Who: John and Barbara When: Mid-November Where: Pre-arranged meeting place What: Catching up Rating/Warning: Low/None Status: Complete
Barbara felt amazing. She was happier than she had been in a long time. She had cut back her working hours, was spending a lot of time with Billy - in and out of the bedroom, was training Irisa like she trained in her dreams as Batgirl and was overall feeling rather contented.
So now, with more time, she was making an effort to see her friends and first on her list was John. It had been far too long since they’d caught up and she wanted to make sure he was happy too. She had messaged him to see when he was free and was now awaiting his arrival.
John had made time for her and was grinning as he stepped up to her, and smiled, eyes warm. “Hello. Barbara.” He was glad to see her. In both worlds she was a woman he respected and liked, and he was glad to be able to share time with her.
“John, hello” she smiled in greeting as she embraced him briefly, Billy’s influence she was sure. “How are you doing?”
John was surprised but not displeased and he hugged her gently, and smiled warmly to her. “Hello again. I’m doing well. Settling in with AJ once more and working on, well… we are not making noise about it, but we are working on having a child.”
He was so happy about it he could burst.
“Oh John, that’s wonderful” Barbara smiled brightly at her friend, “Absolutely wonderful. I’m so happy for you both”
John smiled softly back. “Thank you. I cannot wait for it to happen. I have always wanted a child or two. Now I hope that this goes very well.” He grinned at her. “HOw has work been for you?”
“Oh I’m sure it will. You’ll both be wonderful parents” she smiled, “Actually I’ve been cutting back on work lately, properly this time. Spending more time with friends and loved ones and enjoying life more”
“I hope so, thanks.” He smiled at her and then grinned. “Good. Billy spoke of you a lot, when I spent time with him, just before the mission, and I am sure he is glad to be able to see you more.” His eyes danced with amusement and warmth.
Barbara couldn't stop the blush that spread over her cheeks, Billy was definitely seeing a lot more of her now. She smiled brightly, “He’s an incredible man” she nodded, “And he is the main reason for reducing my hours” she admitted.
John raised one eyebrow at her blush and his smile bloomed wider. “Good. You both deserve someone who makes you feel good, and gives you reasons to come home.” He nodded, feeling better about things.
“Any more dreams?”
"We definitely have that now" Barbara smiled, it seemed like a small thing but she felt a huge relief that she could talk about her relationship with Billy now. "Actually I've not had anything new for a while"
“Nor I. Sometimes I wonder if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but most of the time I am just happy about it.” He grinned at her and nodded. “I’ve been working and spending time with AJ, and finding that life is really rather incredible for me now.”
"I'm in a similar position. I've spent so much time with Billy since his return and he makes me happier than I've been in a long time"
“Good.” John nodded, happy to hear that.”You deserve joy my friend. “
He nodded, then snapped his fingers. “Oh yes! I wanted to know if you would like to spar sometime soon.”
"I'd love to" Barbara replied nodding, "I've actually been training a young girl recently and I realised how much I miss being active"
“Good! We can spar and see how well our here-selves compare to our there-selves.” He nodded to her, bowing. “RPI maintains a gymnasium with advanced technology, and we can go there to stretch ourselves.”
“Excellent, that all sounds great” Barbara replied nodding in response, “I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be fun to see how we compare”
“Sounds good to me.” He smiled to her, nodding. another thing done. He liked being around people he could trust so much.