Ivy stepped away from the large, potted fern in front of her, holding a watering bucket in her hand. This fern of hers was easily three times larger than any other fern anyone had seen, and grew at an alarmingly fast rate. Ivy smiled, gently stroking the soft leaves of her plant.
She yawned as she went to her bedroom. It was getting late and the streets of Gotham were beginning to awaken with the creatures of the night. After a quick hot shower, she curled beneath the silken covers of her bed and drifted off to a silent, blissful sleep.
A loud ringing woke her from her sleep hours later.
Ivy groaned and propped herself on her elbows. It was dark and all she could hear was the phone ringing loudly from the kitchen. Urging her eyes to adjust to the dark, Ivy made her way to the loud ringing. A quick glance at the clock in her hall told her it was three in the morning.
"Hello?" she mumbled in the phone, her voice thick with sleep.
"Ivy?"
Ivy perked at the familiar accent, forcing herself to focus thorough her sleepy stupor.
"Harley? Harley, baby, what's the matter?"
She heard Harley sniff loudly through the phone. "It's-I guess it's nothing Red. I guess I probably shouldn't be calling you at-"
"Harley. Nothing wouldn't make you call me in the middle of the night. Now tell me what's wrong before I have to go find you."
A long pause hung in the air. "Harley? Are you there? Baby, talk to me."
She heard Harley sniff. "It's Mistah J. Ol'Scarecrow cheated him out a deal and he's...well he ain't taken it very good."
Ivy silently fumed. She should have known it had been that stupid Joker. She loathed that clown.
"Harley, are you okay? Tell me that clown hasn't hurt you."
"Well.. It's Mistah J. He just has problems handling his problems."
"Harley, you need to stay away from that clown. I'm serious, baby, you need to-"
She stopped when she heard a gasp from the other end of the line. "Harley?"
Suddenly the phone disconnected. Ivy cursed under her breath. She turned and grabbed her coat from the closet and hurried to the door. If that Joker had hurt Harley, she was going to make him pay.
As Ivy grasped the knob of her front door, she heard a loud knock come from behind it. Ivy paused, her raging anger and confusion taking a pause at her new arrival. Tightening her grasp on the knob, she pulled it open.
Standing in front of her in the dark, was a dripping wet, petite blond, whose hair hung in loose, limp pony tails.
"Hiya Red," Harley said sheepishly.
Ivy gasped as she saw the delicate object of all her pent up emotions standing in front of her. Without wasting another moment, she grabbed Harley and dragged her in, out of the darkness and cold.
"What happened to you? Why did you hang up on me? And why are you soaking wet?"
Harley grinned sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout hangin up on you Red. It was just that I really wanted to see you and I didn't think Mistah J would much appreciate me runnin off like that. And 'bout the water? It was raining a whole lots where we came from."
Ivy stared at Harley in disbelief. Of course she shouldn't have been surprised. This wasn't the first time Harley had come to her in the middle if the night after some mishap with the Joker.
Ivy opened her mouth to say something again when she noticed the sweeping bruise on Harleys chin. She stepped closer and gingerly pressed the light swell of flesh. "Did he do this to you?"
Harley winced when Ivy touched her wound. She bit her lip at Ivys question and quickly looked downcast.
Ivy stepped back to fully examine Harley. Her black and red harlequin costume was torn in many places, revealing light scratches and deep bruises all over her body. Ivy gasped in frustration as she saw how badly the Joker had hurt Harley.
Biting her lip, Ivy closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down. After several steadying breaths, Ivy opened her eyes and found herself staring into Harleys large, blue ones.
"Come on. We have to fix these."
Harley followed Ivy into the kitchen where she sat her in a chair and grabbed a first-aid kit from the cabinet.
She knelt on her knees besides Harley, and looked up. Ivy traced her fingers along the fine scrapes down Harleys smooth jaw line. She rubbed some cream onto the cuts. She worked her way along her body, covering as many cuts and bruises as she could.
"You're soaking wet. You should go take a shower before I put on the band-aids."
Harley nodded as she picked herself off the chair and turned to the hall. She turned back to Ivy and flashed her one of those genuine smiles before planting a quick kiss on her cheek and hurrying down the hall.
Ivy slumped back on the floor watching the precious blond disappear down the hall. She sighed and didn't even bother to warn her to not knock over any plants down the hall.
She didn't understand it. The Joker didn't love Harley. He was incapable of any remotely human emotion. Ivy despised men. But even she could agree that the Joker couldn't call himself a man.
Ivy sighed and pulled herself off the floor. She knew the perfect herbal remedy to give to Harley. After gathering a few ingredients, she stood at the counter, mashing and stirring the herbal assortment into a thick paste.
Ivy jumped slightly when she felt a pair of slender arms wrap around her waist. "That looks gross Red."
Ivy smiled softly as she grabbed the bowl of pasty green goo off the table. "But it smells better."
Harley made a face as Ivy lead her to the chair. Ivy gently massaged the paste into the skin of Harleys smooth, pale neck.
"Harley...Why do you do this? The Joker doesn't love you. He can't love anyone. Why do you do this to yourself every time?"
Harley watched Ivy with her large, baby-blue eyes. "Mistah J needs me, Red. He would be lost without me."
Ivy looked away from Harley. It was always the same. Harley would always claim the mad clowns abuse to be some symbol of love and that his abusive antics were merely his way of expressing it.
"Ivy?"
Ivy looked up. Oh, she wanted to slap herself. It was so silly and stupid of her to feel so deep and passionate about a girl that would never feel that way. Harley would never care for Ivy the same way Ivy cared for Harley.
She was yanked out of her hurt and confusion when she felt a soft hand caress her cheek. She paused and looked up, staring into Harleys deep and crystal blue gaze.
Her eyes widened as Harley leaned in closer to Ivy. She felt Harleys cool breath whisper over her lips. Her eyes slid shut as Harley rubbed her thumb gently over the smooth curves of Ivys jaw.
A soft pair of lips closed over hers.