Chapter Text
This sucks...You think, the snap of latex gloves echoing in the sterile room as you hastily took them off and threw them half-hazardly into the red biohazard waste bin at your feet. It was your last residency rotation before becoming a full fledged doctor, and of course they had to send you to the sketchiest place you've ever seen, Redgrave city. You sigh, walking over to the pristine white sink and mirror in the corner of the room, scrubs swishing with each step. When did I get so pale? You stare into tje mirror and run a hand down your face, flicking the faucet on, purging the nights worth of grime from under your finger nails. Glancing over to the ticking clock on the wall you read 3:56am. Your shift is just about done, thankfully. To add insult to injury after sending you here of all places, the automated matching system that set you up with this clinical rotation also had you take on extensive night shifts, thats what you get for wanting to be a surgeon you guess.
You exit the room, make your way down the silent hallway, illuminated entirely by iridescent putridly bright overhead lights, the same ones you've gotten gradually used to over this past week. Just eleven more weeks you sardonically surmise, turning the corner to find your receptionist dozing off behind her desk, glasses tipping slightly down her sharp nose as her eyes fight to stay open. It seems everyone here is just as tired as you are, but at least you get to go home.
"Hey Laur, Im heading home," you say languidly, tapping the cool white marble reception desk.
"Get home safe," she murmurs, following with an abrupt yawn and a flicking motion with her left hand, right hand tucked palm up under her chin, elbow resting on the desk.
You manage a curt nod, continuing down the hallway to the staff lockers. A deep yawn escapes you as you collect your things, grabbing the neatly folded change of clothes, purse, and jacket stuffed inside, quickly turning and entering the bathroom opposite you. Once changed into the professional navy blouse, dress pants and not so proffesional sneakers (a girls gotta be comfy), you slip the jacket on and grab your phone out of your purse, swinging the purse over your shoulder and exiting the bathroom.
One lone text message from your mom sent at 10:02pm: Have a great shift, goodnight sweetie. You like the message and exit the hospital, a gust of wind sends a chill ripping through you as you pull your jacket tighter around your shoulders. Its May, how is it still so cold outside? You start the walk to your apartment, exhaling heavily and watching the steam float idly through the air as you pick up the pace.
Med school really took all the savings you had and even then you had to get student loans, so a car in this economy was out of the question. That was okay though, your temporary housing situation happened to be only about a 15 minute walk from the hospital and honestly you didn't mind it. If anything, it helped you clear you head after shifts like these. The night shifts were a slight problem though. A young woman out in a sketchy neighborhood at 4am with nothing but a purse and paranoia? Just great. You grip your purse tighter, walking even quicker, heels slamming on the pavement with each step. Maybe I really should get pepper spray. You shake the thought from your head and continue on, one lone street light flickering its gross yellow hue onto the pavement. Your breathing gets quicker, hairs standing on the back of your neck as you hear a soft rustling noise come from the dark back alley to your right. Dont look dont look just walk, its probably just a raccoon. Your pace has turned almost into a half jog by now. Your purse jingles slightly from the little leon kennedy keychain your friend gave you for your birthday last year.
Thats when you hear it. A loud bang followed by what sounds like metal screeching on pavement echos from behind you. Your breath catches and you whip your head around, a figure stands hunched over, shrouded in darkness, with something long and menacing in its hand weighing down on the concrete, looking almost too heavy for the figure to hold. NOPE IM OUT. You break into a sprint, wind ripping through your hair, heartbeat in your ears. The screeching sound doesnt stop, only getting closer, accompanied by an inhuman gargling noise. You glace down to find your right show untied. Great Im gonna die and its because of a damn shoelace. You push on, breathing getting heavier and youre not sure if its from the running or the thing currently chasing you. All you know is that its been gaining ground. For something so uncoordinated it sure is fast. Tears start to well in your eyes, this cant be happening, Im not even a real doctor yet, I dont even have a boyfriend! You turn your head, its right behind you, swinging that oversized metal pole, that you now see is a scythe, over its shoulder, aimed right at you.
Everything happens in slow motion, the swing starts, you let out a cracked sob, and a flash of blue light streaks right past you, illuminating the alleyway. The thing that was chasing you now lies in 2 peices on the ground 5 feet away, its corpse mangled and bloody. You can now clearly see that it definitely wasn't human, even if you didnt think it was before, its beady eyes and pale jagged anatomy confirmed it. You hunch over, coughing and hyperventilating, sniffling and gasping for air greedily. Slowly, you rise, eyes unblurring as you blink away tears, focusing on the man facing away infront of you. Hes tall, really tall. Tufts of pure white hair lay neatly on his head. A long navy coat is draped over his shoulders leading down to straped shin high leather boots. On his hip elegantly lays a sword, a katana more appropriately, handle covered in simple white bands with a tsuba laced in gold and blue accents that glint in the moonlight.
"Beautiful," you whisper without realizing.
His ear seems to perk at that, how he heard you you dont know but he turns his head and gazes down at you with peircing blue eyes briefly, before turning back around and pulling the katana out of its sheathe.
"Wait!" You scramble, taking a hasty step towards the man and reaching out a hand, "I dont even know your name, I-I need to thank you properly!"
He ignores your statement, slashing two clean cuts through thin air and opening a...portal? What is even happening? You shake your head, striding forward after him. Taking one more step, right behind him, you catch on something. Not the damn shoelace. You squeak, waving both hands out as you tumble forward, knocking into the man infront of you and landing face first onto a...hardwood floor?
Wait where are you? The contents of your purse are sent skittering everywhere and a jolt of pain makes you you groan. Sitting up on your thighs you nurse the spot where your chin had smacked the floor and slowly gaze up the trail of blue clothing to the face of the man you just accidentally pushed. He is glowering down at you as if your face personally offends him, his lip curling into slight discust as you give a sheepish smile.
"Well Verg, just tell me next time you bring a lady home, Ill be sure to leave the house to you," a baritone, amused voice comes from your right.
You snap your head over to its source and find a man with more shaggy, untamed white hair, leaning back on a chair, feet perched on the massive wooden desk infront of him, devious smirk playing on his lips as stares curiously at you. His desk is covered in old pizza boxes, strewn paper and.. are those strawberries? He picks one up lazily and pops it into his mouth, smirk never leaving once.
"Must you be a nuisance consistently? little brother," the 'Verg' character scoffs, crossing his arms and turning on his heel to get away from you.
"Wait!" You exclaim, "I-Im sorry, I tripped on my shoelace and I didn't mean to-"
"The exit is that way," Verg replies shortly, pointing to the wooden door covered in small glass windows.
"B-but really, I just wanted to thank you, you know...since you saved my life and..." your voice trails off, events truly sinking in of what could've just happened to you.
"There is no need for such gratitude, now you may take your leave," he doesn't even turn to speak to you, opting to shed his coat and place it neatly on the dilapidated rack near the entryway.
"C'mon Verg, don't be so harsh with the girl, shes clearly shaken up," the other man chimes in, kicking his feet off the desk and sauntering towards you.
"I-its okay, really," you stutter, scrambling to your feet, wobbling slightly like a baby giraffe.
'Verg' huffs, striding past you to the staircase in light steps.
"Thank you," you whisper, "Verg..was it?"
The shaggy man beside you bursts out into laughter, doubling over and clutching his stomach like he's heard the funniest thing to exist. 'Verg's shoulders stiffen slightly and a pink hue comes to the tips of his ears as he grips the banister of the steps hard enough to crack it. Without another word, he asends up, floorboards creaking with every stair. The man beside you seemed to recover just enough to roughly slap a hand on your shoulder, still giggling slightly as he uses the other hand to wipe tears from his eyes.
"Vergil," he says, still holding in remaining chuckles.
You look at him confused and raise an eyebrow.
"His name is Vergil, Verg is just what I call him to get under his skin," he smirks, tapping the hand roughly twice on your shoulder before letting go and picking your discarded purse off the ground.
Oh no, if he didnt hate me before he definitely does now. You start to spiral, face going deathly white as you slap both your hands on your cheeks in embarrassment. The shaggy man continues to lazily pick up your strewn items off the floor, tossing them half-hazardly back into your bag, smile as broad as ever.
"Dont beat yourself up," he says, clearly amused, "its not like he ever clearly communicated with you in the first place."
You let out a huff and look to the floorboards, embarrassment welling up into your cheeks, making them burn. The man moseys back to you, ruffles your hair and holds out the purse to your chest.
"Thanks..." you sigh, taking the purse from his grip, finally looking him in the eyes.
"Name's Dante, sweetheart, wear it out all youd like," Dante winks at you, meandering back to his desk and plopping down with a loud grunt.
"If you have any questions about what happened tonight, feel free to ask," he adds, "but something tells me you just want to go home."
"Yeah...home would be nice, but where exactly am I right now?" You inquire.
"Devil May Cry," he says as if its obvious, carding both arms behind his head and taking a looooong stretch.
"Devil may....wait, that weird shop on 5th that has extremely questionable exterior design choices?" you deadpan.
"Hey! Ill have you know that sign took 3 days to put up!"
"The 'C' in cry flickers and the 'vil' in devil is completely blown out."
"Minor details," he waves you off, popping another strawberry into his mouth.
You glance at the grandfather clock, that definitely needs to be dusted, in the corner.
"Its almost 5 am are you kidding me right now?" You groan, dragging yourself to the door.
"Get home safe babe."
"No promises."
"OH hold on a minute!" Dante rapidly hunches over the desk, ripping off an edge of paper and scribbles something down with a discarded pen.
You take the small sheet from his extended hand and read over it.
"The number to the joint. You know...in case you ever get into a twist again," he says, tone lower and more serious this time.
"Thank you Dante," you give him a genuine smile and make your way back to the door.
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight, cutie."
With that you exit the shop, door bell chiming on your way out. You let out a breath you didnt even know you were holding and clutch the paper tightly in your hand. When you make it back to your apartment, safely this time, you drop onto your bed exhausted and pass out immediately. What a night. You think before drifting off.