Disclaimer: Batman and all related characters are the property of DC comics.

I don't want to be the only one!

By

Y. Honey

Chapter 1

Harley's idea.

0-0

Pamela Isley knew that she would not sleep much that night when she heard the secret knock at her door and after opening, found Harely Quin kneeling on her doormat, hands pressing her bleeding stomach as she cried desperately for help.

"I-I didn't get the joke again," the Joker's henchwoman said weakly. "It's my fault."

"We'll talk about the asshole you insist in calling boyfriend material later, Harley," Ivy hushed as she helped her friend stagger inside her domain. "Right now we'll have to patch you up."

Hours later, Pamela sat in a comfortable sofa, drinking a simple glass of water and listening to the, by now very familiar, story of Harley's most recent romantic tragedy. Which, of course, involved her messing up the last encounter between the Joker and Batman; apparently, Harley had forgotten to activate a bomb of some sorts, and she and psycho-clown had only managed to escape the Bat by some miracle. Of course, the Joker had accused Quinn of ruining his joke and had stabbed her and kicked her out of their van. Luckily, they had been driving near her park, and Harley had managed to crawl all the way to her door.

"...And that's when you helped me," Harley finished. "Thank you, Red. I can always count on you when Mr. J and I have a lover's quarrel, right?"

Ivy ran a tired hand through her hair and sighed. "Frankly, Harley, I'm completely, absolutely and utterly tired of this! I don't even think we can continue being friends if you don't stop this! You must understand that man is going to kill you for real one of these days, or cripple you just for fun! You really need to leave that crazy bastard. Can't you see?"

"Red, I know you're saying this just out of concern, but I'm not leaving Mr. J," the delusional blonde responded. "I'm sure he'll treat me better soon."

The former botanist sighed and swallowed her frustration. She knew Harley wouldn't change her mind, and upsetting her while she healed would only make the process take longer which in turn would extend Quinn's suffering. Choosing to let the matter rest for the night, Ivy stood and headed for the door.

"We'll talk tomorrow, Har. Try to sleep now," This said, Poison Ivy retreated to her chambers, leaving her friend to the care of the many healing plants she had grown around her.

Once alone, the disgraced psychiatrist tried to relax while Ivy's plants healed her but the words she had spoken kept circling in her mind. It was normal for Pamela to try and split her from Mr. J but she had never said something so soon after she helped her with the wounds Joker gave her. And that thing about her being tired of her love troubles was unnerving her a lot… Why couldn't Poison Ivy understand that love like the one she had for her puddin' would always win in the end even after so many hardships?

"Why aren't there others like me?" Harley wondered. If other women could love men similar to Joker, then she could have friends in the same situation; friends she could relate to and talk to about love trouble!

Not that she disliked Pammie, not at all; Harley loved Pamela and they were best friends… but Poison Ivy knew nothing about romance and was too much of a Joker hater for Harley. Sure, Harley Quin knew that friends didn't have to share all the same interests and was entirely alright with spending time with Ivy as long as the Joker wasn't mentioned. But still… it would be nice if she could hang out with girls who understood her romantic problems and could sympathize with them.

"I wonder if that's even possible…" the blonde whispered weakly and, as she fell asleep, the ghost of an idea started forming in her troubled mind

Next day…

Poison Ivy was surprised as an extremely excited Harley jumped into her bed and started talking about something at lightning fast speed. This, of course, annoyed Ivy a little bit; not the part of having doctor Quinzel hugging her, as Ivy rather enjoyed that, it was the 'she's speaking so fast I can't understand her' aspect of the blonde's attentions what was troubling the deadly botanist.

"Slow down Har, I can't understand what you're talking about!" Poison Ivy requested while breaking the blonde's hug. "And it's nice seeing my plants healed you already; now calm down, take a deep breath and try talking as if you're not a hyperactive child on a sugar rush."

Harley did as she was told and then, she spoke again. "I finally found the answer, Ivy! I know you hate it when I talk about Mr. J so I won't do it again because I love you and you're my best friend but I still want to talk about the Joker but since I can't talk about him with you then I realized that I can talk about Mr. J if I find other girls like me!"

"Your lung capacity is as surprising as usual," Ivy noted, eyebrow rising as she analyzed the arguments of her friend. "So you want to find other girls who like the Joker as much as you do?"

"Of course not!" Harley pouted. "The idea is to find girls who are in love with people like Mr. J so I can talk to them! That way I won't bother you with it. And our friendship will be safe. Isn't it brilliant?"

"No, it's not," Ivy replied. "My idea is that you leave the Joker, not that you stop talking about him with me. Besides… where would you find girls who are in love with men from Arkham? I've met henchwomen before but I bet they don't love the guy who hires them."

"That's where you're wrong, Red!" Quinn disputed. "I was thinking really hard and I remembered hearing about the girl who's been hanging out with Mad Hatter for the last couple of years!"

"Really? I hadn't noticed," the redhead answered not really paying attention. "Anyway, are you sure it's the same one? Remember what he does to little girls, Harley."

"I gotta admit you have a point," Harley Quinn conceded, recalling Jervis Tetch's habit of raping and murdering blonde girls. Harley, however, didn't let remembering something so grim derail her from her current train of thought. "But I know there's someone else who has the same romantic problems I do!"

"If you're thinking of her, I'd say she doesn't count," Poison Ivy stated. "She's almost in the same situation as you but…"

"Her boyfriend always puts her in a collision course with us, I know… and she always chooses Batsy over us, anyway!"

"True that," Ivy agreed. "Not that we need her but Catwoman siding with Batman is quite unnerving, if I may say so."

"Yeah, I know," Harley became pensive then, and slid off Ivy's bed so she could slowly walk around it. "Still, there must be someone, somewhere. I gotta look for a girl… or girls! Like me, Red. It's for the sake of our friendship, too."

"You're not going to drop this idea, are you?" Pamela sighed. "Look, Har… what if I say that I have a lead for you to start your search?"

"You do?"

"Yes, I know of a girl like you, but you don't like her."

"T-that doesn't matter, just tell me who she is!" Quinn demanded.

"Peyton Riley," Ivy offered, knowing full well her friend's dislike of the new Ventriloquist and hoping this would convince her that this idea was not worth the effort.

"Peyton 'Sugar' Reily? That pompous bitch is not like me!" a rather offended Harley shot back. "She stole Mr. Wesker's gang and is nothing but a cheap imitator! Who cares if she thinks the Scarface doll loves her? It's just a dummy! She's not like me at all, Red, don't even hint it again!"

"Sorry, I won't do that again," Pamela apologized, now sitting on her bed and stretching, trying to ignore her friend's outburst. "Wouldn't it be easier if you just dump the Joker and stay with me? That way you wouldn't have to try and find girls who are Arkham groupies."

"I'm not an Arkham groupie," Harley pouted.

"I hate it when you do that face," Ivy sighed, not being able to resist how cute her friend looked when she pursed her lips like that. "Fine, fine! What about Eddies' henchwomen, or Two Face's pair of supposed girlfriends? That would be a start, right?

The blonde's face lit up after hearing the suggestions. "Yeah, they might be like me! But Eddie's gone straight and Harvey's in Arkham right now, so I wouldn't know how to find them."

"If it's so difficult, then it might not be worth it, Har," Pamela offered. "Why don't you drop this idea?"

"Because, like I said, I'm doing this so we can remain friends," Quinn argued. "But if you're not going to take this seriously I'm sure I can do it alone, you'll see, Red. I'll find others like me!"

Saying nothing more, Harley left the room and, after a quick change of clothes, she also left Ivy's hideout.

"Well, she's fairly stubborn, I have to give her that," Ivy muttered as she wondered what the result of her best friend's latest escapade would be. "But I'm sure she's heading for trouble… perhaps I shouldn't have reminded her about Eddie's and Harvey's girlfriends?"

Later…

The house was clean, well kept and located in the suburbs of Gotham, a peaceful place mostly devoid of violent criminal activity as it was far away from the heart of things, but that didn't mean crime didn't happen here, or that criminals couldn't be found either, as the owner of this house, one of the Penguin's hackers, evidenced. And it was this person Harley Quinn was very interested in having a chat with.

She waited lazily in the comfy couch that was the only other piece of furniture located in the man's studio that wasn't covered in documents or computer equipment, hoping that he would arrive soon. Luckily for Harley, the door opened just then, revealing a young, very average looking man in jeans and a black T-shirt with a heavy metal band logo on it.

"Oh shit," Was all the man managed to say before Harley had him on the ground while she sat on his chest and pushed a large gun to his face.

"Now, now, mind your language. I might think you're not happy to see me," She scolded.

"I-I'm n-not," he stuttered, fear of the Joker being around making him act harshly. "W-what do you want, Quinn? I'm working for the Penguin, not for your boss."

"As grumpy as usual, Mike; I kind of regret Catwoman bringing me here the last time she and I worked together."

"Is this related to the Cat?" the man asked, feeling a little bit relieved. "This isn't a Joker thing?"

"Nope, Mr. J isn't involved in this," Quinn assured him. "I'm alone, and I need something from you. Don't worry; I can pay well for your services."

Mike followed the blonde's finger and finally noticed the open backpack on his office's couch. It was full of money, a sight that immediately changed his mood. "…I guess it'll be alright. What do you need?"

"A simple thing, you do a search of certain individuals for me, and then tell me where I can find those individuals… oh, and you must provide me with all the info on the people you do find for me. Am I making sense here?"

The man nodded. "Yeah, I think I get what you want. Shouldn't be difficult to do but it could take time. Who am I looking for?"

Harley stood up and waited for the man to do the same. "Every known female associate to all the other Arkham inmates, or if there aren't any, every female that they have had contact with that is of any significance, can you do it?"

"I can. I'm already hacking the database of Gothams's police department for the Penguin, so I can look for what you want at the same time. I'll also hack into Arkham's files to see if there's any extra information that could be useful."

A few hours later, a bored Harley finally listened to the sound of a printer, followed by the exact words she wanted to hear:

"The list is done."

"Excellent, give it here!" the former psychiatrist demanded, bouncing from the couch to the hacker's desk, snatching the document from the man's hands in order to read it.

"There're only eight people here… did you search properly?" Quinn complained. "I mean, after two hours all you have is this?"

"I did search properly, that's why it took so long!" Mike the hacker said, his voice carrying an obvious tone of offense at the blonde's accusations. "And that's not all I'm printing for you; there's still that extra info you asked for."

"Print it, then," Harley continued studying the names on the list as well as the people they were associated with. It was a little bit surprising that she had not listened about a few of the women there, and she was also mentally slapping herself for forgetting the others.

"What are you going to do with that?" Mike inquired, somewhat curious about the Joker's henchwoman's unusual request.

"I want to talk to these girls. I think we all should hang out," Quinn provided, not looking at the hacker as she started pondering on how to meet the other women, some would be easier to get in touch with than others, but she should be able to find them all. "I have something else to tell you Mike: I'm living here until I've spoken to all of them. I imagine the money I gave you is more than enough to pay for the rent of a guest's room?"

"You want to live here?" Mike paled at the idea of having her as a tenant. If Harley lived there, it meant the Joker could drop by and that was the last thing he wanted. "I-I guess you can… I mean, all that money is enough to rent the house for several months…"

"Really?"

"Yes, really!" Mike assured her. "Tell you what, let me pack some stuff I need and I'll leave the house to you, how's that?"

Harley pressed a fingertip to her forehead and then smiled. "Sounds good, Mike. Of course, you won't tell anyone I'm living here, right?"

"I wouldn't even think about it."

That night…

Harley was feeling quite pleased with the way things were going; she had a house all for herself where she could relax, a list of the girls she was sure would become her friends and she had already planned the order in which she would meet them and, thanks to the extra information Mike had provided, she had a very good idea of what to expect from each one of them.

"If all goes well, I'll have to invite Pammie to a girl's night out with all of them!" the demented blonde squealed, imagining herself and Ivy having a great time window shopping, eating cake and chocolate and if things got good, mauling some of Batsy's many sidekicks, all of this in the company of the new friends Harley was certain she would make soon.

To be continued…

Notes:

Well, here it is; a new Batman story I hope you enjoy reading. It will deal with a thought I had when I noticed how none of the henchwomen who work for Batman's villains ever meet. It seemed like an interesting premise so I decided to write a story about it. Most of it is already written so updates should come quickly.