CHAPTER FOUR: For the Best

As Ivy made her way around what felt like nearly every street in Gotham, she cursed herself for not paying more attention to the hideouts that Harley and the Clown frequented. In her defence, she didn't often go to their 'love-nest', as Harley called it. She had no need to. Whenever the Clown kicked her out, Harley would always seek her out. Very rarely did Ivy ever have to figure out where the clown-house was unless she was dropping Harley off…

Shaking away the thought, Ivy's mind travelled back to Harley's wellbeing. The loveable idiot had been impossible to track down for a few days now. While it frustrated Ivy to no end that she couldn't find Harley, she was glad that the blonde was taking care of herself and flying under the Bat's radar.

Ivy wished she could be confident that Batman wouldn't seriously hurt or even kill Harley because of her connection to the Joker and his most recent blow to the caped crusader, but since no one in Gotham knew exactly what transpired the night the Joker turned up dead, many people- including Ivy- had been questioning whether the Dark Night's impenetrable moral code was so impenetrable after all…

Once she was a few buildings away from her destination, Ivy pulled over and flicked the ignition off. This was the last place that Ivy could possibly remember Harley and Joker ever staying. It wasn't a large place, and they had only hid out in it for a week in-between moving to a bigger factory with a stupid pun in its name, but there was still a slight chance Harley could be here, so Ivy had to check it out.

As the red haired woman approached the building, she couldn't see any lights on inside. Ivy quietly moved around to the back where she found a beat up car hidden under a grey cover. Carefully the woman lifted the cover enough to see the bumper, recognizing the markings from tugging a license plate off. The car was stolen.

Many people stole cars in Gotham, so Ivy tried desperately not to get her hopes up as she moved around to the back door. Despite herself, Ivy's heartbeat quickened slightly at the possibility of finally finding her best friend, and being able to make sure she was indeed okay.

The back door was locked, but Ivy easily fixed that with a delicately maneuvered plant vine in the key-hole. Once she was inside, Ivy could immediately hear a muffled voice coming from up the stairs. The closer she got, the clearer Ivy could hear the voice…High-pitched, female, and annoying as hell.

It was Harley.

Ivy hurried up the stairs, reaching out for the handle of the door which hid Harley from her, only to freeze before opening it. She thought she heard something…that annoying nickname which Harley never ceased to squeal, whine, or shout multiple times a day.

"Puddin'….Puddin please, I don't want to do this anymore!" Came Harley's voice from the other side of the door. "Doing this without you is no fun! Won't you please just come back from vacation? For me?"

A hot anger built up in Ivy. The Clown wasn't dead? And after all the worrying, and searching that Ivy had done to find Harley because she thought the blonde woman needed her help…. If Joker wasn't already dead, Ivy would make damn sure that he was by the time he left this house!

The red head threw open the door and flicked on the lights revealing Harley, face tear stained and pale, curled up in the corner. The two women stared at each other in silence for a moment before Ivy let out an angry huff and began searching around the room.

"So where is he, huh!?" Ivy exclaimed, checking under the bed and in the closet. She even searched Harley for a phone, but found nothing.

"Red? Wha- what are you doing here!?" Harley gasped when she was finally able to find her voice. She stood up on shakey legs and watched as Ivy tore through the room.

"Did he go out the window?" Ivy questioned, attempting to open said window, but noticing that it was bolted shut from the inside. There was really no one in the room. Slowly Ivy turned to look at Harley, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking her in the eyes.

"Who were you talking to?" Ivy asked, seriously.

Harley's eyes darted away. "No one…I was just…crying…" She stammered, still shaken by the burst in and interrogation.

Ivy had to wonder if Harley had just been talking to herself. It was a crazy thing to do, but Ivy didn't doubt for a moment that Harley was crazy enough to do it…

With a sigh, Ivy released Harley's shoulders and pulled her in for a hug instead. "You made me worry about you." She admitted, pulling back and examining Harley for any injuries. The scars on her chest were concerning, but nothing that needed to be dealt with right now.

"Red, what are you doing here? I thought you were locked up in Arkham?" Harley questioned, wiping the wetness from her cheeks and sitting down on the bed.

"I was. Now I'm not. You know the jist. I'm here to take you to my place. I'm going to help you Harley, you can get past this and be better without that clown." She explained, resolute.

Harley winced slightly at the words, and looked away. "Gee red, that's….You didn't have to come find me…I'm doing fine on my own…" Her voice broke. "…Really…"

Ivy shook her head. "Harley, it's okay. You don't have to hide, I'm not going to let Batman get you."

Suddenly Harley's eyes darkened. The atmosphere in the room shifted noticeably. "Get me?" Harley whispered, her voice cold. "Get me like he got Mr. J?" She chuckled, sending a slight shiver down Ivy's spine. That laugh was eerily familiar…

"Harley, you don't know what he's going to do… I mean, no one knows what happened that night…If he….If Batman did it or not. But either way, he's got you in his cross-sights since the two of you—"

"—I hope he finds me." Harley interrupted. "He has to pay for what he's done to Mr J and me." Harley spat, standing up and brushing past Ivy as she moved over to the window. "I hate him, Red. More than anything. And I'm going to come up with a plan that'll get him for sure….I'm not supposed to kill him. But I can't help it…. There's this thing inside me that's clawing and screaming; this need to hurt him."

Ivy noticed that Harley's fists were turning white, and she took a slow step towards her friend.

"Harls…You need to calm down, okay. We can get Batman together. But not right now. Right now you need some rest and some food…Let me take you back to my hideout."

The red head placed a hand on her best friend's shoulder only to have it batted away.

"I don't need your help!" Shouted Harley, her eyes dark.

"Harley you shouldn't be alone right now. You've gone through something traumatic. You were a shrink, don't you remember anything you learned before your brain was broken by that psychotic—"

"—Shut up! Don't talk about him like that! I love him!" Harley cried, tears building in her eyes. Ivy immediately regretted what she said. She was just too biased by her hatred towards the Clown. But she would do better not to mention him; she had to if she was going to help Harley.

"I won't talk about it…I promise. Just please come with me Harley." Ivy asked once more.

The blonde woman's eyes softened slightly at the comforting tone of her best friend's voice. She seemed like she was considering the offer until suddenly the girl's eyes grew wide. She looked to the side in a startled motion, as if she had heard something, quickly looking back at Ivy afterwards.

"No." Harley said, suddenly. "I…I can't…I'm not…I can't. I'm sorry."

Ivy's concern only grew. The red head looked down for a moment, sighing. "Then I'm sorry too…. It'll only hurt for a second." The woman added quickly, hands pointing down to the ground in a summoning motion.

Confusion flashed over Harley's eyes for a moment before vines sprouted out from the ground, wrapping Harley up tight enough that she couldn't move, and suffocating her just enough to knock her out before easing up.

Ivy gently stroked the hair out of Harley's face. "This is for the best." She whispered, placing a small motherly-kiss on Harley's forehead.

END.

Thanks for reading! Sorry for the week delay, I had midterms and no time or sleep at all. xD There's an interesting development next chapter, so stay tuned!