Vergil's OneShots (DMC Fanfiction)

Fathers of Blood and Soul

A/N: Nero might have grown up a little differently if he had a father figure in his life prior to meeting Dante and Vergil.

[Fathers of Blood and Soul]

Personality: Post-DMC5 Vergil

"Coming." Theo Rayner called as he put his newspaper down, moving his old bones as fast as his joints could allow him to reach the front door of his apartment. The already-sizeable apartment had begun to feel much larger than its actual size in recent years, though Theo suspected that it was just his loneliness making itself more apparent.

Disengaging the lock since it was always safer for someone living alone to always keep the front door locked, Theo swung the door open, and a big smile drew itself across his face in happiness.

"My son!" He exclaimed happily in reply to the sight of the well-built young man standing outside his door with an equally jovial smile to see him. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"You too, Dad." His son answered honestly, opening his arms out in invitation for a reunion embrace, to which Theo obliged quickly. Wrapping his arms around his son's broad, hard shoulders once more gave him the feeling that the years had indeed passed, and the once young boy who could be enveloped easily by his arms had grown up to be a very remarkable man now.

"Why didn't you tell me you were visiting? I would have cleaned up the place and made something for you!" Theo exclaimed as they pulled out of each other's embrace, still holding each other at arm's length while they inspected each other from top to bottom. "And by gods, what happened to your arm, Nero? How did you get a normal arm all of a sudden?"

"It's a long story, Dad." Nero waved the normal-looking human arm in front of his father's eyes to confirm that it was no toy or tease. Theo couldn't believe his eyes; his son was looking completely normal. The Nero that he brought up, the Nero who  to deal with an arm that was different from everyone else around him all those years... now had a normal arm.

"However long it is, you must tell that story to me, along with why you have visited without warning. Is something wrong at home? Has something happened to Kyrie?"

"Nothing of the sort." Nero chuckled softly at his father's concern. "I'm just visiting because I haven't seen you in ages and I wanted to surprise you. Aren't you surprised?"

"Very. But it is a pleasant surprise. I was beginning to think that you have forgotten about your dear father now that you have moved to your own love nest with your girlfriend. Not that I have anything against Kyrie. It's you being too busy and leaving the poor girl alone at home all day that I worry about." Theo answered honestly, earning more light-hearted chuckles from his son that he didn't realized he had missed. Staying home alone had probably taken a toll on him: the sound of someone else's voice in person and the sight of someone familiar was giving him a warmth that he hadn't realized he had been lacking.

"Kyrie is always kept busy with the kids at home." Nero answered easily, his happiness apparent in the way he was smiling from ear to ear. "And I can't possibly ever forget about you, Dad. You brought me up even though we are not even blood related."

"You don't need blood relation to have family." Theo answered joyfully, stepping to the side and beckoning his son into the apartment. "Come in. I don't have to invite you to your own home, right?"

"About that..." Nero hesitated a little, the smile toning down considerably into a somewhat serious face as he turned to look at something at the end of the corridor. "Hey, you two! Come show yourselves."

Curious at the visitors that his son had brought along with him, Theo poked his head out and watched as a pair of well-built men around his age squeezing each other as they walked down the cramped corridor to where they were. The similarity of their features immediately gave Theo an understanding that the men were siblings, but he didn't understand on sight what was so important about them that his son would be obliged to bring along for a visit.