The Scars Left Behind
This is the Sequel to the Harlequin and the Bat and The Harley and The Ivy.
Important notes: I do not own Batman or any portion of the franchise. I give all credit to DC Comics and respective owners. Except the characters I wrote in my profile.
Chapter 24
(No-one's POV)
Arkham Asylum, also known as just Arkham or more unfamiliar to the masses as: The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane and Mercey Island…well whatever the name was, the whole place was buzzing with rumour and contradictions because of the news. Everyone was thinking who this "Harleen Quinzel" was and how she was connected with the hyenas that belonged to the un-named clown girl they vaguely remembered. Unfortunately some of the smartest were able to figure it out: Hugo Strange, Edward Nigma and Johnathan Crane, just to name a few. "That little BITCH!" Nigma shouted slamming his fists on the desk of Hugo Strange. "She gets to walk free, while we rot!" his body was lightly scorched from where Bill had burned him ages past, but it had faded in time.
"Came yourself my friend, we must be too hasty." Strange pondered his thoughts from his wheelchair, he was confined there after Bill threw him into that exposed pole "After all, what evidence do we have? A random clown woman with hyenas for pets and a woman that attracts hyenas to her; that's hardly a connection."
"Are you blind Strange? It's the same woman! Crane you're with us on this right?" Nigma turned to his Arkham inmate.
Crane was deep in thought he had an inkling on whom Bat-Shard may have been, but he realised that Harleen Quinzel was more likely to be the clown woman who had terrorised Gotham ages before. But it all came back to Bill; whenever the clown woman was involved Bill was there. He was the key to knowing who both Bat-Shard and Batman, but he remembered the chess matches they had. Yes they were rivals, but each strived to be better than the other and although he hated to admit it; Scarecrow was Ichabod and Bill was Brom, both needed each other to play the game. This game was far from over; Bill had orchestrated a coup d'etat against Amanda 'Stonewall' Waller and broke an Arkham security officer's limbs to get Bruce Wayne out of Arkham. "Hyde is the answer…if we get him…when we get him; he may know who this "Harleen Quinzel" really is." Crane finally answered
Strange and Nigma grinned maliciously "Good to see you're on board Crane. Now…how do we grab Wayne's pretty little bride?"
Unknown to the three of them there was a shadow by the window; its eyes tightened into daggers aiming for his targets. Edward 'The Riddler' Nigma, Hugo Strange and Jonathan 'The Scarecrow' Crane; the shadow faded from the window leaving no trace but their faces fresh in its mind.
(Harley's POV)
"Babies, Babies stop! That tickles!" Harley laughed as Bud and Lou the hyenas were happy to see their former owner, memories may have been altered but they could never forget that smell of a loving and caring mother.
Bruce didn't know what to do, he couldn't go anywhere near the hyenas for fear they might recognise his scent as Batman and he would assuredly get bitten; but he didn't want to break up this "family reunion". "Harley I think it's time you tell the hyenas to get off." Bruce told Harley in almost privacy.
The hyenas snapped at Bruce almost taking his hand "Babies SIT!" Harley was angry now "Naughty Babies! No snapping at Daddy!" the hyenas did as they were told and obediently sat awaiting instructions. Harley got up and hugged Bruce's arm to say to them: "No". "Now, go back to your new home!" she ordered Bud and Lou back to their families. They did so but with saddened laughs, Bruce and Harley looked upon them and saw Bud and Lou with their mates and cubs. While the zoo keepers came back with tranquilizer guns and darts Harley came to an immediate realisation: "My Babies had babies…I'm a grandma!" she screamed running her fingers through her lengthy black hair then fainting.
(Bruce's POV)
"Harley!" Bruce caught her immediately; he shook his head and carried her bridal style while she was unconscious. "What am I going to do with you?"
"What happened? How did the hyenas get back in?" the keepers asked
"My fiancée has many talents; she's okay, just in a small state of shock." Bruce explained carrying her
"A small state of shock? Really Bruce? That's the best you've got?" Ivy asked
"Being a grandparent coming into their thirties I'd faint to." Bill answered
"Come on let's get out of here. Where are Tim and Venus?" Bruce asked
Looking around they saw Tim and Venus walk hand in hand like a real couple. "There they are." Ivy smiled
"Whoa…what happened here?" Tim asked
"Looks like a paparazzi parade here." Venus added
Sucking through his teeth Bruce realised it may be too tricky getting Harley out of here while she's unconscious with the news's eye in the sky still around "Let's find the medical rooms, we'll see if Harley wakes up there."
(Venus's POV)
Walking back Venus whispered something to Tim then let go of his hand, she went over to her parents "Mum, dad…can I talk to you in private?"
"Sure, of course baby girl; everything okay?" Bill and Ivy asked, over by a secluded tree Venus told her parents and while Ivy's voice wasn't heard first, Bill's was… "HE DID WHAT?!" his voice was so loud the iguanas in the reptile house could hear it.
"Oh my little flower has her powers in bloom." Ivy smiled and lifted her daughter in her arms.
"Mum…" Venus groaned as she was embarrassed for both her pet name and the fact she was thirteen (physically and mentally) while being picked up by her mother. "Dad…are you okay?" she asked her father
"Bill…Mother Earth to Bill?" Ivy asked putting their daughter down; Bill was frozen in place like a statue in a sort of "What the hell?" stance. Knocking on his gauze covered head trying to get his attention "Oh no…looks like he's in the: My Baby Girl Is Growing Up Fast, Anger Turned Me Into A Statue, phase. Venus go find Tim, I'll sort this out."
"Should I warn Tim?" Venus asked
"Let's just say: he'll be in more need of the medical room than Aunt Harley…I cannot get used to saying that! It's sounds extremely weird!" Ivy explained then groaned while smiling
"You're a woman who's become a meta-human from plant toxins, Dad's a meta-human with augmented natural skills and Venom pumping through his blood, I'm a child from the two of you and Uncle Bruce is…was a playboy…and saying "calling Aunt Harley" an aunt is weird?" Venus asked in typical teenage fashion.
"Don't get smart with me young lady, you'd better warn your: "Little Crimson", before it's too late." Ivy pointed a finger at her with a motherly look. As Venus ran off to join Tim; Ivy whispered something into his gauzed covered ear that snapped him out of it.
"Thanks…please tell me that: Our little girl didn't kiss a boy full on the lips at thirteen?" Bill thanked his girlfriend the explicitly expressed concern on their daughter.
"You'd only freeze up again." Ivy answered giving an unusual but straight answer "but the good news is: she's gotten her powers."
"From kissing: a boy!" Bill used his arms pointing to Tim's direction i.e. the medical room.
"Bill, it had to happen sooner or later." Ivy said slipping into Bill's arms.
"Yeah I know…I just wish that she would be fifteen by then." Bill sighed "Wait…If she has Poison and Florakinesis…why is Tim still alive?" Bill came to a question.
"Really?" Ivy asked sarcastically
(Tim's POV)
Inside the medical room Tim was checking his heart to still see if it was in his chest 'Oh man, oh man, oh man. Bill is gonna kill me!' Tim panicked mentally as he paced back and forth.
"Tim, Bill is: a responsible and intelligent person; you'll be fine, you've got nothing to worry about." Bruce tried to calm his ward down.
The door opened and Tim fell to his knees "Bill, please don't kill me! I was there for Venus, she was upset and…and…I've just lowered my rank in the family haven't I?" Tim immediately apologised to whoever was at the door, he looked down then looked back up to see Venus instead of her father.
"Just a little bit; but I'd be careful for a while, you know how my dad is." Venus smiled and forewarned her Little Crimson.
"Hmm…Bruce turn the alarm off…" Harley groaned awake "What happened?"
"Well, very briefly: you saw your old "Babies" again and were tickled; you then fainted when you saw what they'd been up to while you were away." Bruce explained
"Oh yeah…" Harley said in a daydream like way, followed by an immediate snap to reality "I'm a grandma!"
"Don't you faint again! We need to get out of here." Bruce grabbed her before she could faint again.
"Why?" Harley asked
"TIM!" Bill's voice called out
"There's one reason!" Tim pointed out.
(Barbara's POV)
Feeling restless Dick, Sonia, Alfred and Barbara continued watching the news down in the Batcave. "Are you sure this is a good idea Barb? Bill using this to hack into the Suicide Squad's database for information is one thing, but you're hacking into Arkham!" Dick expressed concern
"It's only as a precaution. You can't really know if any of the cameras are working or not because of the inmates blocking them." Barbara explained
"True; what's going on with the news now?" Dick asked
"We take you back to Gotham Zoo; the hyena situation is under control and no-one was hurt. The zoo keepers have reassured everyone that this was a: "One in a million fluke. All the animals are well behaved and no-one should panic when around them. Ever since the incident with the un-named clown woman some months back, security has been tight." Well this reporter thinks there's something more than just this unprovoked event. Until then this is: Vicki Vale with the Gotham News, signing out." The news went back to the main News Site where they continued the other news stories.
A few seconds silence and Sonia spoke out "Well, that seemed eventful."
"You're not wrong there Sonia." Dick agreed
"Okay, I'm in." Barbara spoke as she managed to hack into Arkham's security network. "Now we can see what the guards see."
(No-one's POV)
"No, why…why has Bill been silent? Why has he been doing this?" Victor Fries shouted "He called us friends. And now he's been doing this? Staying with that Ivy woman? Starting a family? The money he's given me has been all but spent!" Victor turned over the table where his destroyed experiments were. "Since he's forgotten me; and the friendship we once had, he'll…no…all of Gotham will pay!" he grabbed his freeze ray and donned his cryo-armour. "Nora…my love…you are still not cured…I still love you, I will never stop searching for the cure." He looked at the photograph of Him, Bill, Deathstroke, Ivy and Doctor Quinzel. "He will pay!"
"There is a different way how to get what you want Freeze." A woman's voice spoke
"Who's there? And you are…?" Victor asked in unease as he saw a slender woman with brown hair and gauze faced muscular man in a trench coat.
"I am Talia. And I believe I can give you what you want." Talia smiled
"And what is it that you think I want?" Victor asked knowing what he wanted, but Talia pointed to Nora still in her cryo-tube. "You can give me back my Nora? How?" he questioned her
"I have powerful allies Victor; very powerful allies." Talia smiled
"Who is the man?" Victor asked
"Call me: Hush." Hush answered with a malicious grin
To be continued
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