The next few months were some of the hardest in Ivy's life.
She'd been through a lot – betrayal, then years of self-induced solitude, broken only when she needed to use someone. Then a certain Dr. Quinzel brought some light back into her life, and over the years Harley became so much more to Ivy – a confidante, then a friend, a partner in crime, and at one point it seemed as though they were headed for something even deeper.
But then Harley died. And that part of Ivy died with her.
Then Harley came back, damn her. Figures that she would bounce in and out of hell like it was the most natural thing in the world. But Ivy wasn't prepared for it (who would be?), and her grief was still too raw, and she pushed Harley away because she couldn't open herself up like that again. She needed to embrace the green, to push away her humanity. Love was weakness.
But they couldn't stay apart, not even in this awkward state halfway between friends and something more. Their lives were intertwined now.
So Ivy pushed her feelings way down deep and kept Harley close, never suspecting that even with all of her defenses firmly in place, Harley would soon break her heart yet again.
They'd never really had a third before – it had always been the two of them, or they'd separately been part of some other group, but the Ivy-plus-Harley-plus-other dynamic was new.
And Catwoman brought her fair share of issues to the table. Ivy never quite trusted the cat, but she also never forgot the time Selina had dragged her out of Robinson Park when she went there to die. (She also never mentioned that time to Harley, figuring it would complicate things. But Harley being Harley, she accepted "Kitty" into their lives with no questions asked anyway.)
If nothing else, Selina brought some much-needed perspective to their group. At least she could see clearly how the Joker had poisoned Harley's mind. The first time the three of them were in Nygma's apartment together, Catwoman scoffed at how Harley was spending the money they stole from Hush: "You're worse than the flower child. You might as well be throwing away your millions on the Joker."
Ivy tensed – not at being called 'the flower child,' but any mention of the clown made her seize up.
Harley went for her usual denial, saying stubbornly, "Not this time. I'm over Mr. J."
And this is where Ivy began to feel that Selina could be her ally occasionally, however unlikely, because before Ivy could say anything, Selina said, "Oh, please. He'll be calling for your money the second he hears about it."
Ivy knew it wasn't Harley's money the Joker was after. She tried and failed to hide how miserable she felt, saying only, "Then you'll be skipping out the door for another round of abuse, humiliation and regret."
Harley didn't even seem to hear her. She perked up the second Selina said the Joker would call and completely ignored both Ivy's pain and her derision. "Has he called?!"
"No," said Ivy, sneering.
"Oh," Harley said. "Well, like I said, I'm over Mr. J."
Not one of the three of them believed it. But Ivy was strangely relieved that Selina saw through Harley the same way she did. It made her feel less…alone.
Harley, for her part, seemed unaffected, like she did about most things. Dying? No big deal. Coming back? Cool! Things with Ivy on hold? Oh well! She'd just moon over the Joker, of all people, and date a Batman impostor, and generally stomp all over Ivy's heart without a second thought. God, Ivy hated her sometimes.
(No, she didn't.)
But when it came down to it, they needed each other as much as ever. These days, Ivy's emotions only flared when Harley was involved. When the Riddler wouldn't help Ivy and Catwoman find Harley, Ivy was livid: "Time to die, meat." When Harley almost got killed by the Joker blimp on her date with Hush, it was once again Ivy who saved her.
And when they all thought it was the Joker trying to kill Harley, that was the last straw for Ivy. Even Catwoman agreed – he had to die.
Naturally, Harley's backwards logic had her thinking that it meant he wanted her back.
Ivy, who never lost her cool, actually yelled: "Wake up, Harley! This is life or death! I know something about human hearts—I've spent my life manipulating them. I can tell when there's a real spark there, however small."
She would never admit who her own spark was with. But god, did she still feel it. Only in her weakest moments, when her defenses were down, but it never truly went away.
When they were about to take down Gaggy, thinking he was the Joker, Ivy felt a familiar sizzle as she hushed Harley with a vine and whispered right in her ear: "I know, baby. It's hard to see the ex get it. We'll make it quick, I promise."
When she was in the Amazon, paradise on earth, she couldn't honestly answer the question "Why don't I simply live here forever?" But a tiny part of her knew what – who – kept bringing her back. The same person who inspired her to save those eco-tourists. Who hugged her just like old times when they all got back together over Christmas. Who (Catwoman later told her), when Ivy was kidnapped by a GCPD officer who thought she killed his brother, despondently talked to a cactus in the hopes that it could find Ivy.
No, her feelings for Harley never abated, no matter how many times Ivy wished she could turn them off. But neither did Harley's feelings for that monster. And when the Park Killer said he loved Ivy, it was both Harley's love for the Joker and Ivy's love for Harley that had her saying, "Love? I have seen love. It is a burden more than a joy."
When Ivy killed him in the next moment, she truly believed she was setting him free.
Needless to say, Ivy found the whole situation distasteful. She'd allowed her emotions to run rampant for months now, and even if Harley was too clueless to see it, Ivy knew – and Selina seemed to suspect it too.
So Ivy did what anyone would do in her situation: she sought distractions. She got hired at S.T.A.R. Labs and immediately lost herself in her work.
For anyone else, that might have meant staying late, writing reports, getting buried in meetings, maybe navigating office politics.
For Ivy, it meant getting trapped in a giant dehydrator and falling hard for the lies of an alien plant-man.
Ivy had finally found her equal. She was prepared to take over the world with him. She could kiss him and he wouldn't die, and he understood her on a far deeper level than the only other person she could safely kiss.
But once again, a tiny voice broke through to her, as it always seemed to in her darkest moments.
Harley lay there on the ground, beaten and nearly broken by the alien plant. She could barely speak, but croaked out, "He's…a real catch…Ivy…guess we both got rotten taste in fellas…"
Ivy managed to regain some of her old distance, sneering coldly, "We are nothing alike."
But Harley wouldn't shut up. "Ivy, listen…this guy won't need you…once he's done with you. He's using you…like you use normal guys…like Mister J used me…"
There was some grain of truth in that, something that kept Ivy listening even though she could have destroyed the human at any moment.
Harley continued melting Ivy's defenses, reminding her of when she found Harley in Robinson Park all those years ago. "You nursed me back to health…I know you considered finishing me off when you found me, but you didn't…and I don't think you'll do it now."
And then she delivered the killing blow: logic. "Ivy, I know you think you love this guy…but you're just gonna end up strapped to his rocket!"
That did it. Poison Ivy would be used by no man. She turned on the alien, destroying her only true equal in the process, shouting at him: "Why did it take a clown to point out the obvious? I was seduced and used before. Never again. I will never know real love! But I am well past that now."
Without a conscious thought, her eyes strayed toward Harley. Yes…it was best if everyone thought she was well past love.
The incident actually helped Ivy to understand how Harley could be so thoroughly taken in by the Joker's lies, and she began to see her friend's situation more as an addiction, a sickness, than as love.
Which unfortunately made her soften toward Harley once again. And that only exacerbated the tension between Ivy and Catwoman, and in the end it led to the worst moment of Ivy's life.
But before things got to that point, they were just…tense.
"Who. Is. Batman?" Ivy sneered at Catwoman.
Harley was between the two of them, trying desperately to keep the peace. But Ivy was relentless: "Look closely, Harley. This is what a traitor looks like."
Catwoman said, "How did I become the bad guy?"
Ivy scoffed. "You're the one who's choosing a man over her girls."
Then Catwoman had the gall to pull Harley into it, saying, "Are you kidding me? You would never say that to Harley, and we both know she'd dump us in a flat second if Joker called her."
Ivy had to suppress a small smile despite herself when Harley said indignantly, "Hey! That's not fair – actually, that's probably true."
And with her newfound empathy for Harley's situation, she defended her dearest friend against the cat, saying, "The difference is, she can't help it. You can. And she's working on it. You're not working on it."
So, as usual, the dynamics among the three of them were complicated. Ivy defended Harley to Selina. Then Harley defended Selina to Ivy, convincing her to help Catwoman – mostly so she could fight Zatanna. (Also, Ivy stopped a building from falling on her and Harley, using just vines. Harley was impressed and said, "You are one strong lady." Ivy just said, "I know.")
And when Harley thought Catwoman was dead, she cried, saying, "I loved my Kitty. I loved her so much."
But when it was Selina's turn to help Harley, she failed them all.
Next chapter: Harley busts the Joker out – and breaks Ivy's heart.
