Dom froze for a second.

"She's one of the Big 3?" he asked.

"AND she does guild-work, too?" he asked further.

"Oh, MAN. She really IS making life work for her." he chuckled. "That is truly amazing." he commented.

"Seems both her and Jaden are really making the best of their lives. I'm so glad." he said further, as the food that both of them ordered arrived.

"Ah, good timing." he said.

Dom looked at her in silence for a moment, before smiling slightly.

"Yes..." he said. "She IS a bit intimidating." he agreed.

"But she really is a sweetheart under it all." he told her.

"I can see where you're coming from, though." he added.

"...also, I would advise you to lay low for a while." he then said quietly.

"For all we know, their scout's been in this city for a bit."

Dom bit his lip slightly, and sighed as well.

"Damn it." he cursed.

"That is true." he admitted.

"But listen, I promise you I will protect you as best I can." he told her.

"I know that you're not a helpless 'damsel in distress', but you may as well be family to me right now, and I do what I can to protect my family." he reasoned.

"And this group is trouble. They're cunning, underhanded, and talented." he went on.

"A very dangerous combination."

"I don't want that to happen, either." Dom replied.

The rest of the rendezvous went quite well, and they had paid for their food before they stood up and were making their way outside.

"It was lovely to meet you, Desiree." Dom told her.

"I'm glad we could get together like this." he said further.

"Feel free to keep in contact with me, as we already have each other's numbers." he added with a small laugh.

"Are you going to head back home now?" he then asked.

Dom nodded in response.

"Yeah, I might as well." he replied, before pausing.

"Unless you'd like company on the way to the library." he offered.

"But perhaps I'm just being paranoid now..." he then admitted.

"Otherwise, yeah, I'm headed back to Sydney's." he confirmed.

"I'm living there now, for the time being." he reasoned. "And honestly, I have no idea how long it'll last." he finished with a small sigh.

Dom laughed as well.

"Well, because of... my profession, I have a special item imbued with mana." he told her.

"It allows me to teleport, much like mages do. But that's all it does." he explained.

"It's how I got HERE when I did." he finished with another laugh.

"But thank you for your kind offer." he told her, smiling again.

"Continue to treat my son right."

Dom just laughed again.

"I understand." he replied.

"Believe me, a lot of people would miss that." he told her.

"Seriously, it's fine. I don't really mention it that much, anyway." he added.

"I suppose I'll need to find a place to privately teleport away, then." he finished, before looking around some.

'...why do I have this ominous feeling...?' he wondered.

"...that really is handy." Dom replied.

"I guess I'll go in and do tha-" he started to say further, before pausing and freezing.

"GET DOWN!" he yelled at Desiree, before grabbing her arm and pulling her down closer to the ground... just as a projectile whizzed past them, hitting a trash can... and causing the section that was hit to begin to dissolve.

"...damn it!" he cursed, looking around.

Dom was doing the same thing, before ushering her behind a truck that was parked nearby.

"Listen." he said.

"This is bad." he told her.

"That was an acid bomb, and it would have killed you if it hit." he said.

"You need to get out of here, FAST." he warned.

"If I were to wager a guess, there's at least 6 of them here right now." he added, as another acid ball landed close to them, eating away at the ground where it landed.

"They're after you." Dom responded.

"Worry about getting yourself out of here." he told her.

"I'll try and distract them for as long as I can." he went on.

"We're at a severe disadvantage now." he continued, gritting his teeth and digging into one of the pockets of his coat.

"I have some smoke grenades that should allow us cover... unless they have something to counteract it."