After breakfast Harley went to her room. She listened to a couple of her new CDs before placing them and the player in the small duffle bag she had hidden under her bed. She kept telling herself that she was taking it so she'd have something to do while she was on the run and not because it meant anything to her. Just like the clothes Dinah had gotten her, the books Barbara had gotten her, and the stuffed Batgirl Alfred had given her didn't mean anything to her, and yet were all stuffed into her duffle bag.
During lunch she listened to the adults talk. Barbara was going somewhere that afternoon and Helena and the blonde were going to stay here to watch her. This would be her chance to escape. She'd wait until the two knuckleheads weren't paying attention and slip out. Sure enough shortly after Barbara left the two of them headed up to the training room when they thought Harley was watching a movie. Slipping back to her room Harley grabbed her duffle bag and then headed for the elevator. Her heart pounded as she waited for the doors to open. She held her breath when they finally did, half expecting an alarm to go off, but there wasn't one. Once she was inside she stared at the key panel and sighed. No, it couldn't be a normal elevator where you simply pressed the light up button with the number one or letter G on it, no this one needed a pass code.
Harley all but growled when she realized the keys didn't even show any sign of wear. There was no way she could figure out what the code was so she randomly started pressing in codes. She was starting to feel a panic attack coming on when none of the codes she put in did anything. She knew that sooner or later she'd be missed or she'd set something off, so she needed another way out. Just as she was about to press the button to open the doors the elevator started moving downwards. She held her breath as she descended. When the doors open she bolted, but didn't get far. She ran into someone solid.
"Miss Harley?" Alfred asked, concern on his aged face. "What are you doing in there?"
"Leaving!" Harley shouted in a panic as she pushed past the old man. She ran down the hall only to again be stopped by something solid. Looking up she nearly yelped when she locked eyes with the Huntress.
Helena reached out and took the kid's duffle bag, holding it out for Alfred to take. "Take this back upstairs would ya Alfred?"
Alfred took the bag with a frown. "Miss Helena?"
"The kid and I are going for a ride." Helena explained. "We'll be back before dinner." She didn't give the old man a chance to say anything because she already knew what he was going to say. He was going to tell her that Barbara wouldn't like it, that Barbara didn't think Harley was ready to go outside the Clocktower yet because she was afraid the girl would run. Clearly the girl didn't need the excuse of being outside the Clocktower to try and run.
"We're are we going?" Harley asked from the passenger side of the hummer.
"You'll see." Helena answered.
The sound of her wheelchair echoed against the stonewalls of the cellblock. Barbara stared straight ahead as she followed the prison guard down the long hall towards an iron-bared door. She could feel her heart pounding as she paused so the guard could unlock the door. She took a few more seconds to collect herself before finally wheeling into the outer cell.
Quinn looked up as soon as she heard the sound of the other woman's chair. She'd been told that Barbara was coming and she'd been looking forward to it. Standing slowly she smiled as she moved closer to the Plexiglas wall of her inner cell. "It's so nice to see you again, Babs." She pressed her hand against the glass as if she were reaching out to touch the redhead. "Tell me, how's my darling little angel? Has she tried to kill you again?"
"My daughter is none of your concern." Barbara replied coldly.
"Aww how sweet." Quinn purred. "You're already attached to her." She laughed as she lowered herself into her chair. "That will make it all the sweeter when she finally kills you."
Even though she tried to keep her voice even and her face emotionless, Barbara's eyes blazed with hate and anger. "I didn't come here to listen to your insane ranting. You have information that I need."
The insane blonde looked at her adversary for several long seconds before crossing her legs and sitting back. "So this is the part where I reveal my diabolical master plan to the anxiously waiting hero." Quinn shivered in delight. "Good, I like this part."
"I already know about Nash and how he stole my embryo and I know about the surrogate mother he killed." Barbara wheeled closer. "I just want to know why?"
Quinn smirked as she simply replied, "Why not? I was given an opportunity and I took it." The two shared a look and Harley laughed. Then she began explaining, "I'd known there was something special about Helena the first time I met her. I also knew there had to be something special about you as well given the fact that a session never went by where she didn't bring you up. I took a bit of an interest in you I must say, so imagine my delight when dear sweet stupid Tony told me he'd come across your name in his files."
Barbara listened carefully, closely. Bruce use to tell her that all villains had this insane need to talk, as if they were seeking some kind of recognition for their work, and that the Joker had been the worse of them. So it wasn't surprising that his woman would have the same acknowledgment syndrome. She wanted validation for being cleverly cruel.
"Tony took one of your embryos and hid it for me. I really didn't have a clue as to what to do with it at first, but I knew that I'd come up with something simply delightful. Funny thing is, it was actually Helena, dear sweet Helena, always the unknowing betrayer, who gave me the idea. Once that little seed was planted everything else fell into place." Quinn went on. "See I always have a back up plan and my darling little Harley was my plan B. What better way to get to you, if you happen to foil my little take over, then to have your own flesh and blood betray you. You don't fool me, Babs. I know just how deeply Helena's actions hurt you. I also know that you don't blame her because, well, it was really me. So I know you'd have never blame Harley, which is why she wouldn't have actually killed you that night at the fair grounds. That would have been to easy."
Green eyes narrowed as Barbara moved even closer to the cell.
"Here's where it gets really good." Quinn leaned forward, her eyes dancing as she smiled brightly. "See, none of this was meant to happen until Harley was a little older, but I'm afraid I have a touch of A.D.D and simply couldn't wait. I wanted you and the others dead, and I wanted the pleasure of killing you myself, but not before I told you who Harley was. Oh yes, I had every intention of telling you she was your daughter. I was planning on telling you just before making you watch as I stabbed her in the heart."
"You created her just to kill her in front of me?" Barbara asked in disbelief. This was way beyond sick.
"Of course." Quinn replied as if it were obvious. "She was going to be of use in the mean time. If you haven't noticed she has your intellect and genetic copies of Helena's meta abilities. She would have been useful, but in the end, it's not like she's my precious Duela, my perfect little pearl. I knew me and my Mister J would make a beautiful baby." There was a dreamy look on Quinn's face before she turned to look at Barbara again. She shrugged as she simple said, "Little Harley was simply born to die."
"Mother?" Harley called out from where the girl stood with Helena.
Both Quinn and Barbara turned to see Harley standing at the cell door. The girl had tears in her eyes and was shaking almost violently.
Quinn giggled. "Oh dear. Looks like the cat's out of the bag." Then she tisked and shook her head. "I'm disappointed Little Harley, I'd have thought they'd be dead by now."
Barbara stared in disbelief, her gaze switching between Harley and Helena who stood behind the girl. Turning back to Quinn she nearly growled, "It's over Quinn, you lose, now go to hell."
She watched as Barbara wheeled towards the door and then called out, "Oh I wouldn't say it's over Babs." Once the woman was gone she laughed. "I still have a trick left in my bag."