A/N: A prequel to DmC.

DmC: Raindrops

Kat wasn't used to this sort of mission. She'd done the few odd tasks in the past, involving detective work on some demon activities, but never something like this and never so intrusive.

It had taken three years of careful searching to track Dante down. Saying he wasn't easy to find was putting it lightly, for that reason Kat was assigned to the task of keeping an eye on him. Vergil said the time was not yet right to make contact, and they couldn't afford for Dante to go slipping out from under their radar. If they lost him now, it could be another three years before they found him again, and that was time they didn't have.

So instead of mixing up spells and being the usual team player within The Order, Kat's days were spent watching and waiting. She was required to be there at the Bellevue Pier first thing in the morning when Dante got up [whether he overslept or not] and was to stay with him throughout the hours he spent workings shifts at the carnival, to his nights out on the city. Only when Dante was back in his trailer, was Kat free to return to headquarters, fully aware that in a few hours, she would have to do it all over again.

Daytime at the carnival were the easiest for Kat to deal with. The fresh, salty sea air was a stress reliever, and blending in with the tourists, for a time, gave her some normality away from her life hidden underground. When the sun fell however, that's when Kat's mission got tricky.

Getting into Dante's favorite club, Devil's Dalliance, wasn't difficult. Kat had money, but often whichever bouncer was on duty would let her in simply because 'she looked sexy'. Kat never did like it there, not one bit; the flashing lights, pounding music and crowds of so many people dancing in such an overheated environment was claustrophobic and made her job of tracking Dante difficult, while leaving enough distance between them that he didn't spot her among fellow clubbers. Dante had once, or Kat thought he did, but she'd forced herself out of sight before he may have had any interests of seeking her out.

The other problem Kat had faced was not being singled out by the other men in the nightclub, who all too frequently attempted chat her up with their drunk charms of seduction and foul breath. A swift knee to the crotch usually did the trick for any that tried to get touchy, however having done this to the fifth male, Kat decided it best to remain outside where she would go better unnoticed and not attract any unwanted attention.

This was her fourth night parked down the street not far from Devil's Dalliance. She'd made a good habit of leaving her car there in the morning before heading to the carnival, so when it came to following Dante on foot later on, Kat could just casually slip into the driver seat without drawing much attention to herself. It was a flawless plan...apart from the half a dozen parking tickets that would be waiting for her on the windscreen. Thank god her boss had deep pockets.

Though there wasn't a always a guarantee Dante would come to this club every night, he rarely adventured elsewhere unless it involved food. The only real issue to Kat sitting it out in the comfort of her car was she would be left in the dark on what Dante got up to inside Devil's Dalliance, relying on only her sixth sense of Limbo to warn her if things took a turn for the worst. Her one advantage to being a medium; after weeks of watching Dante fool around with the angel dressed pole dancers and sweet talking his way into their pants, Kat didn't feel all that welcomed in viewing anymore.

As much as Dante repulsed her for his wild and reckless behavior, Kat was glad in some form or manner that he was having fun. The hours Dante was out clubbing were the only times Kat really saw him enjoying himself. She didn't by any means approve of it, but she did prefer it when Dante left happy in the company of a girl or two under his arm, rather than finding comfort in a bottle; that was one thing Kat became familiar with quickly, his excessive drinking.

Sad to say, tonight was going to be another one of those bleak nights.

Kat's heart sunk into her stomach when she spotted Dante leaving Devil's Dalliance some hours after midnight, more drunk than the word itself and with a bottle of beer in hand. He looked a mess, worse than Kat had ever seen him and so unsteady on his feet, that Dante barely made it halfway down the street before he stumbled into an alley and collapsed, slumping down against the wall of some unmarked building not far from Kat's car.

A rebellious soul he was and a bit of party animal too, but even Dante still had his moments of weakness like everybody else. And in the darkest of night-hours, like tonight, Kat saw the cracks in his defenses were searing through brighter than any light. He wasn't coping, not as well as he let others in his company believe and Kat didn't need three weeks of spy-work to see that.

Vergil warned that unless the circumstances required her to, she was not to approach Dante, nor let him become aware of her existence. She couldn't risk him learning of The Order sooner than need be, but as she watched him sitting there, Kat knew couldn't be a spectator anymore looking in on the life he was struggling to find meaning in. She just prayed she wouldn't regret it.

"Dante?"

His head sluggishly turned at the sound of her voice, his bleary eyes gazing over at her from where Kat stood, the silhouette of her body creating a long shadow into that alley she was reluctant to step foot in.

"How'd you know my name?" Dante asked, a slur on his tongue from the excess alcohol in his system. He raised the bottle to his lips, a smirk on his lips. "Oooh…I remember, you're that girl."

Almost Kat edged back a step. "Girl?"

"Yeah," Dante snapped his fingers together in a repetitive motion, matching to the beat of the club's music Kat could still hear distantly booming through the walls of the nightclub from ever all the way out here. "What's her name, what's her name, always wears a hood…the stalker chick!" he laughed, waving a finger that he pointed at her mockingly. "Yeaaah, I'd know that pretty face anywhere; don't forget 'em"

"You mean, from the club?" Kat asked, feeling her insides tighten.

Dante woozily shook his head, looking like he might tip over in the process. ""No, no was before that, waaay before that…I saw ya."

Kat's memory regressed to an event nearly a week before, when Dante had slipped out of his usual routine and gone on a detour through the city subway. He'd spent hours switching from one train to other, having no specific destination in mind. She'd thought he'd been using it as a means to chat up women -something he'd done during his platforming hopping- though it now seemed there'd been something less innocent at play and Kat was too stupid not to realize it.

Dante had known all along she'd been there.

"If it's a date you're looking for, you've come to the right place; it's after entertaining hours, but I can make exceptions," Dante said, flirting with as much appeal as the other drunks to have tried their luck with her in previous weeks.

It hit Kat then why he wasn't reacting as she anticipated, and that in itself made her cringe.

"I'm not here to ask you out."

"Isk…suit yourself," Dante rebuffed, preparing to down more of his beer. He never got to; a sudden lurch in his spine sent his body reeling forward, the bottle nearly slipping out from his hand as he was sick all over his boots.

Kat was there in a heartbeat, bringing her hand down between his shoulder blades, patting him firmly while Dante remained hunched over, bringing up seconds. He didn't once shrug her off, staying passive to her touch while she continued to rub circle motions over his back, long after his coughing fits subsided and his breathing returned to normal.

Attempting to take the bottle off him however, was to be a big mistake.

"Come on, I think you've had enough."

"Don't," a swift jerk of the arm put the liquor out of reach, the warning all too hostile in Dante's voice. "I don't need that alright…cut the motherly shit."

Kat refrained from backing off. "You'll make yourself sick, drinking this much."

"Hah, already done that," He raised the bottle again, though Kat quickly rested a hand on his wrist, stopping him.

"That's no excuse," She argued.

Dante yanked his arm loose, irritation building in his expression and body language. "It's a free country lady; I'll do what the hell I want."

Frustration fired up like a rocket and Kat struck out without thinking, smacking the bottle out from Dante's hand before he could have another sip. Liquid was spilled everywhere as the bottle clattered across the filth ridden alleyway, rolling out of sight somewhere into the shadows. Silence followed, gut wrenching and deadly.

If the phrase 'looks could kill' was true, then Dante could've skinned Kat alive with the look he was giving her. It was the type of threatening nature that lurked behind amusement; the sort to sent shivers down Kat's spine over whether this would all end badly. Excluding the angel and demon heritage, his unpredictability was what made Dante lethal, and she had already seen first-hand in the club what he'd done to those who were stupid enough to pick a fight with him.

Rolling her sweaty henna hands into fists to stop them shaking, Kat firmly held her ground.

"I mean it."

Dante gave her the once over with his eyes, unreadable and piercing while they stripped her down to the bone. Kat's held her breath when he met her gaze and fixed it there for a long, long time. In the end Dante just scoffed at her, laying his head against the alley wall where his eyelids fell shut; Adam's apple bobbing as he'd gulped away the bitter taste of vomit on his mouth.

"Fuck it…you're not worth the trouble."

If there wasn't a better cue to go, it was now. Intervening further might put her at risk of injury in Dante's drunken state. But morally Kat couldn't leave him, because it would be putting Dante at risk by doing that. If the demons were to seek him out now, they would make easy pickings of him. Dante couldn't defend himself properly in his condition;it would take just one mistake for it to be over, just one.

Kat needed to get him back to the carnival; it was the only way for her to be sure.

"You live nearby, don't you?"

"Like you don't already know that," Dante scoffed, the sarcasm so thick it was hard to ignore.

"See there?" Kat pointed over her shoulder, "My car's parked just across the street; I can drive you home."

Dante's eyelids flicked opened, head rolling to one side where his eyes dully focused on the car, and then he looked at her, like, really looked at her.

"Why?" he asked.

One word, many questions with as many answers. Kat could give him none, not the ones that he needed; the time still wasn't right for that.

Her expression softened. "Because it's not safe."

With some effort, Dante straightened himself up, wiping the small splotches of vomit from his chin with the sleeve of his jacket. He made no immediate attempt to stand.

"Don't accept rides from strangers…stalker chicks especially." Dante said to humor her.

Kat glared at him defensively. "I wasn't stalking you, not like that."

"Could've fooled me," Dante chuckled, the drowsiness in a notch more noticeable that Kat wasn't sure how much longer those batteries of his would keep running for.

"Tell ya what," he continued, briefly flashing one of those smiles she'd seen win over angel dancers too often in the past. "I'll go, white flag and everything…if, you give me your name."

That Kat wasn't expecting. "My name?"

"Yeah," Dante rested an arm over one propped knee, motioning his hand as if he were ushering her over. "Give me that, then maybe, I'll think about it"

Kat hesitated, thoughts dancing back and forth between The Order, her boss's words and the nephilim waiting in front of her for a reply.

A name…

She stood from the ground, wiping the grit and dirt from her bare knees. After a last moment of thinking it over, her decision reached, Kat held out her hand to him.

"It's Beatrice."

Dante grinned, accepting her offer, his grip feeling progressively stronger than her own. "That the real deal or are you just playing me?"

For once, couldn't Kat resist a smile of her own being let go. "Let me take you home, then maybe, I'll tell you."

It was enough. Dante didn't get violent with her when Kat helped him up or when she looped his arm over her shoulders; supporting him around the waist while she lead him, step by step, in the direction of the car.

Dante stayed on his best behavior on the drive back…excluding when he put his hand on her leg. Lucky for Kat, Dante took the hint not to do it again, with the only inconvenience Kat suffered after was putting up with the smell of alcohol inside the car, along Dante's comically endearing attempts to make a pass at her.

"You know, I'm a whole lot better company sober, know what I'm saying…you know?"

"…I know."

Halfway into the journey, Dante broke into song with his own version of 'Ninety-nine demon scum in Limbo' and somehow convinced her into singing along with him, partly because Kat didn't want to set off any short fuses. It was risky enough to have gotten him to accompany her, now it was keeping him with her.

So Kat sang, raising her voice when Dante encouraged her to sing louder and more off-key with him. They got down to demon number eighty-seven when Dante abruptly leaned forward and threw up for a second time in the short hour of their meeting. Kat could only grip the steering wheel tightly with one hand, patting Dante's back firmly with the other as the powerful odor enveloped the insides of her precious car and up her nostrils.

What a relief it was when the carnival finally rolled into view, a sight only made slightly off-putting by the fact the heavens had long since opened up into what was coming a heavy downpour, water streaming down the windscreen faster than the window wipers could clear away.

Of all nights, why did Kat have to forgot to bring an umbrella?

Dante was nearly asleep in his seat when she looked his way, so far gone he was beyond the point of sweet talk and was simply resting there with his eyes closed. If Kat let him, he might well have stayed here the whole night through; regardless of the mess he'd left down at his feet and how loud the rain fell on the car's glass roof.

It was all a luxury Kat would have to deprive the both of them of.

"Dante…hey."

With a low groan, his eyes opened, wearing the exhausted expression of a boy who'd spent all day playing and wanted nothing more than to rest.

"Come on, you're nearly home."

Their clothes were saturated in little than a minute on braving the trip out, the neon lights of the amusement rides, hotels and old fashioned lamps lining the pier helping to guide them through grueling weather. The further they went, the greater amount of effort it took Kat to keep Dante on his feet. His poor coordination from the drinking made him trip more than once, forcing Kat to walk slower to compensate for the additional weight he leaned on her small frame.

"Beats the crowds, huh?" Kat thought she heard Dante say, his un-minted breath hot against her neck and face. If it weren't for holding him up and him being a nephilim, she would've slapped some sense into him.

"Just keep walking."

The two were shivering and soaked to the bone when they reached his trailer; Kat was unable to stop her teeth from chattering as she waited strenuously by for Dante to fumble for the key tucked in his jean pocket. It seemed forever before she heard a click.

"Humble of ode," Dante said, letting go of her so he could hoist himself inside unassisted, forgetting to shut the door as he trudged silently out of sight. He'd even left the key in the lock too.

Lazy.

Kat waited only a few seconds in the wind and rain before following, her numb, trembling hands pulling down the hood of her damp sweater and shaking her hair dry, well, as dry as it would get. She saw Dante was already crashed out on the pull out sofa bed once her eyes had fully adjusted to the low lighting. His jacket and sodden shirt had been dumped down on the floor among the empty cans, pizza boxes and other stray bits of clothing scattered about the place Dante called home. He hadn't bothered to take off his boots he was that exhausted...and extremely lazy.

"You shouldn't sleep like-"

A irritated moan interrupted her as Dante buried his face further into rose red pillow. He wasn't moving, and that apparently, was that.

"Fine."

There was no need for Kat to remain here any longer than necessary, she'd done what she'd set out to do. Dante didn't need her anymore…still knowing this, Kat maneuvered through that cluttered living space and set herself upon the task of undoing Dante's boots, tugging them off along with his socks.

His jeans were damp from the rain, and the lights from the carnival outside bouncing off the wet glaze on his skin told Kat he could do with a good rub down with a towel. Probably not the most ideal condition to sleep, but he would have to put up with the discomfort. Kat had her limits and the lack of a shirt on him was already too much of a sight for her eyes to take in. Anything was better than him sleeping in that alley, much better.

To think he'd still be out there in this weather if she'd left him...

Intangible complaints formed from the nephilim when freeing the unkempt sheets trapped under his legs. Dante's lips parted to spill a foul mouthed remark, only to be silenced back into submissive midway through when Kat pulled the sheets over him and tucked him in; after that, not a peep.

Extremely lazy baby indeed.

She spotted an empty glass on the side near the TV. Deeming it relatively clean, Kat filled it up at the sink and went in search of the bathroom to fetch some migraine tablets from the cabinet, her eyes nearly popping out of her skull at both the quantity and variety of condoms Dante had stuffed in there that she nearly forgot to switch off the light on the way out; she definitely didn't want to prolong her stay that long.

Dante's breathing was slow and steady on her return, never hearing her approach or waking when she placed the glass and tablets down on the table near his bedside. Pending over whether she should or not, Kat sat carefully herself down on the edge of the bed and watched over him as she had been ordered to do so for all those weeks. It was almost second nature to her now.

There would be much to answer for after tonight. There was no doubt in Kat's mind Vergil would prevent her coming here again. Despite that, and the risk of punishment for her actions, Kat didn't have any regrets. For the first time in real defiance against the organisation she'd found a home in and that's cause she was so loyal to, Kat was glad about what she'd done. It was worth it, if it meant keeping him safe for one more night.

"Thought we had a deal…"

In the seconds it took for her to be distracted by the golden statue overhanging his bed, Dante's eyes had already opened and he was staring lazily up at her from where he laid on his stomach. She saw so much of her boss in his face then more than ever, so vivid it could've been Vergil laying there instead, if not for the hair and the scar on his cheek.

To think, if it were Vergil here instead, he might never have...

"We still do," Kat eventually said, her eyes drifting to where she could see part of Sparda insignia brutally carved onto Dante's back, a reminder for her to hold her tongue. "Another time, I'll tell you everything."

Dante's body stirred slightly, a strong arm sliding out from the covers to tuck itself beneath the pillow. Indolently, he grinned at her. "You better, still owe me a drink, and a date."

...

The nerve, and after the mess he left in her car too.

"I told you, I'm not…forget it," Kat sighed and pulled the sheets over him that bit higher. "Try to get some rest now, okay?"

"Whatever you say Ma," Dante spoke hoarsely, with something almost bittersweet behind his words, bringing back the times Vergil had spoken to her of the memories of his mother…Dante's mother.

Instinctively acting before thought, Kat reached over and gently smoothed out the messy scruff of Dante's damp hair, combing each strand through her henna painted fingers. His gaze remained held on her silently the whole time, not questioning it or telling her to stop; Dante hadn't the energy to anymore. His eyelids were already beginning to flicker like a dying light from a flame. Sleep was calling him back, but he was resisting, because of her.

"It's alright, I'm not going anywhere; we'll talk soon," Kat hushed softly, just loud enough for Dante to hear. "Go to sleep…"

What little ounce of will power keeping him awake faded on by her words, those blue eyes slowly fell shut without much of a fight, and Dante was gone.

Kat remained there for some time at his bedside, continuing to comb her hand through his hair while Dante slept soundlessly on, undisturbed by the raindrops to drum heavily on the trailer roof and the winds howling from outside, buckling the sides of the trailer as if the world itself was trying to get in.

She couldn't stand him living like this. Loneliness was the most painful thing anyone could go through; Kat had experienced that long enough trapped within the walls of her foster home before Vergil found her. Dante never had that chance. No one found him when he needed it most, and this was where he ended up. It wasn't fair for him to be left in the dark; he deserved better. He had the right to know the brother he couldn't remember was waiting for him, and that soon things would be changing for the better. Kat wanted to wake Dante and confess everything, who she really was and about The Order; she wanted to tell him he wasn't alone, not in any of this…and Kat couldn't, not a word.

Someday that sun would rise for him, for all of them. She just hoped Dante could hold out just a little bit longer, and that maybe someday, he would be able to forgive her for keeping so much from him, and not taking him with her.

Laying his jacket over the only chair in the trailer, Kat left the key somewhere it would easily be found and made her way for the door. She paused on grabbing the handle, stealing a glance back at where Dante slept snug and warm in his bed; but most importantly, safe.

"Things will get better, I promise." Kat said for what he would never hear or remember, before pulling up her hood and stepping out into the rain for the long journey home. But it was an oath Kat vowed to keep from that point on.

Even if it killed her, she would never break it, not ever.