A/N: I'm back from my trip! It was a great holiday, and though I didn't get as much inspiration for stories as I thought I would (because I was too busy sightseeing), it's still all okay, because I'm back to write more!

[Absent Father]

Personality: Post-DMC4SE/Pre-DMC5 Vergil

It hadn't actually been very long since Vergil was reunited with his son. Three months was a duration that usually got even the strangest of housemates talking to each other, but it appeared as if recognising that there was familial ties between the two men made starting conversations even harder than normal. Too many times did Vergil sit alone at the dining table, watching Nero bring his own takeout dinner back home into his room and never share the table with his father.

If Vergil was honest, he could hardly blame his own son. While he had never had known the joy of living a proper life with his own father, Vergil knew that he would react similarly to Nero's current reaction. It was a given: seeing how they had reunited under rather trying circumstances.

It had all been forced. If Vergil had the chance, he would never have stood out to acknowledge Nero as his son. Nero was better off without having an absent father like Vergil staking a claim over him, but the situation had called for it. If Vergil had not declared that Nero was his son, the government of Fortuna would have beheaded Nero for the whole mess that had honestly been made worse by Nero's unknowing involvement. Standing out to claim Nero as his own flesh and blood and asserting the Nero was the true, living grandson of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda that the church of Fortuna so greatly devoted themselves to; it had saved Nero from a certain beheading.

Unfortunately, it had also caused Nero much more inconvenience than just a headless body. Nero's neighbours in Fortuna had grown terrified that they might have pissed off the grandson of their god. Well-intentioned Nero had been approached since then with something akin to worship and fear by his neighbours, and eventually the poor young man had to move out to prevent causing too much trouble. Taking in his homeless son had been a father's responsibility, though Vergil wasn't sure at all what he was supposed to do right now with his offspring living in the same quarters as him, but holding a relationship that was far worse than platonic strangers.

The emotional burden had made Vergil consider permanently living in a motel room and leaving the whole apartment to Nero. Unfortunately, Vergil also had a nosy twin brother at his side who constantly did his best to convince him that all he needed to do was to wait out Nero's 'temper tantrum'. With the 'living away from his son' idea being struck out by Dante, Vergil wasn't sure at all how to approach this whole situation. And being unsure and indecisive about how to act had dragged from days to weeks and into months where the two men practically ignored each other's presence.

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Circumstances being, Vergil found himself standing at the door to his own apartment, taking in a deep breath to steady his own emotions. He didn't know when it had started, but he had slowly been made aware to the fact that he now took deep breaths to steady himself before returning back home – a place where he was supposed to relax.

Innocently inserting the keys and unlocking the door, Vergil had absolutely zero suspicion that something might have gone wrong. The silence that greeted him in the apartment was normal despite the fact that he was more or less sure that Nero was still at home. While the two did not verbally or directly inform each other about their own schedules, both men had eventually studied and learnt each other's routine, getting a general understanding of when each other would be absent or present in the apartment.

Unsuspecting, Vergil removed his shoes and kept them aside neatly and quietly –doing it all with one hand expertly while the other held his sword. Nero had returned him Yamato the first time they met face to face, and though Vergil relished to have his sword repaired and back in his possession, it had come at a strange price of having to finally acknowledge and accept that he had a son. It was a completely routine walk for Vergil from the entrance through the corridor towards the living area and his room.

What was supposed to be an everyday thing was ruined when he stepped into the living area to find a strange and disturbing sight that had Vergil –a half-demon demon hunter who was used to reacting in milliseconds –stalling in shock.

Nero laid stomach-down on the floor, one outstretched arm limply holding on to his sword, unconscious. The young man seemed scuffled with fight wounds here and there littered on his arms and legs, but none of them seemed particularly life-threatening... except that Nero didn't seem very active or alive at all.

Worried, but still suspicious that the young man might just be taking a nap in a very awkward position, Vergil approached his son slowly, kneeling a safe distance away just in case. Reaching a careful hand out, he shook Nero's shoulder slightly, watching as the limp body followed the strength of his movement, but not gaining any extra reactions.

Clear that the young man was purely unconscious –and not just sleeping on the floor –Vergil put a little more effort this time, pushing Nero's shoulder this time with enough strength to flip the man around. A weak groan escaped the young man's lips as he was flipped on his back, and Vergil breathed a small sigh of relief to know that at least he was still alive and distantly reactive.

"Nero?" He asked quietly, trying to spot the reason for the young man's weakness. It was clear that Nero had returned from demon hunting –with his sword bloodied and himself tousled and a little scraped in places –but if Nero had made it all the way home unsuspectingly, and if there was no visible major wound that had pulled the young man into unconsciousness, then Vergil quickly concluded that the cause of Nero's current situation was most likely internal.

A little more emboldened to touch his son physically now that it was clear that Nero was too out of reality to resist him, Vergil shifted himself closer, then rested a careful hand on Nero's forehead which was already clustered with sweat.

Unsurprisingly, he found Nero's temperature unnatural. Neither was Nero's pulse and facial colour. Opening his mouth, Vergil did not spot any discolouration -at least not yet. Brown eyes shrank at the light when Vergil forced them open and at least Nero's bodily reactions were normal. Still confused as to what might have downed his son –who had proved very capable of taking care of himself given the way he had dealt with Sanctus back in the whole Fortuna mess –Vergil carefully picked up Nero's demonic arm, studying it for any signs of possible clues. It was not glowing as brightly as it usually did –this time a dull blue –and was cold. The hardened scales seemed rather undisturbed, and though there seemed to be a few healing scratches, nothing was wrong.

Never imagining that he would ever have to undress his son who was already an adult, Vergil unbuttoned Nero's vest and rolled up his dirty and blood-stained undershirt to get a good glimpse of the small wounds that he had sustained.

The puncture was so small that if Vergil didn't have a single suspicion about what he might be looking for, he would have missed it. Thankfully, Vergil himself was a half-demon with knowledge of the variety of demons that both he and his son hunted for a living. He also happened to know that the type of demons that had poisoned his son this time round was rather rare, and that the antidote to their poison was even rarer. Nero must have come across one such demon without knowing it himself, getting punctured at his side without even realising it beneath the sting of another small successful strike close to the area.

It made sense how Nero might have cleaned up the job thinking that it was a safe and quick success, making it all the way back home before the poison had fully set in and paralysed majority of his bodily functions. The demon that had downed Nero might already be dead, but its deadly effect lasted more than just unconsciousness or paralysis. Unfortunate victims who were not found and treated to quickly would eventually emit a demon-attracting scent after a few hours of being stung, and would basically be unconscious sitting ducks for nearby demons looking for a snack.

Vergil could not yet smell the scent coming from Nero, but he couldn't be sure how long his son had been lying unconscious on the floor.

Still, unconsciousness of his son was something that worked unexpectedly well with Vergil, as he now had no worries about Nero resisting his presence or his touch. Picking up his son from the floor required no effort and he carried the young man to his own bed. Walking into Nero's room and getting scolded about intruding on his son's privacy was not something he looked forward to being accused about, and thus he found himself sacrificing his bed for the unconscious young man –blood, dirt and all.

Still watching Nero's unconscious face twisted into something like soft pain, Vergil withdrew his phone from his pocket, and called the only number he had on speed dial.

"What you said about not moving out is proving to be the right choice." Vergil said as soon as the call was connected. "Nero is unconscious."

"What, the kid?" Dante sounded as if he had just been woken by the phone call despite the fact that it was already mid-afternoon. "Did you knock him out or something?"

"No, he got himself stung by an Antal. Do you have an antidote?"

"Haven't heard of that name around in ages. All the antidote that you made was sold ages ago. I had to pay off my debts." Dante answered quickly, and though the answer was honestly expected by his twin brother, Vergil could not help but to be a little disappointed.

"Then do you know of any other Antal in the area? Nero probably killed the one that stung him without knowing it." Vergil asked, unable to help himself from showing his disappointment with a little sigh.

"I'll ask around. You keep him safe until then." Dante instructed, though there was honestly no need to.

"I will need location of Eons too." Vergil put in before his brother could hang up. "Their blood was useful when I made the cure for you."

"Don't remind me of those days." Dante's voice was disgusted as it came through the phone, and though not with him physically, Vergil could almost see his brother shivering in disgust while holding the phone to his ear. "I haven't forgiven you for making me drink that disgusting concoction, even if it cured me of the poison."

"I haven't heard yet a single word of thanks thus far about keeping hungry demons off you and making you the antidote." Vergil reminded, but asking for gratitude from Dante was like having hell freeze over.

"I track down Antals and Eons for you this time, and we're evens." Dante bargained, but there was honestly no point in continuing this strand of argument with his brother as Vergil made a dismissive sound before hanging the call up.

He looked back at his son, who was still unconscious and taking up his bed. Vergil didn't think he would be sleeping much tonight. When Dante had been stung, Vergil had exhausted himself fending off demons while searching for a way to cure Dante. While things might be a little easier this time since he knew exactly what he needed and he had Dante to hunt for the location of the demons in topic, the fact that it was his twin that he had looked to for help that was the most troublesome. Knowing Dante, Vergil knew he wouldn't be getting anything within the next few hours.

Since there was nothing else left for him to do now except wait for Nero's sting to finally start emitting the demon-attracting scent, Vergil sighed and shrugged.

He would need more than a few cups of strong coffee if he wanted to stay awake for the next few days.

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Nero woke up from a dream about an event that he had long forgotten in his past. 

It had been a life-changing experience, but it had also happened when he was much younger, and that experience had been buried underneath years of memory. For some reason, though, it was being dug up in the darkness of his dream this time. And with it, came the revisitation of an event that he had thought he had safely put behind him nonchalantly.

Nero had been young –just 10 and barely a soldier recruit within the Order's Knights. Rather, he was more of a tag-along with the actual recruit, Kyrie's brother Credo. All skills related to demon hunting Nero had had at the time had been what the other bored recruits and soldiers taught him from time to time when he waited outside the gates for Credo to finish training.

Thus, it was completely understandable for Nero to find himself at a complete loss of what to do when he found himself faced with a dog-demon and cornered in an alleyway with just a rusty knife trembling between his ten fingers brandished at the demon that didn't even seem to recognise the weapon's presence. Nero remembered the terrible chattering of his teeth, the heavy shaking of his knees as they knocked into each other in his fear. His bladder was almost loose and he remembered barely being able to keep grip on his weapon that he had picked up from the trash pile beside him.

The dog-demon prepared itself for a leap, and Nero flinched, closing his eyes and terrified to meet his death.

The sound of a whisper in the wind was all that came, followed by a dog's yelp. No demon-dog crashed into him, and Nero could not help himself but open his eyes in utter surprise to find himself saved. The dog-demon laid on the floor in front of him, sliced cleanly into half.

Young Nero had looked up, and there stood a man at the end of the alley, his sword tainted red with demon blood. His brilliant white hair that seemed to capture the sun's ray dazzled Nero's eyes. A shadow was casted over the man's face, but Nero was sure he saw a long coat, a katana in one hand and the sheath in another.

"Stay safe, Nero. Be strong."

The words rang, and then it was all black.

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"You better pray that you made the antidote properly, Verge. If it doesn't work and demons start coming over to this place, you're going to pay for every single thing either you or the demons damage. Every. Single. Thing." The worried words drifted into Nero's ears as he slowly drifted back to consciousness. The selfish words from the man he now knew as his uncle was not a pleasant way to come back to reality, but it confirmed that Nero was back in the living world nevertheless.

Not only was Nero sure that he wouldn't find his Uncle Dante in the Underworld, but he was also pretty sure that nobody would bother trying to torture him with an illusion of Dante, because he had already enough of that in the living world.

"I know. I know. Just stop talking." Nero also heard his father's short reply to his twin brother.

"You barge into my house with Nero on your shoulder like a sack of potatoes, demand that I surrender my bed over to him, and you tell me to shut up! Where is the justice in all of this? After all I did to hunt around for Antals and Eons for your sake!" The predictable protest came back, and Nero silently wished that he could just fade back into unconsciousness just to escape his uncle's whining.

"Dante, don't make me tape your lips up." Vergil's hard sentence held real threat, and thankfully even his twin could hear it despite Dante's apparent lack of ability of reading atmospheres.

"Fine! You ungrateful little bastard. I wish I never told you about Nero's situation in Fortuna after that mission. All I did was to invite myself to a whole bunch of mess because you decided after all that you should be a father." Dante's retreating words were combined with a loud slam of the door, and Nero found himself completely relieved to be allowed back into peaceful silence now that his mouthy uncle was gone from the room at least.

Cracking his eyes open slowly, he wasn't surprised to find his father sitting beside him. The flash of image from his dream came again, and he found that years really hadn't changed his father's silhouette at all. It had most definitely been his father many years ago in that alleyway in Fortuna, and now it was his father again, sitting here.

"Vergil." Nero called to get his father's attention. "What happened?"

"You were stung by an Antal during your mission three days ago." Vergil answered, looking surprised though relieved to find Nero's eyes open and alert. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. But you look... um, exhausted." Nero sat up, not surprised to find himself in an unfamiliar room. Dante had said that Vergil had shown up to his house and demanded his room, so it didn't take many brain cells to realise that he was in Dante's bedroom. The question was why. Both Nero and Vergil had their own rooms, so why was there even a need for his father to need to borrow a room from Dante?

"I'm fine. Perhaps just a little tired, but I have been awake for more than three days before. I am simply out of practice." Vergil answered in a dismissive tone, but something about his words made Nero curious instead.

"You've been awake for three days? You mean, since I fell unconscious? Why? And why are you all dirty and bloody? You never get yourself dirty on your missions if you can ever help it." Nero observed, surprised to find his father's coat bloodied, dirty and a little cut. "What kind of a demon is an Antal if it managed to knock me out for three days and throw you into such a mess?"

"It's the kind that poisons you with a sting so tiny that you didn't realise it since it came with a small cut above it. You didn't feel the sting because of the pain from the cut near it, and the poison ran through your whole body and knocked you out completely by the time you reached home." Vergil explained partially.

"Then what about the part where it makes you dirty and messy? I know you, Vergil. You don't get dirty in missions. Like ever. I mean, ever since I got to know you."

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe it's got to do with the three days of non-stop demon killing since your sting was giving out a really unpleasant scent and was attracting all those dumb demons trying to kill Antal's stupid prey. Really, if I were him, I would just have left you to die by those low-level demons. But now that you're awake and all fine, get out of my room and house." Dante's rude interruption came, and both men turned in surprise to find Dante standing at the open door despite the fact that he had slammed it close mere minutes ago.

"We're going to have to stay with you for a while. The demons that tried to attack Nero might not have been in quality, but they were in quantity. Our house is rather ruined at the moment and will take a short while to refurnish." Vergil answered while Nero reeled in shock at Dante's words. He didn't doubt that his Uncle Dante had said the truth –his uncle might be mouthy and a grumpy old man, but the man rarely lied for no reason.

"Fine. How much are you going to pay me for rent?" Dante retorted, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorway.

"I have some leftover antidote again. You can sell them." Vergil offered, and it seemed like a good deal, for Dante rolled his eyes and walked away again in silent agreement to their deal.

"Did Dante mean that you have been killing demons for three days without stopping? And demons that came in quantities enough to have you running from our house?" Nero didn't let go of the chance to ask his father the questions that had boiled since Dante's words.

"They were fighting to get to you. Dante took his time telling me to location of the demons I needed to make an antidote from." Vergil answered evasively. "But you're fine. That's good."

"Thanks." The word tumbled from Nero's lips before he could catch them, and a moment of awkward silence hung between them as they looked at each other, wondering if they could both pretend that they hadn't heard the word spoken.

"U-Um, I mean, thanks for... you know, saving me." Nero stumbled to continue since the word had tumbled.

"You're welcome." Vergil's gracious acceptance was awkward as well.

Another awkward silence, though both men looked away from each other, their eyes landing on anything and everything that was not each other.

"Um... Err... This is the first time we... um... talked. It's... um... good to know that you... don't dislike me. I guess." Nero knew he was probably digging his own grave as he hesitated throughout his sentence, praying that a hole would open up and swallow him at the moment actually.

After all, what was he actually expecting? He had been living with his father for the past three month, but they had had absolutely zero communication. When he had first moved in with his father (after the whole getting kicked out of Fortuna thing), he had been looking forward to getting to know the man who was Dante's twin brother, and had fathered him. He had actually been waiting to hear stories about Vergil himself, and maybe some about his 'legendary' grandfather. All those hopes had crashed into the ground when Nero found that Vergil was not much of a talker who didn't spare him much looks or care at all.

Nero had wondered many times if it was because Vergil was disappointed in him as a demon hunter. Descendants of Sparda probably had to hold a decent reputation, and both his father and uncle had done very well carving their names in the demon hunting industry. In comparison to the sons of Sparda, Nero was... well, other than the unrightly-given title of 'Fortuna's Saviour' (which honestly belonged to Dante for all that his uncle had done), Nero was not much of a known figure in the demon hunting world. Sure, he could kill a variety of demons, but he could not and had not done it with enough quantity and quality. This lack of ability to punch a name into the industry; Nero had been rather sure that that was the reason why his father didn't seem to want to connect to him. Nero probably disappointed his father's expectations of him.

And that had been why Nero had been furiously going out for missions, getting takeout for dinner and studying hard about demon hunting in his room while having his meals to save time.

"Dislike you?" Vergil repeated. "Why would I dislike you?"

"Um... Because I don't match up to your expectations... I guess?" Nero braced himself for the truth that he was rather sure of.

"Expectations? What expectations do you think I have of you?" The surprise and incredulity of Vergil's tone made Nero surprised too.

"Don't you expect me to be a big name in the demon hunting industry too?" Being surprised made Nero forget all about being awkward as he turned back to look at his father properly; actually the very first time that he found himself looking straight at his father without trying to avoid gazes (by habit).

"What? No. I never even expected for you to be a demon hunter in the first place. It's good that you found something to do that you like, and an industry that lets you use that arm, but you didn't have to join my industry if you didn't want to. I didn't expect anything from you." Vergil's answer was surprised too.

"But I thought... I thought you weren't talking to me because I didn't meet your expectations?"

"No, I wasn't talking to you because... I thought you hated me for ruining your life. I ruined it when I declared that you were my son to save you back in Fortuna. You had to move out because of me. You changed your whole life just because I announced that you are Sparda's grandson. All of that aside, didn't you hate me because I was an absent father?"

Both men now looked at each other in surprise and realisation –realisation that the both of them were holding on to weird assumptions about each other, and so fearful of each other's opinions that neither of them had tried to talk about their insecurities.

"No, why would I hate you? Fortuna was going to behead me! You literally saved me! And the whole 'getting chased out of Fortuna' thing wasn't your fault. After the demon invasion, that place didn't really feel like a home to me anymore. It got worse when Kyrie and I broke up, so I wanted to leave that place. You were nice enough to pick me up and take me in when I was homeless and looking for somewhere else to grow my roots." Nero explained realising how things must have looked from his father's point of view, but also understanding that it had all been because neither of them had tried to communicate.

"But... I was an absent father. Wouldn't men in your position still be angry at a father who turned up only after so long?"

"Sure, I admit that I was angry at first. But I'm an adult now. Besides, Dante explained that the you who impregnated Mom back then, and the you now are very different. He said I would have seriously hated you to the extent of wanting to murder you if you stayed around to try to raise me up. I don't know how exactly you were like, but I guess I take Dante's words." Nero laughed a little at the irony of the whole situation. "And, I know you looked out for me in my younger years. I saw you around a couple of times. You saved me from trouble a few times too. I just forgot because I was so young."

"You never seemed to recognise me whenever I returned to Fortuna to visit you... I thought it was because you hated me and didn't want to acknowledge me." Vergil himself looked completely perplexed at how their situation had deteriorated to such a complication.

"I'm pretty sure I was too young to remember you, much less know that you were my absent father." Nero laughed now.

"You were always a smart child. I assumed you had connected the dots and was rebelling..." Vergil admitted. "You never hated me for being absent?"

"Angry, yes, for a while. But never hated. Why would I hate someone who brought me to life? Besides, why would I hate you for being absent? You gave me freedom to learn what is important to me. You protected me when I was in danger, and even though you gave me an ugly arm, it helped to protect me when it mattered the most. You might have been absent physically, Vergil, but you were surely always there beside me."

"You don't have to phrase it like that. All I did was to run away when you were born."

"And came back to protect me when I was still too young to protect myself." Nero added, finally able to see everything from the new perspective that he had now come to realise existed within his father. It was not disappointment at all –it was a whole load of something else.

It was all embarrassment and apology. It was male ego –it was both their egos –that got in between the two of them for the past months of living together.

"We've spent a lot of time not talking, and it's given us all sorts of weird thinking. I'm sorry I assumed, but I'm going to talk to you from now on. Is that okay with you?" Nero started as a gesture of extending his olive branch.

And for his dear life did Vergil grab at that olive branch.

"Of course."

"I'm going to start by trying to call you 'Dad'... is that okay?"

The look on Vergil's face instantly wiped the three-day exhaustion from his face.

"Thanks for everything again... Dad." Nero smiled at his father, glad to know that he had his absent but loving father back in his life.