InsaneJournal

When (Not-Quite) Legends Meet.
Who: Barbara Gordon and Billy Batson
Where: a library
What: talking
When: recently
Warnings/Rating: PG
Status complete


Billy Batson was a young man who worked at a local television studio, volunteered a few weekends a month at the Urdnot Ranch, and worked hard as an afterschool tutor. All of which meant that reading and scholarly goodness were important to him. So, he could be found late some nights at the library.

And so it was this evening, on one of those nights when the library was open late, and Billy, studying, was sitting in a pool of light with books and papers before him.

The library at night was a wonderful place, at least in Barbara’s opinion, it was quieter than usual and the people were incredibly interesting. She was placing the last of the returned books on the shelves when she came across the young man who looked like he was very intensively studying. She tried to be as quiet as she could as she moved around him with the books she needed to replace on their shelves.

Billy didn’t notice her at first. He loved math, but sometimes, the functions needed a little extra studying, especially if he was going to tutor others. So he was applying himself to working them out slower than normal and fully understanding them, when he finally noticed her. With a start, he smiled and nodded to her. “Evening, Ma’am. Hope I’m not disturbing anything.” He was always polite, having been raised to it, and at sixteen, he was still trying to be that person he saw himself as.

Barbara turned to give him a smile as he spoke, “Oh no you’re perfectly fine” she assured him, “I’m sorry if I disturbed you, I didn’t realise there was anybody in this section” she admitted, “You’re very quiet” she told him with a grin.

Billy blushed and smiled. “Not at all, ma’am. I was always taught it’s only polite to acknowledge someone when they are near you.” He smiled back, eyes friendly. “And thanks. I do try. I love the library and learning here. It’s peaceful.”

“Please call me Barbara” she told him, “And I agree, it’s the perfect place for soaking up knowledge. I always did better when studying for exams if I did it in the library” she admitted, “Are you working on anything in particular?” she asked interestedly.

He nodded and took a breath. “Barbara, thanks. My name is Billy Batson, but please call me Billy.” She was a nice woman, and pretty, and obviously worked here and Billy grinned to meet her. “Totally true! It makes for some of the best studying I have ever done.”

He nodded and pointed out the problems he was working on. “I’m a tutor, and taking some advanced math classes now, so I’m putting in extra time to study the concepts so I can pass them on. Wouldn’t do me much good to tutor them if I didn’t know what I was talking about.”

“Nice to meet you Billy” she replied smiling, “I’m glad you find the library as helpful as I did”

She looked at the problems he was pointing to, “Tutoring advanced math classes, that’s pretty impressive” she told him.

He blushed again and shook his head. “We all need a little help, ma’am, and if I can do it, then i should be able to pass it on. No reason not to, and that way, the next person along can do the same, and so on. Everybody does that, then things will get a lot better in the world.”

“It’s very refreshing to hear that” she told him, “Especially from someone so young, if you don’t mind me saying so” she added, not wanting to cause offence, “It’s a wonderful philosophy and one I absolutely agree with”

Billy grinned. “Not a problem ma- er, Barbara. Even a sixteen year old should be able to appreciate it, and this one does.” He nodded. “I try to do what I can, because I have seen others who have been in need and not been helped. And It bothers me.” A lot.

She smiled as he corrected himself and nodded as he continued, “People have become very ignorant of others, as much as I wish it weren’t so someone like yourself is in the minority”

Billy blushed and sighed.”I wish more people would just.... think. It seems so logical that for all to prosper, all must help all, but few people seem to care.” It was one of the things that most made him sad. “I have to believe that deep down in, people really do care.”

He nodded. “People really are good at heart.”

Barbara agreed, “I think you’re right” she replied, “Everybody's lives are so full and busy they just forget things sometimes”

Billy smiled at her, enjoying this. “Nice to meet a fellow optimist.” He felt a surge of hope as he considered her. “Do you work here a lot?” Suddenly, he felt a feeling of kinship, and it wasn’t often that he felt that outside his family, or even in it.

“Indeed it is” she smiled before answering his question, “When I have the time I like to lend a hand, I own the building and head the library board but I enjoy being hands on too” she explained with no boasting but simple facts. She liked this boy, he was not only intelligent but seemed insightful too.

Billy nodded, grinning. “Really? Wow!” His eyes went wide. She owned the library? Cool! “Do you have a big library yourself?” Pause. “Er, personally?” For some reason, that made him blush like he had asked something very personal.

“What, ah, does a library board do?”

Barbara laughed softly, “I do” she informed him, not minding the question at all, “I love books, my library is the biggest room in my house and I spend the most time in there when I’m at home”

She shrugged, “Nothing amazing, we mostly decide on what books we should purchase, the number of people using the services we offer, groups that have requested to use the rooms we have, opening hours, all of that kind of thing”

He felt a little jealous at her fortune of words. “Wow! That’s awesome! We only have a small library at our house, and I’ve read everything there, three of four times.” He grinned then. “Someday, I’ll have a huge library!”

He nodded. “Still cool.” He grinned at her, more. Working with books must be fun.”

Barbara smiled brightly at him, “I’m sure you will” she told him, “It was definitely one of the biggest reasons for buying my house” she grinned.

“Oh it is, I’d love to be able to devote more time to it” she admitted before looking at him an idea forming in her mind, “You know if you have any suggestions on books you’d like to see in the library or services we could provide we’d gratefully receive them. Only if you have time of course, it sounds like you are pretty busy with study and tutoring”

Billy blushed, then grinned. “I sort of have a list. At home. Er, or new books, and thoughts on library stuff.” He smiled. “Not that I know anything about libraries or how this all works, but... I’m here a lot and I watch and... yes.”

Barbara found that delightful, “Brilliant” she replied, “Completely brilliant. How would you like to attend the next board meeting?” she asked him, “It’s a very small, friendly bunch, nothing to worry about or be intimidated by” she assured him.

“Really? Me? I--- yes!” He blushed again. “Sure! When do they meet? I’ll just need to schedule stuff around it.” He grinned at her.

“Say... is the board interested in establishing a library at Urdnot Ranch?”

“Excellent. Well we usually meet on the second Thursday of each month but if that’s a problem we can always change it this month as I know it’s short notice” she replied with a kind smile, “Oh now that is a great idea, it’s definitely something we’d be interested in” she nodded.

“Sure. I could make that.” He smiled at her. “I just have to get my notes together.” Then he blushed and nodded. “I’d have to make sure Wrex actually would be interested, but it would seem like something awesome for the kids at the ranch.”

"Thats great" she smiled, "Just let me know if you need a hand with anything" she offered, "It would be very awesome, anything that encourages reading and learning is good in my opinion"

Billy smiled to her and nodded. “Thanks. I think so too. And I’ll let you know. Ah... do you have a card?” He wasn’t sure, but somehow asking for a card sounded less personal than asking for a phone number.

Nodding Barbara fished out one of her contact cards and handed it over. "The cell phone is the best number to use" she told him, since she always had it on for work.

Billy eyed it and memorized the number, then put it with his books. “Thanks!” He smiled at her. It was nice to meet a book friend like himself, and someone who cared, and someone who might be able to help do awesome things!

"Its been lovely to meet you Billy" she told him smiling, "I should maybe let you get back to your studying though thank you for letting me interrupt" she grinned.

“I suppose so. I hope to talk to you again, soon!” He rose and nodded to her. “And I hope you have a good night.” Then he sat back down to dive into his studies once more.

"I hope so too. Good luck with your studying though I'm sure you don't need it" she added before leaving him to the books. She was so glad she had come to the library that evening, she had a feeling Billy would be a wonderful asset to the library and a good friend too.

FIN>