Title: The Dark of the Forest
Rated: PG-13
F/F Content
Summary: A sequel to This is Not About Love. Batgirl intrudes on Ivy's solitude once more.
A/N: I'm getting closer to getting what I want from these characters. This a a good second step though.
For a criminal Poison Ivy had been rather well behaved in recent months. She had not pulled any heists. She had not attempted to murder, or succeeded in murdering powerful men and women connected with the destruction and rape of the earth (though, she did have a short list she was researching). And, she had not, in any way, attempted to rescue one Harley Quinn from Arkham Asylum.
Instead, she had found a secluded and well hidden spot within the Gotham City Park to set up shop and live. She lived quietly in what used to be a greenhouse, made small repairs to accommodate a modest lab for experiments, and was provided enough from the land she tended to survive. There was quite literally nothing she needed to venture into the city for. She was content, not happy. An important distinction, because she'd let one of the few things that could make her happy go. She thought. She hoped it was for good this time. She made no promises to herself about staying under the radar for good. She knew herself too well. Eventually, something would happen and she would have to act as Mother Nature's avenger.
Her daily routine carried her towards her garden, which was grown wildly to blend in with the rest of the park surroundings. Only someone looking really closely would find it curious to discover edible mushrooms just at this corner, or a grouping of unrelated herbs in that. She stopped at a tomato plant and regretted placing it so close to a footpath. She gave it some water, picked off a few dead leaves, and then continued on her way.
Halfway back to the greenhouse she heard a sound. She paused and listened. There was something, or someone watching her. It would only be someone determined to find her, or perhaps a vagrant- But no, it was definitely someone actively seeking her out, and not a curious passerby. She continued on her way and it was only when she arrived at her house where she had placed her more aggressive guardian plants that she caught the shadow. The unmistakable sign of the Bat. And she clenched her fists tightly before telling her plants to ignore the intruder as she moved inside the protection of the greenhouse that was thick with vines meant to conceal her whereabouts.
Bats were such a troublesome lot, and the one seeking her out was most perplexing. It wasn't the Bat. It was one of the younger acolytes. Not the young birds either, but the girl. The one who had sought her out once before to rescue Harley. The one that wanted to find something in Ivy that just was not there. The young bat, the girl wanted to believe there was good in Ivy. Wanted to try and press the point that somewhere Ivy still cared about the human race. But, Ivy didn't. She had started to care for one member of the human race. Just one that managed to worm her way in and eat away at the barrier to Ivy's heart. And like all humans, like all of mankind, that one proved a disappointment, because Harley Quinn just didn't know what she had done to Ivy. Or, if she did, the clown was crueler and more vicious than anyone gave her credit for.
Ivy took a seat on a fallen beam of wood that was now covered in a plush moss, and delicate purple and pink flowers. She waited a beat and then called out, "I'm not interested in anymore rescue missions."
Silence followed for a minute or two, and then the light acrobatic tread of the young bat alighting to the floor bounced lively across her hearing before the girl appeared. Batgirl, all lovely optimism and light not yet broken by the darkness of the city.
Ivy looked the young woman over, and crossed her arms over her chest. She tried to imagine the identity behind those unguarded and bright eyes, the red hair (synthetic, but so telling). She tried to put a face to the trim acrobatic form that was a near feminine match to one of the birds. The older one whose new name escaped Ivy's mind.
A gymnast, probably, Ivy thought and that brought back memories of Harley and the way she would playfully tumble around, a sensual distraction to whatever Ivy was working on.
The young bat stepped a little closer and then said, "I'm not looking for your help."
"Oh." She arched an eyebrow and smiled wryly at the girl's strength of purpose. Keeping herself from mocking the pure lack of actual purpose to what felt like a pretended confidence. Ivy decided the girl must be somewhere in college. So many dreams yet to be destroyed, and betrayed. So much light to blot out with untold sorrows. Ivy remembered those early days of her own youth, and then pushed them aside because they could never be reclaimed.
"I just came…" Batgirl suddenly hesitated, and Ivy remembered that hesitation from their last meeting. Questions under guarded movements, careful words, a steady stance that betrayed the deeper lessons Batman was probably trying to teach the young hero. "He's figured out where you are, and will probably try and evict you."
"And how is this your problem?"
"I guess it isn't," Batgirl stated. "But you haven't- I mean maybe he knows something I don't, but you've been under the radar for so long it doesn't seem…just to-"
"Make me pack up and go," Ivy asked and then stood up. "What is it that you're looking for?"
"I don't know." Lovely and innocent truth that was also a lie.
"That sort of uncertainty could get you killed." Poison Ivy paused and looked around. "And he really has no idea you're here either. That's a big risk you're taking."
"Huge, but after- I just felt like I owed you one for helping." She paused and then said, "And... because I was right about you."
"Were you?" Ivy sidled closer, green eyes dark with derision, bordering on anger. "I cannot imagine that you would understand anything about me." The plants in the greenhouse began to pulse at Ivy's spike of emotion, ready to strike on command.
Batgirl stood her ground firmly, a challenge (that challenge from before, that dare that was so misled) reflecting in her eyes as she said, "I understand that you're lonely."
And it was the wrong thing to say. The wrong tone. The wrong phrasing. Making Ivy so angry that the vines of the greenhouse captured the young bat without so much as a thought. Pulling the girl off her feet, and tangling around her throat so tight that Ivy had to actually give a verbal command for her plants (her protectors) to let Batgirl breathe. Which they did, but not without some serious consideration as to their mistress' well being.
"You've made this mistake before," Ivy said urging the vines to pull Batgirl closer. "I thought you Bats were better learners. I should tear that wretched mask from your face, and sell you to the dens of criminals who I am sure would have a field day with you."
"Maybe, you should," Batgirl choked out.
Ivy sighed and the vines loosed themselves a bit more. She considered what was happening and then asked almost too softly, eerily calm, "What else do you know about me?" She wandered back to where she had been sitting, and waited for a response. Crossing her legs and resting her cheek in the palm of her hand.
"I know," Batgirl began, not even daring to struggle, "that this life takes everything away from you. That the things...person...you want can never be completely present because we live…" She paused, and made a hitching noise in her throat that was akin to a sob without tears. It might have been her own recognition of truth, deep personal truth. "We live and act within our own obsessions."
The vines let Batgirl go. She dropped to the ground and sat there heaving slightly for breath.
"Learned your lesson did you," Ivy asked. She got up and stepped over to Batgirl. She crouched near the hero and held out her hand. It was accepted and the two women stood up. "One day," Ivy began, "I will end all of mankind, so that the Earth might reclaim what was taken from her. Lush and green, full of wild animals, but vibrant once more. And, it is likely, my young hero, that when I do that I will take myself out of this world as well. Even as I become more plant like, I remain a meddlesome human. Imperfect for my perfectly imagined world."
"I'll make sure I'm there to stop you," Batgirl replied. "I will, because your vision is flawed."
Ivy grinned slightly. She reached out and ran her thumb down Batgirl's cheek. "Terrible things happen when you seek the dark solace of the woods my dear."
"Yes. I know."
"And terrible things happen," Ivy whispered, leaning in, "when the dark of the forest decides to embrace you." She captured the young woman in her arms, and kissed her fiercely, and the ferocity was returned. Ivy pulled away after a few moments. "Run along little bat. If you seek me out again I cannot promise I'll let you go."
Batgirl took a slow step back and then ran off. The sound of her leaping and bounding off into the park echoed back towards the greenhouse. Ivy stood in the middle of the space, sighed, and watched as the plants pulled back from the walls. She would leave the city for now. She would find a jungle to hide in, and hope never to return.
End.