Hey there all~ I don't own Devil May Cry or any of it's characters and all that jazz.

This is my very first fanfic for Devil May Cry and my first fanfic in quite a few years! I was just thinking one day about how Dante would probably be an awesome dad if he ever had kids... So this is an AU where he raises a young Nero. Now I know what the Japanese novels hint at towards Nero's parentage... but that's not completely official yet and I really think Dante would have been a much better candidate for a dad.

I really hope you all enjoy it.

Rated T for language.

Daddy Dante- Chapter 1: Life changing Letter

Dante was not usually the type to go pick up his pizza himself. No he usually couldn't be bothered to get off his ass and tear his eyes away from his magazine for very long when he wasn't on a mission or or picking up some lovely ladies at a local bar. No he usually had it delivered, and all the delivery boys for all the local pizza joints actually knew him by name, even occasionally argued over who got to deliver to him. Man was usually so excited to see his food he always gave a very generous tip.

At least he was a delivery sort of guy until he discovered that the new counter girl at the very appropriately named 'A Slice of Heaven' was a complete TOTAL hottie. So lately he'd taken to ordering his pies for pickup. He'd cruise on down to the joint, make sure his motorcycle was nice and shiny, he'd even put on a clean shirt (he tried going in once with no shirt but the manager did not approve and kicked him out). He'd then take up time and flirt and flirt and flirt with the girl (there was NO WAY she was in high school...right?) until once again the manager kicked him out.

By the time he got home his pizza was usually woefully cold. Hey, small price to pay though if he eventually got that girl's number! She was way better then some ordinary chick he'd pick up in a bar. If he played his cards right it wouldn't mean just sex. It would mean sex AND FREE PIZZA. He wasn't sure which was better. Because sex was sex... but man pizza that he didn't have to pay for? How could it get any better then that? Actually it could, the pizza-angel was telling him about some special pies there weren't even ON the menu, just random things that the employees threw together. Like this crazy triple meat lovers deal with special sausages that one of the chefs brought from home... Now that was an orgasm with a crust.

It was on one of these pizza quest afternoons that his life was turned upside down to use that cliché. He should have realized what was up with all the strange looks he was getting as he strolled home (his bike was in the shop and it wasn't too far a distance to walk). People knew who he was, he kept the streets relatively safe (from demons, if he was payed) he way used to friendly nods in greeting. However today there were no friendly nods from the the people he knew. They just looked at him, eyes narrowed slightly and then spoke in hushed whispers to their companions, eyes darting back to stare at the demon hunter the whole while. It was actually pretty creepy.

He found out soon enough why everyone was acting so oddly as he approached 'Devil may Cry'. There was a kid there. He was maybe around seven and his entire right arm was swathed in bandages and held tightly against his chest in a sling. He also happened to have silvery white hair... much like Dante's! And blue eyes... also just like the one's Dante had. And now that he was paying attention he could sense a certain somewhat demonic sort of aura from the little guy.

Oh yeah there was also a rope tied around the kid's waist, the other end of which was tied to a lamp post just outside his shop. He looked pretty pissed. He also looked like a biter. Dante had a veeerry bad feeling here. Hey, but at least now he knew why everyone was staring!

"Hey kid, how are ya doing?" he forced a smile on his face. Kids loved him! Everyone loved him. Junior McScowly-Pants surely would love him too!

"I'm tied to a lamp post. How do you think I'm doing, dumb ass old man?" the kid just snapped back without missing a beat. Apparently on top of being adorable this kid had a tongue sharp enough to cut a demon's hide. He fished around in the pocket of his little blue hoodie and pulled out a somewhat crumpled, sealed envelope and shoved it at the demon hunter, "You must be Dante, mommy told me to give this to you. She said to look for an idiot with white hair who was probably in a red coat."

Dante was a little taken aback but he took the envelope and tore it open. Any explanation this kid was likely to give would probably only be riddled with insults. Really, what kind of person had been raising him...?

Once he had the envelope open he pulled out the contents, a single sheet of lined paper torn out of a spiral ring notebook most likely. He paled even further once he read what was scrawled on it.

Dear Fuck-Head

I would like to thank you so very much for forgetting

to use a condom you stupid drunk ass-wipe. It took me

a while to find you but I finally did! This little brat has

caused me nothing but trouble and grief. So now it's

your turn. Don't like it? Tough shit. He's your fault.

No love,

Jane

Of course the first thought that came to Dante's mind was... this was just some letter from some crazy woman! There was no way he had a kid! Then again... he did bear a really strong resemblance. And he was definitely partially demon. And exactly how many white haired, blue eyed demons were running around? Of course it COULD perhaps maybe be Vergil's but that thought was completely insane. Just the thought of his twin fucking some human chick was crazy.

"Well, kid... looks like I'm gonna be your new daddy," the kid was pretty adorable after all. It'd be like having his own little mini-me around! Hey and some chicks really dug single dads...

Or at least this was his train of thought until the little hell-brat glared up at him and promptly kicked him in the shin in response.

After some creative cursing, on both their parts, Dante finally managed to untie the kid without any further shin damage and practically dragged him inside to avoid any bigger a scene. He had firmly resolved that he was going to find this kid's mother and deliver him back to her. No way was he going to keep this brat!

He had to do something about him though. Luckily a bribe of a slice of his pizza and a can of coke was enough to momentarily placate him.

He had settled down a bit once he had food in front of him, even though he hadn't started eating it just yet. He was meticulously pulling of the slices of mushroom and pepperoni and depositing them into two separate piles on his plate. All with just that one hand... The other one, the one all bandaged up kind of worried Dante though. Sure he wanted to get the kid out of his hair... but what if his mom was the one who did that? He couldn't just send him back to a dangerous situation.

"So what's your name kiddo?" he flopped onto a chair across from him. He still hadn't gotten it yet.

"Nero," the little guy responded, fairly focused on pulling off one piece of peperoni off that was particularly glued to the cheese. Dante couldn't help but smile a little. He was so cute when he wasn't swearing at him.

"What's up with your arm? You get hurt?"

"That's none of your business old man!" he snapped at him, pressing his bandaged arm even closer to his chest as if he was protecting it.

"Fine fine," Dante frowned a little. He'd get it out of him sooner or later. The kid didn't trust him yet and why should he? They were still strangers, "Hey why are dissecting your pizza like that. You don't like the toppings?"

"Mushrooms are gross!" he declared as he peeled the last mushroom off. With the pizza cleared at last he finally picked the slice up to take a bite.

Dante meanwhile slid his had over to steal one of the abandoned pepperonis. If the kid didn't want them he wasn't going to let them go to waste. However no sooner did he touch one he found his hand smacked by a much smaller one. The one that was occupied by the slice a second ago... and Dante had darted his hand over rather quickly. He found himself a little impressed by the speed of the kid's reflexes.

"Don't steal my pepperonis!" Nero glared angrily at Dante.

"Thought you didn't like them," the hunter smirked a little.

"No, I don't like the mushrooms, you can have those," he picked up the little pile of mushrooms and dumped them onto Dante's slice, "The pepperonis are my favorite so I save 'em an put 'em on the last bite so it's like I'm eating Super Pepperoni Pizza."

"S-super pepperoni?" Dante was trying hard not to laugh because little Nero was just being so... absolutely serious about it. Laughing would have probably earned him another kick in the shin.

"Yeah! So don't take them."

The hunter just couldn't suppress a chuckle then. The rest of the meal was relatively silent. Dante made sure to pull off some of the pepperonis from his own pizza and covertly add them to Nero's pile. Who noticed it anyways. And when he was down to his very last bite he piled up his stack to make his Super Pepperoni Pizza and popped it into his mouth. And then he just... smiled. Just a little, it was brief but Dante caught it. And he felt his heart melt just a little at the sight.

Fuck, he just couldn't bring this kid back to his mother.

Whether he was ready for it or not... Dante was a daddy.

~!~

And there's the end of Chapter 1! I hope you all enjoyed it and it wasn't too weird. 'Jane' is just a random name I picked out because Nero's mom needed a name. She will not be appearing. I have lots of plans for fun and hijinks for future chapters (Perhaps even a visit from beyond the grave from a new Grandpa) so I hope you all stay tuned.

If you enjoyed this please leave a review! Even just a smiley face is fuel for an author because it lets us know people have enjoyed it.