You Know Me Through The Years

Snatcher

Something was off.

The moment Roe picked up the phone and heard Kyrie's panicked voice, she knew something was happening. Dante happened to be sitting in the garage cleaning his guns when the phone rang, but as soon as he heard Roe trying to calm down a distressed Kyrie over the phone, he had dropped what he was doing.

"Kyrie, honey, I need you to calm down." Roe said with a calm voice. "Tell me what happened." Dante stood leaning against the kitchen island as he listened to the conversation between the two women. "I see. I'm going to make sure Dante is on his way as soon as possible. I wish I could go, but the kids...I'm honestly not sure what I can do other than...no, no don't think that. I'm sure he will come through all of it just fine." Roe seemed to be trying to reassure Kyrie. "Nero is much stronger than you know, Kyrie. He will make it out of this stronger than he was before. I have every reason to believe this." She looked at Dante with the gleam of tears in her eyes. She could also see guilt on his face for not coming clean about Nero's heritage. He had waited too long and now he was filled with regret.

When Roe was able to hang up the phone, she noticed Danted had left the house entirely. The only way she knew he was still around was the thundering crash and the shaking of the house. Wiping her tears away and picking herself up, she went to see what the commotion was all about.

As soon as she walked outside she caught sight of her husband in his demon form standing over a fallen live oak. The tree was at least two hundred years old, but it seemed that Dante's rage felled it without issue. She let out a breath and approached him slowly as she knew startling a demon was unwise. Even if it was Dante. He had taught her long ago that the demon side of him was more instinct than it was rational. It was still him in there, but he was more aware.

"Love?" She spoke to him softly to let him know she was there. The moment she did, he visibly relaxed, although still triggered. It had been a long time since she had seen this side of him. Or even touched him like this. "I know you heard some of the conversation, but I need to tell you what actually happened." She approached slowly and placed a hand on his arm. He was warm like embers of coal, but Roe knew that was only the power running through him. Dante looked down at her with his bright demonic eyes before he fell out of his demon form.

"Tell me." He demanded and answer.

"Something or someone took the Yamato from him." She began. "They took his arm and left him barely conscious on the floor of the garage. Nico found him before he passed out from blood loss." She put a hand on his cheek to comfort him in her next words. "He's in the hospital in a coma, but he is alive."

"He could've died and I wasn't there." The guilt dripped from his pores and from his voice. Roe could not help but to embrace him.

"There is no one to blame for this except the person who did this to him." There was no telling who took her nephew's arm and the Yamato. For all she knew, it was a demon looking for power. "You need to go see him." She said and he found himself holding her close.

The next thing he knew he was standing above his nephew's unconscious body in the hospital. The wound had already healed, but that was just a physical wound. The internal ones would still fester until Nero had a chance to get even. Dante knew the kid well enough to know that when Nero fought, he brought everything with him.

Dante only stayed long enough to check on Nero, before returning home. He felt useless and full of guilt, which drove him into a slight depression. He had taken to spending time at the shop, even though he barely drummed up the interest in taking on clients.

It was not until the lights went out that Dante knew things were a little worse. Two days later, Morrison walked into his shop with a new job and a peculiar client.

"Does this demon have a name?" Dante knew names were power in the demon realm. However, he did not expect to hear the name that came from the client's mouth.

"Vergil."

The name stirred up the same feelings he had felt days before when he had heard of Nero's accident. He almost lost control while sitting on the couch in his shop, but then Roe's face came to mind and he was able to calm himself. Keeping a cool head, Dante stood up.

"I need a timeline of when all of this is going down." He needed time to think and time to make sure things were in order. Things were likely not going to go in his favor and he needed to make sure his family was prepared. This was something Dante could not ignore.

"The seed has been planted already, its just a matter of time." V said. "I suggest keeping a mindful eye on the news." Such cryptic messages and meaning always gave Dante a reason to ignore the normal cases, but this one was about blood.

"Alright, you know where to find me when shit starts hitting the fan." Dante's attitude did not improve much when he walked through the door at home.

The kids were already asleep when he walked in. One by one he checked on Cade, Mara, and Evie. Cade was halfway hanging off his bed as usual and that made Dante smirk.

Mara was sound asleep holding on to one of her stuffed animals. There were days when the little red head insisted that she was not afraid of anything, but Dante knew better. He was there to reassure her before her karate tournaments, now he was not sure if he was going to be at the next one.

Being as quiet as possible, he moved to cover her up and then kissed her on the forehead. She and Evie had inherited Roe's red hair for whatever reason. He had his theories as to why, even though sometimes he could see a lot of himself in Mara, but Evie was more like her grandmother.

Evie was an old soul in a five year old body. She was also very independent and full of laughs that made his heart soar sometimes. She also did not like wearing clothes all that much as a toddler, and that still somewhat carried over to now. She was definitely the most spoiled of Dante's children and if he could use a word to describe her, it was tenacious.

Things were not going to be the same after this.