"I want to send a message to Selina."

If Oracle could jump, she'd have hit her head on the ceiling. "Bruce, the sneaky stuff was fun when I was Batgirl, but now I'd prefer a curtesy knock, thanks."

"I need to get a message to Selina." He repeated, coming to stand above her. "Ivy has to subdue Bane immediately. Harley won't be able to land a blow of any consequence using blunt force trauma. They need to—"

"Bruce." Oracle interrupted. "I'm sure they already know that. Ivy's fought Bane before as has Catwoman."

"But they lost those fights." Bruce reminded her.

"Ivy lost because she decided to get up on her high horse and start soapboxing. Catwoman lost to Bane and Killer Frost, and he was on full venom that time." Barbara reminded him. "He's already finished his withdraws now and the numbers are in the Sirens' favor."

"But Harley weakens Ivy." Bruce argued. "Harley makes mistakes and her well-being distracts Ivy."

"Well it's a good thing they have Catwoman then, right?" Oracle smiled. It was clear that this was painful for Bruce, even scary. She wondered if that's why he had allowed Catwoman to be selected. Because he was scared. In all the time she'd known him, she hadn't ever observed Batman cower away from doing the right thing, but the world was different now. The heroes were different. They were darker. It was like a thick gray cloud hung over the Hall of Justice. "Bruce…" she ventured, seeing that he had turned his attention to the screen. "Do you feel personally responsible for Lois' death?" He didn't respond. He was watching the Sirens approach the edge of the forest through the trees. "Because The Joker is your villain?" she continued.

"I gave him a lot of chances." Bruce told her, his fists clenched. "But he took away someone Clark loved."

"So you're sacrificing Selina?" Barbara asked.

Bruce was silent again.

"Would you ever kill Selina?" Oracle asked.

"No." He answered quickly, without a moment's hesitation.

"Mmm." Oracle nodded slowly and returned her attention to the monitor. The Sirens were only a quarter mile away now. "I can't imagine Ivy would ever kill Harley either. But I guess that's the difference between heroes and villains now, right? A hero wouldn't be forced to."

"I guess." Bruce echoed icily.

/

"There." Ivy pointed through the trees to the edge of the clearing. "Do you see him?"

Selina nodded. "Where's he headed?"

"The lake ain't too far outta the trees." Harley whispered. "He's prolly thirsty."

"But, Pam, you're going to want the home field advantage right?" Catwoman turned to the redhead. "So we have to draw him back into the trees."

"No." Ivy shook her head. "I don't want him to work up any momentum and we can't give him time to decide on a strategy."

"So…ambush, then?" Harley was wearing her most maniacal grin.

Ivy nodded. "We'll hide in the trees at the edge of the clearing and pounce when he returns from the lake."

"Pounce. That's my word." Catwoman grumbled.

Pamela ignored her. "I'm just going to need a few moments to speak with the root systems."

"Then let's go!" Harley sprung up from her crouched position and lept to the next branch, leading the charge for the remaining distance until they stood, obscured by the thick leaves, at the edge of the clearing.

Ivy waited until she saw Bane lean down to drink before dropping to the ground behind the tree that held the others. She pressed her hands into the cool grass and asked for assistance.

Harley hooked her leg onto a branch and swung down to hang above Ivy. "He's comin' back, Red."

"Just give me a second." Ivy shut her eyes in an attempt to speed up the connection.

"Ivy! Let's go!" Catwoman's harsh whisper carried down to the ground. Ivy somewhat reluctantly drew to her feet and was met with Harley's upside-down face.

"You ready?" The blonde asked, her smile looking like a droopy frown from this vantage point.

Ivy nodded. "Let's go."

Harley giggled and began to pull herself back up on the branch, but then flopped downwards again. "Wait, Red, can I get a Spider-Man kiss?"

"Harley, I would love it if you'd take this life and death situation seriously." Ivy pleaded. "And I don't even know what that is."

"Hmph." The jester pouted.

Ivy put her hands on the girl's shoulders and pushed her upwards, giving Harley a running start at the sit up. The redhead climbed up the tree after her, both joining Catwoman back on the branch. The brunette had the back pack open and was arming herself with apples.

"So we're just…throwing these, right?" Selina asked as she handed two to Harley.

Ivy nodded and the three settled in, their hearts beating faster than each would have liked to admit.

The closer Bane got, the larger he looked. The green would cooperate, Ivy knew it would, but she wished she'd had more time, that way she could have defeated him herself rather than needing Catwoman and Harley. She wasn't opposed to teamwork, but found the practice of relying on others to be tedious.

Bane was within range now, and Catwoman cocked her arm, mumbling something about 'fucking apples' as the target drew closer.

"Now." Ivy whispered.

Selina launched the apple and it began a perfect trajectory towards Bane's head. Ivy kept her fist closed as it sailed through the air. At the last possible second before impact, she unfurled her fingers and the apple reacted, the top popping off and the poison within splashing over Bane's face. He was clearly surprised, stumbling back a few feet as he moved to wipe the liquid off. He was hit by two more in rapid succession, these ones hitting him in the chest and shoulder.

"WHO'S OUT THERE?!" Bane bellowed.

Ivy smirked. She knew it would only be a moment, and as that thought crossed her mind, Bane's skin began to smoke

"AHHH!" He yelled, clawing at himself as the smell of burning skin reached his nostrils.

While he was distracted, Ivy thrust her hand forward and a series of thick roots erupted from the ground, coiling themselves around his arms and legs, and then a larger one around his neck. Ivy made a forceful downward motion and the root brought Bane into a kneeling position.

"POISON IVYYYYY!" He thrashed violently.

"Go." Ivy nodded to Catwoman and Harley, who dropped out of the tree. Harley grabbed her shovel and Catwoman her whip.

"He'll use his teeth." Ivy warned as she followed them across the short distance to where Bane was kneeling, subdued.

"YOU COWARD!" He spat. "YOU—"

Catwoman cracked her whip and it cut through his leather mask, exposing his eye. She came again, and this time is sliced right through his iris. He yowled and in a violent response to pain, ripped his left arm free of the restraints and clubbed Catwoman with the back of his hand, sending her flying into a tree trunk 10 feet away. In the moment that Ivy was distracted, the roots loosened slightly and his other arm came free as well.

"Uh oh!" Harley giggled uneasily. "I think he's mad, Red."

Bane lunged forward, grabbing Harley by the neck and lifting her off the ground. "I WILL CRUSH YOU!"

Ivy reacted quickly, sending another root to wrap around Bane's torso and dragging him down onto his back. Harley dropped from his grip and gasped on the ground as the roots moved to again restrain his arms and kicking legs. Ivy did away with her usually lackadaisically seductive pace and hurriedly moved on top of him, ripping the remainder of his mask off and ignoring the crime scene that was his right eyeball as she held his face between her hands and kissed him. He landed one solid kick with his leg, coming down with the heel of his boot on Ivy's ankle. She hissed with pain, but never broke the seal of their lips. Ivy didn't dare use her tongue, even though she knew that would speed up the process. His teeth were sharp and he was hardly enthralled with her at the moment. The pheromones she was wearing were strong, though, she'd doused herself in her own sweat in preparation for the battle. It wasn't long until Bane began to relax under her. He tasted horrible, but the poison she was secreting in her saliva was so overwhelming it was making her own mouth numb. Ivy pulled away when she herself couldn't bare it anymore. Harley stood above them, the shovel once again resting on her shoulder.

Pamela gave the girl a quick nod and Harley stabbed downward with the instrument, sticking it directly into Bane's neck. Ivy backed up to get clear of the blood spatter, vaguely aware of her limp, as Harley repeated the motion again and again, the shovel landing with a sickening thunk each time. The redhead gave herself a moment's respite from the gruesome scene to glance over at Catwoman, who was beginning to stir up against the tree trunk where she'd landed. Ivy breathed a sigh of relief and limped over to give her a more thorough check-up, leaving Harley to her murder.

"Selina?" Ivy knelt down beside her. "Can you hear me?"

Catwoman groaned as she opened her eyes. "Jesus, I feel like I just got hit by a truck.

"You're lucky he was only at about a quarter of his strength." Ivy told her, patting down her sides to check for a broken rib. When she didn't wince, Ivy pulled her hands away and repeated the motion on her arms and legs.

"I have a headache." Selina grumbled.

"You probably have a concussion." Ivy sat back on her heels, wincing as she did so. "Do you remember where we are?"

"Sure." Catwoman grimaced as she sat up straighter. "We're in a fucking death trap."

"Yep!" Harley confirmed from where she was still hacking away at Bane's neck. "And we jus' killed the big, bad Bane!" She landed another blow, but left the shovel sticking up in his neck this time. "Red, I don't think I'm gonna be able ta get all the way through it. He's too muscly."

"I didn't ask you to decapitate him, Harl." Ivy called back. "Just let him bleed out and help me get Cat over to the water."

"OK, boss!" Harley giggled.

"You're going in, by the way." Ivy informed the jester once they'd made it to the water's edge. Catwoman was kneeling down, taking long gulps of water from her cupped hands. "You're covered in his blood, Harl. Bane was an addict, who knows what sort of toxins he had swimming around in his bloodstream."

"But I'm *immune* to toxins, remember?" Harley slinked up close to Ivy, slowly walking her fingers up the other woman's arm.

"Oh, well I suppose that's true…" Ivy turned to her and placed her hands on the girl's waist. "But I need to see how much of what's on your neck is dirt rather than bruising." She began to slowly lean forward and Harley closed her eyes and puckered her lips in an automatic response. "And unfortunately." Ivy whispered. "I find the blood of my former colleagues somewhat repulsive." With that, she placed her hand firmly in the center of the girl's chest and pushed her back into the water.

"Can she swim?" Selina asked as Harley sputtered below the surface.

Ivy crossed her arms. "I certainly hope so…"

Harley eventually came up for air, cursing Ivy. "Pammy, that ain't how you treat a lady!"

"Oh?" Ivy arched an eyebrow. "Something tells me you've seen worse." The blonde just glared at her, her matted pig-tails drooping. She offered no verbal response. "Scrub your neck, please." Ivy instructed.

"Why?!" Harley demanded. "Why do ya even care what's bruise and what's not?"

"Harley!" Catwoman snapped. "We talked about this."

"Oh, right…" Harley's glare instantly melted into a dreamy smile which she directed at Ivy. "You wanna come swimmin' with me, Red?"

Selina rolled her eyes, not giving Ivy a chance to respond. "I meant about being a team player. Just listen to Pam and clean your neck."

Harley stood up and pulled her back as straight as an arrow, then brought her hand to her forehead and gave a spirited salute. "Yes, Red! Anything you say, Red!"

"Well I could do without the sarcasm, thanks." Ivy sneered as she turned back towards the tree line, obviously favoring her left leg.

"Hey, where you goin'?" Harley called after her.

"To start on the shelter."