Chapter Seven – Past Secrets

Pamela Isley stared at Gaia's gifts before her as one name floated through her mind, Alec Holland. Was Holland the luckier one than herself? She had a human form and could move as a human but she related more to the natural world, aside from Harley, the natural world meant so much more to her than humanity. She had also been a scientist herself, a lab assistant but a scientist of sorts. Alec Holland had been a scientist before he had been sucked into her world.

Ivy sighed, if she had been born straight then she most likely would be fascinated by Alec in other ways but as it was, she was interested in his views of the world, his motivation. There was a lot about him that made her question how much commitment she had given to protecting the green. She rolled her eyes. Why was her story so less dramatic than Alec's?

Ivy walked over to the swamp where the most beautiful flowers were, she whistled as she gently watched her footprints to not crush any of the plants. "Hey there," she smiled as Swamp Thing turned to her and seemed to relax when he saw who it was. "You mind if I sit here."

"You're welcome to sit," he told her and Ivy sat on the earth watching him. He saw the way she stretched and was fascinated by it, she really was like a plant about to wrap itself around a wall or a post. There was only one woman who was more physically attractive than her.

"So, tell me," Ivy said with a raised eyebrow, "How do I fit into this saving the world plan of yours?" she asked and Swamp Thing turned to her.

"You don't," he said, "we have our own plans that we're working on. We just have the same goal in mind, we work alone, we work separately," he told her and Ivy sighed before giving a heavy yawn.

"That's a bit boring to me," she told him and Swamp Thing shook his head.

"I don't care if it's boring, it's the way that it's done. I don't trust people," he told her and Ivy lay down on the earth, the flowers drawing towards her, she gently stroked the petals of one of them. She was alive among the flora, she wasn't this alive in front of people.

"Oh, really…you trusted Linda," she said as Swamp Thing stopped. He froze, turning to her and Ivy could see the pain that was still in the transformed man. He still had the heart of a human after all, even beyond this mutation. "You know, you put too much faith in humanity."

"Whatever you believe, I am not Alec Holland. I have seen his grave, his skeleton," he argued and Ivy sighed.

"You can leave whatever evidence that you are somebody else but the truth is that you are always who you were born. That is why we have to work together. We have to have each other's back and we need to be working together on the same plan. There are things that I can do that you can't and sadly, there are abilities that you have that I can only feel jealous of."

Swamp Thing stood silent for a moment before they were both interrupted by a loud and carefree voice.

"Hon, I thought we were going to do something fun together," Harley said as she bounced over to Ivy who was staring at her wide eyed. She had honestly thought that the blond had been sleeping. She opened her mouth before hearing Swamp Thing groan at her presence. "You really think this is better than fun," Harley pouted as she gestured to the green's protector.

"Discussing bio diversity is the most fun I've had in a while," Ivy told her and Harley sat down on the ground next to her.

"Aww, shucks, Ivy. I thought I meant more to you than that," Harley pouted and Ivy looked to her. Her heart drumming in her chest. The interest that she had in each was very different and to prove her love for a human might deter Swamp Thing from them working together. Had she lost the trust of the former man?

Swamp Thing turned from her, the idea of bonding with a human was too much for him. There had been times when he had worked with humans of course but he didn't trust them as more as the Green, he was respected by the natural world. Humans called him a monster, a monster that they had forced him to be. He had struggled with that in the beginning, accepted his fate but if partnering with Ivy meant that he had to partner with this harlequin as well, he would forget it and continue his solo operation.

Ivy turned to him, jumping into the swamp as Harley watched her. She didn't want to make herself so disgusting, what was Ivy thinking when there were fresh water in the lakes that were that stunning blue color that delighted her. Ivy looked amazing in a swimsuit.

"We'll talk later," Ivy told him, "You don't have to do this alone anymore."

Swamp Thing stared at her, "You have not becoming fully part of the Green," he said and Ivy sighed.

"But I'd like to," she said with a soft sigh, "I'd love to become as much of a part of it as possible."

…..

…..

"What you said," Harley began as she thought about the interaction between Swamp Thing and Ivy, "about becoming more like him. You wouldn't really make your body look so disgusting, would you? I don't think that I could be with you if you looked like that," Harley stated as she stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"You don't think you'd love me if I became what I truly am?" Ivy asked and shook her head. Something about Harley was becoming irritating to her right now but she wanted to shake it off. She wanted to continue walking with the woman she had fallen in love with. Slipping her hand around Harley's she tugged her closer to her before kissing her cheek. Ivy turned to her and blinked confused.

"You're nothing like that though," Harley smiled and Ivy looked wistfully off in the distance. It was true, she was lacking certain qualities that he had. She also knew that she had more freedom in this form than he did. She could move around, she could form relationships with people who actually cared about her.

"You don't understand," Ivy mouthed but Harley was looking at all the trees around her and the birds that were flying from tree to tree. She sighed. There weren't that many people who cared about the natural world in the way that Ivy did. Harley wanted to help with that, there had to be something that she could do.

"You know, you make everyone fall in love with you, just like Puddin'" Harley said and Ivy turned to her, her eyes widening. Had Harley really compared her to her precious "Mr. J". Ivy looked down to the ground hurt, she didn't want to ever risk Harley to go back to someone like him, someone who wasn't safe for her.

"How about you tell me about what you want to do today," she said as she pulled her towards where they were staying. As much as Ivy didn't want to see another human, she knew that Harley belonged in the society and she was willing to live there with her.

"Let's get breakfast," Harley stretched with a giggle. Ivy nodded silently. "How about we actually eat some pudding?" she asked and Ivy's eyes widened and a flash of anger went through them.

"Anything but that," she said quickly. She couldn't risk the destruction of these trees but to lose both them and Harley would make her feel devastated. Harley meant a lot to her but she could never turn her back on the miracles of the natural world.