A/N: Written for the 2015 Green Room, Big Bang Challenge.
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It was a beautiful day in the park. Then sun was shining, the trees were flowering, and Harley's smile lit up her face despite the concealed bruises and bulky cast on her arm. She was staying with Ivy for a while, maybe long enough for her arm to heal, perhaps longer.
Ivy was on one of her 'saving plants' missions today. She had received inside information that the Gotham City Park was going to spray weed-killer next week, to clean up the park in preparation for the soccer game. This was unacceptable, and she had pulled up in her car, armed with gloves, shovels and empty flower pots, prepared to save every individual plant by relocating them to her greenhouse.
"Hey, Ivy, here's a thistle," Harley called, as they continued through the park, pointing to a prickly dark green plant.
Ivy pulled on her gloves, walked over and shoveled the thistle into a flower pot and set it in her basket, careful to avoid the spines as she grabbed the base of the stem with her gloved hand. Her favorite plants were those that could already defend themselves with spines, thorns, or toxins, but she also had a soft spot for delicate little plants that were easily crushed or damaged.
Just as Ivy was getting ready to leave, she noticed a short, twisted plant growing too close to the giant black Walnut tree, all twisted and scraggly and stunted, with one pale blue deformed flower sticking defiantly out at the side.
"Poor thing," Ivy crooned, walking over to caress one tiny deformed leaf with her finger. It was a Forget-me-not, delicate and beautiful, stunted by the juglone produced by the Walnut tree. Ivy never blamed plants for protecting themselves, not even from other plants, and as she explained to Harley, some plants just couldn't stand to have other competing with them, so they produced inhibiting toxins that could stunt or kill other plants nearby. They couldn't live together, or the one being affected would always get hurt.
"How long will it take for it to get better?" Harley asked.
"These things just take time," Ivy replied, packing the dirt in around the base of the plant.
They brought the plants back to Ivy's house and placed them in the greenhouse. That was the first day.
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-x-
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She already had a sleeping bag in a corner of the room, and it didn't take long before Harley was moved in, almost as if she had never left.
After the Joker thought it'd be hilarious to trip her off the edge of a building – and left before checking to see whether or not she survived, Harley had turned up on Ivy's doorstep, just to visit for a while. Again.
There wasn't much she could do now, except wait. They worked in the garden, and tended the greenhouse plants by day. And at night, they played board games, read books, or watched movies, and ate ice cream out of the carton (but never pudding pops). Batman even showed up once.
"Poison Ivy!" he shouted, tearing the door from the hinges.
Then he strode forward into the room to stand in front of her and glare down. "There are HOLES in the park. Lots of holes. Children could fall in them and break their legs."
"You know, the doorbell works, Batman," Ivy said, raising an eyebrow and looking up from her book.
Batman had the decency to look back sheepishly at the demolished door and rub the back or his neck. "I'll keep that in mind for next time," he said gruffly. "I have a witness who claims he saw you digging holes. Mind explaining?"
Ivy folded her hands across her chest. "I was rescuing plants before weed killer was sprayed."
"Yeah," Harley piped in. "Don't you have actual criminals to catch?"
Batman cleared his throat. "Next time, make sure you fill in the holes if you take plants out of the park." Then he turned and disappeared into the night, leaving only the broken door as proof that he'd visited.
"Poor Batsy," Harley said as she helped Ivy pick up the door. "He's just too serious all the time. He needs a good laugh. But even my puddin' hasn't been able to make him laugh and he's always so funny." Harley sighed and smiled, even though her arm was still in a cast, and the last of her bruises still hadn't faded.
Ivy didn't say anything as she attached hinges back into the door frame.
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-x-
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It was fun while it lasted. The flower started sprouting fresh new growths, Harley's cast was removed, and the last of her bruises faded.
But it wasn't long after that Ivy noticed Harley would sigh and gaze out the window, wondering how 'Mister J' was getting along without her.
She knew it was over when she smelled the sickly sweet scent of a freshly cut rose. It was sitting on the doorstep, with a tiny note of apology attached. And Harley was so excited, that Ivy couldn't say anything to stop her as she rushed around, gathered her things, and left after a brief hug to thank here for 'all the fun they'd had together'.
Ivy didn't say anything more, just went out to the greenhouse to water her plants.
They were so much easier to help than people.