Harley and Ivy: Chapter 7
After leaving the Joker's underground hideout, Ivy lead Harley towards Gotham City's dock area. Another area filled with lots of empty warehouses. Finally Ivy, weaving slightly from near exhaustion, lead Harley to the Happy Exotic Plant Import Company, now defunct.
Pushing open the doors Harley could see the warehouse was nearly bare. The only thing left in the room was piles of fertilizer stacked near a back wall.
Ivy made a beeline straight to the canvas bags and reaching behind them she released a hidden catch. The wall then opened backwards, bags of fertilizer and all to reveal a small room behind.
Ivy entered the room and walked straight over to a large round flower bed in the center and collapsed on it.
Harley after studying the wall and hidden catch figured out how to shut the secret door. A large overhead skylight allowed bright moonlight to flood into the room for her to see by.
Walking over to Ivy, Harley sat down on the edge of the flower bed.
"You can't imagine how many times I dreamed of getting you into my flower bed Harley… And now that I have, I'm too tired to do anything about it." Ivy said with a sigh and promptly fell asleep.
Harley, still energized from Ivy's blood running through her body couldn't rest and wandered around Ivy's hideout. She saw exotic plants growing all over the place. Moss and ivy covered all the walls. She found out that automatic water and fertilizer systems kept the plants living and growing until Poison Ivy could make it back to check on her plants.
"Pity I couldn't have gotten something similar for Bud and Lou." Harley thought sadly to herself. Sitting down at a garden table in the room Harley lowered her head to cry. But after a moment she looked up with a determined look on her face. She might have lost her 'babies' but she wasn't going to lose Ivy to the Joker. And there was only one way Harley could think of to keep Ivy safe. They had to get out of Gotham.
Reaching over she pulled a long piece out of one of the canvas bags that contained fertilizer and searching a bit longer she found a black felt tip pen.
Concentrating for all she worth she began to list out on the canvas material all the electronic parts the Joker had used in his sonic device. She had been with the Joker for every theft and one thing Harley had was an extremely good memory.
Looking at her list one last time Harley added a few more things and then rolled the material into a rough tube. Realizing she left her purse behind, she with a grimace unzipped the top part of her costume and stuffed the list between her breasts and then zipped the costume back up.
"The fertilizer on that canvas really stinks. After this is over I need to have a good shower or bath or Ivy won't want to touch me. Then again, Ivy might consider the smell of fertilizer to be a turn on." Ivy thought with a grin.
Pulling another section of canvas off of yet another bag of fertilizer she quickly wrote out a note for Ivy. Placing the make shift note on the bed beside Ivy, Harley then grabbed up two of the black bags filled with the Joker's money and made her way out of the secret entrance and left the warehouse.
Making her way along in the darkness Harley made for the harbor area of Gotham City. Fortunately Ivy's place was fairly close to where she wanted to go so she hoped she could get there and back before Ivy woke up.
Going down a pitch black alley Harley suddenly froze. She couldn't explain what caused it. A sound, a subtle scent or maybe just a flicker at the corner of her eyes but for whatever reason Harley couldn't force herself to move. Harley stayed perfectly still for almost five minutes. Finally deciding it was just her paranoia she was just about to go on when she saw a black shadow flit across the moon. Holding her breath and trying to keep her heart from beating out of her chest she watched the Batman swung down on a cable and landed near the end of the alley she was in and slowly walk over to a huge pile of boxes. As he neared the boxes they shifted and folded in a manner Harley couldn't really explain. When the transformation was over with the Batmobile was revealed. Batman leapt into the driver's compartment of the strange car and drove off.
"He's not looking for me or Ivy. He's not looking for me and Ivy. He was just doing one of his nightly patrols and it is a coincidence he almost stumbled over me." Harley desperately chanted in her mind.
Finally convincing herself that the Batman was long gone, Harley continued on her way.
Reaching the harbor area Harley headed for an elaborate and someone would say gaudy nightclub located directly over the water. The Penguin's Place.
Oswald Cobblepot's driving force in life was to be a somebody. To be recognized by Gotham's elite and be respected. He tried to fund this goal by crime but after one too many run ins with the Batman he decided to try a new dodge. By appearing to go legitimate. So he built a huge nightclub and to all appearances became a law abiding business owner. Everyone who was in crime knew however that the Penguin still kept his underworld connections.
Harley knew that under one of the many piers that supported the nightclub there was a catwalk that lead to an iron door with a button. If you knew where to go and got to the door and pressed the button, the Penguin would either let you in to do business or just ignore the visitor till they got bored and went away or… If the Penguin really disliked the person seeking a clandestine meeting with him, he could press a button collapsing the catwalk dumping the visitor into the cold waters of Gotham Bay.
Pulling back a sleeve, Harley checked her watch. It was now 3 a.m. The Penguin's Place had been officially closed for an hour and the place appeared to be deserted. Making her way to the pier that the catwalk was hidden under, Harley took a deep breath and hopped the Penguin hadn't gone legit completely and had the catwalk shut down all together.
"If he has, then I'm going to get my bath a lot faster than I had planned on." Harley thought to herself. Grabbing the railing around the pier's footing she leapt over it and swung underneath. Flipping through the air with her eyes closed, Harley felt the cold hard metal of the catwalk under her feet. The floor of the narrow catwalk was actually below the water line with metal sides that created only a two foot span between the water's edge and the roof of the pier above it preventing the water from flooding the walkway.
"Wow." Harley said out loud. "That jump and landing was worthy of Catwoman herself. Ivy's blood is really a marvelous thing."
Quickly trotting up to the iron door Harley pressed the button and waited.
The Penguin was sitting at a desk in his private office going over the bills of the nightclub/casino. Sometimes the legitimate business world was more harrowing than his previous life of crime had been. Not only did the Penguin have to deal with bills and waitresses always trying to cheat him of his share of their tips, he also had to fight deadly boredom as well.
Reaching out he picked up a sardine from a can on his desk and slurped it down. Taking another sardine he then negligently flipped it over his shoulder into the holding pen his pet penguins were in. The penguins had been legally imported and he had full papers on them. They were part of his grand center display in the nightclub.
Hearing a buzzing noise he hadn't heard in a long time, the Penguin glanced up curiously from his paperwork. It was a little after 3 but that didn't bother Penguin all that much. He was more of a 'night owl' than an 'early bird' and the type of people he got at that hidden door usually came in the middle of the night anyway.
Looking at a monitor at his desk he saw the person standing at the door waiting was Harley Quinn. Pressing a few buttons he checked several other cameras to make sure she was by herself and that grinning maniac the Joker wasn't with her.
Satisfied that she was really alone, the Penguin pondered two buttons on the control panel in front of him. One would plunge the catwalk into the water and the other would open the door. His finger hovered above the buttons and he moved his finger from one to the other for a few moments before his curiosity won out and he hit the one to open the door.
Harley was beginning to wonder if there was anyone at all left inside the building when the iron door suddenly slid open. Straightening her back she marched into the opening.
The Penguin adjusted his monocle and slicked his hair back as he waited for Harley to walk the short distance down the corridor to his private office.
"Hey Pengy. Glad you decided to talk to me." Harley began as she walked in.
The Penguin held up a hand. "Where is that leering, lowbrow, lout of yours?" He asked gruffly.
"You mean the Joker? Me and him had a falling out. I'm not with him any more."
"Lover's spat?" Penguin said leaning back in his chair.
"You could say that. I think the magic has gone out of a relationship when one partner tries to kill the other one more than twice in one day. Don't you?"
The Penguin gave a chuckle and visibly relaxed slightly. "So what do you want with this old bird? I can't remember the last time a beautiful young woman came to me in middle of the night. Well willingly anyway."
Harley unzipped the top of her costume and reaching in pulled out the scrap of material and tossed it on the desk.
The Penguin's eye twitched and his eyebrow rose at Harley's exposed cleavage but then he glanced down at the material with writing on it on his desk and scanned it.
He looked up after a moment with a touch of surprise.
"There isn't anything classified or illegal on this list. The audio equipment you could walk into any stereo electronic store and purchase." Penguin paused as he continued to read. "The computer circuit boards at any general electronic store." Suddenly he stopped reading and took a sniff of the material.
"Whew! Where are you getting your stationary Harley? This thing reeks."
"Um sorry. It was the only thing I could find to write on. Can you purchase everything on that list for me?"
Penguin looked over at her puzzled. "Is there some reason you came to me to be your 'secret shopper'? As I said earlier none of this equipment is particularly difficult to get your hands on, either legally or otherwise."
"I want it purchased by different people and then shipped in secret to a warehouse. The address is on the 'paper'. I want to make sure that none of that equipment can be traced back to me, either by the Bats or by Mr. J. if he comes looking. If the equipment was stolen Bats or Mr. J. might put two and two together and I don't want that, any problems with that?"
The Penguin leered at Harley. "That kind of confidentiality will cost extra." He said as he rose from his chair and started to walk around the desk towards her.
"Whoa!" Harley said as she zipped up her costume while backing up. Reaching around behind her she pulled the two bags she was carrying. Opening the bags she pulled out bundles of cash and tossed them on the desk. "I think that will cover the cost of the equipment plus the extra to cover your expenses.
Penguin looked at the pile of cash and then let his eyes wander across her body once again.
Harley pulled another two wrapped bundles of cash and added it to the pile on the desk.
The Penguin considered for a moment and then nodded his head. "That'll cover it."
Harley made her way back to Ivy's hideout without any further mishaps. A fact she was deeply grateful for. She was exhausted. Ivy's blood transfusion energy rush was finally wearing off and Harley was desperately hoping she could make it back to the safety of Ivy before she passed out completely.
Fumbling at the hidden catch she finally managed to ease open the secret door in the warehouse and slipped inside. To only blink owlishly as bright lights came on. She found herself looking across the room at Ivy who was sitting in the chair Harley had used earlier that night. Harley noticed that sometime while she was gone Ivy had changed out of the Arkham prison grays and was now wearing her trademark costume with green leggings. Ivy had her arms folded across her chest and was looking very pissed of.
Once in the past Harley had slipped out at night on the Joker to get some fresh air and when she came back she found the Joker with an almost exact same look on his face. He had beaten her so severely for being out without his permission that Harley had carried bruises on her for many months afterwards.
"Hey Ivy. What's wrong?" Harley asked nervously.
"Where did you sneak off to when I was asleep? Who did you see?" Ivy practically hissed at her.
"I left you a note." Harley replied.
Ivy waved around the tattered piece of canvas material. "Ivy. Had some business to attend to, be back soon. Love Harley."
Harley nodded her head.
"What man did you sneak out to see?" Ivy growled as she rose from her chair and headed towards Harley.
"I went to see the Penguin about obtaining the equipment we will need to build that sonic device to open the portal to another world I told you about." Harley said backing up against the closed secret door. She hated to admit it but Ivy was starting to scare her.
Ivy pulled to a halt a few feet from her. "The Penguin?"
Harley nodded.
Ivy considered for a moment before relaxing. "Okay, not even my jealousy can make me think you would be doing anything with that ugly old bird." She looked up to find it was now Harley's eyes flashing in anger.
"What! You thought I had slipped out to meet a guy for…" Harley sputtered for a moment. "I tell you that I have never had sex with a guy; that I have never had sex with anyone before and you accuse me of acting like some slut? Some cheap Gotham street whore just looking for someone to throw my legs open for!"
It was now Ivy's turn to nervously back away. "Now I didn't mean it like that. I was just afraid that you might…" She trailed off.
"What? Meet some nice hobo bum outside in the gutter and decide to elope with him?" Harley growled as she started to stalk towards Ivy.
"I just woke up and found you gone and was afraid you might not come back." Ivy said in a quieter voice. "I don't want to lose you Harley."
"You idiot!" Harley nearly yelled. "I don't want to lose you either. That is why I went to Pengy to get him to get the material we need to escape from the Joker. Don't you know if the Joker comes looking for us what he most likely will do? He'll try to torture you to death in front of me to hurt me. I couldn't live if I was the reason you died!"
Ivy rushed over to Harley and took her in her arms. "I'm sorry Harley. I really am. I don't know what has got into me. I usually don't care what anyone does but when it comes to you, I just lose it."
Ivy could feel as Harley's anger seeped out of her and the younger woman started to slump in her arms.
"Harley? What's wrong?" She asked.
"Just so tired. I'm exhausted." Harley mumbled. With her anger now leaving her, she remembered how tired she really was.
With Ivy's help, Harley stumbled over to the circular flower bed and allowed Ivy to lay her out on it. Within seconds Harley was out cold and gently snoring.
Ivy looked down at her and pulled the hood of her costume away so she could see and stroke Harley's blond hair. "Yet once again I have you in my bed and still I can't do anything." Ivy told her with a slight grin. Bending down she kissed Harley on the forehead and lay down beside her to get some more sleep herself.