Title: Erase/Rewind
Author: Jen Kollic

Disclaimers: All characters are trademarks of DC Comics. I make no money from this. Wah.
Feedback: Absolutely, but if you're just going to go "OMFG! HARLEY/JOKER OTP!11one1" then don't bother. I'll just make fun of you.
Notes: Poor Ivy-clone.

Spoilers: Vague references to events in the animated series, Gotham Adventures, Batman Adventures and Harley and Ivy. Will most likely not make sense if you've not read Batman Adventures #16.

Chapter 2

Ivy had known he was coming. She'd known all along that he'd track the clone to the swamp, but she'd felt the chill of the jet's shadow as it rippled across the bayou trees. They'd warned her. She'd hoped that her doppelganger would simply have disintegrated before reaching Louisiana, that would certainly have averted a very awkward explanation to Alec, but one couldn't have everything.

She'd slipped away into the swamp hours before Batman reached the house, in the haze of a misty dawn two weeks after the clone had turned up. Alec knew what to do. She'd stopped briefly on the porch to stroke the leaves of an unusually-coloured vine that had wrapped itself around one of the pillars. And here she'd thought the clone would be no more use. With a slight, satisfied smirk, Ivy had vanished into the trees. Behind her, the grass quickly sprang back into place, obliterating her footprints.

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Batman had been surprised at how easy it had been to track Ivy to this place. The trail had taken no effort to find, dozens of reports of plant life going berserk had led him directly to Louisiana. And from there it had been simple to link Ivy's destination to Dr Alec Holland. What she wanted with him was anyone's guess, but Batman doubted that her intentions were anything but innocent.

It didn't make much sense though. Yes, Alec Holland was a world-renowned botanist and biochemist, as Ivy had once been when she was Dr Pamela Isley. But what could he possibly have to interest her now? She could control ordinary plants now, not just ones of her own creation; he'd seen what she'd done with those trees in Gotham. Ivy didn't bother with chemicals or formulas any more; she seemed to control nature itself. This was exactly why she had to be caught.

So why the biochemist? Surely she wasn't planning something along the lines of what she'd done to Steven Carlyle, she seemed to have abandoned anything remotely concerned with humanity years ago. And she had no connections to Alec Holland apart from the academic qualifications. Rivalry? No, that was motive was just too human. Ivy wasn't human any more. Maybe that was why her reasons for coming here eluded him.

Reaching the clearing where Alec Holland's research facility was located, Batman landed the jet by the water's edge, noting that a man was standing in the doorway of the adjoining house, presumably Holland himself. There was no sign of Ivy. As he opened the cockpit and climbed out, the man approached. For someone who'd just had a jet parked in his front lot, he didn't seem too surprised.

"Dr Alec Holland?" Batman asked, offering his hand as he scrutinized the man closely. There was no trace of glazed eyes or lethargy, nothing to suggest he might be under Ivy's control.

"Yes." Alec replied, shaking Batman's hand with more than a little self-consciousness. "And you would be Batman; I've… read about you." He paused, and tried not to look away. "I know why you're here."

He was nervous. Batman's eyes narrowed slightly. "Then you know who I'm looking for."

"Yes, Pamela Isley. She came here about two weeks ago… but I'm afraid you're much too late." Mentally cursing both Pamela and himself, Alec wondered once again just why he hadn't asked her more questions when they'd met. If he'd had any suspicion that their relationship would require him lying to superheroes…

"Too late?" Wonderful. Tracking Ivy through this swamp, combined with her new powers, was going to be hell. "Why, when did she leave? She's a wanted criminal Dr Holland, and as you must have noticed, she's not…"

"Human?" Alec offered, with a slight shudder. "I know. And she never left." He took a deep breath, nor particularly wanting to dredge up the memory of that horrible night, but he had no choice. "She came here looking for a cure. For her powers that is."

"A cure?" Few things could stun Batman, but that thought was one of them. Why would Ivy want rid of her powers? He'd never even remotely suspected that could have been her motive for coming out here. Especially since she'd grown so much more powerful.

"Yes. She knew she was losing her humanity, and I think it scared her. She told me she'd experimented on herself, on her DNA. She knew I was a biochemist, and wanted me to find a way to reverse it." Alec didn't need to act to sound disturbed; the mere thought of that… creature was enough.

Batman could see the haunted look in Holland's eyes, and could hardly blame him. Though he couldn't help mentally remarking that Ivy had at least had the decency to experiment on herself rather than other people. "I take it you weren't successful?" he asked.

"No." Alec replied with a regretful sigh. "I didn't even get a chance to try before she… well… it's probably easiest just to show you."

Show him? Although it screamed 'trap', Batman followed Holland back over to the house, waiting for an attack. It never came; Holland stopped by the door, and pointed at what looked like a climbing plant that had taken hold of one of the pillars supporting the porch. On closer inspection however, Batman realised that this plant was familiar.

Ivy. It was thick vines of ivy. The leaves were the exact colour of Ivy's hair. The plant itself looked physically identical to the vines that had formed her hair in their last battle. No. This was insane. It had to be some kind of trick, there was no way Ivy could just have turned into a plant, surely she hadn't been crazy enough to alter her cellular structure that much… surely.

"You can't be serious." Batman said shortly. "This looks like a cover-up to me."

"Well it looked like something out of a nightmare to me." Alec replied. "She walked up to the porch, and then just… fell apart. Literally. The only theory I've got is that the plant DNA she spliced herself with just broke the human DNA apart. In other words, the plant cells took over."

"So how exactly would she have managed to splice herself in the first place?" Although his voice was sceptical, Batman was giving that theory some serious thought. It certainly explained the increasingly plant-like characteristics Ivy had been showing, like the sudden inability to breathe oxygen.

"I couldn't tell you." That at least was the truth. "She's the only one that could tell you, and she's not talking."

"Hmmm." Cautiously reaching out to touch the vine, Batman half-expected it to uncoil from the pillar and make a snatch at him. But it did nothing, even when he snapped one of its leaves off. "Can I use your lab? I'd like to do a DNA match."

"Certainly. This way." Leading Batman inside, Alec found himself hoping that he didn't decide to search the house. He didn't think Batman would believe him if he told him that the female underwear was his…

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The third set of results came out just the same as the first two. Positive DNA matches, even though the human cells and DNA from the plant were fragmentary. Holland had been right, it looked like the plant cells had either destroyed the human ones, or the human ones had just died. Either way, the plant side had won. Meaning that the person who'd been both Pamela Isley and Poison Ivy was… well… gone. Forever, since this didn't look like it could possibly be reversed, the human cells were dead.

It was a pity, and a terrible waste, Ivy could easily have put her knowledge to a much better use. But there was nothing he could have done to prevent it, it had all been Ivy's own doing. She'd never be a problem in Gotham again, but that didn't make him feel any better. Especially when he remembered what that Gorfium of hers had done to Gotham when she'd decided to take a trip to the Amazon, if there was a repeat of that incident he'd have to deal with it without her (unwilling) help.

There was no more he could do here. It was time to get back to Gotham. Taking his leave of Holland, Batman headed back to the jet, with a final look back at the tangle of vines that had once been Pamela Isley. It was a fitting end really.

Alec watched him go, with a deep sigh of relief. He never wanted to have to do that again… then reminded himself that if that was the case, maybe he shouldn't have hooked up with a former supervillainess. Of course, if he'd known about that at the time… but no matter. Pamela had some serious explaining to do when she got back. Mainly concerning just what she'd done to merit being personally tracked by Batman…