Happy Fourth of July! Have fun with all the fireworks, drink some cold ones, shoot some guns (sorry California), enjoy the celebrations!
Alex sat across from Ivy in the cargo hold of a C130 in route to an Air Force base in Washington. They hadn't had time to buy tickets for an actual airline but flying on a military plane was cheaper anyways and the privacy of the cargo hold was a welcome bonus. Not that they made much use of it. After Harley had told Alex about her prior relationship with Ivy he had avoided talking to her, save for business related issues.
He had no real reason not to talk to her, Harley had assured him that her thing with Ivy was over, but still he found himself unable to talk with her. It wasn't that he was jealous of her, he wasn't the jealous type, but rather it was some considerations about Ivy's feelings for Harley and the likely hood of his own survival brought on.
It all started as he was kissing Harley goodbye before boarding the plane, for whatever reason it felt like it was the last time he'd see her. He'd had the same gut wrenching feeling as he'd said his goodbye to her before his first deployment, that worry at the back of his mind that he'd just possibly said his last words to her as he ventured into the unknown. And now that feeling was back, and he hated that it gnawed at him, that it made him distant from his peer.
Alex looked up at Ivy to find her reading a gardening magazine. She looked up over the top of her magazine back at him and Alex quickly averted his eyes. Ivy had been picking up on his distant behavior the whole ride and finally decided enough is enough. "Something on your mind Sergeant?" She asked, putting her magazine down.
"No, nothing. Why do you ask?" He replied.
Ivy quirked her brow in response. "I may be old but I'm not stupid, something is clearly bothering you." She pressed.
Alex sighed, knowing she wouldn't let up until he complied. "Harley told me about her kissing you last week and about how you two used to, you know..."
If Ivy was phased by this revelation she didn't show it. "Oh, that... Yes, we used to do that, but I ended that after you two got together. You won't have to worry about any competition from me, so long as you keep treating her right." She explained.
"I'd never hurt her, and if for whatever reason I somehow do you totally have my permission to smack me around twice as much. But that's not what's bothering me, I could care less about her sleeping with you." Alex replied.
"So then what's your issue?" Ivy asked confused.
"You love Harley, right? I mean you wouldn't be doing all this if you didn't." He stated, more to himself than her.
"I took care of Harley whenever she got beat up, I held her when she cried at night, and tried my best to save her from herself. Of course I love her."
"Good, that's good." He muttered to himself.
"Sergeant, your acting weird. What are you getting at?" She asked, hoping that he'd just tell her.
"Listen, I love Harley with all I got, have for a while now, and I want to make sure she's happy no matter what... even if the worst happens."
"Sergeant..."
"No, listen. I've been through a lot in my short twenty five years, survived some shit I really shouldn't have and I'm worried that I'm living on borrowed time, that I won't live to see the end of this stupid mission...and if that happens I need to know that Harley will have someone to look after her..." He said, pleading with her.
"Sergeant..." Ivy was going to console him but he quickly cut her off.
"I don't want to hear it. Just promise me that if I die that you'll take care of Harley for me."
It took Ivy a moment to fully process what he was asking but eventually she met his gaze and nodded. "I'll take care of her, I promise."
"Thank you, for looking after her all these years. I wish that I hadn't been as angry as I was, maybe if I wasn't I could have saved her sooner..." Out of all the regrets Alex had that one was beginning to rear its head more and more. Every time he looked at Harley and how happy she was now he knew that she could have been that way much sooner if he hadn't given up on their friendship.
Ivy knew the basic details on what had happened that caused their friendship to fail, but she believed Alex blamed himself to much for what happened. "Sergeant, what happened wasn't your fault, as much as I hate to say it, Harley made that choice herself long before you came back from war, you had every right to be angry at her for what she did, you don't know how many times she's infuriated me over the overs, but what's important is that despite that you still found a way to care and we did save her, together. She's alive and happy today because she has people like you that care about her. You'll make it through this Sergeant, you have to, for her."
Alex nodded his head and offered a small smile. "Thanks Pamela, I really needed to hear that. You really are a good person, you know that? I wouldn't have expected to say this last year, but I'm glad we're friends."
It took Ivy a moment to register that he'd called her Pamela instead of Isley and had quickly followed that up with the word friend. She suddenly realized she was returning his smile, she didn't have many friends and could count her current ones on one hand, but after everything they had been through together she found herself agreeing that they were indeed friends.
"Yes, well I'm surprised to say that I agree with that assessment. Being friends that is, I don't know if I'd call myself a good person, Sergeant."
Alex rolled his eyes and laughed quietly. "Hey, my friends call me Alex and I mean it, people may see you as that crazy plant lady but to me your a damn hero and there's no one I'd rather have as my second in command."
"Well other than me you had a ditzy blonde or a flying rodent to choose from, so I think the choice was pretty obvious..." Ivy replied humorously.
"Yeah, your probably right. Although Barbara's gonna pick up Lance Corporal come September, so you might have some competition. Of course that all depends on how well she leads her mission." He admitted with a grin.
"I still appreciate the vote of confidence though, it's nice to have someone who sees potential in me again."
"Hey, wether you stay in or get out I know you'll accomplish whatever you set out to do, maybe just try not to wipe out all of humanity again though..." It was a joke to be sure, but Alex also didn't want Ivy to regress back to her old ways.
"I don't think you'll have to worry about that, turns out your not all despicable creatures, and I get to kill the ones that are by sticking with you." Ivy wasn't a patriotic woman by any means and despite living in the United States she never concerned herself with the conflicts they engaged in over her long life.
She had been born during the Second World War, grown up and lived through the Cold War before becoming Poison Ivy, afterwards she lived to see the Gulf War and the start of the War on Terror. But she had never cared about America's enemies, she was to focused on protecting The Green from greedy corporations to worry about them. But nowadays it seemed that she and the United States shared common enemies and she was more than willing to cooperate, even if she had been conscripted.
"Ha, so should I hand you some reenlistment papers when we get back or what?" Again he was joking, but on the off chance Ivy did decide to stay in he knew that with her determination and intellect she'd go far in the Marines and very easily surpass him in both rank and billet.
"Don't push your luck, once my contract is fulfilled I'm done with the military." Ivy had no doubt that staying in the military could open many doors for her that would ultimately aid her in her goal of saving plant life, but while she was in it severely restricted her abilities to do much outside of their own goals.
"Yeah, but what other job lets you travel to new places, meet interesting people, and then kill them? Not to mention the free food and housing."
"Oh yes, how could I forget those five star meals that are MRE's. I'll pass." The mere thought of those disgusting meals was almost enough to make Ivy gag, and after having to live off of them for two months she had never felt so backed up in her life. If given the choice between eating another MRE and meat she'd easily choose the latter.
Alex laughed at the grimace on Ivy's face as she thought about the meals. "Yeah, shitting a brick is never fun."
"Well I certainly found that out the hard way..." Ivy replied with smile. With the mood lightened and Alex's spirits raised the two conversed happily and shot the shit together until the C130 finally landed in Washington hours later.
...
"So this is Washington huh? You know I knew a few Marines from Washington in my old unit..." Alex commented as he and Ivy wandered down the streets of Seattle towards their hotel.
"Oh, and what were they like?" Ivy asked curiously.
"They were all fucking weird..." He replied before looking at her. "And that trend has not changed."
"I am not weird!" Ivy scoffed with mock offense.
"Pamela, you have green patterns all over you. That's weird..." He didn't actually think they were weird, rather Alex found them to be quite exotic, the swirling green designs that flowed over Ivy's pale skin only accentuated her natural beauty. When he'd been deployed one of his friends had been sent a newspaper article that had a picture of Ivy on it, dressed in her old leafy one piece that left little to the imagination and depicted her stretching her body seductively as police escorted her to Arkham. Needless to say it was quickly cut out and passed among the Platoon for 'private time' but he wouldn't tell her that...
"I wasn't born with these and I didn't ask for them, and I'll have you know that Harley loves them. She used to run her tongue along the ones closer to my..." Ivy began, teasing Alex as she traced her finger along a design down her throat and towards the center of her waist.
"Alright, I get it! That's an image I'll never get out of my head..." Alex suddenly interrupted, his face turning red. The mental image of Harley going down on Ivy was enough to get him hot and bothered.
"Your welcome for that." Ivy smirked as Alex sighed and massaged his forehead.
As they resumed walking Alex felt his phone vibrate and he pulled it out and looked at the notification. "What the hell!?" He exclaimed.
"Something wrong?"
"One sec." Alex replied as he dialed a number and held the phone to his ear. "Yeah, hey Harley. Care to explain why I'm suddenly missing a couple hundred dollars? Uh huh...Really? Well next time give me a heads up before you blow my money on clothes."
Ivy raised her brow curiously. "She spent a couple hundred on clothes? Aren't they supposed to be on a mission?" She asked as Alex hung up.
"Yes, but it turns out Harley's decided to play Cupid. One of Barbara's friends has a crush on her and Harley's trying to get them together."Alex replied. He had almost told Harley to knock it off before realizing that he'd sound like a major hypocrite if he did.
"She's the least qualified to give relationship advice, I mean she chose you over me!" Ivy exclaimed. While she was supportive of their relationship, she also liked to play around with it.
"Ok, one, fuck you. And two, I'm in agreement that Bab's could at least get laid, she probably needs it. Hopefully the guy Harley's setting her up with is at least good for her." Alex replied, hoping that Barbara wouldn't regret whatever she was getting into, or at worse be stupid and end up with an STD or pregnancy.
"What makes you think it's a guy Alex? Could be a woman for all we know."
"I'm pretty sure Bab's is straight Pamela."
"So was Harley until she met me..." Ivy replied with a wink as she strutted past him.
"I hate you so much..." Alex groaned as he chased after her.
...
The following night Alex and Ivy sat in a parked car outside Seattle University, waiting patiently for the student populace to vacate the grounds.
"So, what exactly are we looking for again?" Alex asked as he loaded bullets into a magazine for his M9.
"This is where I was transformed into what I am today. My old mentor, Doctor Jason Woodrue, drugged me and held me captive in a lab built into the buildings foundation. It's well hidden and I suspect that no one's been down there since I escaped." Ivy answered while she stared out the window at the botany classroom. There was more that happened than that, but Alex only needed to know the basics. Anything else and he might start to think differently of her.
"No one except the New Era's goons that is." Alex slapped the now full magazine into his pistol and racked the slide back before passing it off to Ivy.
"So it would seem..." Seeing that the campus was now clear Ivy left the car and moved around to the trunk, Alex in tow. She rummaged through the truck for a moment before retrieving a shotgun. Ivy gripped the shotguns pump and racked it back, chambering a shotgun shell before tossing it to Alex who caught it in mid-air before unzipping his jacket to reveal a bandoleer of 00 buckshot across his chest.
He would have preferred his IAR, but the close quarters of a building made the shotgun more practical. Still, he could always pick up one of the enemies rifles if he had to, Alex always enjoyed figuring out how to use different firearms. After slinging his shotgun Alex reached into the trunk for his demo bag and the satchel of C4 needed to destroy the site. By the time he had everything Ivy had already stripped down to her green and black suit and was finishing strapping a pistol belt around her waist.
Ivy looked at the bag of explosives Alex had and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "A bit excessive don't you think?"
Alex down at the bag and back up to Ivy before shrugging his shoulders. "Naw..."
"If you say so." Truthfully Ivy was glad they had been ordered to destroy the old lab, she had too many horrible memories of her experiences there and she hoped destroying it would bring some closure. With that in mind she set off towards the botany lab, Alex in tow.
They walked up to the door only to find it locked. Before Ivy could think of anything Alex used the buttstock of his shotgun to bash in the doors window, reaching in and unlocking it from the inside.
"Ladies first." Alex smiled as he held the door open for Ivy.
Ivy rolled her eyes as she walked in. "Such a gentleman..."
The large classroom was illuminated only by the moonlight, casting shadows across the empty room. Alex scanned the room finding nothing out of the ordinary. He posted up by the door leading to the adjacent hallway, keeping guard as Ivy searched around one of the walls at the back of the room. She seemed to find what she was looking for, pushing an old, dust covered bookshelf aside. Alex walked over and stared questioningly at the stone wall.
"Uh, that's a wall."
Ivy responded by pushing against the wall which swung open on a hinge, revealing a staircase descending into the campus foundation.
"Ooh, how cliche." Alex commented cheerily before beginning to descend into the tunnel, shotgun raised. As they descended further the lighting only faded, surrounding them in darkness. "Damn, should have brought night-vision." Alex cursed as he stumbled around in the dark.
After stumbling around for what felt like hours they finally spotted a faint light and Alex started heading towards it. As they got closer they could begin to hear voices and Alex raised his shotgun.
"That's the lab" Ivy whispered quietly.
"Roger, standby." He whispered back. Alex pointed his weapon and fired, a small cluster of seeds flying into the lab.
As the seeds flew into the lab Ivy willed them to life, sprouting vines that ensnared those close enough. While Ivy ensnared those she could Alex charged forward, ejecting the spent seed shell and loading buckshot.
He entered the lab, blasting a guard in the chest and taking control of the right side, Ivy quickly followed and took the left, using her pistol to drop two more guards before they could fire.
Alex blasted the final guard, securing the lab. "Huh, would have thought there'd be more of these assholes." He was surprised the enemies security had been so lax, he and Ivy had killed or subdued them all without them being able to get a shot off.
"They most likely didn't think we'd find them. Their mistake, our gain." Ivy shrugged.
"Whatever, let's find what we're looking for and blow this joint. Literally." Alex joked as he set about emplacing his charges and priming into them.
While Alex got to work Ivy took a look around the room that she had once been held captive for months and subjected to all forms of cruel experiments that damaged her both mentally and physically in more ways than one. The lab was still the same as she remembered it, containers filled with various chemicals, plant specimens, the gurney she had been strapped to, all the same. Memories of her abuse were beginning to surface and Ivy quickly forced them to the back of her mind, focusing on the only thing different, a terminal the New Era goons had set up. She booted up the screen to find that several data packets had been sent out to an undisclosed location.
She looked down and discovered that Woodrue's old journal still sat on the desk and she guessed that it's contents had been scanned and sent out. Grabbing the book Ivy flipped through it and was overwhelmed to find that Woodrue had written in graphic detail everything he had done to her, from the cruel, sadistic experiments to using her for his own vile pleasures. Ivy cursed to herself, feeling rage that her privacy had been invaded boil over and without thinking she tossed the book down and punched her fist through the computer, ripping out the hard drive.
Alex looked over to she what was going on to find Ivy pulling her bloody fist out of the remains of the computer. Noticing the book she had thrown, he picked it up and began sifting through the pages only to wish he hadn't as he cringed at the depravity within. After only a few pages he couldn't read any more, setting the journal down and looking at Ivy with pity. "Pamela, I am so sorry..."
Ivy could tell by the look in his eyes that he had found out exactly what had been done to her in that book and she hated it.
"You weren't even born when it happened, there's no possible way you could have prevented it..." She said quietly, trying her best to remain in control of her emotions.
"I know that, but this...you didn't deserve that. You were robbed of your life by that monster." Jason Woodrue was a depraved, vile excuse for a man and Alex sincerely hoped that he was dead, otherwise he'd hunt the man down and make him pay for what he'd done to his friend. And Alex could be very creative when it came to hurting people.
"Yes, I was. But I don't let what happened define who I am." Ivy was hurting inside, she hadn't wanted anyone to find out more than she'd let them, but she had to remain strong, refusing to break down in front of her friend and show weakness.
"Have you talked to anyone about it? Does Harley know?"
"No, your the only one, though I suspect when you hand that over the General will also know." Ivy had never spoken about it to anyone, not the police, not the staff at Arkham, not even her best friend. But now Alex knew and she hated that look of pity he was giving her.
"Yeah, he will. And he'll be concerned like I am. I know you probably don't want to talk about what happened but you have people that care about you and will listen if you want, myself included." This was all foreign territory for Alex, he had never been in this situation, he received annual training on the subject sure and was aware that it happened occasionally, but he'd never expected to find out one of his Marines had been... he was sorely unprepared to handle this.
"Thank you Sergeant, I appreciate your concern for my well being but this is hardly the place." She really was appreciative, but she had buried what happened years ago and digging it up would only make things harder for her.
"Right, well, here. You should be the one to blow this place." Alex handed her the detonator, pressing it firmly into her palm. He wouldn't press her into talking but he hoped to at least give her a small sense of closure.
Ivy looked down at the detonator and nodded appreciatively. "What about them?" She asked, referring to the New Era goons that she had rendered unconscious.
"The terrorists?" Fuck them, they can rot." Alex replied coldly. Even if he wanted to take them captive they didn't have the logistics to do so.
With both the hard drive and journal secure Alex and Ivy fled from the lab, Ivy hitting the detonator as they left the building. The lab exploded with a muffled thump as they drove away. A clean up crew would sweep in later and ensure the site was truly inaccessible.
...
It was a few days after Alex had sent Woodrue's journal off that General Anderson contacted him and Ivy. To say he was disturbed by the contents of the intel was an understatement.
"This is by far the most horrifying thing I have read in my life, but at least we now know what the enemy knows."
"Which is?" Alex asked.
"Aside from the depravity, this book contains the process to create more beings like Poison Ivy, which the enemy now has their hands on. Combine that with the kryptonite they're trying to get their hands on and they'll have a meta-human army with the capabilities to bring down the strongest individuals on the planet. That's an enemy we'd be nearly powerless to stop."
"So, what do we do Sir?"
"Gordon and Quinzel were unsuccessful in their mission, the New Era got a hold of Lena Luthor. As far as we know they haven't made any demands from Lex Luthor yet, but when they do we need to be ready."
"I'm sure Selina will let us know when that happens, she is surprisingly resourceful." Ivy added.
"Agreed. Aside from that we're ramping up security in several locations, National City, Gotham, Metropolis, Central City, and Washington D.C. to name a few. The National Guard are being deployed to aid local Law Enforcement with security measures."
"Are we expecting another attack?"
"Not yet, but everything seems to be pointing towards a major ground offensive in the near future. Second Marine Division stands ready to deploy to the Eastern cities, same with First Marine Division on the West Coast while the Army holds the mainland. We're also drawing up plans with the Justice League to support this campaign if and when it starts. For now I need you two back in Gotham, we're business as usual until we get word from Miss Kyle. Sergeant, the Justice League is expressing more interest in a joint operation to combat this growing threat. Supergirl aided our friends in National City and the League has nominated her to work alongside us. Expect a visit from her in the near future and determine if she is fit for duty alongside the unit."
"Yes Sir."
"And one last thing, Pamela, what happened to you will remain between the three of us. This hard drive will be stripped of it's useful data and then I will personally destroy it and that journal. I understand that you don't want to talk about the subject with us, but there are resources available to you should you feel the need to do so, Sergeant Westbrook can assist you in this matter. Whatever you were before you're one of us now and we want to make sure that you're taken care of."
"Thank you Sir, I appreciate your concern but it happened before either of you were even born and I've had decades to come to terms with what happened. I have not and will not let what happened affect who I am and I especially don't want to be treated any differently from you two."
"Understood, just be aware that the enemy is also aware of this information and they may try to use it against you."
"I can handle whatever those idiots think they can throw at me."
"No doubt. You're a strong woman Pamela, Never doubt that. I'll see you both back in Gotham..."
...Mission Complete...