SNAP!
The roots uncoiled themselves and Harley's lifeless body fell into Ivy's arms. The redhead sobbed, her chest heaving as she cradled the younger woman to her breast. Rocking back and forth. Her tears sputtering out in fits and bursts. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She repeated over and over again, struggling to pronounce the syllables through her sobs.
Selina had never heard anything quite like it. It was a mother mourning the loss of her child, a sister grieving her sibling, a woman lamenting the death of her lover. Harley's eyes remained open, the wide blue orbs starring innocently up at Pamela as she clutched her to her chest and kissed desperately against Harley's pale, lifeless face.
Catwoman suddenly felt the weight of the whip in her hand. This was a moment. If she moved quickly…Ivy was exposed. Beside herself with grief, not focused on anything but the corpse in her arms. Selina would have the advantage, if only for a moment…but that "corpse" had been her friend too. Her best friend, even. Ivy had killed Harley. Not like, "you idiot, I'm going to kill you!" she actually did it. Harley Quinn was dead. Selina blinked a tear out of her eye and slowly approached Ivy's shaking form. She supposed she knew it was coming. It was inevitable that one of them would die first…Catwoman just never thought that the death would come at the hands of one of the three of them. And never in a million years did she think Ivy would kill Harley. She thought she had a better chance against Ivy in a one-on-one fight than Ivy had of murdering the woman she loved. The only human she'd ever loved.
Selina dropped to her knees behind Ivy and tentatively rested her hand on the green skin of Ivy's shoulder. In that moment, Catwoman too felt as if her heart had been ripped out. The action of taking a life, so violent, and yet so tranquil in the final moments. Selina realized then that she had been treated just like Harley, Bruce taking up Ivy's mantle in that context. The difference was, Ivy had completed the task respectfully, lovingly, even, while Bruce had simply sentenced her here like a coward. Sadness, anger and fear assimilated within her, resulting in a volatile cocktail rooted in the powerlessness of the situation. Selina put her other arm around Ivy, needing comfort just as severely, although Bruce wouldn't be weeping over her corpse. She would die out here, alone.
/
The control room was completely silent. Bruce and Barbara sat, watching the screen, not moving, barely breathing. Barbara's phone had stopped buzzing as well. Evidently, the whole world was in shock, or at least the world of twitter users.
Oracle felt sick to her stomach. Ivy's wailing was nearly as disturbing as Harley's death and Catwoman's defeated body language added an eerie contrast to the scene. Tears sprung unbidden to Barbara's eyes and she had to remove her glasses to wipe them before Bruce could see.
The former Batgirl cleared her throat, hoping her voice wouldn't betray her emotions. "I guess I should send a body-copter."
"No." Batman shook his head, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Let Ivy burry her."
"Why?" Oracle asked, turning to look at him.
"We owe them that much." Batman murmured. "Their sacrifice won't go unnoticed."
Oracle furrowed her brow. "Their sacrifice?"
Bruce just nodded as Catwoman put her arms around Ivy's shoulders and held her nearly as tightly as Ivy was grasping at Harley. The scene was sweet and disturbing all at the same time, and Barbara wondered if the people at home were feeling the same way she was- like they were all Poison Ivy. They were all Catwoman. In some ways, for how quickly the world had turned dark after Lois Lane's death, they were all Harley as well. Harley was searching for something to cling to, she'd just- ultimately- made the wrong choice. Or, judging from Ivy's speech, Harley had made a series of incorrect choices that'd dammed up Ivy's heart until the stops exploded and she finally gave up on this fictional love she'd been chasing for so many years.
Barbara hoped the people at home were watching. And really, really watching. She hoped it would sink in that although evil, these villains were people too, and hunting them in some version of a 'Most Dangerous Game' scenario was both inhumane, and below what the Justice League stood for as the guardians of the planet. Barbara hoped that Harley, Ivy and Catwoman could serve as an example for…wait a minute…
"You knew about this!"
Batman narrowed his eyes. "About what?"
"About Harley and Ivy!" Barbara exclaimed. "You knew Ivy loved her and you knew she'd show it once she thought they were alone."
"Everyone knew about Harley and Ivy, Barbara." Batman responded reasonably.
"You also knew that Harley would always choose The Joker, no matter what Ivy did." Barbara continued as if he hadn't responded. "You knew that would break Ivy's heart and you knew she'd react violently somehow."
"I looked at a few statistical models." Bruce admitted.
"Either way, you knew one of them was going to die and the other one would respond like this." Barbara turned up the sound on the monitor to full blast and Ivy's sobs filled the room, shaking the controls with their vibrations. "You were trying to prove to The League that villains are capable of reform or at least evolution." Barbara yelled over the gut-wrenching sound. "So Harley really is a sacrifice! You sacrificed the fan favorite so you could get the world's attention!"
Batman lunged for the controls and muted the feed. "And it was effective." He told her once his ears found respite in the silence. "Look at how the world has responded, they're calling us the villains now."
"And that's what you wanted?" Barbara asked, confused.
"Superman is a man of the people. He loves this world and he loves human beings. He listens to them." Batman explained. "The opposition needed to come from the people for him to want to change."
Barbara was surprised at how upset she was. "But why did you choose Harley and Ivy?"
"They had a dynamic that could be manipulated." Bruce's intoned. "Besides, Ivy is one of the only rogues from my gallery who I felt could win."
"And what was Harley? Just collateral damage?" Oracle wondered.
"A sick, misguided woman." Batman told her solemnly. "One that no matter how hard I tried, no matter how hard Ivy tried, could not break free of Joker's abuse."
"So you just sacrificed her?" Barbara asked. "Like a pawn in some game?"
"Mark my words Barbara." His voice was heavy. Weary, even. "This will be the last year of the arena, and it's that pawn that will deliver the checkmate."
"Sounds like you're playing God, to me." Barbara spat at her mentor.
Bruce pointed to the display. "You just made the sun rise. We're all playing God."