Harley was happy to see Jonathan returning, looking only mildly annoyed. Ivy didn't come with him, however.
"Where did Red go?" she asked, trying to look behind his lanky figure. Nobody was there.
"She went to go retrieve our subject. She had… stalled my correspondent." He said, sitting in a chair hidden in one of the dark corners. Harley hopped onto a bit of counter space next to him.
"And so we're just going to wait here?" Harley asked. "How long?"
"I don't know. She should be here soon. Then we can get to work." He pulled out a clipboard, placing it next to Harley. "These are a few of the effects i wanted to study…"
Harkey surveyed the table, seeing the scrawled handwriting that had filled in several of the boxes of information from previous experiments. The results varied wildly at first, ranging from death to no changes, but got steadily more predictable as they went.
"What did you change this time?" She asked,
"I increased the Ramnella Erinus content. It should provide a stronger reaction without increasing the lethality. At least, I hope it doesn't. I don't particularly want to find somewhere to hide a body today…"
Harley giggled. "No acid, Jonny?"
"I ran out last month.." he sighed. He didn't particularly like to talk about murder. While he couldn't say he was fully clean, he avoided it when he could. It was unnecessary and rather gruesome.
Besides, what is fear when one is dead?
It was simply that the last batch of tests he'd tried had been rather deadly and he didn't have the time or money to buy an acid strong enough and in a large enough volume.
Harley smiled, handing the clipboard back to him. "I've always just tossed 'em into the harbor, cut them in pieces, or burned them."
"Obvious, traceable, and dangerous. besides, burning them is pungent," Jonathan said, crinkling his nose.
"But more fun," Harley pointed out.
"If that is your cup of tea, I suppose." Jonathan sighed, rubbing his temples. He'd forgotten how much she'd changed around Joker. Or maybe it'd always been there, and he'd just uncovered them. She'd always been a little strange, but that's what made her so interesting.
"What did Ivy need to tell you?" Harley asked, leaning in closer.
"Nothing other than what was expected… she was going to kill me if I hurt you in any way and such," Jonathan relied, stiffening at her nearness. He didn't like where this conversation was going.
Harley giggled, scooting closer. "I know that wasn't all. I heard you two talking."
Jonathan sighed. He'd had his suspicions that Harley would do as such. She never was one to passively wait. She was impulsive. Still, it irked him. He liked his private matters to remain private.
He'd never ever planned on her finding out. It was supposed to remain as a secret. He could ignore it before… but now, that'd be difficult.
"Child…" he said, rubbing his temples. "I wish you wouldn't have listened."
"It's alright, Jonny!" Harley said, smiling brightly. "I really don't mind." She scooted even closer. Jonathan moved away in response, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. He hated it.
She was going to leave him no matter what. The more he got attached, the more it'd hurt later on when she was ripped away. He couldn't avoid the facts anymore.
"Harley please don't…" Jonathan said. He hadn't felt so weak in such a long time. He felt like a child again.
Harley pouted and stood up. "Fine. You know that you're no fun, right?" She pulled on her mask and laughed. "But in a good way." Jonathan nodded and put his mask on, trying to think. He had to do the test and figure out his own situation.
Awkward silence hung over the little shed for several moments as the two stared at each other, they're masks covering any emotions with a stitched grin. Jonathan felt safer behind the scratchy burlap. Scarecrow had always given him strength when he needed it most.
The door slammed open, barely even getting time to creak. "I brought you your stupid subject. He's waking up, so you may want to restrain him as fast as you can," Ivy said as she walked through, a full-grown man thrown over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Your correspondent went home, by the way. You don't need to worry about them anymore."
"Well, child, shall we get to work?" Jonathan asked, nodding in thanks to Poison Ivy before pulling on his mask.
Harley felt distracted. She'd heard things she wasn't meant to hear. It was exhilarating.
She hadn't felt this excited since her last heist with The Joker.
All she could think about was the words confirming what she believed.
"You love her, don't you?"
"And you just admitted to the same."
She'd known for some time about Ivy's feelings. She didn't mind at all. Ivy was her best friend, and she sometimes played with the idea of dating her. Then again, it was often useful to use it to her advantage. She could manipulate Ivy easier than most people.
But it seemed like Ivy wasn't alone.
Harley had never really seem the same thing in jonathan that she had in Ivy. Lingering glances and soft smiles that he lended nobody else, of course…. but she'd always chalked that up to their odd friendship. He had always been a lonely person, and she'd always figured that she was one of his only friends.
But now that she thought about it, he never acted that way around Jervis or Edward. Just her.
This new information was strange, but welcome to her.
"Child?" The Scarecrow's voice sounded different. Scratchier and more distant behind his stitched facade. "Will you restrain him while I prepare the toxin?"
"Right on it Mistah S!" She said, laughing. The man was just beginning to wake up from his stone-cold slumber, mumbling incomprehensible words.
Scarecrow stiffened at his new nickname, pausing for just a second before returning to work.
Harley watched as Jonathan worked. It had been some time since she had been actively engaged in any sort of psychological experiment.
The last one she'd done had probably been back in college, and that had been a simple, supposedly harmless, test on her two roommates. It had been playing with positive affirmation and words.
It was simple, choose a word, and smile or nod every time they say that word.
Harley had loved watching how the occurrence of the word of their boyfriends was used more and more until they'd both eventually gotten engaged.
She'd also had fun reversing this process and watching their relationships spin out of control and end. One of her roommates had ended up failing two of her classes as a result, but that didn't affect Harley anyways. She saw it as revenge for that girl never doing her dishes.
These tests were right up her alley. The subject was restrained and barely coming too. The first thing he saw was Jonathan, standing in front of him. Harley waited behind.
"Why are there-" He began to exclaim. Harley clamped her hands over his mouth, muffling a scream.
Harley smiled underneath the burlap mask. This was going to be fun.
"Harley?" Jonathan asked. Harley cracked her eyes open, happy to see sunlight streaming through the boarded up windows. How long had she been sleeping?
After the test last night, she'd been exhausted. It was probably almost noon now…
Leave it to ol' Jonny to wake up early, no matter what.
"Hiya Jonny!" Harley said, getting up and leaping to the staircase. He stood below, holding a cup of steaming coffee. "What time is it?"
"Eleven Thirty…" He mumbled. "I was starting to get worried about you… Are you feeling alright."
"Yeah… I suppose so…" She looked down at him.
She had a killer migrane on the way.
"I didn't… like, breathe any fear toxin fumes, did I?" She asked. "I'm not hallucinating or anything, but my head hurts like mad today…"
"The mask should have protected you…" Jonathan said, slowly approaching her, cautiously. He seemed… almost afraid of her.
"Did I get drunk? No… I remember getting to bed…" She sighed, taking the coffee cup from him.
It was bitter as heck. She wasn't surprised. Just like him.
"Are you okay?" She asked. He was watching her carefully. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No… no…" Jonathan sighed. "I just…"
"It's that, isn't it?" harley looked at him. He nodded. She smiled weakly. "I'm sorry… I just was tired of being handled like… well like a porcelain doll. I wanted to know what you were saying about me. And I knew it was about me… so I snuck out after you…"
Jonathan stayed silent.
"I don't mind, Jonny…" She said. "I really don't…"
"I mind," he mumbled. "I mind an awful lot. I missed my chance and i've regretted it ever since…"
"You've regretted…" Harley said, closing her eyes and holding her hand to her throbbing forehead. "I gotta sit down…"
Jonathan just nodded and helped her sit down on the couch that she had been sleeping on just minutes ago.
"Thanks…" Harley breathed out, trying to dispel the headache. Where had it come from? Maybe there had been a leak in her mask and that had caused it. That seemed to be by far the most probable explanation. All she knew was that now her thoughts were scattered everywhere.
"Child… are you alright?" Jonathan asked.
"No…" Harley groaned. "My head feels awful…. It's like I've got a hangover or something…"
"I wonder if the exposure to the new chemicals affected you negatively…" he said, tapping his fingers against the wall. "I could try giving you the anti-dote, but it isn't likely to have much of an effect so long after the exposure."
Harley just nodded, closing her eyes. It felt a bit better when all she saw was darkness. The light felt a little too harsh.
"I'll let you rest… we'll talk later…" Jonathan said, standing up suddenly.
"No… I'm fine. Stay, please," She said. "I want to get this sorted out. I know that you're mad at me…"
Jonathan sighed and reluctantly sat down again. He crossed his arms stubbornly, already looking exasperated and annoyed.
Harley giggled and leaned against him for support.
"I think you already know my side of the story, so go on ahead."
"Is this really necessary, child?" he asked. "I think you already know mine."
Harley just laughed and nodded. "Yeah… I guess I do. Then why do we keep pretending like something's wrong? There's nothing wrong…" She smiled halfheartedly and shook her head. "The truth is, I like you a lot too, Jonny."
"You do?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. "I'm afraid that I feel inclined to doubt you Harley."
"Why?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Because you love The Joker," He said plainly. "I know your cycles- you're looking for a replacement until he wants you back."
Harley pouted and nodded. "Maybe… but that doesn't make it any less valid, does it? I like you Jonny, honest truth."
He sighed and nodded. "Harley. Please. Let's forget this happened. I know that this can't end well. I'd prefer it to never begin."
Harley scooted closer. "We can play pretend, you know. That way, you can get exactly as committed as you want, and I can do the same. You don't have to get attached if you don't want to."
Jonathan turned and looked her in the eye skeptically. "Harley, this is a bad idea."
"That's why I like it!" She said, giggling. She smiled for a second before resting her head on his shoulder. "I think it'd help us both, though. You can rest, knowing that I like you, and I know I'll do better if I pretend like we're dating. You give me a reason to want to stay. Maybe I'll get over Joker."
Jonathan utterly melted. He wasn't sure what it was, whether it was the feeling of her head resting on his shoulder, her soft voice saying that she liked him, or even just the word 'stay'. H eknew it was all hopeless- she was trying to manipulate him into saying yes.
But some part of him really wanted her to stay.
"I'll think about it," he said softly.
He wanted to think about it when she wasn't there to cloud his judgement. Not that it mattered. He'd cloud his own.
All that really mattered to him was that one word. Stay.
It may have been an empty word, but Jonathan felt, or perhaps simply hoped, that it was a real thing. That perhaps she was willing to try.
If nothing else, he just wanted to help her with that.