The tall, distinguished form of Dominique Bruner slowly paced the room that had been Lucas Holloway’s home for the past four and a half months. She watched the man like a hawk as he went about gathering his accumulated personal effects in preparation for returning to the stately and far larger home Holloway had custom-designed upon his return to OED over a year and a half ago. 

“Lucas…” Bruner sighed, shaking her head. “… you know we have staff, vetted staff, that can do this for you. You really need to…” Holloway cut the woman off with a sharp rebuke. “Goddamnit Alexis… I’m not an invalid!” He turned quickly to face her, a little too quickly for a man that had spent nearly five months in a bed. As he wobbled, Bruner raised an eyebrow with a smirk… though before she could even open her mouth, Holloway snapped. “Not… a… word!” The carmel-skinned woman shrugged, turning to look out the window as Lucas finished packing the last few things in his bag. Hearing it snap shut, the woman turned back to HHI’s Chairman and asked in an exhausted air. “Can we go now, your Majesty?” 

If looks could kill, Dominique Alexis Bruner would be a dead woman. “Don’t start!” Since the crash that nearly killed him, Lucas Holloway had changed for the better in many ways. But those closest to him knew the coddling, as Lucas had seen it, infuriated him beyond all levels of reason. “I am so fracking tired of the inside of this room! God! I can’t wait to smell fresh air again!” 

Placing the last bag onto the hover trolley, Holloway tugged his now slightly loose charcoal grey Armani suit straight. Standing there, it once more registered with Dominique how frail he looked after his stay, which bothered her immensely. Much to her relief, Lucas had finally started putting on weight again after the staff at Sacred Heart released him to a normal diet three weeks ago. Yet he was still missing the muscle tone that… in spite of herself… had always made the man incredibly attractive to her. Shaking her head, Dominique tried to once-again clear the memory of their one wild, passion-fueled weekend in Tahoe together a decade before from her mind as she quietly followed Lucas from the room.

After thanking the team at Sacred Heart, they both entered the jet black HHI EGV and quietly glided down the main avenue of the city. Twenty minutes later, the ground car… which resembled a heavily-armored old earth limo, rolled down a tree-lined drive to the mansion Holloway called home. Following a brief discussion with General Hudson of the CDF in regard to the Security detail that had just cleared the house, Dominique & Lucas stepped inside the home… closing the door behind them. For the first time in nearly five months, they were truly alone. In the quiet of the foyer, Lucas turned to face Dominique to say… something… but was interrupted when the woman stepped forward and without preamble, kissed him deeply. 

Lucas Holloway just stood there, completely thunderstruck, with one hand gently on the small of Dominique’s back. It had been almost twelve years since Tahoe, after he’d last tasted her kiss and when he was told… in no uncertain-terms… that what had happened that weekend could never happen again. And yet, as with the only other woman he had ever truly loved, Lucas Hollway remembered that last kiss as if it were yesterday. 

After an amount of time unknown to either, Dominique broke the kiss… tears soaking her delicate features… and gently leaned her forehead against Lucas’. With a staggered breath, she spoke softly… her voice cracking. “Please… take… take care of yourself. I… I can’t lose you.” Lucas was absolutely silent, holding the woman he had admired from afar for so many years.  

Slowly, softly, Lucas’ right hand cupped her cheek and his thumb wiped away her tears. His voice, as equally unsteady as hers, Lucas asked gently. “Penny for your thoughts?” It was in that moment that Dominique Bruner looked into his eyes and Lucas Holloway felt the world around him fade away. There was love there, a fiery… passionate love he’d only seen in one other woman before and in that moment, he knew. Lucas finally knew… as he stood there, holding her like the lover she had once been and that he’d always dreamed of her return. Knew that the beautiful, brilliant woman on the other side of that kiss felt the same for him as he did for her. 

“I…” Dominique’s voice broke once more but, trembling, she forced herself to say the words she’d held inside for years. “… I love you Lucas.” Tears sprang anew with the saying of the words she had held onto for so long. “I… I think I always have. And I…” The tears came harder now. “… and I almost lost you… lost you without…” She sobbed. “… without you knowing how I truly feel! And… and I know what I sai…” Lucas cut her off with a deep, loving kiss. Without a word, he closed the few inches between them, wrapping her in his arms and kissing her as deeply as one could. As Dominique wrapped her arms around him, clinging desperately as time faded away.

Lucas & Dominique