Alec had naturally been resistant to the idea of Pamela going back to Gotham, but she wasn't going to leave without telling him. It certainly didn't make things easier, though.
"I think you're making a mistake, Pamela," he had warned. "You're still a wanted felon in Gotham, and I don't really understand why you feel the need to go back after all this time."
"I have to, Alec," she had replied. "I never told Harley the truth, and now I feel I finally should."
"Why? Because your little creation died? You know we're just about to test the bio-restorative formula ..."
She glared at him for a second, unused to that tone of voice from him, but she kept her composure.
"Yes, because she, or rather, it died; and yes, I also know about the formula test," she murmured. "I left that Ivy duplicate behind mostly for Harley, and now that it's gone ... well, I just wanted Harley to know I'm OK, even if I can't stay with her anymore."
Holland looked at her quizzically, not believing Pamela was really going to go through with this.
"We're talking about a convicted criminal," he pleaded, as if to say Pamela was undoubtedly going to wind up back behind bars by visiting her old acquaintance. "Does this Harley Quinn mean that much to you, Pamela?"
"Yes, Alec, she really does mean that much to me. I didn't think she did anymore, but she does. You and she are the only people in this whole world whom I care about."
"I'm flattered," he frowned, not really trying to hide his disdain at being linked with a lunatic.
Isley frowned back, then decided to change the subject. The last thing she wanted was to get into an argument before her trip. She reached out to caress his cheek.
"I won't be gone all that long, hon. Trust me on this."
Holland was still mostly unmoved, though his shoulders shrugged.
"I still don't see why you can't just send her a postcard, or an e-mail, or just give her a telephone call," he urged, making his last pitch to get her to stay.
"Because all those things can be traced back here," she told him, "and I don't want to give up this life just because I'm saying good-bye to the old one."
She paused to kiss him on the cheek.
"I thought you already said good-bye to it," he called after her as she turned and made her way to the door, bags in hand.
She paused again, one hand on the doorknob, before turning back to him one last time.
"I thought I did, too, Alec, but things change. I'll see you soon."
She blew him a kiss, turned the knob, and then she was gone.
Alec Holland just stood there, staring, wondering what had gotten into Pamela Isley. She had been the perfect companion, a brilliant botanist in her own right, and someone who had made the Bayou much less lonely than if he had been working by himself. Despite her past misdeeds, she wasn't out to steal his scientific discoveries, and in fact she had complemented him so well that he wondered how he would have gotten so far, so fast in his bio-restorative research without her assistance.
Now he felt she could be throwing away all that they had made together, just to assuage her conscience concerning some psychopath up north. Bad enough Pamela had started losing weight, as if this whole Harley affair was making her ill. She had probably dropped over fifteen pounds the last few months ...
He stared at the door a moment longer, uselessly wishing she would step back through it and call the whole thing off, before shaking his head and turning sadly away.