A/N: I'm back! Don't think for a moment that this story is over - I can't wait to share the rest of this story with you. Also, a time skip is approaching.

Life and Death

Chapter 13

"You wash your hands and come out clean
Fail to recognize the enemies within
You say we're not responsible
But we are"
We Are - Ana Johnsson

When Batman looked into the eyes of the little girl for the first time, he wondered what the hell he was doing. Perhaps the poisonous spores had finally got to him.

He had seen those gray eyes in the face of the Joker so many times, staring back at him malevolently. Coldly. Passionately, with a burning desire. It shot down his belief that this was a kidnapping gone wrong, but this outcome was even worse than he had imagined.

The thought had never struck him that there could be a child somewhere. A sinking feeling washed over him when he realized that he had been unable to prevent this. He needed to save her, take her far away from them, and put an end to this. Maybe it was the spores urging him on to act more violently than usual, knowing there was an innocent person to save, someone who shouldn't have to watch her parents' unavoidable demise.

The girl stared at him, the epitome of wide-eyed innocence. She's just a kid, he reminded himself, fighting back the dread. She's not responsible.

Even if Harley Quinn stood in his way, it was of no consequence. He had to make it right.

Far too late he realized his mistake.

. . . . . .

Before that dreadful encounter, Batman had been working for two days without rest. Gotham was about to crumble; a not too uncommon occurrence during the last fifteen years, only this time was more urgent than usual. The water supply was poisoned, and the were spores thick in the air in certain areas. The citizens were taking cover inside, in desperate attempts to stay safe from the polluted air and water.

When he thought it couldn't get worse, the GCPD told him a familiar vehicle had been sighted in the streets, an echoing laughter bouncing in the thick air. He wouldn't be surprised if the Joker had something to do with this, despite the fact that he was notoriously known for being bad at cooperating with others. Someone else was behind this work.

What was worse was the urgency of the situation that forced Batman to appear in bright daylight. Curious citizens went outside to photograph and explore the less polluted areas despite the mayor declaring a lockdown, and the chaos spread like the plague across the street.

On a roof not far away, a little girl finished painting a banner with wide strokes of her pencil, green paint dripping across her dress. Together with Harley she hung the banner from the roof with duct tape, displaying the message for the town to see.

"Let's go, honey," Harley giggled and picked her up, jumping off the low roof and landing behind a building. "They're gonna get such a surprise!"

A boy a few years older than Jaylie was occupied with fastening a poster on the brick wall. He flinched when he noticed their presence. His face revealed that he did not recognize them, but his hand tightened around the bunch of posters he held underneath his arm.

Jaylie gave him a suspicious look but Harley paid him no mind, picking up her phone to take a photo of her and Jaylie's masterpiece hanging on the wall of the factory.

The Joker had parked his car in a nearby alley. His henchmen were occupied with a heist, safely covered by the city's current state of emergency. Such a glorious opportunity could not be wasted. He had left all that to Frosty; the Joker would only spend this day amusing himself and if possible ruin the whole thing for the plant witch.

He grinned to himself when he imagined Poison Ivy's furious face – the plan of her life ruined by a higher-rank criminal. It wouldn't do to forget who owned this city.

When in Rome do as the Romans, the Joker thought sardonically as he crushed a fluorescent flower underneath his shoe. Or in this case, blow it sky high. He chuckled out loud, praising himself on his sense of humor. When he saw the news this morning he had been enraged at first, before he decided to bring his girls out for a little fun.

Now spotting Harley and Jaylie by the brick wall of the factory, he strolled over, amused to find his daughter glaring at an older boy. His gaze moved to the poster that had been fastened on the wall.

The boy didn't react like a normal human at the sight of him, he just turned and stared as if he was more afraid of the posters being taken away. Joker was at his side after a few long steps.

"Hi there," he said, suddenly grabbing the boy's collar, "What's your name?"

"Timothy…" he almost choked.

"Well, Timmy, do you like Batman?" Joker grimaced, altering his voice.

The dark-haired boy nodded energetically. "I'm his biggest fan! He's our savior!"

Joker sucked in his cheeks for a moment. "Now here's a question: do you wanna to get closer to him?"

"Yeah!"

Joker chuckled, about to bash the kid's skull against the brick wall, right into the poster of the winged rodent, but was distracted by another emergency alert on the big screen on a nearby building.

He rolled his eyes. "That plant sprays a few drops and suddenly eeeerryybody's panicking!"

Harley sneezed, then grimaced. "I think I'm allergic to flowers."

Joker tightened his grip around Tim's collar, thinking of some way to amuse himself with him, when a familiar shadow landed behind him. A thick, gloved hand closed around the back of his neck. The Joker started laughing.

"Finally, Batsy! I thought you had retired!"

"Leave the boy out of this," the dark voice snapped.

Grinning, Joker raised both his hands in the air in a mock gesture, and the boy took a few steps backwards. Posters with the message "Vote for Batman!" spread across the ground, as Tim gazed with sheer devotion at his hero.

Batman was about to throw his nemesis into the opposite wall when he spotted the girl for the first time. He hadn't noticed her when he first landed, focused only on him.

The shock was bitter in his mouth and he froze. Harley Quinn was hovering protectively over a little girl, who seemed completely unfazed by the sight in front of her.

Batman had seen Harley and Joker take an entire kindergarten hostage once. They had caused severe injuries as collateral damage to children over the years and she was fully involved in the death of a fifteen year old boy. Harley Quinn did not give a damn about children or human lives any more than her partner did. She was not motherly, he was sure of that. Yet he saw her holding her arm around the child, pulling her away from Batman as if he was the threat.

Then the girl met his gaze. A nauseating feeling filled him when he understood.

If it was the Joker's child, Harley would love it. Batman stared at her, she was dressed up in a way that made it clear whom her parents were. He looked back at Harley sticking her tongue out and grimacing at him in the most childish display he'd ever seen from an adult human, then at the Joker's amused grin, then back to the girl.

He had already created a lethal weapon, Harley Quinn. How far could he go to create more chaos? Would he turn his own child into a weapon? Were there more of them, hidden away somewhere?

His grip around the Joker's neck had loosened enough with the shock, for the other man to wriggle out of it and move a few inches to the side. He was no doubt enjoying the visible shock of his enemy.

Batman's blood ran cold as the child held his stare, and a sense of urgency filled him. She was the picture of innocence even with those eyes: soft blonde hair falling around her rosy, unscarred face. Her dress and hands were covered with splashes of green paint.

She smiled at him, showing off small white teeth and even more resemblance to her father.

The next second Harley picked her daughter up and ran off while the Joker fired at him.

He tried to decide what to focus on, as the parents subsequently parted directions, and the girl went with Harley. He was about to hunt them down, but then considered the amount of collateral damage her parents would cause as a reaction – he knew his enemies well – and decided to deal with the root of the problem first.

The root of all this mess, being the lunatic himself. Batman still needed to get back at him for Robin and for breaking Harley out six years ago.

The boy stepped forward a second later, eyes shining with admiration. "Thank you for saving me, Batman!"

"Get inside now," Batman ordered him and received an intense nod in return. Normally he would have made sure the boy got to safety, and escorted him there personally, but he had been slowed down enough. His work had been delayed unnecessarily by reactions he wasn't supposed to have in this costume.

He was a guardian, a knight, not a human. He would kill Joker and Harley if he had to, but he could not do so in front of the child. That was the one promise he intended to keep to her.

Harley put Jaylie down in a spot several blocks away once she was sure the Bat had lost track of them. A voice from above on a roof surprised them.

"He just couldn't resist, could he?" The voice cut through the sounds of the decreasing traffic and sirens, dripping with honey and poison. The figure was only a streak of red hair moving with the breeze, and the green leaves surrounding her.

"Red!" Harley beamed. "You know Puddin, he can't resist a playground."

With the help of a thick bunch of vines, Ivy landed next to them and leaned forward, giving Harley a light kiss on the cheek. "I'm glad you came to see it."

"Love what ya did with the place, by the way!" Harley held tight onto Jaylie's hand as they looked at the vines that had encased several government buildings completely. "I told Puddin' to leave your work alone today."

Ivy looked at Jaylie and the spores floating in the air around them. "Seems like the shots I gave her worked well. How is she feeling?"

The girl showed off all her teeth in a smile. "Fine."

"She's been so excited," Harley giggled, then sneezed again. "There's something about these flowers..."

Ivy suddenly moved, perking up as if she smelled something. "Hurry up and get out, he's nearby. My plants feel it."

There was no doubt about who she was referring to, and Harley looked around as the sounds of gunshots came closer. "Take her to one of my buildings, she'll be safe," Ivy said before she disappeared in a cloud of spores and dust.

Harley lifted Jaylie up again to be able to move faster, and the child clung to her, looking all around with excitement, as she hurried towards the street, guided by the sounds of traffic. The last citizens were heading home, alerted by the morning news, taken by surprise by the previous nights' biological attacks. Harley tried to remember the meeting points they had set up in town. She was not going to miss out on all the fun, but she was not going to let Jaylie get in the way.

Only a few blocks away from the place where they were supposed to meet Frost with the getaway car, a dark figure struck down in front of her. Batman towered tall above her and the Joker was nowhere to be found.

"Quinn, let her go. She can get a better life."

"Are you stupid, Bat-brain?" Harley glared back, clutching her daughter tighter. "She's not gonna wear tights and a cape, ever. Get yourself a kid of your own!"

When he sternly approached she fired relentlessly at him, seeing the bullets fly in all directions as she backed off. There were tall walls on all side except the one leading down in an alley, traffic occasionally passing by. Jaylie didn't make a sound, completely still and silent in her grip as she watched the scene.

Harley couldn't stop, mindless of the fact that she was approaching the street. At last she put Jaylie down on the ground to be able to move easier without her added weight, ushering her behind herself as she spotted a familiar figure.

"Red!" she called and waved as she shot at Batsy, her hair flying in her face.

Ivy immediately moved to her defense from a roof above, letting her vines and spores seek out her target. Coughing violently Batman still charged at Harley, as Ivy attempted to restrain him with her vines.

He broke free and almost grasped Harley's pigtails, but his brute strength couldn't compare to her acrobatic skills: she moved like lightning out of his way, one step after another balancing on her high heels.

She waltzed out into the empty street while she laughed at him and grimaced. "Good try, Batsy!"

As he chased after her, Poison Ivy launched an attack of spores so severe he could hardly breathe, feeling his airways clog together even through his protective gas mask. Through his blurry vision he reached for the child, as a lone, speeding car approached, in a hurry to get to safety.

The vehicle rounded the corner a moment later as Harley stepped further out into the street, still focused on staying out of his grasp. She only had time to turn her head before it hit her.

There was one shrill sound, and it took him a moment to realize it did not come from the brakes of the car, but the little girl by the side of the road. The car eventually came to a stop and Harley Quinn was nowhere to be seen.

The driver barely managed to leave her seat before she collapsed on the ground, poisoned by the thick spores in the air.

Batman would have used the opportunity to take the child away if only he could – his patience with the clowns had run out many years ago, but he realized Poison Ivy would kill him if he didn't retreat. He was down on his knees unable to defend himself and could barely see a thing, coughing spasmodically. Even though it went against everything he stood for, he fled the scene coughing, away into safety. A part of him felt guiltier than before.

"Harley!" Ivy's scream was interrupted by the sound of several more engines as she jumped down from the roof.

Jaylie remained frozen where she stood, having passed death by an inch. She blinked once, twice.

"Mommy?"

She sank down next to her mother and clung to her tightly as Harley's hair soaked in red.

Suddenly Frost and Panda Man was there, pulling Jaylie away with force, and she turned and bit their hands violently until they bled, but for once they didn't relent, holding her by her arms tightly.

Ivy stood there like an unstoppable nature force, as the Joker's men blocked her way. Frost looked wearily at her. "It's better if you leave," he said as politely as he could muster. He had a feeling that not even his gas mask could protect him from the green-skinned goddess' fury. "The Boss is on his way. The cops are close."

"Get out of my way," Ivy hissed frantically, sinking down by Harley's side and checking her pulse. "Can you hear me? Harley, don't you dare give up." She stroked her forehead gently and heard her mumble something in return, but her eyes were closed and her head rolled slackly to the side. Frost was kneeling on the other side with a first aid kit in his hands.

Harley was pale as a ghost already, as if all life had drained from her. She looked as if she was sleeping, if it wasn't for the pained expression on her face.

Ivy leaned in, felt the healing spores and life force fill her, before she kissed Harley's forehead, closed her eyes and fought against the ache in her chest. She wanted to do more, to take her away, but it was impossible here.

"She's alive," Ivy whispered, but she felt emptier than she had in years. She turned to Jaylie who stood by the side. Panda Man stood directly behind her, guarding her, but he was no longer restraining her.

Without thinking Ivy pulled her close. The girl was completely slack in her arms, making no resistance.

"Are you alright, Jay?" Ivy tried to get any kind of response out of her, but Jaylie was seemingly transfixed by the sight of Harley, as if her mother would disappear if she turned her eyes away.

Ivy felt a need to keep the child close, to take her away from this scene. She put her arms around her, feeling that she owed Harley this. "You're safe," she mumbled, knowing it was useless.

"Harley!" The Joker's voice was a roar.

Jaylie flinched, as if she had been torn out of a trance.

"A car is on its way, Boss," someone said.

Ivy decided to leave then, seeing Jaylie look up and meet the gaze of her father. No matter how much it went against her instincts and even though she could not even admit it to herself, she knew the girl was safe.

She hated the clown prince more than she hated Batman, but she knew he would not let Harley die.

.

.

.

When Harley was gone, resting in her coma, it was like she never existed at all.

She was a vivid, intense, painful and pleasurable hallucination his mind made up, while he was going truly mad within Arkham's walls. He couldn't find a trace of her even within this penthouse they had shared for more years than he could remember. He couldn't find her in his own mind, in his memories. All her clothes and weapons and belongings felt so malicious – in his rage he had ripped them apart.

He was alone in the room he had made his office, only a single lamp casting a gloomy light on his desk. A glass of whiskey in his hand, then another one, numbly bringing it to his lips, filling him with a dull ache. She was gone.

This was just like that time. His car had been brought from the harbor back then and she was still gone, only her dagger was found at the bottom of the sea. Arkham didn't have her. Frost had told him that she truly had vanished – a statement that made the henchman's suit turn red, as a knife was lunged into his chest. Frost had been dying for several hours before Joker decided to let him be useful again and allowed the other henchmen to save him. He remembered the agony of that time – of lying on the floor in a fetal position, a scared little boy again, scared of the world and what he would become without her. He was enraged with her.

Light footsteps alerted his dull mind – his senses were not as sharp as they used to be, the edges of his vision slightly fuzzy. He was barely aware of the girl who climbed into his lap, wrapping her tiny arms around his torso, holding him as if she was comforting him.

He had been wrong - there was one trace of Harley left in the world. That goddamn woman – like six years ago when she was about to leave him, leaving something behind, as if she intended, dared to die without him.

The trace of Harley sat in his lap, her head buried against his chest, he felt her weight and warmth, like a cruel reminder. He wanted to push her away, but her grip was so tight. All he heard was her steady breathing.

Almost by itself, his twitching hand rose and settled in her hair, feeling the soft texture of it like Harley's. The girl's hair was darker blonde, and he let a curl twist around his fingers, before wrapping an arm around her form and clutching her tight to him. She couldn't move from his grip and didn't seem to want to either.

She wasn't Harley; she was a part of him that he never wanted to face. It had all been Harley's idea from the beginning. Thoughts trickled through his plagued mind like a dripping tap – if Harley betrayed him by giving up her breath, he'd make it easy for her. He'd hold the girl to him like he did now, and ever so gently, with a touch like tenderness, slit her throat before he slit his own, and they'd all be at peace again.

He'd make it painless for her. She wouldn't end up in Batsy's grasp, she wouldn't have to live without them. His mind changed direction then, like a train switching tracks - Harley would never let him live that down, and somehow it left a bad taste in his mouth.

But she had known this could happen, that wretched woman, the moment she decided she wanted to keep the thing growing inside of her. She had been so keen on bringing it to the world. Wretched.

The girl was so trusting in his arms – she was a little devil herself, but to let down her guard around him, like Harley did, when there was no one around to stop him, when he was in his darkest mood, was stupidity. Harley had trusted him around the girl from the very beginning.

He was sure Jonny Frost would dutifully take care of his kid if her parents were no more. The thought of his aide-de-camp as some kind of babysitter almost made him cackle.

"You'd eat him alive when he turned his back, wouldn't you, princess?" he chuckled darkly, his hand stroking her hair restlessly. She perked up a little, but said nothing.

She had been guilty since she was born, not a day had she been innocent since she took her first breath in his hands.

Harley was going to survive, there was no other way. She was one resilient being, harder to kill than the Bat. Even underneath his own hand she had proven to kick death in the face with a wicked grin.

"Is Mommy coming back?" Jaylie whispered, her face against his shirt. It felt damp.

"Yes," he said darkly, drawing in a slow breath with clenched jaws. "She is."

He felt her hands moving to his shoulders, and she straightened up in his tight hold. One of her hands settled lightly Through his own blurred vision he saw her trying to make a face, it looked weird and distasteful, until he realized.

She was smiling at him. His free hand instinctively tightened in her hair for a moment before it relaxed. Instincts told him to snap her neck, but she didn't seem to notice.

Her shows of affection were annoying, but she had the same ways about her that Harleen Quinzel did, keeping his interest long enough not to bore him, pulling him into her orbit until he couldn't tear away from it.

He pretended to examine her like he would taunt Harley about Harleen, peering into her eyes.

"Is that Lucy I see rolling around in there?"

"No, it's just me." She huffed, scrunching up her tiny nose, "Lucy is me."

He tapped his fingers on her chin, not in the mood to joke around.

"Harleen is Lucy's Mommy."

"Quiet, Pumpkin," he groaned and rolled his neck, at the mention of her.

She fell silent, leaning against him again. He almost spaced out until he felt her warm hands cradling his forearm, seeing the tattoo bleeding from the mouth, where he had let his blade play earlier. She studied the wound wordlessly, her fingertips touching it as if she wanted to soothe it.

"Are you dying?" Her voice was unusually quiet.

He grimaced humorlessly, closing his eyes to fade into a comfortable numbness. Next time he got his hands on the plant witch, he would pry her sickly green skin open.

A rustling was heard and then an intake of breath, and he looked down to see her palm colored crimson red and her holding a tiny knife in the other.

Suddenly angry, he gripped her palm in his hand and wiped it dry on his shirt, his thumb pressing against the little wound. "You make my teeth hurt."

Pouting at his dissatisfaction, she relaxed against him again, her head resting in the nape of his neck. "I won't let you go away, Daddy." She sing-sang the declaration, her small hands gripping him with a force he didn't know she had.

Somehow soothed by that childish promise, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Bright red colors flashed in his vision, Harley's soft laughter. Jaylie's small weight on his lap held him down, calmed him, and he found himself holding onto her, as they both waited for her mother to wake up.

To be continued.

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