Chapter Text
In the Devil may cry shop, the three Sparda men were sleeping after a job. Dante sleeping on his chair, Vergil sleeping in his room and Nero sleeping in Dante's room because his father and uncle forced him to stay with them for the night because it was late and the last ferry already left. So, Nero caved and stayed the night.
As the night progressed, Vergil started tossing and turning in his sleep while panting and his eyes squeezed shut. Suddenly Vergil screamed and woke everyone up and they all rushed to his room. Since Nero was closer to his room, he got to him fast and woke him up. "Dad, wake up! It's only a dream! You're okay!" Vergil shot up awake and gasped for air, he gripped his hair with his hand and his chest while looking at his lap, tears slowly streaming down his face as soft sobs could be heard from him. Nero rubbed his back gently and says. "It's okay, dad. Your safe. You're in the shop after a long day of hunting. You're okay." Vergil takes a shaky breath to calm down and says. "Thank you, Nero. (Looks at him) I apologize for waking you."
Nero just shakes his head and says. "It's alright. I know you don't want to talk about it but I want you to remember that you're not alone in this anymore. You have me and Dante now. You don't have carry it alone anymore." Vergil stares at his son before smiling and says. "Thank you, Nero. I'll keep that in mind." "You're welcome." In the corner of his eye, Vergil catches the flap of his brother's coat and realizes that none of them acknowledged Dante's presence.
To be fair, Vergil was out of it, and Nero was more focused on him then anything, but he still couldn't help but feel guilty for not noticing his own little brother coming to check on him. Dante, his little brother, had been alone for more than 34 years without any family. The brothers had only been reunited for a little over two months, but Vergil hasn't made any attempt to agree to Dante's demand of spending time together outside of hunting. The two never see each other because Vergil doesn't know how to spend time with him. All is life he saw Dante as a rival then a brother since the fire and now that his way of thinking had been cleared, he doesn't know what to think anymore.
Tomorrow he was definitely gonna take up Dante's invention on going out to eat for breakfast.
-
"You should go spend time with your kid Verge! Go to Fortuna with him and spend time with your grandkids." Dante says, causing them to look at him in surprise.
Him and Nero had just came downstairs to say their farewells when Dante suggested Vergil make a portal and go with Nero for some bonding. The duo looked at each other and back at Dante with Nero saying. "Uh, I'm sure Kyrie won't mind. Why don't you come with Dante." But he only shakes his head and says. "It's fine! I got a job up that I need to do! (Stands up and heads to the door) I better not see you here Verge! Go spend time with your kid and grandkids!" The father and son watch in confusion as Dante leaves through the door. They looked at each other and Nero says. "You, don't have to come over if you don't want too." "It's fine. I might as well because if I don't, Dante would just rag on me for not bonding with you and your family."
Nero nods and Vergil made a portal for them to enter in and as soon as it disappears after they enter it, the door opens to reveal Dante sighing. Before going back to his chair, leans back on it with his feet on the desk before placing a magazine on his face and crossing his arms.
'He needs this, not me.' Dante thinks to himself before taking a nap. After Vergil's episode, Dante couldn't sleep last night and just thought on how useless he was. Maybe what Vergil needed wasn't someone from the past like him, rather he needed someone who didn't know of the past. Like Nero.
Dante's soft snores filled the room as he slept in his now, familiar, quiet and lonely shop.
-
Vergil enters the shop via a portal, looking very pissed off. He had just gotten back after getting off the phone with Morrison after calling him to ask where the job Dante was so that he can go help him so that they could spend time together, but Morrison was confused and said that he never gave Dante a job this morning, saying that Dante called him that he was taking a day of rest. Hearing that Dante was home and was ignoring his calls for him to come over for lunch and dinner infuriated Vergil to no end. He was so angered that he nearly broke the phone in half if it weren't for Nero telling him not to break it.
So, after thanking the broker and hanging up, Vergil said that he'll have to go home a little early because he was about to stab his brother and left. So, here he was, sword in hand, ready to stab his brother but to his shock, he wasn't at his desk. He looked around the room and saw that he wasn't on any of the couches or at the kitchen. Just as he was about to search upstairs, he felt his brother's presence outside in the backyard.
He sighed in relief before making his way towards the yard. When he opened the door, he saw Dante laying on the ground with his hands behind his head, his knee bent and his ankle on his knee while he stared up at the stars. Vergil felt a wave of memories he thought was once lost as he looked at his brother filled with nostalgia.
When they were young, they would go outside and lay on the lawn to star gaze and connect the stars to make an image. Shaking his head away of the nostalgia and remembering that he was supposed to be angry at his brother, he walked over to him and stopped short of him, crossing his arms saying. "Enjoying the quiet brother?" Dante tilted his head back towards Vergil and asked. "Oh, hey man. How was Nero's?" "You would know it was nice if you were there to enjoy it."
Dante looks at him confused and asks. "What do you mean? And why are you mad?" "Interesting that you asked that brother because before returning here, I had called Morrison to ask where your job was so that I may asset you so that we can spend time together because you hadn't answered the phone when I called you to invite you over for Lunch AND dinner but to my surprise, you weren't on a job. You had told Morrison that you wanted to take a day of rest! So, you deliberately lied to me and Nero, dodged my calls and you have the audacity to ask me of why I'm mad!?!?!"
Dante actually looked ashamed of that and sighed saying. "Okay, yes. I dodged your calls and lied but you needed this Verge. After last night, it was obvious that you needed some time with family." "And you're not a part of that equation?!" Vergil asks in anger, wondering why the hell his brother thought he wasn't a part of that equation. Dante just shrugged and said. "I thought you'd want something new. Something that, didn't know about the past." Vergil's face changed from angry to shocked as he stared at his brother as he looked away.
'Did, did he think I didn't need him anymore?' Vergil thinks as he looks at his brother and asks. "W-why do you think I don't need you?" Dante gets a sad expression and says. "I just figured you wouldn't want anyone from your past seeing you like that. Vulnerable." Vergil deadpans at this and reels his foot back a little. "Look, I'm sorry I lied and Dodge you and Nero's calls, but I thought it was-OW!" Dante was interrupted when Vergil kicked him in the head. He clutched his head in pain as he groaned in pain before looking up at him and asks. "What the hell was that for!?!?!" "(Leans down a little) For being an idiot!" "HUH?!" Dante looks at him confused as he continued. "I hated that Nero saw me like that just as much as I did that you saw me like that as well! But it's only natural because I don't know how to be Vulnerable around others because I have been alone for 34 years until today!"
Dante stares at Vergil in shock that he was being so open to him like this as he continued. "You are my brother, the only connection I have to our past that I have left. When I was held captive, Mundus took my memories away from me about our childhood and of Nero's mother. I'm only getting fragments of them, but I still can't remember some of our childhood or Nero's mother's name. The only connection of her is through Nero and my only connection to our past is through you. So, I need you Dante and I want to have the bond that I destroyed back but I can't have it back if you do shit like this! So, stop doubting yourself or lower your self-esteem and don't push me away because of that negative little voice in the back of your head that spills out nothing but lies!"
Dante looks at his brother in shock, especially since he sees tears in his eyes. 'Guess I screwed that up huh.' Dante thought to himself, his thoughts interrupted when Vergil nudged his head with his foot and says. "Hey, what did I say about listening to that voice? Just, just listen to me next time and read the room, okay?" "Okay." Dante says, still looking at his brother as he looks away and starts rubbing his eyes. As he's doing this, Dante thinks about how he can make it up to his brother for his actions before he remembered that he was laying on the lawn, looking at the stars.
As Vergil finished rubbing his eyes, he sniffed and was about to say something when Dante says. "Hey, Verge?" "(looks at him) Yes, Dante?" He smiles at him and pats the ground next to him saying. "Come stargaze with me." Vergil looks surprised before nodding as a blush crept up in his cheeks.
He lays down next to Dante and crosses his arms as he just lays there, completely flat. The long-lost twins stare up at the stars, feeling like they were children again before the fire happened. Dante pointed at the sky and says. "That one looks like a pizza pie with one missing." Vergil looks at where he was looking and hums. "It does. (Points at another) If you squint a little, that one looks like a bird." Dante looks and squints to see that it is a bird. "Your right. (Points eagerly at another one) That one looks like a strawberry if you tilt your head!"
Vergil tilts his head to the right but doesn't see it. "I don't see it." As soon as Vergil said that Dante's finger came and tilted his head to the left, earning him a glare from Vergil. After Dante stopped tilting his head, he look up at where his brother was pointing at and saw the strawberry. "Oh, now I see it." Dante chuckles and Vergil points to another saying. "That one looks like a cat." "Oh yeah. It's cute." "Mhm."
Dante notices another one but doesn't say anything as it reminds him of Mundus due to it looking like a triangle. "Verge?" "Mhm?" Vergil hums looking at the stars as Dante continued. "Your nightmare last night was about him. Wasn't it." Vergil flinches at this but doesn't deny or agree that it was about Mundus. "Yeah. He's one of my top three things that I will admit to being afraid of." Vergil turns his head and looks at him confused, asking. "What do you mean?"
"Well, some people will never admit to being scared of something out loud but sometimes there are fears that they will admit to being afraid of. Like, admitting that fire terrifies them, or having a fear of heights. You know, stuff like that. Mundus escaping and returning to finish the job and destroy humanity is one of top three fears of mine." Vergil looks at him in shock and asks. "W-What are the other two fears that you have?" Dante pretends to think and says. "I'll only tell you, if you tell me yours."
Vergil's eyes widened at this before he looks annoyed and says. "Fine. I'll tell you idiot after you tell me yours." Dante shrugs and says. "Only fair." He holds out his fist in the air towards Vergil, and he looks at him confused, prompting Dante to sigh and say. "Bump it dude. It's a fist bump. Bump it with your fist." "Oh." Vergil says, bringing his own fist and touching Dante's with his fist as well.
Dante grins at this and they drop their hands as Dante explains while looking up at the stars. "So, you know the second one. The first one is all of the pizza and ice cream disappearing from the world." Vergil snorts at this and Dante says. "Hey, that's a Legit fear to have. Having all of your favorite things in the world just disappear on you like that. (Shudders) I don't even want to think about it." Vergil chuckles and says. "True."
Dante chuckles as well before losing his grin and says. "And the third one, is losing you again." Vergil looks at him and sees that he's sad. "The first time was the fire, mom screaming your name before she died, the second being you falling into the underworld and the third time was all my fault. (Voice breaks) I killed you." Vergil stares at his brother softly before saying. "You freed me." Dante looks at him as he looks back at the sky. "I would have rather died by your hand, then to live another second as that monster's puppet. I owe you Dante for freeing me because if you didn't, I would be probably rotting away some where after the defeat of Mundus or plotting my revenge. I'm not saying you didn't but I'm also not saying you did. All I'm going to say, is that you freed me Dante. So, for I thank you."
Dante looks at him with tears in his eyes before clearing his throat and looking back up at the stars and says. "I'm, uh, only gonna say your welcome for freeing you, not the other thing." "Wouldn't want you to either way." Dante hums and they enjoy the silence. He was joking when he made Vergil to say his top three fears because he knows that his brother still has his pride but to his surprise, he spoke up.
"My, first fear is going back to that scared little boy that couldn't protect his mother or find his brother after the fire." Dante looks at him shocked as he continues. "My second is obviously Mundus returning and capturing me again. Torturing me and turning me back into Nelo Angleo again. And my third one, ironically, involves you, Dante. My third fear is that you end up like me. Tortured and forced to be something that you're not. A puppet to a monster after so much torture to break your spirit."
Dante stares at his brother in shock and horror as a few tears stream down Vergil's face as he faces his and says. "No matter how much we argued, how much I hated you that Mother chose to save you instead of me, and how much it wounded my pride that I lost to you in the end, I would never wish for you to go through that and I would do that over and over again, if it meant that you were safe. (Looks up) I guess, back then I was doing one final act of a good big brother by sparing you of the horrors of the underworld and of Mundus's torture."
Dante stares at him before looking back and says. "Well then, lets hope that never happens then, shall we? (Raises fist in the air) Here's to hoping we don't every see Mundus again, become weak, become a puppet and lose pizza and ice cream!" Vergil laughs at this and raises his own fist into the air and lightly taps it against Dante's.
The two drop their hands back to their original places and look up at the stars until Dante says. "I'm gonna buy a telescope!" "Huh!?!" Vergil says, looking at him confused.
But unknown to the brothers, is that that fear, will come true.
To be continued.