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It had been storming in Gotham for two weeks. Ivy didn't mind, her babies were getting plenty of water and she had plenty of time to work on her research. The only problem was that Harley had been cooped up in the house for two weeks and she was on Ivy's last nerve.
Harley cartwheeled into the greenhouse and asked "Whatcha doin' Red?"
"The same thing I was doing five minutes ago" Ivy said "I'm making new remedies and medicines. What do you want?"
Harley sighed and said "I'm bored."
"I know" Ivy said "I heard you the first million times."
"C'mon Red" Harley said "you're always workin' and researchin' plant science stuff. Let's do something fun."
"This is fun" Ivy said.
"No it ain't, Red" Harley said.
Ivy looked at a small bottle on her lab table and smiled. She glanced at the clock and saw it was 1:00.
"Come on, Harl" she said "let's go have lunch."
"Okey dokey Poison Oakey" Harley said as she skipped out of the room.
Ivy slipped the bottle in her pocket and followed. Ivy made herself a salad, then two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Harley and got her a glass of milk. She poured a little bit of the bottle's contents into the milk. She set the milk and sandwiches in front of Harley. Harley quickly ate the sandwiches and chugged the milk. Ivy ate her salad and drank a glass of water.
"Come on Harl" Ivy said "it's nap time."
"Yeah right" Harley said as she jumped up from the chair.
She walked past Ivy towards the living room, suddenly her legs wobbled. Ivy stood up and caught her. She put Harley's arm over her shoulder and wrapped an arm around Harley's waist and helped her walk towards her room.
"What's goin' on?" Harley asked.
"I need to get a little work done" Ivy said "so I gave you a little bit of a new sedative I created."
"Ya…ya drugged me?" Harley slurred.
"Sorry" Ivy said "but I really need to finish my work today."
Harley's legs were giving out as Ivy helped her into bed. Harley reached for her belt buckle, but her hands didn't want to work right.
"What are you doing?" Ivy asked.
"T…tryin' to get my pistol…off my hip" Harley slurred.
Ivy undid Harley's belt and took it off. She took the belt and holster and her revolver and set them on Harley's night stand. She untied Harley's boots and pulled them off. Ivy pulled the covers over Harley's body. Harley grabbed them and snuggled into them. Ivy smiled and took Harley's pigtails down.
She kissed Harley's forehead and said "have a nice nap."
She walked out and closed the door. Ivy went to her greenhouse and continued her research. She was enjoying her uninterrupted work. A few hours later, she took a break and sat back in her chair and stretched. She was surprised Harley hadn't burst through the door yet. After a quick break, Ivy returned to her work. She finished her research and testing and glanced at the clock. It was 11:30 PM.
"Wow" Ivy said.
She got up and yawned as she stretched. She walked to the house, had a light dinner and headed to bed. She poked her head into Harley's room and found the blond girl still asleep in the same position she had left her in.
"Maybe I gave her too much" Ivy thought as she walked to her room "I'll have to make a note of that tomorrow."
She changed and got into bed. The next morning, Ivy decided to sleep in a little. She woke up at 9:30. She got out of bed and walked towards the kitchen. She expected to hear cartoons blaring on the TV, but Harley wasn't in the living room or the kitchen. Ivy walked back to Harley's room and found her still asleep.
Ivy walked over to the bed and shook her slightly and said "Harley?"
Harley groaned and turned her head away from her.
Ivy shook her harder and said "Harley, it's time to get up Sweet Pea."
"I don't wanna" Harley said.
Ivy rolled her eyes and shook her head.
She shook Harley again and said "Harley Quinn! Get out of that bed!"
"Why?" Harley asked.
"You have been asleep for over twenty-one hours" Ivy said.
"So?" Harley said "you're the one who put knock out juice in my lunch yesterday."
"Get up or I'm blocking Cartoon Network" Ivy said.
"Fine!" Harley said as she sat up.
"Good" Ivy said "come with me to the greenhouse."
She stood up and left the room. Harley scooted to the edge of the bed and started to put her boots on.
"Give me knock out juice then complain when I sleep" Harley grumbled.
She stood up and walked to the greenhouse.
She walked in and Ivy motioned to a chair and said "come over here and sit down."
Harley walked to the chair and sat down. Ivy brought over a clipboard and a medical bag. She took out a blood pressure cuff and took Harley's blood pressure, then wrote something on the clipboard. She took Harley's pulse and wrote it down.
"What are ya doing?" Harley asked.
"Just seeing if the sedative had any side effects on you" Ivy said "and getting a little more data on it."
"Glad I could help" Harley said sarcastically.
Ivy took out a needle and a few small tubes.
"What's that?" Harley asked.
"I need a few blood samples" Ivy said.
"Ya know I HATE needles, Red" Harley said.
"Come on, Harl" Ivy said "please?"
Harley sighed and said "fine, ya get to play vampire if we go out for ice cream afterwards."
"Deal" Ivy said.
Harley held her arm out and closed her eyes and bit her lip. Ivy put the needle in her vein and began drawing blood. She finished and put a cotton ball over the needle and pulled the needle out. Harley put her finger on the cotton ball to hold it in place.
Ivy reached back into her bag and pulled out two boxes of bandages and asked "Hello Kitty or Hotwheels?"
"Oh Hotwheels!" Harley said.
Ivy put the bandage over the cotton ball and asked "that wasn't so bad was it?"
"I guess not" Harley said.
"Ok" Ivy said "let's get ready and go get your ice cream."
Harley want back to her room and put on clean underwear, a fresh tee shirt and her black jeans. She put her boots back on and put her hair up in pigtails. She put her belt back on and put her .357 holster on her hip. She made sure the revolver was loaded and put it in the holster. She walked into the living room and found Ivy in a green button up shirt, cutoff shorts and green tennis shoes.
"It's still raining" Ivy said "so let's take the car."
"Ok" Harley said.
They ran to the car, luckily the top was up. Ivy drove to an ice cream parlor. After getting Harley an ice cream cone and a milkshake for herself, Ivy headed home. When they got back, Ivy walked in and sat on the couch in front of the TV. Harley walked past her and went into the kitchen. She got out a few pieces of paper and a box of crayons and began to color. A little while later, Harley walked past Ivy to her room.
"Where are you going?" Ivy asked.
Harley looked at her and said "I'm gonna go take my .357 apart and clean it real good."
"Ok" Ivy said.
She got up and went to her green house to do a little more research. When she got to her work bench, there were a few pieces of paper that weren't there before. She picked one up and turned it over. It was a picture drawn in crayon of Harley holding a pistol in one hand with the other hand on her hip and Ivy holding a potted plant with "You and Me Against The World" written in crayon across the top.
Ivy smiled and picked up the other paper, she flipped it over and was surprised to see writing on it. She looked at the paper and read
"If you ever need help in this world
You only need to say one word
Just say Harley
And by your side is where I'll be
If you need help fighting off a thug
Or just need a hug
I'll run in guns blazing
Or pat your back and tell you you're amazing
Just call and I'll be there
It doesn't matter where
You can count on me Red
I'll fight by your side until I'm dead.
Love, Harley."
Ivy wiped away a tear. She stood up smiling and walked to Harley's room. She knocked on the door and waited.
"Come in" Harley said.
Ivy opened the door and walked inside.
"Hey Red" Harley said as she put her .357 and the cleaning kit on her night stand.
Ivy held up the paper and asked "did you write this?"
"Yeah" Harley said nervously "did ya like it?"
"I love it" Ivy said.
She set the paper on the dresser, held her arms out and said "come here."
Harley squealed with glee and ran to Ivy and jumped into her arms, knocking her down. Ivy gasped as she fell. Harley embraced her in a crushing hug and nuzzled into Ivy's neck. Ivy smiled and returned the hug.
"You're my bestest friend evah!" Harley said as she tightened her embrace.
"You're my best friend too" Ivy said "you're like the sister I never had. You're kinda crushing my organs though."
"Sorry" Harley said as she let go.
She stood up and held her hand out. Ivy took her hand and Harley pulled her to her feet.
"Come on" Ivy said "let's go make some snacks and put our pajamas on and we'll have a movie day."
"Really?" Harley asked "wha' 'bout your research?"
"It can wait" Ivy said "that's one of the great things about plants, they never run away."
That night, Ivy snuck into Harley's room and took the .357 off of her nightstand and snuck back out. She quietly walked outside and started the car and drove into town. When morning came, Ivy was in her bed asleep. She woke up and walked into the kitchen to make breakfast.
A little while later, Harley walked into the kitchen and said "mornin' Red."
"Good morning Harl" Ivy said.
"Have ya seen my .357?" Harley asked.
"Yes" Ivy said "I'll be right back."
She walked to her room and came back with a box and handed it to Harley. Harley raised an eyebrow. She took the box from Ivy, set it on the table and opened it.
She looked inside and her jaw dropped "Is that…"
"Yes, that's your revolver" Ivy said "I had reblued and I had red and black handles put on and your name is engraved on the left side."
"I…I don't know what to say Red" Harley said.
"Just say thank you" Ivy said smiling.
Harley hugged her and said "thank ya! Thank ya! Thank ya!"
"You're welcome" Ivy said "I just wanted to do something nice for you."
Harley put the revolver in the holster and hugged her. Ivy returned the embrace smiling.
"Maybe stepping away from my research every once in a while isn't such a bad thing" Ivy thought.
When they stepped back, Harley looked out the window and said "hey! The rain stopped!"
Ivy looked outside and smiled.
"Let's go make sure no plants drowned" Harley said.
"You actually want to help me check my plants?" Ivy asked.
"Yeah" Harley said "and I wanna show ya something."
After checking all of Ivy's plants, Harley led Ivy to a small clay flowerpot tucked away by the corner of the house.
She picked up the pot and said "I wanted to do something special for your birthday. It took me a few tries, but I finally did it, Red. It bloomed."
Harley turned around and handed Ivy the pot. Ivy looked and saw a small rose bush with one red rose on top of the bush. Ivy looked closely at the flower, then at Harley.
"I worked real hard to get it to bloom" Harley said "I hope ya like it. Happy birthday."
Harley bit her bottom lip as she waited for Ivy's response.
"It's beautiful Harl" Ivy said "I love it."
Harley looked at her smiling proudly.
"I forgot about my birthday" Ivy said.
"Good thing I remembered then, huh?" Harley asked.
"Yeah" Ivy said smiling.
She carried the pot into the greenhouse with Harley following close behind. The picture and poem Harley had given Ivy were hanging above the corner of her work bench. Ivy put the pot beneath them.
"Why don't you go watch your cartoons Sweet Pea" Ivy said "I'll finish up a few things and then I'll come join you."
"Ok Red" Harley said.
She started to leave. Ivy turned back to her work bench and glanced at the poem.
She smiled and said "Harl, wait."
Harley turned around and asked "what's up?"
Ivy walked over to her, patted her back and said "you're amazing, Harl."
Harley smiled at her and said "so are you."
Ivy smiled as Harley walked into the house. She walked back to her workbench and began to research a few plant samples. An hour or so later, Ivy walked into the house and found Harley watching cartoons.
She walked over to the couch and asked "can I join you?"
"Of course" Harley said.
Ivy sat down and watched cartoons with Harley.
The cartoons were interrupted by a news broadcast, the news commentator appeared and said "we apologize for the interruption, several masked men have been spotted at museums and gardens stealing rare plants to sell on the black market."
A picture of three men in ski masks appeared on the screen.
The news commentator came back on and said "if you have any information, please contact the Gotham City Police Department."
"My plants" Ivy whispered.
She heard a noise and felt the couch cushion shift. She looked over and saw Harley holding her revolver.
She pulled the hammer back and said "you and me against the world, Red. If they want your plants, they gotta get through me."