Home-Field Advantage

As Pam walked towards the entryway to wait for Logan to be brought in by security, she wondered why she went along with that crazy lady's insistence for her to interact with this person. She had to admit that since she started to call herself April her friend calmed down quite a bit, even looked sad at times. 

 She respected April immensely for helping her work through the kill-all-humans phase when she first arrived back in Gotham. She naturally rebelled a time or two trying to use her pheromone abilities to get men to give her money for an Island she wanted to buy so she could live away from all the humans and create her own little paradise. But that was constantly foiled by that damn Devilbat and his lot. She was lucky to have never been caught.

She started humming a song as she walked still lost in thought when she noticed a straggler from the class picking a berry off the Yew tree and moved towards him "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Those berries are VERY poisonous." She smiled as the boy realized he was in danger and dropped the berry saying "Yikes!". She kept an eye on the boy until he joined his class, then continued to hum her song as she picked the berry off the ground and disposed of it. 

Walking toward the door again she noticed a man standing next to the guard and he was looking at her with a half-smile that looked a bit mischievous. He wore casual clothes that made him seem natural no matter what he was doing. The type you could see someone going to class in college or the type of clothes someone would go to a trendy bar in. He was taller than her and looked fit, but the clothing didn't make him look bulky, she liked the way he presented himself. Overall, she felt he was handsome, not the best-looking guy she ever saw but he looked like a good mix of reliable and playful. 

As she got closer to him, she felt a warmth spread over her body, a reaction very similar to when she first met Swamp Thing. Alec Holland had been a mentor of hers when she was first interning with a group of biologists, later she heard he died in a lab accident. For a time, Swamp Thing actually thought it was Alec, and Pam was drawn to him as he was The Earthly Green representative, and her powers were also related to the Green. She even took over the role of protector when Swamp Thing disappeared for a time. When he returned, she quickly relinquished the role of Guardian because she really didn't like being the attack plant of some ancient Earth tree. 

When the warmth spread, she reflexively placed her hand on her stomach and looked at Logan in surprise. The surprise turned to a questioning look as if to ask if he felt it too and he nodded at her and then spoke. "Hello, Pam. Please tell me you didn't agree for me to take you out on a date to the place you worked. Because that is no date." The security guard took this as his cue to run for it and left Logan and Pam alone for their conversation. 

"Why can't it be a date just because I work here? I work in the Botanical research portion and have never been to the viewer's portion as a guest. Besides I don't usually do well talking to most humans. Plants calm me down and help me relax." Pam looked at Logan with a challenging gaze.

"First dates are supposed to be about learning how to interact with each other, but doing it in a place you work you have home-field advantage. We are supposed to both be awkward and uncomfortable, at first anyway." Logan laughed.

"You speak as if you have had many first dates." Pam said with a raised eyebrow.

Logan chuckled, "Not nearly as many as I have had to hear about from friends. So, should I drag a table and chairs to this entryway so we can sit and talk, or should we start walking through one of the few beautiful sights left in Gotham? Present company excluded."

(Did I just blush at that corny line? Damn Pam you need to get it together.) "Just let me finish up a few things."

"So, this is why you ditched me with the students. I must say, Dr. Isley… I approve." Luisa's voice came from behind Pam.

Logan stepped forward as Pam was stuttering a denial and took Luisa's hand, "To gain the approval of one Pam thinks so highly of is my great fortune on our first date. You are one of two people I have heard Pam mention in a positive light and knowing her high standards I expect you to win a Nobel prize any day now. By the way, my name is Logan." 

"She may come off like that at times, but she is one of the most caring people I have ever had the pleasure to call a friend. Please call me Luisa." Luisa said.

"Well, I don't approve, Pam and I had plans for dinner tonight." A blond-haired man said. 

"No Winston, you had a plan and I turned you down!" Pam said, frustration bleeding from her tone of voice. As if this conversation had been had many times. 

Logan looked questioningly at Pam, his body language asking if he needed to step in to which Pam shook her head. He couldn't help but let out a little irritation at this Winston though and mentally suggested for him to take a hike. He didn't want to go too far over something so stupid though.

"You can go ahead and take off Pam," Luisa said. "I will take the evening readings from our latest hybrid plant project. Feel free to come in late tomorrow as well." Luisa finished with a wicked grin. 

Pam shook her head and looked at me, "What were you saying about home-field advantage?" She walked away to get her things and put her lab coat away. 

As I waited, I saw a man in a wheelchair observing me from a distance. I nodded in his direction, but he didn't acknowledge me at all just rolled his chair away. 

When Pam returned, I gestured towards the hall and walked beside her as we started to look at the Botanical Garden that was started by the Socialite Martha Wayne before her untimely death. "I was always a little curious about the purpose of a Botanical Garden Pam. I know they have to serve a purpose for the state to help pay the upkeep on them, but I never got curious enough to look it up. Care to enlighten me?"

"The botanical garden or botanic garden is a garden dedicated to the collection, cultivation, preservation, and display of an especially wide range of plants, which are typically labeled with their botanical names. Botanical Gardens have collections of living flora species for reference. Plant species in these gardens are grown for identification purposes and each plant is labeled indicating its botanical name and its family. The famous botanical gardens are at Kew(England), the Indian Botanical Garden, Howrah(India), and at National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow(India). The approximate number of botanic gardens in the world is 2500. Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England is known as the largest botanical garden in the world. It has a 300-acre garden near London and is home to the world's biggest collection of living plants. The Botanical Garden in Berlin is the second largest botanical garden in the world." 

"That was a very textbook answer, with none of your heart in it. I couldn't decide if I wanted to yawn in your face or get a pen and paper in case there was a quiz on it later." Logan laughed.

"Well if you want my heartfelt answer then I see them as a last-ditch effort for the few who care about the planet to show the rest of the humans what is truly important. If we lose these plants, then the world as we know it will end and humans will be a failed evolution for the Earth that will quickly go extinct after the plants. It amazes me that for the enrichment of the few, the many will suffer when there are no longer enough trees to provide air and clean up carbon monoxide." Pam said with some heat.

"You know, I always laughed at those "Save the Planet" bumper stickers and shirts that were all the rage not long ago. I think it truly shows human arrogance. We can nuke ourselves right into extinction and just a few hundred years later Earth will start a new life. Whether it be a few random seeds that survive or the roaches that will survive just to spite us humans. While mother nature's survival of the fittest can be ruthless it also has a resiliency that is unmatched." Logan said.

We walked through all the exhibits and Pam was happy to tell me about all the plants and interesting facts about them. My favorite was a stone dragon covered in ivy with his wings spread out providing shade to some of the most beautiful lilies I had ever seen. 

After walking through the last exhibit he asked, "How about we head to Crown Park and continue this date there? My bike is in the parking lot, you could follow me there."

Pam, "Sure, I'm in the faculty parking. Won't take but a few minutes to meet you in the parking lot."

We separated at the front desk as I turned in my visitor's badge and as I left, I saw a couple come in holding hands walking to the ticket booth. I stopped them and gave them the tickets I had bought as they didn't get used and there was no reason for them to go to waste.

I went to my bike and started it up then started looking for Pam to pull up. Just a couple minutes later a red Ducati 848 EVO crotch rocket pulled up next to me and the rider lifted the windshield of their helmet to reveal Pam smiling at me, "The first one there gets to ask the first 2 questions." Saying nothing more she took off with a squeal of her tires as she turned onto the main road. 

"This woman is going to steal my heart almost as fast as she wins this race." Logan slammed his bike in gear and jumped the curb, so he didn't waste time going to the exit.