Chapter 3

Ivy walked into the guest bedroom of her compound. It had been a full day since she had put Joker there. She figured when he awoke, he'd certainly let her know. But it had been a strange silence since he put him there. While he was bound by the tightest vines that Ivy could influence, she was unable to sleep with him in the house. She certainly hoped he'd awake soon so she could euthanize him and be done with the whole thing. But he never did. Ivy was left alone to contemplate the reality of the situation.

Harley was not with her. She had still not called. She must have been in Metropolis by now. Why didn't she call her like she said she would. Had she forgotten or was she just busy? Did it matter to Harley that she was alone here? It did. She'd call. No question. Maybe she should call Harley herself. Or text her... Joker's reappearance was something she'd like to know. Yes, she'd like to be aware that he was back. No... she'd worry. She'd call Harley with the news of Joker's death after she euthanized him. That will make her happy.

As for Joker, he should be thankful that he was just getting euthanized. Ivy wanted to do more to him, but she didn't want to ruin the body to the point where it was recognizable to authorities. Maybe a bit... she'd wanted this moment for a long time. She had Joker entirely in her possession. She could give him every cut he gave to Harley. She could leave him every bruise he put on her sister's delicate body. Just a few wouldn't hurt.

She looked up at Joker to see that his green eyes were open and they were pointed at the ceiling. His appearance had not changed with the exception of the blood on his cheek, chest, and abs had all dried and was almost a part of his deathly white skin. He, however, still had a smile on his face. He always did, but his smiles were not like Harley's peaceful ones. They were much more frightening.

"Well, well, well... what have we got here?" Ivy said amused with herself. "Imagine my surprise on my little stroll to see someone I thought was dead for the better part of a year."

Joker didn't answer her. Joker did not turn his head. He let her talk.

Ivy pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed, hoping to get some kind of response out of the Joker. But, he was unusually quiet. Ivy decided to press more.

"I've never seen you that helpless. You must be losing your edge. Harley thought so too. She said you weren't as good at sex at the end as you were at the start. Guess small members only go so far, huh."

Joker gave a giggle at this comment and tilted his head. "If you and Harley actually talked about our sex life, you'd know that statement to be false."

Ivy shrugged. "Okay, okay. You win there, big guy. But don't get too cozy tied up like that. I don't plan to keep you alive long. I just wanted some affirmation that you are who you say you are. I'm going to have fun giving you exactly what you deserve."

"Ooohhh, sounds like fun. I'm all in," Joker proclaimed trying to sit up.

Ivy reacted to his movements immediately and set more vines to wrap on his head and shove him back down on the bed. "You're not going anywhere," she proclaimed.

"So this is the kind of stuff you're into. Always took you for more of a vanilla missionary type," Joker laughed.

"Haha, keep making these little quirks. They will be your last."

"Will they though? I've heard that quite a lot."

"Well, believe it." Ivy raised up a needle in Joker's view and gave a smile.

Joker saw this and immediately gave off into a cackle. "That's your plan? To inject me? I guess you're naturally a blonde, because that's the most daft suggestion I've seen to kill me all my life! That's covers a lot of ground, so you're aware."

Ivy's smile went away. "Keep laughing, clown."

"Oh, I will. Word of memo, honey. I'm immune! That poison has as much chance of harming me as your plants do at surviving in the Gobi Desert."

Ivy forced a vine around Joker's neck to silence him. "Shut up! Don't make me kill you slower."

Joker let out a gasp for air as Ivy's vines tightened around him. "C-come on, P-Pam. Aren't you the least bit curious as to what I'm doing here?" he choked out.

Ivy shook her head. "No, I know you. I see the real you. I see it more than anyone because I know what you do. You lie. You're never gonna trick me with the poison that comes out of your mouth."

"I see why... Harley left you..."

'What? How does he fucking know that?' Ivy thought.

Ivy's vines smacked Joker's gut and spit came flying from his mouth and down his chin and the side of his face. "How did you fucking know that?" Ivy shrieked at him.

"I know how she lives. Over there is her favorite type of candle. Peach flavored, Yankee. Oh how she loved it. And atop her dresser next to the mirror. It reads, "Keep on swimming." That's her favorite movie quote. But she doesn't seem to be here now as the room seems rather barren. Being up all night gives me a lot of observing to do. But based on the night that you had, you'd know that. I heard you in the kitchen all night...crying."

"Shut up..." Ivy whispered.

"Awwww, Pam. Don't be sad. Everything's better with a smile. Turn that frown around." Joker sneered at his comment.

Ivy flipped her hair. "I'm going to kill you right now. Maybe that will make me smile."

"As a favor to Harley?"

"As a favor to myself,"

She began squeezing the vine around Joker's neck. His body began kicking and thrashing and Ivy watched his movements slow. His green eyes rolled into his head and he suddenly stopped all resistance. His arm dropped and Ivy watched his head tilt to the side. Had she done it? Was Joker finally dead? Minutes passed. Joker's body had not moved. She reached out to his wrist dangling from the bed to check his pulse when his hand grabbed her wrist. His touch was cold and felt like a rotting corpse.

"BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed as he wrestled her. Ivy struggled to pull her hand away and then delivered a powerful smack to Joker's face, which made the psychopath laugh even harder.

"Neat trick, huh? I remember when I scared Harley with it during sex when she choked me. It was so funny! But as funny as it was, I think this was ever better!"

"You're disgusting."

"Maybe so... but I actually have a reason for my presence here."

"If it'll shut you up, I guess I'll listen."

"I knew you would, Pam. You see, people think I left Gotham because of Harley. Hehehehe. Look at me. You think I care about Harley? You think I ever cared about Harley?"

"Of course not," Ivy said still feeling his old touch on her wrist.

"I left simply because I was bored. I wanted to just get out for a bit, ya know. Get away from ol' Batsy and go on a nice vaca to wherever I saw fit. I chose Florida. Really nice place. Really nice. People there have this distinct way of screaming that's really hard to find these days, I must say. As far as the whole getting killed by Deadshot rumor, I don't know where that whole thing came from. I don't really have a problem with Deadshot. I guess he thinks he's a better man than me because he's also fucked Harley. But the only reason he got in her pants in the first place is because I severed the hold I had on her. But I digress..."

"No, hold on. You severed it? Honey, she left you. She outgrew you. You're rewriting history here."

Joker sneered. "Pam, you honestly think she was with me for five years and THEN decided she couldn't do it anymore?"

"Yes, I do. Because she finally listened to what everyone was telling her."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no... Not at all. She may have left me, but I pushed her to it because she outlived her usefulness to me. Everything she did was becoming a liability to my plans. I couldn't take it anymore. So, the only way to sever that connection is to make her think she did it herself. She's quite proud of herself now. If I had left her, she'd have committed suicide and you know that's true."

Ivy scowled. Joker was right. Harley texted her with suicidal thoughts when she and Joker fought all the time. Man, did she hate when he was right...

"If anything, I did her a favor, and you too. My actions caused you both to turn your lives around. I'm your savior, Pam..."

"Not true..."

"Very true. But I guess we can put that on the list as one of the many things we disagree on. But, in Florida, I began getting followed. These men in armor... they seemed to be watching me... I began growing anxious as I saw them pop up more and more and decided to return to Gotham. But that's when one attacked. I was very ill prepared. I just had a knife, my gun, a few sets of chattering teeth, and a few venom canisters."

"Sounds like a lot..."

"Well, it was fun. Needless to say, I couldn't fight this guy. He was trained in some way similar to Batsy, although Batsy is far better than him. I managed to improvise a strategy. I retreated here because I knew my toxin immunity would help me live, while he would make a retreat... I certainly didn't mean to infringe upon you, honest."

Ivy looked at Joker again. He was very beat up. "What about the thing on your chest."

"He wiped that on with my own blood... his way of mocking me..."

"You know anything about the guy who attacked you at all? Could he come for me too?"

"No way of knowing, Pam. I honestly don't know what to do about the whole situation... People trying to kill me is a daily thing, but this seems far more deliberate than a inept Gotham Gang run by... I don't know... Two-Face. They could have been trying to capture me alive."

"Do you think that... they're gunning for Harley?"

"I don't know, Pam..."

Ivy was distraught. Was Joker telling the truth? Was he lying? What if he was? This could be a setup to his next scheme. Thoughts whirled in Ivy's mind. If she kills Joker, what if that angers the assassins that he speaks of? What if they want him alive and they decide to kill her... There was just too much she didn't know about the situation and Joker was her only source of information.

"Well, I don't want to anger anyone that may need you alive by killing you... But I hope you know... I can't let you leave. You're far too dangerous."

"What are you gonna do, send me to Arkham? I'll just break out again..."

"Oh no... You're staying right here with me..."

Joker's green eyes closed and a smile curled on his face. "Don't be silly, Ivy..."