable. Dante was still sitting with his back toward the couch, Patty almost wholly lying on the sofa, hands locked around his shoulders. Then, accidentally, one of her fingers slipped into the hole in his sleeve, touching the naked skin. It was hot; Dante always was hot. And he smelled so good.
Something shifted in Patty. She became suddenly aware of the man in her arms: she could feel his firm muscles even as he was relaxed, her lips almost touching Dante’s neck. It felt so good but so different from the other times. At the moment, she could not identify the feeling and that new urge. She wanted to keep hugging him when she also started to feel hot inside and squeezed her legs together. It was so good that she wanted to climb on top of him, let him hold her tightly. She imagined that it would give her the most comfort.
Dante stiffened, and Patty stopped breathing again, feeling the tension in his body. He stayed like this for a moment, and then he took away his hand, slowly and surely leaving her hug and standing up. Patty was confused and disappointed, she realized that something changed, though she could not point what exactly, and now Dante was leaving. He hovered above her, standing near the couch while she was looking at the floor and his boots.
“It’s late,” Dante’s voice was quiet and careful, “I’ll bring you water and something to cover. Go back to sleep.”
Patty didn’t reply, feeling frustrated and a bit angry. She lowered her head and fell asleep without waiting for him to leave.
In the morning, Patty was embarrassed and unsettled, although she was not sure about the reason. Dante was talking quietly to Morrison when she woke up. She found a blanket around herself, then looked at the clock.
“I’m late for school!” she jumped up from the couch, Dante and Morrison laughed, but she had no time to argue with them about it. She made a quick ponytail, found her backpack, and ran out of the building, with rushed “See you!”
Since then, Dante has kept his distance. She teased him and asked questions, but there were no hugs.
Patty stopped asking when she learned that devils had increased senses. Not that she didn’t know about how fast was Dante’s reaction, how he could prepare for a strike, while she wasn’t even aware that someone was nearby. Reading about it in a specialized book was different. Apparently, they could hear the pulse and, if paying attention, even identify hormones in the human scent.
She put away the demonology book then, feeling her face getting red. So, Dante could feel and identify her “want,” even before she could. Not that she was oblivious to sex, romantic relationships, or finding someone attractive. However, it was never important to her, and back then, she couldn’t connect that heat and cuddliness inside with the feelings she got when reading or watching something erotic.
It was mortifying to imagine what Dante thought of it, what he made of her ‘impulses.’ She even thought about apologizing to him, to say that she didn’t mean anything in particular, that it was in the moment. But, she couldn’t say that it wasn’t personal; she wouldn’t let anyone else hug her.
However, she would gladly do it again, thank you very much. Patty growled at these thoughts, almost banging her head at the table at a time.
The problem was once she realized how attractive she was to Dante, she couldn’t forget about it. That’s when two big questions arrived.
Did it mean that she liked him?
Did it mean that he didn’t like her?