Disclaimer: The Characters from "The Batman" are owned by DC Comics, Warner Bros., Bob Kane and God knows how many other people by now. This is a story done purely for fun and not to make profit whatsoever. Any original characters that may appear belong to the writer and can be used with permission.

Holiday Knights

Chapter 1: Harley & Ivy

Christmas is usually a festive time of the year. A time when people are supposed to come together to celebrate peace and love and good will towards men. For the inmates at Arkham Asylum, however, it's just another day with only a few exceptions like the large, brightly lit tree with some of the most gaudy decorations ever placed in the middle of the rec room as well as few old looped Christmas specials on the TV. The more well behaved inmates were also allowed to receive gifts from friends and family. Being that they were still dangerous criminals, they were allowed nothing bigger than a greeting card, but as they say it's the thought that counts. At the very least it let the inmates believe that there was someone out there that still cared for them and the heads of the Asylum agreed that was best for their mental health.

Despite the festive feeling in their air, one certain green skinned inmate still looked completely miserable. Well, maybe completely was too strong a word. At the very least she was glad to be out of her stuffy cell. It was her reward for showing so much progress in her therapy sessions. But since she was still considered such a high risk for escape, all the guards in the rec room were keeping an extra eye on her. Oddly enough though, they weren't the ones putting her in such a foul mood. Or at least not them in particular. There was just something about this season itself and people's care free attitudes that just really annoyed her. If she had to deal with just one more person wishing her a "Merry Christmas" she'd-

"Merry Christmas Ivy!" Harley's overly cheerful voice broke her thoughts.

"Bah humbug!" the plant girl snarled back before she laid her head on the table she sat at.

"Oh come on kiddo, don't be like that," the blonde encouraged as she sat down next to the girl. "This is the time of year when we're all supposed to be happy."

"Happy?" Ivy muttered right before her head snapped up and she glared daggers at Harley. "Happy? How am I supposed to be happy with...that in here?"

Harley arched an eyebrow in confusion before her head slowly turned in the direction of Ivy's outstretched hand which was pointing accusingly at the large pine tree in the middle of the room. She blinked a few times before she cast a bewildered glance back at her friend.

"Uhh...ya do know that's a fake tree, right deary?" she asked slowly.

"Of course I know it's a fake tree!" Ivy snarled with an irritated sigh. "And I'm at least happy they decided to go with one but it's what it represents that aggravates me!"

Harley rolled her eyes then leaned over the table and laid her chin on her left hand with a tired sigh.

"Lemme guess, this is something about how chopping down trees for Christmas is bad, right?" she droned.

"How isn't it bad?" Ivy shot back. "Every year at this time people go on a genocidal spree that would easily be considered a war crime if it weren't done on plants! And that's just the pine trees! Let's not forget all the mistletoe and wreathes out there."

The blonde woman would have started to zone out at yet another one of her young friend's environmental rants if she hadn't noticed that the guards were paying attention to the outburst and were starting to reach for their stun batons. So instead of going off to her own little world, she reached out to grab Ivy's wrist and yank her back down into her seat. The redhead stared angrily at her but before she could ask her what she was going, Harley merely pointed to the on-edge guards. Ivy's eyebrows shot up in surprise before she calmed down and gave a slight nod to Harley before she leaned back in the chair. The blonde returned the nod with a smile then looked up at the guards.

"See there, boys? Nothin' to worry about here. Professional at work," she informed them in her usual cheerful tone.

The guards looked unsurely at each other for a moment before they all nodded and returned to their ready positions. Ivy cast an odd look at her friend herself as she leaned back in her chair.

" 'Professional', huh?" she mocked.

"Hey, I have a psychology degree!" Harley shot back.

"An online degree."

"It's still a degree!"

"Whatever," Ivy scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

"And all that training is telling me that there's another reason why you're so grumpy right now and it has nothin' to do with Christmas trees or any of that junk. I think..." she paused to lean forward with a devious grin on her face, "...you're missin' someone."

Ivy did her best to keep her face calm, but inside she was having a mini panic attack. She didn't remember letting it slip that she was technically in a relationship with someone and she was sure she didn't tell anyone that the relationship was with Batgirl. So how could Harley have figured it out? She wasn't that observant.

Was she?

"I don't know what you're talking about," the green girl waved off dismissively.

"Oh honey, please," Harley retorted. "I was the host of a love line show for two years, I know the signs to look for."

"You were the host of a trash TV talk show the more often than not ruined people's lives," Ivy countered.

"Sure there were a few hiccups here and there but I helped more people than I hurt and it helped me become an expert in the matters of the heart."

"Says the woman who's dating The Joker."

Harley's brow furrowed in annoyance. "You want to hear my advise or not?"

"Not particularly," Ivy droned as she rest her chin on her palm again.

"Well tough, cause you're gonna here it anyway," the blonde said forcefully.

She then leaned back in her chair and straightened her hair out to appear more professional as she looked Ivy over again more thoroughly this time.

"So I'd say...recently started relationship, right?" she probed.

Ivy sighed and rolled her eyes again. "I'm not doing this, Harley. I've already got a much more qualified shrink annoying me almost every day."

"Yet you keeping going to him even though you clearly don't like 'im. Plus the last time I invited you to escape with me you refused. So that means whoever this person is, they're very important to you."

"You're just going to keep doing this, aren't you?" the plant girl asked, practically rhetorically.

Harley went on undisturbed. "Now the question is what kind of boy is he?"

Ivy didn't respond.

"Or maybe it's not a boy at all," the blonde tried again with a slight smirk. "Maybe it's...a girl."

Despite trying to remain motionless and appear unconcerned, Ivy's left eyebrow did twitch a bit at the last remark. Much to her surprise, the usually bubbly blonde seemed rather sharp at the moment and happened to catch the slight movement.

"Ha! I knew it!" she cried out happily, clapping her hands together and surprising the guards again.

"What do you mean 'you knew it'?" Ivy snarled, sitting up straight in her chair.

"Oh, don't be so upset sweetie," Harley advised as she laid a comforting hand on the girl's knee. "It's just a vibe I've been gettin' from you since we met. There's nothin' wrong with it. In fact..." She looked around suspiciously before she leaned forward and motioned for Ivy to do that same.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Ivy did just that so she could hear whatever secret Harley was going to share with her. Though she half expected her just to yell in her ear to watch her jump up in stark terror.

"...I've kinda been pitch hitting for the other team myself lately," Harley revealed.

The plant girl ended up being surprised all right, it just wasn't the kind of surprise she was excepting.

"What?" she shouted, her eyes wide a bit.

The blonde just smiled and nodded as she leaned back again.

"Yep. 'Course they're just thoughts right now but still it shows it's nothing to be ashamed of," she nodded sagely.

"I'm not ashamed, I just don't feel like sharing my personal business with anyone else," Ivy explained harshly.

"Aaaaw, but we're friends!" Harley pouted. "Friend's tell each other things like this! I can tell you who I've been having those kinda thoughts about."

"I honestly don't care."

"Ya sure? Figured you might be a bit jealous."

Ivy gave her a confused look. "Why would I be jealous?"

"I always thought you had kind of a thing for me. I mean I have noticed you starin' at my chest every so often," she noted.

"Oh, don't flatter yourself!" the other girl scoffed. "It's just that it's hard not to look at those things when they're bouncing around all over the place! Especially when you're in a skin tight suit and we're running away from the cops."

Harley just shrugged. "Eh, it's like I told the kitty cat, it's just what God gave me. I'm sure yours will plump up a bit more when you're a bit older."

"I'm twenty," Ivy growled.

"Oh," the bouncy blonde frowned and looked her friend over yet again. "Well...some girls just aren't meant to be very big. But it's fine, the look works for you. Kinda gives you a wood nymph look that fits into your overall theme."

"Whatever," she grumbled, folding her arms under her moderately sized breasts and pushing them up a bit to make them seem just slightly bigger.

"I'm sure whoever you've got on the outside doesn't mind their size though, right?" Harley remarked to try to lift her spirits and get the information she wanted.

"Harley, I told you, I'm not-"

"Isley, Pamela!" the guard with the bag of cards called out.

Ivy blinked in surprise then looked at the guard before she turned back to Harley.

"Did he just...?" she asked, pointing to him.

"Yep!" Harley beamed excitedly.

Unsure of what else to do, Ivy raised her hand so the guard could find her in the crowded rec room. He plodded his way over to her and begrudgingly handed over the red colored envelope to her. She barely hid her own disgust at his attitude, but it was quickly forgotten as she looked at the envelope marked only with the word "RED" in green letters and a warm sense of familiarity and comfort washed over her.

It didn't last long.

"Quick! Someone call Santa! I think one of his elves got away!" The Joker cackled from behind her.

"Cram it clown!" she growled, shooting him a deadly glare.

"Oooh! Help! Guards! They elf's going to give me a lump of coal in my stocking!" the still straight jacketed maniac cried out in mock terror as he danced around a bit.

"Oh Puddin' leave her alone," Harley pleaded as she stood up and moved between them. "It's Christmas after all, the one time we should all get together and love each other."

"But I do love her, Shnookie," Joker as he leaned against her, but kept his eye's purely on Ivy. "I just love how her presence can light up a whole room like say...oh...I dunno...a Christmas tree!"

"You sick, sadistic freak!" Ivy bellowed amid his manically laughter as she jumped up from her chair.

"Joker! Ivy! Settle it now or we'll settle it for you!" one of the guards warned, taking out his stun baton and stepping forward.

Ivy continued to stare daggers at The Joker, wanting nothing more than to wipe that stupid grin right off his arrogant, pasty face. In fact, not very long ago she wouldn't hesitated to do so. But nowadays she had something more important to worry about then putting the clown in his place. With that thought in mind she let out a slight side as she relaxed and walked up to the nearest guard.

"Forget it, he's not worth it," she scoffed and looked at the guard. "I'm ready to go back to my cell now."

He nodded then escorted her out of the rec room just as Harley was leading Joker in the opposite direction. Despite how odd she could be, Ivy was thankful to have a friend like Harley in here. Which made the decision she had been rolling over in her head the last few weeks all the more difficult, but she had to do what was best for her and right now that meant following her heart.

She followed the guard back to her cell and stepped inside it without any trouble. Plopped down onto the bed and made sure the guard was gone before she pulled the envelope out of her pocket. She checked to see if she was alone again before she tore it open and pulled out the card inside. It was a pretty standard looking Christmas card with a white background to represent snow and a pine tree right in the middle decorated with all sorts of reflective bits of paper to represent lights. Above the tree in red glittery letters was the word "Merry" and below it was the word "Christmas". Ivy refrained herself from scowling in disgust as she flipped it open to reveal the true present inside.

Taped to the left side of the card was a small photograph of both herself and Barbara before the accident that changed both of their lives. They were sitting on a bench in the middle of a park with their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders and smiling widely. Or at least they were supposed to have their arms around their shoulders until Barbara put two fingers up behind her head so she could give those stupid rabbit years that aren't funny after you're seven. Still she certainly seemed quite pleased with herself in the picture and looking back on it now, Ivy couldn't help but chuckle a bit too. The day that picture was taken was one of the best times she had in her life and the day she realized she liked the other Red as more then just a friend.

When she pulled the picture off the card, she finally noticed the hand written message on the other half of it.

Dear Red,

Here's something to remember the good times with and the hopes we can have them again when you get out. Also I hope this is a Christmas tree you can actually enjoy. Sorry for the card though, can't do anything about that. Hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

Red

Ivy smiled gently at the message then set the card aside so she could focus on the picture. She ran a finger over Barbara's face before she drew it back so she could kiss both her index and middle figure then touch them gently to her girlfriend's lips.

"I'll be with you as soon as I can Red. I promise," she vowed softly.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: Well that "To Be Continued" up there is a little misleading. Yes this story itself will continue but not this storyline. See this is going to be a series of small vignette pieces focusing on two characters in Gotham and what they do on Christmas. My original plan was to make it five chapters, four for Christmas and one for New Years, and post them one a week during December. But of course plans never work out as hoped and some family obligations has set me back a bit. I fully intend to write the other three Christmas chapters but they might be released one a day either the week before or the week of Christmas. I don't know yet, we'll have to see, but I'm totally doing this! Like Ivy above I'm making a vow though I'm doing it LOUDLY! 'Course the New Years one might not be up til New Years Day but that's only fitting.

'Course me being the whore for continuity that I am, these can't just be simple throw away Christmas stories. Nope, they actually tie into the world of The Batman that I've been working on lately as I'm sure some of you noticed from the scene above. So not only will it reference things, but it will have an affect on later stories. Yes, I make things a bit dense and connected, but I just love doing it so much so it's just the way it is. Hopefully it's not too confusing.

Also, yes, I totally stole the overall name for this fic from that B:TAS ep that actually started off the new style of the show. I just loved it so much and really couldn't think of another title so I just went with it. Hey, I'm not making money off this thing I can do that. Right? Right?

Oh, and yes I made Ivy 20 by this point in the continuity. I figured with all the time lapses between seasons and my own fics she'd probably be about that age. I believe the producers said she was a senior when Barbara was a sophomore so I just went from there.

Anyway, I'll see you guys soon for the next chapter of holiday schmaltz.