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It’s amazing how much can change in a single night. How drastically lives may be altered; how one’s fate can shift and consequentially affect those around it.
It had only been a short hour ago, when the former doctor known has Harleen Quinzel, changed the course of her life forever…
——————————————————————
To Ivy’s growing agitation, and very well-placed concern, Dr Harleen Quinzel had been progressively growing more and more fixated on a certain Arkham inmate with a knack for comedy.
The floral villain had assumed it was just a random fling at first, similar to her own relationship with Harleen in Arkham: just a bit of a thrill for a young, adventurous doctor not yet hardened with morals and strict professionalism after years of formal psychiatric practice…but the two were having their encounters more and more frequently. That’s when Ivy slowly began noticing changes in the girl’s behavior.
It was little things at first; her natural Brooklyn accent for example came out a little stronger than it used to. Harleen had explained it just made her happy to talk like that… made speaking more interesting. Ivy didn’t understand that reasoning but decided not to question it.
Another change was noticed when Harleen started to amuse Ivy’s threats of murdering capitalists and businessmen, seeming to take a genuine interest in how Ivy would go about it almost as if…she fancied the idea of trying it herself. This is when Ivy took notice of something deeper going on with the doctor.
She finally got her answer as to what when the Joker started slowly creeping his way into the topic of conversation. Small anecdotes and fun facts would spring forth when the doctor was reminded of him…
“Oh yeah that reminds me of this one time Joker tried…
You know Mr Joker once told me about when…
That’s funny, Mr J would love to hear how that could’ve…”
Each time she heard his name on the girl’s lips, or especially one of the seemingly endless petnames she gave him, Ivy could feel her blood boil just a little more. She never particularly liked that psychopath, but he had never gotten in her way or interrupted her schemes before…therefore she didn’t really give enough of a shit to invest her time into thinking about him.
But this was different…
Now…he was infecting something-- no someone, she cared deeply about…
He was a toxin she, for once, didn’t have a cure for.
The week it finally all came crashing down was the week she officially decided Joker was the man she hated most on earth.
Harleen, no Harley — as she now preferred to be called— had been distracted. Not the usual ‘Arkham-psychiatrist-type’ distracted, which was caused by either exhaustion or the continuous death threats from inmates finally wearing on a person…no this was a different kind of distracted.
‘She had something on her mind’ type distracted, like she was waiting for something to happen. Or more accurately, Ivy realized, she was waiting to do something.
Later on, Ivy would dwell on the thought of how differently things could have ended up for the doctor if she had helped her to think more critically of the clown. She would also go on to partially blame herself for deciding to breakout that week instead of staying to make sure Harley was alright.
Maybe, just maybe if she had stayed, she could’ve talked some sense into her…stopped the catalyst from happening…save such an innocent soul from a permanent life of crime…
But she didn’t…
She escaped Arkham, and in her absence Harleen Quinzel decided to seal her fate…
——————————————————————
It had been a few days after Ivy’s escape when she watched in disbelief at the news coverage of a particularly shocking breakout at Arkham Asylum.
The clown prince of crime had escaped again…big whoop…but he had had an accomplice who orchestrated the whole thing. An accomplice who had supplied weapons and bombs and god knows what else to break him out, leaving half of Arkham in smoke and ruins. The accomplice in question was the one who had once introduced Ivy to the idea that human beings may be redeemable. A bit ironic that the girl had now become an example of all that she once previously fought so hard to discourage.
The new anchors had given her a nickname, albeit an absurdly derivative one, which solidified what would become a new permanent image in the eyes of Gotham: Harley Quinn.
Ivy felt sick to her stomach. She remembered Harley always making light quips on her name’s resemblance to ‘harlequin’. Admittedly, as easy as the similarity was, the doctor had always been fond of the nickname, joking if she ever cracked that’d be her go to villain name…Ivy never would have imagined that to become reality. For the gentle, kind, and compassionate doctor to flip on a dime so dramatically. Seeing her innocent Arkham employee photo alongside Joker’s archived mugshot on live TV…Ivy couldn’t tell if she wanted to laugh, cry or vomit.
The coverage claimed the (very much fired) psychiatrist and clown fled the scene and were nowhere to be found. The meta human soon found herself pacing in her lair; mind wracked with worry as her thoughts spiraled to the darkest of conclusions.
Was she killed?
Was she caught?
Did she go with him?
Did he betray her? Of course he did!
What if I never see her again…?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock in the door. Although it was quiet, the sound pounded in her ears, stopping her dead in her tracks.
No one knew where her lair was, and anyone who found out sure as hell wouldn’t approach by knocking on the front door politely. And even if they did, why hadn’t her plants alerted her of an intruder? She had never told anyone where she lived, nor assured her plants of any human’s trust. No one…except….
Ivy felt her heart leap into her throat as she practically ran to the door. She fought back tears at the sight of a very injured but miraculously alive… Harley Quinn.
“H-hiya Ive…” she said faintly. She stood in the doorway, meekly clutching her arm with dry blood caking the side of her face. Her knees were scratched and bruised, with elbows to match, and her eyes looked puffy— she’d been crying.
“I-uhh…” her voice died in her throat when the green woman suddenly grasped her into fierce embrace, holding her as if this time were the last. “Thank god,” the woman breathed, relieved to see the girl alive and safe…and most importantly, away from that clown.
With trembling hands Ivy guided her friend out of the doorway, and into the quiet lab. She was currently assessing the girl’s condition, trying not to break down at the sight of her.
Possible concussion, sprained arm, bruising, maybe some blood loss but doesn’t look severe…I-I can fix this, she assured herself, she’ll be fine. It’s fine. Just stay calm.
She forced down the lump in her throat as she gently set the twitching girl on the couch. She was avoiding eye contact, Ivy noticed, and seemed to be looking for something to say.
The meta human cupped the blonde’s cheek, gently stroking her skin with her thumb before lifting her gaze to meet her own.
When their eyes finally met, Harley’s bottom lip began to quiver gently. Her breath came out in soft hiccups, as she hid her face in her hands and started to cry for what was probably not the first nor even the fifth time that night, Ivy presumed.
The woman cradled the girl’s head against her chest, letting her cry it out. She couldn’t imagine the whirlwind of emotions running through the poor girl’s head: helping a psychopathic murderer like the Joker, breaking him out of Arkham, destroying Arkham, getting hurt in the process only to be abandoned and possibly left for dead by aforementioned psychopath… not to mention the long held moral code the blonde stood by so passionately come crashing down so violently. Perhaps she had not foreseen the consequences of tonight, but even if she had it didn’t matter…Gotham would consider the doctor a villain, now and forever. Ivy could tell you first-hand what a stigma Gothamites hold on criminals no matter if they were C or A listers. And Ivy couldn’t even imagine the weight of being associating with someone like the Joker was bearing down on her…poor thing.
“It’s alright Harls. It’s going to be alright.” Sniffles were the girl’s only response as she wrapped her unstrained arm around the woman, holding tight. “I’m right here it’s ok. You’re safe now, I promise.”
The plant life around them twitched with worry as they peered at the sobbing girl and their anxious mother; Ivy tried to calm them down too.
The woman stroked the blonde’s dirtied hair gently. “Shh sh sh sh, everything’s going to be alright. Flower, look at me…” Wet blue eyes peaked up from Ivy’s chest; exhausted, scared, and small. “It’s going to be ok, I’m here.” She took hold of the girl’s hand, cupping it to her own face, tenderly. “Take a deep breath…good.” Harley forced her breathing under control, despite still trembling quiet violently. She used her free hand to wipe the girl’s tears away. “There, there daisy, I’ve got you.” Ivy smiled gently, “Let’s get you cleaned up, yeah?”
Harley said nothing as Ivy led her to the bathroom, and gently peeled off her bloody, torn clothes. She set her down in the bathtub before leaving briefly to fetch ample amounts of gauze, bandages, and herbal creams. The girl winced gently as the warm water lapped over her scratched knees.
“These should help with that,” Ivy explained upon her return, gently rubbing the creams on Harley’s wounded joints. The girl let out a sigh at the feeling of relief washing over her, it must’ve been Ivy’s own blend because the stinging from her cuts stopped almost immediately.
“May I?” The villain asked gently.
Harley nodded, grimacing as she tried to lift her arm out to Ivy. “Sh sh, don’t force it,” the woman gently reached out to take hold of the injured arm herself, tenderly wrapping it up in gauze.
The silence in the room was an uncomfortably thick blanket, which had been resting over both women since Harley had arrived. Ivy wanted to break it, not only because it was tense as hell, but she was also dying to know what the fuck had been going through the girl’s mind to think that that was a good idea. Of course, ever the psychoanalytical expert, Harley seemed to read the woman’s demeanor.
“I know you want to ask it…” she sighed, she sounded like she hadn’t slept in a month.
Ivy finished wrapping her arm, letting the request hold in the air for a moment before finally asking…
“Why?”
The girl opened her mouth to speak but hesitated. She wracked her brain for any sensible explanation and was dismayed to realize each excuse would land skeptically on the metahuman’s ears. So instead, a small sob choked out of her throat as she curled into herself in the bathtub.
Ivy moved to kneel beside the tub at Harley’s level, taking her into a gentle embrace. “It’s alright pretty girl…later, when you’re ready to talk about it.” She gave her a reassuring smile, stroking her cheek fondly for a moment. Harley smiled faintly, leaning into the touch.
She took a cloth and gently began dabbing off the dried blood from Harley’s forehead, who flinched away. “I know it hurts baby, but I have to in order to make it better.”
The girl clenched her jaw, wincing as the woman cleaned and bandaged her wound but managed to hold surprisingly still.
Ivy smiled warmly, “ever my brave girl I see,” she cooed. Harley smiled tiredly as the woman placed a gentle kiss on the uninjured side of her head. “Come on, I have some spare clothes you can wear, let’s dry you off.”
——————————————————————
That all too familiar silence lingered once more between the women as Ivy fixed the dried off and bandaged doctor a cup of tea. Ivy opted to just watch her as she slowly drank from her cup. See? She’s alright, she assured herself, everything is fine, she’s safe, she’s here, nothing’s going to happen to her ever again. I’ll make sure of it. Everything will be fine…as long as I never let him near her again—
“He said I had to prove it…” the girl said suddenly. Speak of the fucking devil
“He said, ‘how can I know you truly love me, if you aren’t willing to sacrifice everything for…for us’”, her grip tightened around her cup. “He put so much emphasis, on the us.”
Ivy reached out a hand to place on the doctor’s trembling ones, setting the blonde’s cup down. The girl took a breath.
“I thought it’d be a way to reach him. He’s been growing distant over the past few months, no matter what I try I just can’t…regain that same spark we had you know. I thought this would help. A way to prove I was serious.”
Ivy sat there quietly, letting her speak.
“I thought helping him not as a doctor but as a partner that I…” That sentenced died away as the girl let out a hollow chuckle. A flat sound, different from the warm little laughs Ivy had come to know from the girl.
The chuckle evolved to a deep giggling, which slowly grew out of control before the doctor broke out into a deranged, shrill laughter. She manically clenched her fists around her hair, pulling her head between her knees as she continued to cackle, utterly unhinged. Ivy could only watch as Harley experienced what every shrink who ever dealt with the Joker eventually went through…she had finally snapped.
“Oh god, Ivy! I killed people tonight, I killed innocent people!” her voice was strained between laughs, “Just grabbed a mallet and ya know wham!” She clutched her sides doubling over.
Ivy partially reached out her hand, hesitating, half outstretched towards the manic girl; unsure and--well in all honesty, frightened. Harleen had always been the posterchild of composure and grace but seeing her like this…Ivy knew for certain that Harley and Harleen were no longer one in the same.
“And you know what’s funny? That’s not even the craziest part. Haha! The crazy part… is that I actually liked it! Isn’t tha-t hilarious?” Her laughter slowly devolved into broken sobs as she buried her face behind her hands.
Ivy sat in dismay, she had always known the young doctor to be so quiet and reserved. Hearing her guffaw like—well like him— and then wail so openly afterwards, it shook her to her core.
“God Ive, what have I done? I’m a monster,” she lamented softly, curling her knees to her chest. She felt a warm hand place itself on her shoulder. “Harley you’re not a monster.”
“Ya wanna tell that to the guard who’s face I pancaked?” she spat.
Ivy lamely offered the sobbing girl a tissue, not knowing what to say. Quietly she mumbled, “this was my fault…”
“W-what?” Harley choked out, glancing at her.
“You were acting weird all week. If I’d have stayed instead of breaking out…I don’t know maybe I could have stopped you from doing any of this. Or at the very least kept you from getting so hurt.”
Harley chuckled flatly again. “He said he promised I wouldn’t get hurt,” she looked at her bandages, “guess I didn’t get the punchline ‘til now.” Ivy draped her arm over the girl’s shoulders as she wept again, despite barely having any tears left to cry.
“You’re not a monster Harley, you have a kind heart. That’s what sets apart the sadists from the tortured. Isn’t that what you told me?”
The girl sniffled, “that’s what Harleen told you…sorry Ive, but she’s long gone now and I don’t think she’s coming back.”
“Well…” Ivy started, “do you think she’d forgive you? After all, she forgave someone like me?”
Harley smiled dryly, “Yeah but you’re nothing like me red, you fight for a good cause. I fought for no reason but to impress someone who just used me as a tool.”
“That may be true. I guess what matters is how you choose to move forward.”
“How can I possibly move forward? I’ve lost everything!” She wept tearlessly.
Ivy swore then and there at that moment if she ever saw that clown again she'd douse him in her slowest working, most lethal poison--to make him feel just an ounce of the pain he was putting her Harley through.
The girl wiped her wet face with the back of her sleeve and suddenly pulled away. “I’m sorry sniff I don’t mean to burden you with all this Ive, you’ve done so much for me already. I think I’ve been here long enough as it is, I’ll get out of your hair now.”
She stood moving to leave but was stopped by a hand clutched around her wrist. “What do you think you’re doing?” Ivy asked incredulously. “You aren’t going anywhere in that condition! Harley please,” the woman stood. “Stay. Stay with me…”
“W-what?”
“Harley listen I-” the woman sighed, taking a deep breath as if to ready herself for something.
“Daffodil,” she cupped her face, staring into her blue eyes with an intensity Harley had never seen before. “Since I’ve met you you’ve shown me kindness like I’ve never known. You’ve seen me for who I am-what I am, and you’ve embraced it. You’ve been nothing but a friend to me Harls, more than that!” The girl felt herself blush.
“I…”
“You said you lost everything but you still have me, you’ll always have me Harley I promise you that. I won’t abandon you like he did. I won’t take your empathy for granted like he did!”
Harley noticed the woman’s eyes beginning to well up, and it took a moment to convince herself she wasn’t imagining it.
“Please, stay here with me! We can be together, work together, I don’t know but we’ll make it work.”
Why does she sound so scared? Harley thought to herself.
“Please Harls stay with me, I can’t loose you!”
She's shaking…
The woman clutched the girl’s shoulders as if she feared the blonde would slip away forever if she let go.
“Ivy what are you trying to say?”
“Harley I…I love you…”
The once aloof woman Harley had come to know so familiarly, began to cry.
The former psychiatrist found herself stunned, but only for a moment before immediately moving to take the woman in a gentle embrace, holding her tight. She let the meta-human ride out her tears, gently stroking her fierce red hair, as the woman had done to her so many times.
The plants of the room shuddered and twisted, echoing the anxiety and fears of their mother.
Harley stood cradling her for a while, her thoughts turning over and over again at what was just said to her. She had never given it that much thought before: Ivy always seemed to act warmer around her than anyone else. She was always so considerate and so gentle with her, despite literally being made of poison. She made her feel so light whenever she was around…and not just from the sex pheromones mind you, but the smiles the villain would flash her whenever the doctor walked into the room, they felt so earnest so inviting. So warm. And now said villain had just opened up to her in a way the girl would have never imagined. It was such an enormous risk that it had literally broken her down with fear…
“Pamela…”
Harley took hold of the green woman’s hand, guiding it to rest on her bandaged face. She moved Ivy’s other hand to rest over her heart. The meta human could feel the restless yet assuring heartbeat, thump rhythmically, gently.
“I’m here…” the girl said softly. She moved forward slowly, so that their foreheads rested against each other. Her lips brushed against Ivy’s as she repeated, “I’m right here.”
As if united by a shared mind, the two joined in a soft kiss. It was warm and calming. Perhaps not as sensual and steamy as their past shared kiss, but passionate, nonetheless. It portrayed what their words could not: everything will be alright, we have each other.
They broke apart, eyeing back at each other. Where usually one gaze would hold dominance over the other, whether be it a doctor over patient, or villain over civilian…this time they gazed back at a reflection of themselves: Scared, expectant, lightly aroused, but comforted.
Two halves of a whole.
Both women found themselves giggling softly at their shared thoughts, feeling at ease and safe in each other’s company.
Their foreheads touched again as they both closed their eyes, just feeling each other’s presence, the warmth of the other.
“I’m not going anywhere tonight red, I know where I belong.”Harley gingerly gave a peck on the villain’s cheek, who returned the favor with a kiss on the nose, before the women moved to sit on the couch once more.
Ivy rested her head on the blonde’s shoulder letting out a content sigh as they sat in silence; no longer thick and uncomfortable, but gentle and reassuring. They watched each other wordlessly for a moment. A wry smile slowly formed on her lips.
“What?” Harley grinned.
“What did I say about using that name, peanut,” Ivy chided, her confidence returning once more.
“Oh I remember, but…I think you like it when I use it. Pammy~” The girl giggled at the woman’s blush, proving her point.
Ivy playfully nipped her neck, “I’ll not have this disrespect while you’re under my roof, sweetheart,” she purred gently pinning the girl down onto the couch. “Careful red, I’m a dangerous criminal now don’t you know?”
Harley giggled as Ivy continued to plant kisses all over her neck, minding the bruises of course.
“Hey,” Harley interrupted softly. Ivy eyed the girl’s warm expression, curiously.
“I love you too.”
...It truly is incredibly how much fates can change in a single night...