Chapter Two
The next morning, after having gone to a doctor and getting the two bullets that were forced into his body, and some thorough explaining to said doctor as to why there were two bullets lodged into his body, Dick woke up on a cot in the doctor's office, grabbed his shirt, which he had to take off in order to show where the wounds were, left the money needed to pay for his overnight treatment, and snuck out of the hospital.
When he exited the place, Dick made his way across the street to the parking lot where he left his car the previous night, got in, and turned on both the car and the radio. The radio started playing the same hip-hop song the carjackers were listening to the previous night, making Dick cringe and change the channel.
After stopping at a diner and getting himself a slice of pie and a cup of coffee, Dick made his way to the house of the people he needed to drive. It was a family of four, and the Mother's grandfather had just passed away. He picked them up, and drove them to the cemetery where the funeral was taking place. As soon as they arrived, it began to rain, hard. "Great. Just what I need." Dick thought to himself, when he parked the car.
As the funeral was going on, Dick found a tall tree nearby, one that covered him from the rain, for the most part, and drank from a half empty bottle of booze. When it ended, he threw the now empty bottle into a nearby trash, and walked over to the family, ready to seat them.
When he began to get the melancholic family into his car, a Hispanic woman began walking up to him, with a look of desperation on her face. "It's you. It's really you. I've looked for you for a long time." Hearing this, Dick immediately decided to ignore it, and continued getting the family into the car.
Not taking no for an answer, even if it wasn't said, the woman walked directly up to Dick, and spoke to him. "Listen, I need you. We need your-" She was interrupted by Dick's straightforward and curt response. "Not interested. Now go away."
As he continued seating the family, the woman stood, completely shocked that a former hero wouldn't help her, especially considering how in need of help she was. Nevertheless, she continued to attempt to persuade him. "Please, sir! We need your help! You're the only one that could help!"
As soon as she said this, Dick stopped seating the Mother of the family, turned to face the woman, and spoke, with complete harshness in his voice, to her. "Listen, lady. I don't know what you want with me, but from what it sounds like, you're trying to get in touch with a guy who doesn't do what he used to do, anymore. So get the fuck away from me and my car, and stay out of my way!"
With that, Dick got into the car, and began to drive away. As he drove, he saw the visibly saddened and shocked woman drive past him. As she drove away, he saw a little girl with jet black, shoulder length hair, and emerald green eyes, stare directly at him. "Who was that woman? It seemed like she knew you." The Mother said. "No. I don't know her. She was nobody. Probably just a crazy person, so don't worry about it." Dick said, nonchalantly.
Dick did, however, begin to think deeply on the little girl that was with the woman. "Why did she look so familiar? So similar to-" Suddenly, he decided to stop the thought, not wishing to dwell on the past, and to focus on the hopeful plans he had for the future. It wasn't that he thought that thinking about the past was bad. In fact, it was the best time of his life, if he was being completely honest with himself. But there was a reason that those wonderful times were called the past, and they didn't matter to what was happening in his life, at the moment.
After he dropped the family off at their home, Dick began to drive for a while, but he did so without much thought. As he drove aimlessly, Dick suddenly remembered that it was Friday. "Shit! I forgot what day it was! I better call Ryan and tell him that I'll meet him, soon." With that, he took out his iPhone 22, pulled up the contacts on his phone, and clicked on one that read the name 'Ryan'. As the phone began ringing, Dick began to get nervous. "Please have the stuff. If he doesn't have it, we're fucked." He spoke to himself, worriedly.
Dick's anxiety was brought down significantly when he heard Ryan's voice. "Hello?" The younger male said, quite groggily. Dick then breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, Ryan, it's Dick. It's Exchange Day. Do you have what I need?" Dick said. "I do, and I can give it to you, if you have what I need. So, the only question that remains is 'do you have the money'?" Ryan replied. "Yeah, I've got your money." Dick responded, assurance in his voice. "Great. Meet me at the usual spot in thirty minutes." Ryan said, with a slight coolness in his voice. "I'll be there in fifteen." Dick responded, and with that, he hung up.
Thirty minutes later, after fifteen minutes of waiting for Ryan to show up, Dick saw Ryan's car, an old Dodge Challenger, pull up. Ryan, a skinny, tall, twenty-two year old man proceeded to get out of his car, carrying a bag that contained what Dick needed. "Well, aren't you going to give me the money?" Ryan said, as he crossed his arms. "Wasn't planning on stealing the bag." Dick responded, as he gave the fifty dollar bill to the drug dealer, who, in return, gave the bag to Dick. Before Ryan left, Dick looked in the bag, and made sure that the prescription drugs were inside, which they were. "Thanks again, Ryan." The older man said, with a small, sad smile on his face. Ryan nodded, got into his car, and drove off.
Dick then got back into his car, unaware that he was being watched. Instead of driving off, Dick pulled a bottle of Whiskey out of the glove compartment, opened it, and began to drink, albeit slowly. Then, a younger man, blonde-haired and sporting a mustache and sunglasses, probably in his thirties, got into the backseat. "As I live and breathe, Robin, the former leader of the Teen Titans. And, from the looks of it, he's a junkie, now." The man spoke with a heavy southern drawl.
"Who the fuck are you?" Dick asked, obvious confusion in his voice. "Oh, right, where are my manners? Daniel Sullivan, pleasure to meet you." He outstretched his hand, with the hope that Dick would shake it. Instead, Dick said, "What do you want?" Sullivan was clearly agitated by Dick's rude, abrasive behavior, but he kept his cool.
"Well, a couple of friends of mine saw these three cholos who were jacking a car, and you know what else they saw? An old guy who looked like the leader of the Teen Titans, beating the shit out of them. They told me that the car the were trying to jack was a '32 Mustang limo, and, well, this is a '32 Mustang limo, if I'm correct. So, I'm assuming she's found you. See, I'm not looking for you, Robin. Well, actually, I'm looking for someone who's looking for you. Gabriella Lopez. She approached you, didn't she?" Of course Dick saw the woman, and, as much as he didn't care about her or whatever her problem was, he wouldn't sell out so easily.
"You know, I know about where you're hiding out. That old cue-ball out near the train-track, South of the border. Maybe I could pay a visit." Sullivan smugly smiled after saying that. This was Dick's breaking point. He hadn't exactly been calm up until that point, but this was the moment where he was truly angry. "There was no woman. No woman came to me. I don't know what you're talking about, and I definitely don't know any Gabriella, so get the fuck out of my car, and stay away from me!" He yelled at the man.
Taken aback and disappointed, Sullivan decided to smugly smile, and pull out something that looked like a business card. "Well, in case you do see her, call the number on the card. All I want is a little cooperation." He then set the card on the passenger's seat. He started to get out of the car, opening the door and getting out, only to look back at Dick. "I'm a fan, by the way. I used to sing the theme song at school, all the time." Sullivan said, quite sheepishly. With that, Sullivan left.
Dick then looked at the card, which read "H.I.V.E" on it. "Fuck. FUCK!" He yelled, throwing the card to the floor. He put the key into the ignition, and began to drive back to the place he liked to call 'home', at least for the moment. "Goddamit. Whoever that lady was is really starting to fuck up everything." He thought to himself.
Thank you all for reading, please leave a review, and as always, take care, and I'll see you next time!
