What Love Is

By Semerket

Chapter 16: The Search Is On

Harley made little chortling sounds as she munched away on her second glazed jelly donut. She was surprised by how fresh they were considering the late hour. She was sitting in the kitchen area of Ivy's hideout as Gordon and Batman stared at her expectantly. She had refused to do cooperate in any capacity until the donuts materialized. Ivy had demanded a contract be drawn up. She wanted their deal in writing. Gordon had made up excuses about time being of the essence, but then the Rodent had given his word and Ivy had reluctantly accepted it.

"The locations?" Batman demanded impatiently.

"Mhmm" She was still chewing when she replied, "Yea, I… uh… made… you a list." She handed Batman a piece of binder paper with several hastily scrawled addresses, there was a dollop of jam on the page along with several grease spots. She continued to attack the donut happily.

Gordon gave the list a once over. "You do realize that you're going to help us look, don't you?"

Harley's eyes widened as she licked some glaze off of her finger. "Uh…" She looked at Ivy who was leaning against the kitchen counter with her arms crossed. She had been watching their 'guests' very carefully.

"Remember, if you don't lead us to him then the deal is off." Gordon reminded her.

She sighed. "Okay."

Ivy pushed herself off the counter. "We'll get dressed."

"You don't need to come, Isley."

Harley answered, "She's comin' or I'm stayin'."

"Fine. But she better behave herself."

Ivy rolled her eyes at Gordon's pathetic attempt to control the situation as she followed Harley upstairs. Once they were inside the bedroom Ivy shut the door behind them. "What do you think of all this, Harl?" She asked honestly.

Harley looked sad, "I think… I think we need to stop Mistah J."

Ivy nodded. She leaned in and kissed Harley on the forehead as she rubbed her back affectionately. She said softly, "I really didn't mean it, you know."

Harley gave her a peck on the lips. "I know, Red."

Once they were wearing more appropriate attire they made their way back downstairs. Harley was wearing a simple red short-sleeved button up shirt with black jeans and her favorite pair of red Converse. She accented her ensemble with a black goth tie. Ivy wore her leafy one-piece, which was really an extension of her own body more than a separate article of clothing. As they headed towards the door she grabbed her coat and purse too. She would never understand how Harley managed without a handbag. Once they were outside they were hastily ushered to the back of a police car.

"You must be crazy if you think I'm riding in the back of this thing." Ivy said with disdain as she glared at the patrol car.

"Quinn in the front, you in the back." Gordon said in a way that brokered no disagreement. "Or you go back inside." He opened the back door and stared at her expectantly. She crossed her arms.

"I have a better idea. I'll take my own car." Ivy snapped and headed towards the car she and Harley had been using as of late. Harley sat down in the passenger's seat of the patrol car. She could see Ivy's expression in the rear view mirror as she pulled her car up behind Gordon's. She was scowling fiercely. This was going to be a long night, but with any luck they could be free women.

[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]

They had been driving around for several hours. They had gone to several hideouts and as soon as Harley stepped out of the car, she could to tell that they wouldn't find anyone. The police had decided to look anyway of course, which only added to Harley and Ivy's mutual frustration. What was the point in forcing them to come along if they weren't going to take any advice? They were just pulling away from the umpteenth hideout, when Harley remembered something that Joker had once mentioned to her offhandedly.

"Wait!" Harley yelped.

Gordon slammed the breaks. "What is it?"

"I need ta speak ta B-Man!"

Gordon frowned. Batman wasn't actually a member of law enforcement. If he was a petty person he would have made an issue about it, but considering the stakes it just wasn't worth it. He said something into his radio and the Batmobile pulled up beside them.

Ivy watched from her car, which was directly behind Gordon's, as Harley hopped out and jogged up to the Rodent's window. She was gesturing animatedly and the Rodent seemed to be saying something. Ivy thought she could make out the outline of Catwoman in his passenger seat. She was probably still fuming about earlier, no doubt. Ivy grinned.

Soon they were off to what Ivy hoped was the location of the hideous little man. The faster they got this over with the faster they could go home. After driving across town they eventually pulled into a secluded area near the docks. Ivy noticed that the police had shut the headlights off of their cars to which she immediately followed suit so that they would not be visible in the dark.

After observing law enforcement for a few moments, Ivy got out of her car when she saw Harley step outside the patrol car. Harley hung back at the car as Gordon went over to discuss things with Batman and his officers. Catwoman was leaning languidly against the passenger side of the Batmobile as she went out of her way to ignore Harley and Ivy.

Ivy sidled up beside the blond. "So you think he'll be here, Harl?" They were both staring at the group of law enforcement officers as they strategized with Batman. They were out of hearing distance.

She nodded. "I know he will." She turned to Ivy and gave her a peck on the cheek suddenly.

Ivy smirked, "What was that for?"

"For being the bestest friend I ever had." The blond squeezed her hand tightly for a few seconds before she let it drop to her side. Ivy raised an eyebrow at her sudden change in demeanor. Harley was probably nervous about running into Puddin again, though in all fairness, Ivy was concerned as well. It's not like he wouldn't try to kill them. Harley headed towards the group when Batman beckoned her over. He was setting up some of his equipment. Ivy tagged along and watched them all carefully- just because they agreed to their 'deal' didn't mean she'd ever trust them.

Batman answered before the blond could open her mouth. "I'm setting up surveillance equipment." He switched on what appeared to be some kind of overpriced custom bat-themed monitor. "Catwoman is scouting for activity. I gave her a camera." Ivy's gaze immediately shot to the Batmobile where she had last seen the burglar lazing about. Sure enough, she was gone. Selina may have annoyed Ivy immensely, but she had to admit that if she was good for anything it was sneaking about.

Batman moved his left hand to the side of his head. He was obviously speaking into a communicator. "Thanks, Catwoman."

He addressed Gordon. "Joker's henchmen are here. They're unloading crates from the docks." He turned to Harley. "You ready, Quinn?"

The blond nodded reluctantly. Ivy's eyes narrowed. The plant-hybrid put her hands on her hips. "Ready for what exactly?" She asked suspiciously. Her eyes darted between Batman and Harley. Batman fixed some kind of wire behind the collar of her shirt.

"Harley?!" She snapped. She did not like the direction this appeared to be going in.

She tried to sound confident, "I'll be fine, Red. I just gotta make sure he's here and the bomb's here. Then we can go home."

"What?!" Ivy hissed.

"It's part of the deal, Isley." Gordon added.

She got right up in Gordon's face, "Screw that! Our deal was that Harley lead you to the Joker. Not find the bomb or unicorns or whatever else kind of MacGyver bullshit you decide to come up with!"

"Our situation has changed." He said evenly, his eyes narrowing at the irate woman.

"No, your situation has changed, not mine and not Harley's. We have a deal! And that deal does not include doing the GCPD's jobs for them."

Gordon tried to explain; surely any decent person would sympathize. "He has hostages now. A group of school kids went missing on their way to the school bus. We just confirmed it was his goons that took them."

Ivy shrugged, he was trying to appeal to the last person that would care about miniature meat sacks, "And tell me why this is our problem?" She paced agitatedly, "Tell me why its Harley's fault that you can barely keep this hole of a city from being nothing more than one big free-for-all?"

"Red." Harley put a calming hand on her shoulder. It didn't work.

"I knew this would happen. I knew we couldn't trust you." She was moving forward and Gordon took a step back. "As soon as you felt like it, you'd start changing our agreement without our consent!"

"If you take another step I'll have you put in handcuffs!" Gordon threatened.

Harley pulled her arm hard enough to make her refocus her attention on her. "Red. Please. It's okay…"

"No, it's not okay. You already lead them to his gang's activity. You shouldn't have to put yourself in harm's way!" She pointed at Gordon, "That's his job."

"Ivy, I'm goin'."

"Then so am I."

"No. It'll mess up the plan and we might all go kablooie!" She made a circular gesture with her arms. "Look, I'm just gonna sneak ovah and find him… Then I'll sneak back. That's it."

Ivy sighed. "You'd better be careful."

"I will." She chirped.

[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]

Harley poked her head around the corner of the building as she snuck nearer to the loading docks. She could feel a cold breeze whip around her ears and the smell of salt water assaulted her nose. The entire situation felt surreal. When Batman showed up at the house she thought for sure he'd try to drag them back to Arkham, but instead here she was doing the GCPD's bidding.

Harley froze as she heard voices in the distance and was able to make out several figures. She recognized them immediately as members of Joker's gang. The clown themed attire was a dead giveaway. They were milling around near what she assumed had to be the perimeter of Joker's activities. Harley had a lot of experience with sneaking so getting by them hadn't been much of a problem.

After sneaking for an interminable amount of time and staying in the shadows, she ducked behind several crates that were near the wall of an old storage building. Peering between the boxes, she was able to make out a group of henchmen passing by. The further she went the more activity she witnessed. That's when she heard it- that odd, grating voice that could only belong to the Joker.

"Hurry it up! I haven't got all night! I have a city to terrorize!"

"Yes, Boss."

The henchman scurried past to do his master's bidding. Harley's heart was racing. Here she was surrounded by Joker's henchmen and the only thing protecting her was a stack of crates. She couldn't see Joker, but she had an idea of where he was standing. She was just thinking about finding a better spot to hide when she heard one of the henchmen say, "It's that crate over there."

'Oh crud.' She thought. Her eyes darted around wildly in search of a new place to hide. There was a dumpster, but it was a ways away. It was too far actually. 'What do I do?!' she thought in a mantra. As the hulking clown henchmen came over to inspect one of the crates, Harley managed to move far enough away that she was out of sight.

'Clang!'

She slammed her eyes shut in dismay as she accidentally shifted what was apparently an old aluminum baseball bat. The irony was not lost on her.

"What the hell was that?! There's someone over here!"

[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]

Ivy watched the scene play out on Batman's surveillance monitor. Catwoman had been tagging along at a distance, keeping the harlequin within view of her camera. Much to Ivy's horror, Harley popped out from behind the crate.

"Mistah J!" Harley exclaimed excitedly. They were able to pick up the audio via the wire Batman had put on Harley.

The Joker was as shocked as everyone else, but he quickly tried to hide it. "Harley!?"

"Oh Puddin'!" She pranced up to him and nearly tackled him in excitement. "I missed you sooooo much! I've been lookin' all over for you."

"Get off of me you nincompoop!" He barked in annoyance.

He was surprisingly relieved that Harley had returned. Not because he cared (perish the thought!), but because it would help him save face. The guys at the lounge didn't know what the hell they were talking about. Harley would always belong to him, and plant-girl was just an experiment gone terribly wrong. He smiled at his own pun. Joker was not a forgiving person, however. He was going to get the dipstick later, but he had more important matters to worry about at the moment and time was of the essence. It was only a matter of time before the Bat found out and would try to ruin his carefully laid plans. Besides, he might have a use for Harley after all.

Ivy watched the monitor in horror as her worst fears were realized. She went back to him. Again. After several nauseating minutes, or perhaps it was seconds… Ivy was in such a state of shock that she felt like time was standing still and dragging itself out all at the same time. She watched as the gushing blond eventually got into a car with that monster and sped away.

Ivy was speechless. She couldn't find words to express the fury and pain she was experiencing, though she had to admit that she couldn't really be too surprised by it. She was, but she wasn't. Harley had been hers this time. She had been hers for so long and just when she thought things were going to work in their favor this happened. She glanced over at her nemesis that they'd been coerced into assisting. She blamed the Rodent for this.

It was his fault that Harley had been put in the direct path of that monster. As Ivy observed him she realized that he wasn't surprised by this development. Her eyes flashed, "You knew this would happen! You dragged her here knowing she wouldn't be able to say no!"

Batman turned to regard her. He was more curious at her reaction than anything. He wasn't privy to the details of their personal lives. He didn't understand just how angry Joker was at Harley. At both of them. And realistically he probably wouldn't care anyway. "Of course. Didn't you?"

ARrrrrrrrggh! So this is what it felt like to have her pulmonary muscle explode.

"I attached a tracking device to her shoe when she was distracted because I knew she'd destroy the wire. They go to his hideout, and she leads us right to the hostages and most likely the bomb. Then we figure out a plan of attack."

All she felt was numbness in the cavity that her heart had formerly resided in.

She wasn't even aware that her own lips were moving. "And what if he decides to kill her for leaving him? Did that ever occur to your minuscule rodent brain?" Joker was a user. He would just use Harley before he killed her. She knew that the evil clown had a long memory and he would get around to punishing the blond for leaving him.

"Under the circumstances it was a chance I was willing to take."

"Damn you!" Ivy spun on her heal and stormed away from the surveillance footage. "We had a deal. Now get out of my way!"