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Chapter Text

It's cold...

So cold...

Chapter Text

Mary slammed the double doors to the lab shut with a thud, collapsing against them with an exhausted wheeze. On the other side, the infuriated screech of a demon ripped through the air, clawing uselessly at half a foot of reinforced steel.

Things had gone completely and utterly to shit. The vice president had lied to her about killing the demonic refugees, the gate to hell was open, and the last year had been nothing but an unending siege as that blue bastard general of Mundus' had methodically hacked away at their defences.

Mary, quite simply, had enough.

She'd gone awol, ditching Darkcom and taking half her arsenal with her, intent on finding an actual fucking solution to this mess that didn't involve the government going on a pride fueled crusade against literal hell.

The last three months had been a nearly sleepless slog as she alternated between dealing with the random breakouts that the vice president deemed too "low priority" to handle, and researching ways to shut the portals for good.

It was that research that had brought her here. Right back into Darkcom's old base.

She clambered to her feet with a groan and turned to face the lab. There, sealed in a cryostasis pod, was her target.

After all, if Sparda could seal the human world away once, it stood to reason that his son could do it a second time.

---

She had needed to be patient to pull this off, staking out her old HQ until the demons inevitably took the opportunity to attack it.

In the chaos, she had slipped inside, dodging demons and Darkcom agents alike until she was able to eventually make her way to where she now stood.

Gunfire and screams still echoed from the halls outside the room, but she ignored them and strode over to the controls of the cryostasis pod.

Punching in the command sequence, she started running defrost procedures.

---

Gunshots...

He could hear gunshots...

Muffled by the cold and the aching pain.

He inhales slightly, and he can't taste that sickly sweetness anymore.

He takes in another breath, this one hitching slightly, frozen lungs spasming in an attempted cough.

But he's too tired for that.

There's warm air on his face again.

A metallic click.

The weight from his face and wrists and neck falls away.

And he begins to fall too.

---

The defrost procedure takes 30 agonizing minutes. 30 minutes of Mary pacing back and forth in front of the pod, clutching her gun and jumping at every screech that came through the door.

She tries not to look at the man in the pod. At how thin and unmoving he is. At the countless surgical lacerations that are her fault.

God she hoped he would be willing to help her, even after all of this...

Finally, there's a loud click and the front of the pod swung open, restraints loosening and allowing the body inside to fall forward.

She caught him before his crumpled form hit the floor.

---

A searing hot brand is pressed across his chest.

He twitches slightly, trying to pull away.

He's so sick of the cold but the sudden warmth hurts.

An overload of heat that he's far too unaccustomed to.

It pulls away and he shudders weakly, slumping to the floor.

This is different, what has happened?

He needs to do something.

His eyes refuse to open, ice clinging to the lids.

---

Mary stared down at the man lying before her. He looked like absolute shit, skin pale, and patches of frost stubbornly sticking to flesh.

He had made a quiet, almost pained noise when she had caught him, trying to pull away from her even in his current state.

She shook herself roughly, no time for guilt, she had to get them both out of here. The gunshots and screams had died out over the time it had taken to defrost him, and hopefully she'd be able to slip away once the demonic troops had moved on to their next target. For now, she had to try and get him awake.

She'd prepared for this at least. She reached into the small supply pack she had brought and pulled out a first aid kit. She had several friction activating heat packs and an emergency blanket with her as well, but there was no use warming him up if he just bleed out the moment his blood wasn't frozen.

So, she got to work, cutting off the drab surgical shirt they had kept him in and beginning to stitch up the aftermath of what the Darkcom scientists had taken.

---

Piercing pain again, burning hot hands on his skin.

They weren't cutting this time.

He can feel the pull of sutures through frozen flesh.

His hands are free, he can push them away-

But exhaustion keeps him pinned just as effectively as any restraint.

He fades into the background, waiting for the cold to take him again.

---

Mary had finished with the sutures and was nearly done wrapping up the remaining injuries with bandages when she heard the footsteps.

Heavy.

Metal.

Getting steadily closer.

She leapt to her feet, swinging the Kalina Anne up onto her shoulder and aiming it at the door. She stood firmly between the man on the floor and whatever was approaching, ready to take out anything that had managed to survive the massacre that had occurred outside.

---

No, wait... He must wake up.

Something is coming.

A tiny ember of heat starts to pool in his chest.

Pulsing and pulling towards something...

There's someone else?

The pull is stronger, he can feel another spark now. Far outside his own body but coming closer.

Not a spark, a bonfire.

It's so warm...

Chapter Text

Vergil had been planning this raid for months, carefully encouraging Mundus soon he would kill him, would rip him to pieces and eat his heart raw from his chest to invade further and further into the human world. Finally, the time was right and he had so valiantly volunteered someday this horrific mask would break and he would finally be free to go forth and claim one of the enemy's greatest research stations for the glory of Makai.

The place had been ransacked by now, and he stalked through the bleeding remains of the human researchers, scouring the halls for what he sought most.

He knew his brother was here, but they had hidden him well. The fact that it had taken nigh on a year to track him down was deeply shameful, it was killing him, it was killing his brother. His only brother but it did not matter.

He would soon have his brother back, please he just wanted him back and together they would end Mundus for good, ascending to greater heights than even their father could never achieve. The two of them together. That's all he wanted. Please

Finally he felt it, a faint familiar glow that perfectly harmonized with the power in his own chest.

It had been so long

The reinforced door in front of him was no challenge, shredded in an instant by the Yamato as he stepped inside.

He was met by the barrel of a rocket launcher, wielded by a human woman with exhausted eyes and an ugly snarl.

He didn't care, because behind her was Dante. Unmoving, damp with frost, pale and thin and riddled with bandages.

what did they do to his little brother?

A missile was fired at his head and he flicked it away without care, stalking towards the woman with his blade drawn.

His eyes did not leave his brother's face.
___

Mary let out an angry yell as she fired another missile. Once more the Blue Demon, the right hand of Mundus, the worst possible person for her to run into, flicked it away like it was nothing.

"Mundus can't have him, you blue fucking bastard!" She yelled, switching to automatic mode and firing a round of shells at the armor clad figure.

At this, he actually paused, glowing blue eyes alight behind a black metal helmet as the bullets pinged off him harmlessly.

"You're not wearing the Darkcom insignia... " He mused, eyes scanning over the open first aid kit and the bandages wrapped around the man she was guarding. "We will speak later."
Without even a twitch of his fingers, a pair of glowing blue daggers appeared from nowhere and ripped through the palms of her hands, yanking her backwards and pinning her to the wall.

"Fuck!" She let out a pained screech, arms twitching uselessly as her hands remained firmly staked to the wall.

The Blue Demon did not acknowledge her again, instead walking to stand over the unconscious form on the ground. She thrashed even harder, trying desperately to get free. To do something before the most dangerous soldier in Mundus' army got hold of the man whose blood could end humanity.

And then, something unexpected happened. Her eyes widened as a wave of blue energy washed over the general, leaving behind a far more human figure.
A figure that, rather than claiming all the blood Mundus could ever need, simply dropped to his knees.

A few strands of white hair fell into familiar blue eyes as he looked down at the man before him.

"You're his brother..." She whispered in shock, arms going limp.

---

The bonfire is right beside him now, heat and power feeding into his core and beginning to finally thaw out his frozen body.

A hand on his face, his neck, and it doesn't burn like the touches from before.

It's been so long...

Arms wrap around him and he's pulled upwards and into a solid wall of warmth, soaking into his frozen skin.

He feels the bonfire calling to him, wrapping around his own feeble core and offering almost desperate support.

He lets it in without even the thought of protest.

It restores enough strength for him to finally begin shivering. Pained spasms wracking his body in response to the cold that still sits too deeply inside his bones.

A rumbling purr beneath his cheek, the faint sound of voices.

He manages to force out a questioning whine, but the embrace around him pulls tighter and he melts.

He has no control over the trembling, but the heat around his core whispers that he is safe. That it's over.

That everything will be okay...

He falls into darkness once more.

---

Vergil cradles the crumpled form of his twin, his pulse is gone, he barely breathes, where did his power go, how much did they take feeding his own energy into the tiny flicker at Dante's center.

He knew the humans would not be kind to his brother, but to weaken him to such an extent? He took too long. He should have acted faster, should have raided the research center by himself, should have-

It was intolerable.

His brother shudders in his grasp, and Vergil begins to purr, a soft and out of practice thing as he offers comfort to someone for the first time in years.

A quiet, instinctive whine passes Dante's lips, and Vergil hushes him. You're safe, we're safe, I have you and I will keep you and everything will be okay

"What have they done to him?" He snarls at the woman pinned across the room.

She glares right back, attempting to hide the remnants of her own shock.

"Why do you care? You're the right hand of Mundus! Brother or not, shouldn't you be bleeding him fucking dry so that your boss can take over the world?"

Vergil growls at that, and the spectral blades through her hands dig in deeper, drawing out a pained yell. He should just kill her for such insolence, to even suggest he would give up his brother, his brother- but she was aiding his sibling. Had rescued Dante even before he had gotten there. He was weak. A human had gotten here faster, a human had been able to do more than he could Unfortunately that was too great a debt to go unpaid, so he swallowed his wrath for the moment.

"Foolish girl. You know nothing of my loyalties. Now tell me, what did they do to him?"

She scowls at him silently for a few seconds, and he was preparing to send another round of blades through her before she finally spoke. "Let me go and I'll tell you. I want to help him too."

He nodded sharply. She would be no danger to him, pinned to the wall or not. "Fine. But if you touch him, I will end you where you stand." And with that, he dismisses the blades.

She dropped to the floor and cradled her mangled hands with a pained wheeze. He allowed her only a moment to recuperate before snapping. "Now tell me, what did they do?"

She walked gingerly over to him and sat down beside the discarded first aid kit. Pulling out bandages for her own injuries, she began to speak. "About a year of cryofreeze, along with a constant dose of demonic suppressants fed into his oxygen. It was never meant to hurt him, just keep him sleeping for as long as possible."

"And the injuries?" He hissed, pulling his brother even closer to his chest. he won't stop shivering no how matter how closely Vergil holds him, trembling and twitching in his grasp, his breathing uneven and his lungs rattling

The human pauses, looking down at the disinfectant in her hands. "I.. I don't know. They weren't supposed to cut him up like that. He was just supposed to be sleeping."

A slowly building rumble fills the air, scales shimmering into being along Vergil's arms. "What. Did. They. Take."

The human doesn't flinch at his warning growl, continuing to tend to her own injuries with blunt precision. "I don't know. I stole the research documents off the lab computers. But for now we need to get him out of here. We can't help him in a place like this."

"Fine." He spits. He pulls Dante to his chest, rising to his feet and striding to the door. "Take me to your dwelling. I cannot hide him in Makai, so we will have to remain here until he recovers."

The woman yells something indignant to him as he exits, but he doesn't listen anymore, turning his focus back to the brother he holds in his arms. Finally, finally has him, he's hurt but he's here he's alive

Chapter Text

They ended up back at Mary's safehouse, much to her chagrin. The Blue Demon didn't say a word to her the entire way back, focus entirely consumed by the unconscious man in his arms. He shoves past her the moment they reach her tiny entryway, immediately striding over to the cot she keeps tucked in the corner. He rips the blankets off without even asking her, letting go of his brother only long enough to bundle them around him before pulling him back into his arms.

The small, guilt ridden part of her mind convinces her not to argue with him about it.

Instead, she gingerly makes her way into the tiny bathroom and grabs a pair of Darkcom medical syringes. One, she stabs into her own arm, sighing in relief as the holes through her palms begin to seal over. The second she brings out with her, thrusting it out towards the Blue Demon.

"Here. It'll seal up the injuries while I get digging through the files from the lab."

The general looks down at the syringe disdainfully. "You expect me to just inject my brother with whatever random concoction you provide?"

She rolls her eyes. "Fine then, leave him to heal the old fashioned way. Not like it takes you demon fucks long to regenerate anyway." And stomped over to her desk, booting up her PC and grumbling under her breath as she plugged in the thumb drive.

She tried not to think about how long it was taking him to heal... She had seen him shrug off a gaping hole straight through his torso like it was nothing. Lacerations should not take this long.

He's probably just healing slowly because he's tired.

It's fine.

She swallowed the rising guilt back down, and got to work.

---

Vergil ended up curled into the corner of the human's den, clutching his brother who was wrapped in every blanket he could find.

Over the next three hours he fed energy into his twin, stoking the flickering embers into something a bit more stable. But no matter how much he gave, it did not grow, remaining small and smothered. why was he still so weak? Why wouldn't he wake up?

Finally, after far too much agonizing silence, the human sighed and slid back her chair with a groan.

"What have you found." He snapped.

The woman rubbed a hand down her face. "It's not great. You demons all run on heat. Fire. And they had him at sub zero temperatures for almost a year." She gestures vaguely to the graphs and notes pulled up on her screen. "That would normally just be an unpleasant inconvenience for your kind, but they had him on the strongest demonic energy suppressants they had. He was pretty much reduced to his human half for the entire time he was in that pod, and humans aren't meant to survive cryostasis for that long."

A rumbling growl fills the room. "He will be fine then. He is free and no longer suffering from those drugs. He just needs to recover." Vergil declares with finality. He has to be fine. They cannot touch him so now he can recover and they will be fine, they will be fine.

The human shakes her head, staring down at her hands and fidgeting with them. "Normally yeah. But they've... They've been doing something else too."

She takes a hitching breath, and continues on as Vergil stares at her, a growing pressure filling the air.

"I uh... When I first patched him up, none of his injuries were bleeding. I thought it was because he was still frozen but..." She gulps, the pressure increasing further as Vergil's eyes bore into her.

"They've been constantly bleeding him out" Her voice cracks on the last words. "His blood can't open portals if he doesn't have any left."

HOW DARE THEY???

The pressure spikes and the single window in the safehouse shatters, demonic horns and scales ripping into existence as he triggers. His true trigger, not just that pathetic armored facade he built to please Mundus. Cobalt wings fill the tiny living space and curl inwards, shielding his brother from view. he's cold and he's dying and he has no blood left to lose and-

No.

No he would not die.

This was salvageable.

"Get out" he snarled. "I will fix this myself."

The human had leapt to her feet when he triggered and was now clutching a gun, "Now hold on, I know you're pissed, but he-"

"GET OUT"

The human wisely decided to shut up and run, scrambling out the door and slamming it shut behind her. He could still sense her, lurking just outside but it didn't matter.

If it was blood his brother needed, then it was blood he would get.

Chapter Text

Blue light burns into his eyelids

Wonderful, soft warmth curls around him

He's so tired and the cold still hasn't left...

But it's not so bad anymore

Something is still pulling at him, pulling him towards consciousness no matter how badly he wants to sleep.

don't leave me, you can't leave me, I just found you, don't go

---

The taste of blood floods his mouth

A slow wave of energy washing through him

That rumbling purr has come back full force, holding him close and bracing his trembling limbs

Another mouth full of blood

He gathers up the energy to swallow it this time

Warmth finally permeates the cold that has taken hold of his bones.

His eyes flutter open, a black and blue smudge filling his blurry vision.

He drinks again

His eyes slip shut

---

Blood again, this time accompanied by a voice.

The words are muffled, his head feels like it's been stuffed by cotton

Stabbing pain riddles his limbs, a thousand needles piercing and itching

Of course the needles were back

He lets out a gasp of pain, his hands clenching down on fabric.

Movement, a strange new luxury

A hand runs through his hair, and he flinches back. But it settles against him anyway, tilting his head back and- oh

Something presses to his lips and more blood pools into his mouth.

---

This is wrong... Isn't it?

He's faded out so many times now, each time brought back by the warm taste of copper.

He shouldn't be doing this... This is monstrous. This isn't right!

He forces his eyes open and with a desperate surge of energy shoves himself away from whoever has been holding him.

He tumbles to the floor, coughing and spitting weakly as waves of nausea roll over him.

The cold has already started to seep back in. Through blurry eyes he sees a towering figure with great blue wings looking over him. He kicks weakly at the clawed hands that reach down to grab him, trying and failing to pull himself away. But he's just so tired... And when the hands wrap around him, the warmth starts to flood back once more.

Rest brother... You're safe. You're okay. Drink and sleep...

---

Vergil sits slumped against the wall of the safe house, his brother safely asleep in his arms once more. His own bleeding wrist is pressed to Dante's mouth, steadily feeding him a trickle of blood. As the hours drag onward, more and more color returns to his twin's face, and the shivering slowly abates. He sighs, finally allowing himself to look away and towards the door. The human still sits directly outside. She hasn't moved in the five hours since he kicked her out. He has already been gone for too long. Mundus would have questions if he pushed it any further... But he did not want to leave his brother.

Fine.

It was far from his preferred option, but he would do what was needed.

---

Mary was startled out of her half doze by the door behind her creaking open. She leapt to her feet with a scowl, glaring at the demon who now stood there.

"Finally gonna let me back in my own base, asshole?" She snaps angrily, one hand reaching back towards her pistol, just in case.

He merely glares, arms folded tensely. "Is he safe with you?" He growls threateningly.

Her hand pauses, and she sighs. "He's dying, he's no safer with me than he would be anywhere else."

He just scoffs, then gestures for her to come inside. "No. He is not. I've dealt with the issue, but he is still weak."

She carefully steps back into the base and her eyes land on the cot in the corner. Somehow... Somehow the Blue Demon is telling the truth. His brother still lays dead to the world, but color has returned to his skin, and his breathing is strong enough for the blankets covering him to lightly rise and fall.

He still looks like shit, don't get her wrong, but no longer seems to be on the verge of death. How he managed it, she has no idea.

She groans, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Yeah... Yeah, he's safe with me." She glares back at the demon. "But where the fuck are you running off to?"

The Blue Demon scowls. "I have been away for too long, and I must keep up my facade to Mundus if I am to ever defeat him." He steps out the door, ignoring her shocked spluttering as his armor shimmers into view on his skin.

"What do you mean defeat him, are you fucking insane? I thought you were his fucking lap dog-"

He strides off down the street without even trying to answer. "I will return soon. If my brother is not here when I do, you will not live to regret your failures."

"Well fuck you too! She yells, and slams the door shut with a huff. "Pompous bastard..." She grumbles, dragging over her desk chair to sit beside the unconscious half devil.

He doesn't react, still deeply unconscious and unmoving aside from the occasional shiver. Her face softens as she looks at him, the guilt beginning to rear its head up once again.

She shoves it down and reaches for her supplies. May as well put those heat packs to use.

Chapter Text

When Dante finally came to true consciousness, he felt absolutely miserable. His skin was freezing cold but somehow also feverish, a deep ache radiated through his bones, and he found himself wracked by random bursts of trembling that he couldn't seem to control.

The taste of copper was heavy on his tongue, and bile started to rise in his throat at the realization that no, his memories of drinking blood were not a dream.

His fingers twisted into the rough fabric draped over him, and he curled into himself with a weak whine.

Several large heat packs slipped off his chest as he moved, and he reached out with a shaking hand to pull them closer again.

Fuck he was cold... Why was he so-

He shot upright with a panicked gasp, staring wildly around the room. Immediately the world spun and he nearly collapsed, catching himself on shaky hands.

Dante had to get out of there, before they knocked him out again, before they froze him again-

He toppled off the side of the cot, clutching the wall with a hand and trying to force his legs to straighten out below him. The panic was so all consuming that he didn't notice that someone else was in the room.

---

Mary cursed loudly, scrambling across the room to try and stop her reluctant patient before he hurt himself.

"Calm down, you're okay!" She reached out and caught him by the shoulders to try and steady him.

He flinched back, nearly slamming his head against the wall. His breathing was fast and heavy, far too close to hyperventilation for her liking.

She holds her hands up, taking a step back instead. "It's fine. Just take a deep breath. I won't touch you."

"Yeah right," he wheezed, pressing himself back against the wall as he reluctantly slid to the floor. "Listening to you worked out so well for me last time."

She grimaced. "Right... Look, I'm sorry. Baines... He lied to a lot of people. I had no idea what he was going to-"

"Save it." He snapped, glaring daggers despite his exhaustion. "Where the hell am I?"

Mary took another step back, "You're at a safehouse of mine. I broke you out last night. Darkcom doesn't know where you are, I don't work for them anymore, you're safe."

He glared up at her, chest still heaving but looking slightly less panicked. He was shaking badly now, the exertion of hurling himself out of bed quickly catching up.

"Why should I believe you?" He hissed.

She let out a tired huff, "because your brother will skin me alive if anything happens to you."

He gaped at her in shock, defensive posture suddenly dropped as he processed her words.

"What..."

She nods, crouching down to be at eye level with him. "He's the one who helped me get you out. Hell, he's the reason you're even alive right now. And he made it abundantly clear that if you weren't safe by the time he got back, he would remove my fucking intestines."

She sighs, and shuffles a little closer. Her voice drops to a softer pitch as she tries her best to be genuine. "Listen. I'm so sorry for what was done to you. And I'm sorry I didn't do something sooner." She carefully reaches a hand out to him. "Please Dante, will you let me help you?"

He stared at her hand for a minute, eyes becoming glazed over as the last of the adrenaline rush ran out.

He didn't take her hand, but he did nod, allowing himself to go boneless on the floor. "Fine..." He wheezed, and she gave him a cautious smile.

It was a start.

She helped haul Dante back into bed, though he still flinched at any skin contact. He was out as soon as his head hit the pillow. She took the time to tuck the heat packs back around his chest and pulled the blankets over him once more.

As she sat back in the desk chair for a nap of her own, she could feel the heavy weight of guilt get just a little lighter.

---

Dante wakes up some time later to the sensation of a washcloth on his face, wiping away sweat and grime. He twists his head slightly to get a better look at the woman leaning over him. She leans back once she notices he's awake, putting the washcloth to the side.

"Welcome back." she says quietly, "You gonna hurl yourself out of bed again? Because I'm not hauling you back into it if you do."

He coughs out a rough laugh, "don't think I can move enough for that," he whispers. "Think I could get some water, Lady?"

"I do have a name you know," she rolls her eyes but is already reaching over to grab a water bottle from her desk.

"Yeah, but you sure as hell never told it to me." he chuckles, reaching out a trembling hand.

"I suppose I didn't..." She uncaps the bottle and hands it to him, holding it steady as he finally washes the awful taste of blood from his mouth.

Once the bottle is half gone he lets his head fall back with a sigh, burrowing slightly deeper into the blankets. "Where's Vergil?" He slurred the question, already feeling the pull of exhaustion taking him back under.

Lady says something, hopefully an answer, but he is asleep again before he can properly hear it.

Chapter Text

It takes three days for Vergil to return, during which Lady became increasingly more worried. What little recovery Dante had made while his brother was around had stagnated. Though no longer on deaths doorstep, he was unable to remain conscious for more than a few minutes at a time, and when he was awake, he mumbled half hearted complaints about the cold, plagued by shivering no matter how many blankets and heat packs she piled onto him.

The one time she managed to get him even close to warm was when she dragged him into the shower to clean off a years worth of cryostasis gel. He'd practically melted under the hot water, insisting that she turn the heat all the way up to maximum. She's pretty sure she could have stuck him in a literally boiling vat and he would have been perfectly content. But even the heat from the water didn't last, and he was soon back to trembling once more.

When Vergil does finally appear, she's near the end of her rope from stress. She yanks the door open as soon as she hears his metallic footsteps approach.

"Where the fuck have you been?" she hisses angrily. "Whatever you did last time isn't working anymore, I've barely been able to keep him awake!"

The Blue Demon just shoulders past her, armor dissipating as he crosses the threshold and comes to kneel by Dante's bedside. "Mundus is not an easy man to lie to. I must keep up appearances." He reaches out and brushes Dante's hair out of his eyes, laying a hand on his cheek as if to check his temperature.

Lady hovered over his shoulder, trying not to show her worry. "Well?"

Vergil gives her an annoyed scoff. "He will be fine, he simply needs more blood." He rolls up his sleeves and slides onto the cot next to his brother, carefully lifting him to lean against his chest. "This is easily rectified."
Lady took a step back, alarm flashing across her face. "Blood? Shit did you kill someone last time without me knowing???" She's judging how quickly she can get her hands on the Kalina Anne before Vergil waves a dismissive hand.

"Don't be ridiculous. The blood was my own. He's my twin, no other source would be suitable."

Lady stares at him skeptically, still not quite reassured by this new information. "Right..."

But Vergil has already turned his attention to his brother, gently trying to coax him back into awareness. "Come on Dante... You were always the lazy one, but you cannot sleep forever."

---

Dante is pulled into consciousness by wonderful permeating warmth, the sound of Lady's voice... and someone else as well. He peels his eyes open with a groan, twisting his head awkwardly to see what he's leaning against.

A broad chest, arms around him, a deep blue coat and white hair....

His eyes shoot open and his hands swing upwards to clutch weakly at the person holding him. "Vergil..?" he mumbles desperately, fingers grasping at a gold embroidered collar. "S' that you?"

His brother pulls him further upright, tucking his head into the crook of his neck, "I'm here Dante, stay still. You're not well."

Dante lets out a slightly hysterical laugh at that, burying his face in his twin's shoulder. "You're alive!" he wheezes, "you're okay. 'M so sorry. Should've found you..." he fades off into half delirious mumbling, clutching his brother with all the strength that his shaking limbs will allow.

He barely processes Lady quietly taking her leave as Vergil pulls him impossibly closer. "I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner..." he whispers, assertive voice cracking into something hoarse and desperate. Dante just shakes his head, another broken laugh turning into a sob. "We're here, I'm sorry, please don't go..." Vergil buries his face in Dante's hair, wings snapping into existence to form a cocoon, hiding them away.

At long last both brothers finally have the chance to break.

---

It takes Dante a long time to get his muffled sobs under control, something he might have been embarrassed about if he weren't so lightheaded from relief and exhaustion and warmth. Eventually the two find themselves curled up under the blankets once more, Dante barely holding onto consciousness as he slumps against his brother's chest. Vergil, eyes red and grip still tight despite everything, gives his brother a gentle shake. "Don't sleep yet. You need blood, Dante."

His brother glares up at him half heartedly. "Got enough blood already," he mumbles, head lolling weakly. "Tasted it for days. Better not have been yours." Vergil growls, though its far from threatening. "You need it, fool. The humans drained you dry." Dante shudders at the mention of what happened, curling into himself. "I know..." he whispers. "I didn't think... I thought they would at least leave me alone if they had the amulet..."

Vergil hushes him, cutting off his brothers train of thought before it can spiral further. "Just drink, brother. I'm giving it freely." A spectral blade appears and carves a gash into his arm. "If you don't, it will spill and go to waste.

Dante sighs, trying to ignore how his mouth waters at the scent. "Fine," he grumbles, reaching out and taking Vergil's wrist.

Vergil sinks back to lean against the wall as his brother feeds, letting out a quiet sigh of relief as he feels Dante's demonic core begin to grow again.

He would be fine. Darkcom was scattered, and with Mundus preoccupied with the current siege in hell, his brother would have ample time to recover. And when he did? Well, then they would handle things properly. Mundus would fall, and from there they would dismantle whatever remained of that damned human organization. He glanced towards the door where he could sense the woman standing guard, just as she had three days ago.

Maybe they would have a new ally in their endeavors as well...