Frank cursed and checked his watch for the hundredth time that hour. It was nearing four AM and he hadn’t heard anything from Ray or Gerard about Dom. Nat shifted in her sleep, snuggling her head into his chest and smiling but the small unconscious action barely affected him. Carefully getting up off the couch and propping Nat’s head against a pillow he crept toward the front door and stepped out, sitting on the landing and pulling out his phone.

At first nothing showed up and he was about to let loose a string of curses when it beeped and vibrated with a text from Ray and a text from Gerard. He opened Ray’s first and frowned before opening Gerard’s.

‘Ran into some trouble, if you don’t hear from me or Ray in three hours call the police—G’

“What the fuck?” Frank muttered to the empty hall. Not even thinking he dialed a number he’d only had to dial twice since meeting Dom and prayed Darryl hadn’t deleted his number.

“Who is this and how’d you get my number,” the familiar deep voice of the club owner greeted Frank on the third ring and he sighed with relief.

“My name is Frank Iero, I’m a friend of Dominica’s and you know Gerard, we’re in a band together…” he rambled and Darryl stopped him.

“Yeah-yeah, what do you want I’m kind of busy,” he barked and Frank got to the point.

“I got a few curious texts and I was wondering what was going on. It didn’t sound good.”

“From who?” he asked.

“Ray and Gerard. I haven’t heard from Dom in hours. What’s going on?”

Darryl cursed and the noise on the other end cut off. Frank checked the screen to make sure the call was still connected but Darryl’s voice rang from the speaker so he held it back to his ear.

“You know Dom’s ex Luke, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well he’s been tailing her since she came back to the city and she was steamed about it when she got here tonight. I was going to send her home but his boys obviously had other plans. She and Gerard were trying to leave when one of them picked her up from right underneath my nose. Don’t worry, though, I know where she is and there’s a shit ton of cops, plus my guys going after her right now. If that prick tries anything he’s a goner.”

Frank scoffed. “Yeah that’s what they told us last time and Dom’s had to look over her shoulder ever since.”

Darryl’s response was a grim grunt and he heard the phone shift. “I don’t think you’ll have a problem with him after this time. They’re not going to let him get away twice.”

_____________________________________________________

Dom heard the sirens before Pete did and took his momentary distraction to slam her shoulder into his chest and knock him off balance. She ducked and rolled toward the door at the end of the hall and yelped when Pete grabbed out for her, his arms wrapping around her waist. Letting out a shriek she kicked, landing a foot in his gut. He grunted but she didn’t stop for a reaction and kicked him again, wriggling free of his grip.

“Not this time,” she breathed and jumped to her feet, grabbing the doorknob and yanking so hard she almost pulled the thing out of door. It took her a few yanks but it finally opened and she tumbled down the flight of stairs leading out into the street.

“Over here!” she screamed only to fall with a muffled ‘Oomf!’ when someone tackled her from behind. The blood smeared down her arm let her know who it was and she let out another strangled shriek.

Luke was on her and flipped her over on the sidewalk. He thanked the heavens no one was outside tonight and pinned his girl between his thighs, wrestling the knife away from her.

“There we go,” he grinned but Dom’s hands were free so she balled one into a fist and swung hard, getting him in the mouth. She smiled when his lip began to bleed and reared back to fire off another one when he grabbed her wrist and twisted. “What did I tell you about that, baby?”

“Fuck you,” she spat and tried to knee him again. “Get off me.”

“Not this time. I don’t care if we have an audience I’ll take you right here,” he smiled devilishly as the sirens grew louder. The first squad car flew around the corner and Dom let out a wail as Luke continued to twist her wrist.
She eyed the knife not far from them and tried to lunge for it, grinning when Luke got to it first and leveled it above her, ready to strike.

“Put the weapon down!” a booming voice interrupted their fight and Luke looked up at the blinding spotlight three squad cars had trained on them.

“Fuck that,” he ignored the cops and returned his focus on Dom.

“Sir, Drop the weapon and move away from the woman!”

“Shut the fuck up!” he roared at them and dropped Dom’s wrist long enough to dip his hand into the pocket of his still unzipped jeans. He pulled out his handgun and Dom took her opportunity. Acting as quickly as she could she shoved the heel of her hand into his nose and grabbed his gun hand as he fell back. He squeezed off a few rounds into the air and all hell broke loose, guns firing and noise everywhere. Dom ended up facedown on the concrete with her hands over her head.

With ringing ears and a confused look she sat up and screamed. Her jeans were covered in blood and she had scratches all over her arms. A police officer offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet.

“It’s ok now. You’re safe.” Shaking, she chanced a look at the sidewalk and she finally let loose the vomit she’d been holding down. The officer rubbed her back soothingly as she threw up into the gutter before helping her to one of the nearest squad cars.

“He’s dead.”
____________________________________________________

Dom stood under the shower for what seemed like hours. Her vision blurred and she just stared at the drain. The blood had long since washed away but she didn’t move, his breathed slowly and let the now lukewarm water drip off her face. She’d heard people knocking a while ago but ignored them, letting the events of the night replay in her head. Luke was dead. She was free of him. Finally.

“If you’re trying to drown yourself, it’s not going to work!” Nat’s singsong voice called from outside the bathroom door.

Dom ignored her and didn’t bother to turn off the water. She was stuck just watching the water swirl down the drain. She needed this time to herself. No more poking and prodding, no one to ask her questions. She’d already spent hours at the police station answering private questions and reliving things she never wanted to bring to the surface again. Now she needed all of it to wash away from her skin, her memory. But she knew she’d never feel clean enough, not after so long. She was damaged and she felt horrible but she had a light at the end of the tunnel. As if he knew she was thinking about him Gerard’s voice broke through the steamy haze.

“Dom? Are you okay?”

No. Yes. Maybe? She finally looked away from the drain and ran her hand over her face, wiping the water away. She could hear him shuffling awkwardly outside the bathroom door. A smile flitted across her lips as she turned the water off and wrapped a towel around her.

“You can come in, I didn’t lock it,” she called out and the knob turned. He had changed out of his clothes into a pair of Mikey’s Star Wars pajama pants and a black t-shirt. She shook her head and began wringing out her hair into the tub.

“Hey,” was all he said, leaning on the sink counter and fiddling with a toothbrush.

Dom eyed him, her eyes prickling with tears she really didn’t feel like shedding. She felt hollow yet confused and exhausted. Her heart beat slow but her head wouldn’t shut up.

“Do you ever wear your own clothes?” she asked, forcing a smile.

“Yes!”

She raised her eyebrows. “Right.”

“Hey, The clothes I wore before were mine, I just dug these out and put them on. It’s not like Mikey’s around to yell at me anyway.”

She smiled at his defensive tone and braided her hair down her back. She took her time drying off and slipped into a pair of clean sweatpants and a sports bra. Gerard held out the white t-shirt he’d brought her and she pulled it on.

“Can we just sit in here for a little while? I don’t feel like—this—”she waved her hand toward the door, “yet.”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.” Standing, Dom took the few steps across the room and wrapped her arms around Gerard, resting her head on his chest. He hugged her back, pressing a kiss to her forehead and squeezing her tightly. They stood quietly in their embrace for a while before Dom sighed loudly.

“I can’t wait to start over,” she whispered. “All I can think about now is how glad I am that Mikey stayed in LA. This was so much to handle.”

“I heard from him this morning,” Gerard replied, twirling a finger around the end of her braid. “He’s doing really well. I wasn’t sure how to tell him about all this so I just said we were excited to get back to LA.”

“Good. He doesn’t need to know about all this yet. He’ll be pissed at me for not telling him but I need to deal with it first. I just need to get through tomorrow.”

Gerard nodded grimly. The funeral. She’d insisted that Luke have a proper funeral and that his family saw him buried in a good light. They hadn’t known about his business and thought of him as a successful man who went a little batshit after Dom left him. So she made sure the police helped his mother take care of the arrangements. Even after being traumatized she was still looking out for the man’s well being. It amazed him.

“I love you,” he whispered into her hair and she looked up at him.

“I love you too.” She kissed him gently, her hands soft and still pruney on his chest. He hugged her a little tighter and she smiled against his lips. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

She shrugged, “Everything.”