Wonder on the Charles
It was easier and easier as time went on. It was to the point where Dee didn't even remember what it was like to not have this presence in her head anymore.
Some things had changed of course. The ability to lift everything over her head and then some had faded away; so had the ability to understand what the animals around her said. It was a relief and a lot of ways. She didn't feel like she was going to break everything she touched and frankly, the squirrels and pigeons were really starting to creep her out. But she still had the memories of Diana and her life, both on the island she was raised on and as Wonder Woman. She saw Boston both in the present and in the past. She still could see her friends and see them as she did and as Diana did. The biggest suprise was to realize that Donna her cousin was Donna, Diana's 'sister'. It was easier to talk to Brian knowing he was also Bruce and Veronica as Selina. There were still people Dee was wary of regardless of what Diana told her, but all in all, it was good. It was stable.
She started to understand some of the things that had happened a little bit better as the months had gone by. That it hadn't been a mistake to have the tattoos on her wrists, because they subsituted for the bracelets that every Amazon wore. It was easier for Dee to see herself as Amazon, because of Diana-in-her-head. Being able to have Cricket with her as much as possible helped. Being able to take him to work and to hug his fuzzy body, feel his breathing and get the occasional lick to the face when everything got to be too much helped. He was her extra boost of confidence when she had to go near places that still made her feel unsafe and afraid, gripping his lead tight as he lead her down streets she had once traveled down easy and light.
The triathlons had helped her confidence immensely. She didn't knwo how Diana had fixed her knee, but she felt strong, stronger than she had in years and though she didn't win, she competed and competed well. Josh had finally convinced her to join his team next year, though he hadn't yet gotten her to committ to competing full time or trying for Elite status. She had given that life up over a decade before and she knew she didn't want that life again, of constant testing, of constant training. But having something to work towards in the next year, that helped, it made it better for her. It gave her a reason to move forward.
Now she had this e-mail from Brian Wallach. He had an opening at his spa in the W--she wasn't a massuese or a spa technician but he was asking regardless. He thought that her personality and presence would be a perfect fit at the front desk, welcoming clients, even reaching out to hotel guests to inform them of the spa's services. She would have thought it a joke at first, except for the times she'd spent there in some of the darkest days, when the attacks had been going on and she and Cricket went to comfort stranded guests--and staff really. The people had been nice. Diana knew that it wasn't just Bruce asking to have Diana there, that the offer was geniune. It was a call to Deanna--her own skill with people. There might be a problem with bringing Cricket to the spa, but maybe they could figure something out with him staying with some of the other staff--or she coudl learn to be confident enough in her therapy and herself to finally get on the Green Line and get off at that station near the hotel. Maybe it was the chance to take back just another little piece of her old life. Before Diana. Before the flipping back and forth.
She called her father. Thank god, that hadn't changed. With all the ups and downs, all the turmoil and conflict, Dad was still her rock. She liked how Diana fell silent and even the memories ebbed away when she talked with her father. Sisters and a mother, Diana had. A father, a man who had raised her and cared and nurtured her, that was something that Diana could never share in and Dee always felt as if Diana pulled away out of respect more than anything. Her father was the one part of her life that Dee never had to share with the Amazon Princess. she told him abou the offer from Brian, questioned if she should take it. She listened to his advice, the worries about stretching herself too thin but at the same time about Brian being right, that it went along the lines of her therapy to get out of the house, to re-acclimate herself to a place she once loved. "Remember, honey, you can do anything," he said before he told her he loved her, was proud of her. He ended every conversation the same way. It made Dee feel good, that no matter what her father was always in her corner. It was one of the constants in her life: the sun rose, the sun set, 'Dad always believes in me'.
"He is a good man, your father."
Dee nodded as she whistled for Cricket and he came barrelling out of the back room where he spent her lunch breaks when she didn't go out or when she was teaching. She put on his lead, then tapped out a response to an e-mail on her phone.
Hey Brian--I wouldn't mind talking to you more about this job at the spa. I think it might be good for me. Tell Veronica I said hi and I'll talk to her soon, OK? Have 'fun' working in Hawaii. D.
She smiled as she hit send. Yeah. It would cut into her training time but it would be easier not to fall into the temptation of doing nothing but. She was going to have to break Josh's heart and not be his newest Elite tri-girl...but she was OK with that.
She was starting to be OK with a lot of things in life again.
