Authors' Note: I'm so very, very sorry to not have posted up another chapter sooner. Ariana and I haven't written much past this which means that the new chapters probably won't be posted as frequently because we have yet to write them. There will still be new chapters in the near future though. Don't fret!
Thank you for your patience and all the amazing reviews! Don't hesitate to drop us a line. :)
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He couldn't stop. He started to laugh. It was crazy. Insane. He couldn't control anything anymore. His hands, his thoughts, his mind. It was too much. Everything was bright. Time seemed to speed up. So exhilarating. His head hurt. Repetitive motion. The sweeping emotion of relief tangled with pain and something else he couldn't put a name on seemed to hit his chest with force.
Harley let out a little scream as her body was thrown across the room like a rag doll. Her skin scraped across the floor as her back rammed into the still slightly open door. Instinct made her hand wrap around the door and pull it open. She managed to crawl out of the dirt-covered room, cradling her face in her hands. It took her a few moments to realize that it was raining. No, storming.
He let her go. He felt...hollow inside. As if there were nothing there but empty thoughts. An emotional discharge always left him drained but never before had it been like this. He was a ghost. Insubstantial. Numb. Dead. He walked up the stairs to the "living area" and started pulling off his clothes. He could feel the blood dripping off his fingers. It wasn't his blood. He went toward the bathroom which was covered in filth and flipped the faucet for the shower on. The water was brown at first but finally starting coming out mostly clear. There was no water heater in this building. The water was freezing hitting his skin like needles of ice. He could feel the cobwebs catch his head. He stood very still waiting for the water to wash away most of the blood before he would scrub his skin raw. Everywhere was red. Maybe he could beat back some feeling into himself. If only he could summon enough energy.
The shadows were moving, slithering around her ankles and wrists, pulling her into the deep and grimy puddles. Could this world truly be Gotham? Nothing was familiar to her rain-filled eyes. Not even the eerie glow cast by bolts of lightning could reveal any small characteristic of the world she knew. In her mind, everything was alive, screaming, crying. Her legs started to shake violently as she walked down the dark alleys, freezing to the bone. It wasn't the weather that caused her bones to be cold as ice, but her heart. It had cracked, letting out a liquid colder than ice. Where would she go? The storm was getting worse. Her ever-persistent survival instinct told her that she was not allowed to drown out here. Who would take her in now? Wasn't there one person? She could see the other woman in her thoughts, slowly piecing together her memories through the throbbing headache. Poison Ivy!
Poison Ivy opened her door. It was raining outside and that always put her in a joyful mood. Rain was excellent for her little babies. Water and sunlight in moderation was all they needed. She hoped it didn't rain forever though. It already looked like a monsoon out there. Her eyes widened in shock as she viewed the huge drowned rat in font of her. The poor girl's clothes were torn to tatters and she looked like she had fallen from a fifty story building. "Mother earth...come in!", Ivy shouted so she could be heard over the hurricane-force gale outside. She grabbed the wet blob by the arm and yanked her inside so she could bolt the door. It was never a good idea to have an open-door policy in this part of Gotham.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry." Harley managed to say after a few attempts. She really wanted to explain how sorry she was to take advantage of Ivy's hospitality, but that was nearly impossible. Her head felt like it was full to bursting. She kept her arms wrapped around her sides, scared that if she let go she might fall apart.
"Aw, Harley, darling. Sit and take your clothes off," Ivy gently pushed Harley toward a chair in the kitchen. Poor girl. Sometimes the life of crime wasn't all that glamorous. "What happened?" Ivy said while starting a pot of tea. She added the freshest herbs she could find. Those were always the best. A good strong green mint tea could cure anything. Plus, Ivy was afraid Harley just might go into hypothermic shock if she didn't have something warm in her system. Hopefully, Harley hadn't been wandering around for too long out there in the storm.
Her whole body protested as she peeled the shreds of black and white fabric off of her body. A few more fat tears rolled down her cheeks as she realized that her costume was completely destroyed. "Mistah J just got a little mad..." It hurt to admit the whole story, so she skimmed around the edges.
Ivy scoffed. "Just got a little bit mad? Your face is going to be as big as a watermelon with all those bruises." She tossed her fire-engine red hair angrily. Poison Ivy was going to have a little talk with the Joker. One in which he wasn't going to come out alive. "Hold on, dear. Let me get you something to wear and some...ice," Ivy muttered the words as she walked off to the back of her trailer located in the pleasant Paradise Meadows which was conveniently shut down by the Gotham Health and Safety Board. She grabbed Harley a white shirt, a warm cloth, a big ice pack, and an antidote shot. She walked back to the table and dropped the stuff on it. Ivy handed her the cloth," All the makeup needs to be wiped off your face or the cuts could get infected." Poison Ivy tapped the antidote shot lightly with her finger.
After slipping the white shirt over her head quickly, Harley scrubbed at her face as gently as possible. The cuts were all stinging from the water, but she just had to grit her teeth and bare it. When she was done, she presented herself for approval. Gosh, Ivy was being so helpful! Such a nice lady.
Ivy picked up the cloth with the very tips of her fingers and threw it in a hamper for laundry day. She turned back toward Harley. She already looked a bit better. She was started to look somewhat human. Her face was bruised and battered and she had scrapes and marks everywhere. "Do you think anything is broken?" Ivy put an icepack on Harley's face. The antidote was fizzing lightly now which meant it was ready.
"Um..." Harley slowly tried moving every part of her body. The only things that hurt were her right hand and her left ankle. "Only my ankle and hand hurt." She held up the body parts to show which ones. "I must have broken something in my hand when I got the papyrus..." Her face fell a bit.
Ivy smiled. Her antidote would be perfect then. Not only did it result in the human body being immune to most plant toxins but it also some of Ivy's herbal medicine in it. Ivy took off the casing of the needle and sat down next to Harley. "Look you aren't immune to toxins like I am. You won't last ten minutes in Toxic Acres without my antidote," Ivy said carefully. Little Harley had 6 minutes to go before she asphyxiated.
"Ooohh..." Harley whined, unable to stop herself from flinching away. "I hate shots!" That's why she hadn't been a doctor. Giving people shots seemed like a horrible job. All those needles! "I hate 'em..."
Ivy stuck the needle in her skin quickly. The girl had probably had enough pain for a lifetime. She hoped the healing would begin immediately. Ivy definitely should have the formula down now. She had been perfecting it for years. Ivy glanced at Harley's battered face. She felt a sting of pity. "Why do you put up with that clown?" she asked seriously. Poison Ivy could never live with any man.
"Well, I know that my Puddin' can get kinda rough sometimes, but he loves me!" She tried to keep herself from crying. Hadn't he told her he loved her? He wouldn't lie to her! "He really does!"
Ivy couldn't help but smirk. Her voice took on a mocking tone, "Sure he does. You're just one big forgiving doormat aren't you?" Ivy shook her head and walked over to her comfy green bed.
"I am not a doormat! Am I?" Harley stood up, placing a finger on her chin. Sure, she did let Joker have his way, but she liked his way. Did that make her a doormat? Was it bad to let people have their way all the time, even i it kept you happy most of the time?
Ivy laughed, "Honey, if you had a middle name it would be 'Welcome'" She got up when she saw Harley's beaten expression. She sighed, "Aw. Cheer up kid. You just need some lessons in good old female self-esteem." The tea kettle whistled and Ivy grabbed a cup for Harley. The fragrant smell of mint wafted through the kitchen. A roll of thunder boomed and shook the tiny trailer. "So, why did Joker get mad?" Ivy retook her seat by Harley and leaned towards her as they were third graders gossiping.
Harley took a few sips of the mint tea, letting the warm liquid soothe her throat and warm her from the inside out. "Well, Mistah J was sorta mad that his plan didn't got through like he had hoped." Joker was a perfectionist after all.
Ivy shook her head in disbelief. "It was probably his fault anyway his exalted plan didn't work," Ivy spat at the words. The Joker was a madman. Not only was he insane...he was cruel, insane, and limitless. There were no rules in the Joker's games. If there was a line, Joker raced through it shattering every moral code he possibly could as quickly as possible. Ivy felt a wealth of disgust rise up in her throat. She pitied this broken little girl before her. This is what happened to someone who "loved" the Joker. "Is the antidote making you feel better? We probably need to set your hand and wrap it up if there are broken bones. They'll set wrong if we don't," Ivy muttered as she got up to grab a bandage.
"I feel a lot better, thanks!" Harley smiled at the kind woman as best she could. The air was much more comfortable in her lungs, no longer stinging from the toxic chemicals. She felt stronger too, less fragile. Harley tried to flex her fingers. They twitched a little, which was a good sign. Maybe they weren't that badly broken after all.
Ivy sat down again in front of Harley and gently felt her hand. The skin was bruised and held a strange purplish tint. The girl's index finger was broken and perhaps one of her knuckles. Ivy didn't know all that much about humans. Plants were her forte. She carefully wrapped Harley's hand. The herbal medicine in the antidote should speed up the healing process tenfold. Ivy glanced back up at Harley. Her face didn't look good. "Do you want something to eat or do you want to just go lie down?"
When was the last time she had eaten? She couldn't even remember. Life with the Joker was obviously not a normal life. There was no time line really. Things just happened when they happened, because they were meant to happen at that time. This left a person without a schedule. It was hard to remember to eat when you had no schedule. "I really hate to impose on you like this...But I am a little hungry..."
Ivy nodded and got up. "Are eggs and toast okay? I don't eat meat but I can cook most anything else." She turned on the burner and opened the refrigerator. It was looking a bit sparse in there. She pursed her lips. Hmm. Plenty of vegetables. Maybe Ivy could get a salad at of that for lunch... she needed to make a run to get some food. Organic healthy food stores never suspected an innocent-looking botanist of taking a little bit of bread. Ivy figured she'd paid them off in the end anyway when no one wanted to use freakish pesticides anymore because of the ill effects they would have.
"That sounds really good, actually." She smiled again, her good hand resting lightly against her stomach. It felt concave. Eggs...How long had it been since she'd had one of those? It didn't really bother her that she hadn't had any. It was just an interesting fact to note.
Ivy whipped up some eggs and slightly toasted bread as quick as she could. The poor girl looked as if she would faint. Ivy clenched her fists. She wanted to hit Joker. His abuse was sickening. She pushed the thought out of her mind as she put the plate of food in front of Harley. "Here you go, honey," Ivy smiled. Suddenly, a light clicked. Poison Ivy was such a genius sometimes. If Joker did care about this girl...that could be quite useful. Why not turn Harley into a supervillianess without any of Joker in the spotlight? Ivy could even get old Harvey Dent involved. Wouldn't Joker be jealous when his old love interest was in the arms of Two Face? A small chuckle escaped Ivy's pretty pink lips.
"Thank you so much!" Harley gushed before stuffing her face. She tried really hard not to seem too desperate. Looking desperate was never a good thing. When her gracious hostess chuckled, Harley looked up with one perfect eyebrow raised.
Ivy smiled, "You are eating like a horse. Do you want any more?" Ivy walked back over to the stove to turn it back on. She still had two more vegan eggs left. The storm was slowly dying down and Ivy could see the pale morning light starting to peek through the cloud cover. Exhaustion hit her like a rock. She shook the feeling away. She had a lot to do today. Lots of calls to make for this new brilliant idea. The Joker needed a little taste of his own medicine.
Harley could feel a light blush spreading across her cheeks. Despite the embarrassment of a blush, it was a good sign also. Blood was flowing correctly. "Um...If that's okay with you..." She hated imposing on Ivy. There would have to be a way to pay her back one day.
Ivy laughed again and cracked two more eggs. The pan was already hot so it took even less time then before. "Here you go. Those are the last I have but if you need more food the vegetable drawer is pretty stocked," Ivy grinned. She closed the blinds on the window and sat back down across from Harley. "So, have you ever been to a club?" The idea was coming together quite nicely.
Harley was careful only to talk when her mouth wasn't full of egg, "During college I went a few times with my friends." Well, maybe a bit more than a few times. They had all been party animals. She didn't bother asking why Ivy wanted to know. Questioning a question never really got anyone anywhere.
Ivy smiled. Good. She was pretty sure Harley had never been to a club like the one she was going to go to. "You look like your half-dead. You should get some sleep. I think the spare bedroom's all ready made up," she said each statement matter-of-factly. Harley should be feeling sleepy. There should have been a mild sedative in the shot. Ivy liked to be careful with these kinds of things. You never know when someone might try to steal the antidote and use it on themselves. It was better to have a sleepy robber than an alert one.
As if the words had been some sort of magical cue, Harley yawned. She wasn't just sleepy, she was exhausted. Her shoulders were tense from stress. It would feel so nice to lay down...As she stood, she gave Ivy her best smile, "Thank you so much for all of this."
"You are very welcome," Ivy said almost humbly as she ushered the girl to her room. As soon as her head hit the pillow, Harley was dead asleep. Excellent. Time to get to work. Ivy skipped back to the kitchen with renewed energy and picked up the cordless phone to dial a number she knew very well with a slight sigh. Men were so infuriating. But, it had to be done. The Joker needed to be taught a few vital lessons.