Chapter Text
“Where are the thrillers?”
Barbara had barely registered the woman until she had spoken. She didn’t look up when she answered like she normally would. Instead, Barbara continued shelving books as she spoke, working solely on instinct.
The night before had been exhausting. Cass had been undercover and, despite trusting Cass’ skills, Barbara was stressed out. After hours of watching for danger and waiting for a call, Cass checked in with a minor gun shot wound and many promises that she could keep going.
Thankfully, she had gone back to the Manor to get stitched up, but it hadn’t calmed Barbara’s nerves. She had only gotten into bed at 4:15am, less than five hours before her shift started.
She suppressed a yawn and put another few books on the shelf in front of her. In the silence of the library, she could hear Marta speaking in soft tones to a man.
His voice was quiet, almost hesitant. It was too quiet to hear his actual words. It caught her attention. It was purposefully quiet, not frail or high.
Her gut told her to get closer, She'd had a hard time distinguishing between gut instincts and paranoia. She had barely stopped flinching when she heard a laugh. But she wouldn’t risk it this time.
Barbara turned and looked for the man.
Her eyes found him quickly. He was huge. She could tell from here that he’d rival Bruce in stature. His massive shoulders were hunched over, like his faded hoodie could hide his muscles.
She could barely see his face but, from the side, she categorized what she could.
White with a tan, black hair with a bleached streak. There was some baby fat on his cheeks but it was almost gone. It was marred by a scar over his eyebrow that was still pink.
He hunched over a bit more after handing his ID over to Marta at the front desk. He seemed anxious but not dangerous.
It almost seemed like he was ashamed of his size. Probably just young and quiet.
She watched out of the corner of her eye. At this point, assured that this was paranoia and not a real threat, she let her attention shift away.
After a moment, he must have sensed her eyes on him. He turned just slightly towards her. His body had gone still, nothing like the anxious demeanour of before. Her complete focus was on him again as he turned slowly.
The first thing she noticed was his eyes. They were dark blue and tired, almost almond shaped.
For a moment, she thought it was Bruce. But he was too young, too shy.
His eyes widened when they noticed her.
The parts of his face clicked into place —the familiarity of it all— and completed a puzzle.
Jason.