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girl wonder. chapter eleven
"WHAT the hell was that, Dick?" I spit.
As soon as I slam the car door shut a little harder than I realise, Dick speeds off.
His eyebrows are furrowed and his lips are pressed together tightly and there's practically steam gushing from his nostrils and his ears.
"You know, I thought your behaviour was senseless in D.C., but I understood because Hank and Dawn were your friends. But this? Attacking an innocent man? A father?" The only response I get is more silence except for the rumble of the car's engine. "This isn't right. And it's not normal, either. It's anger that's been pent up for years, and this way of releasing it is harmful, Dick. I know you know that. I don't know what happened to you that made you like this, but... this isn't the way to deal with it."
He's silent again, but this time, his face morphs into questioning, then realisation. I lean back against the seat, expecting him to stay quiet until we arrive at the mansion, but when his voice fills the air I perk up again.
"I went through something when I was a kid," he admits in a low tone.
"So did I, Dick. It's not an excuse."
"I know, but I just don't want her to make the same mistakes I did. Trusting in the wrong people," he explains, turning his head to look me in the eyes.
All of a sudden, Kory speaks up. "Look, you may have gone through some bad shit. Natasha has. I may have, too, I don't know. But what I do know is that no one manages alone," she says.
I twist around to look at her and send a soft and sincere smile her way.
"I don't have to remember much to remember that."
When I face Dick, he's staring at me, eyebrows furrowed with question. I smile lightly at him too, and nod. She's right.
No one says anything else after that. All three of us sit in contemplation, my mind replaying Dick's fist smashing against the man's face until blood coated his knuckles. Kory's words ring in my mind. No one manages alone.
Rachel. I hope to whatever's up there that she's safe.
When Dick finally parks outside of a tall, chained up gate, the sky is completely dark. The lights that radiate from the grand house up ahead outline the trunks of the trees that surround us.
Dick all of a sudden reaches down beneath his feet and retrieves bolt cutters, then steps out of the car and towards the gates, where he cuts through the chain. The curled barbed wire on top of the fence surrounding the mansion makes me frown. I can't help but wonder if whoever's living there is trying to keep people in or out.
As Dick makes his way up the driveway, the windows of the mansion all go dark, then lights begin to flicker like a storm brewing within the walls. Any doubts I once had about Rachel's presence here are gone.
