Phillip Mortimer was frozen on his knees, gazing up at a goddess incarnate. He had never seen anything so stunning, not up close; of course he'd seen her in photographs and video footage, but they had clearly not done her justice. She was incredible, tall and beautiful, and she was looking down at him with pure anger etched in her perfect features. He realised that he may have possibly underestimated just how angry he had made her. Now was the time when he needed to regain control of the situation, or all his dreams and deals to be made would go up in smoke before he could get a word in edgeways.
Quickly, he scrambled across the floor and grabbed hold of Eve's arm, pulling her flush against him. The gun in his hand was pressed under her jaw, aiming up, and he clambered to his feet, moving backwards to put distance between himself and Ivy, dragging a struggling Eve with him. Once he was stood up and not prostrate like an offering on an altar, he felt much more in control. He even smiled at Ivy. "We were wondering how long it would take you to turn up," he said slowly, with only the slightest tremor in his voice. "I honestly didn't think you'd turn up in the day, not with Batman helping you."
"He wasn't helping me," Ivy said viciously. She curled her fingers, and Mortimer watched in fascination as a series of vines and tendrils coiled out of her hair and down her arms, ready to attack. "The Bat is still a man, and even he isn't immune to my pheromones. I used his detective skills, and left it at that. He has no idea I made him do anything."
Eve's eyes widened. Ivy was lying. Years ago, the Batman had developed an antidote to Ivy's poisons from a sample of her blood – Ivy had explained this to her while giving her a similar antidote, so they could be intimate together without her becoming ill. But why was she lying to Mortimer? Did that mean…the Batman was still with her? Somewhere else in the building? Her eyes met Ivy's for less than a second, but she couldn't read her expression at all.
"So you came to see me all by yourself? I'm flattered," Mortimer said, bringing the focus of the situation back onto him.
Ivy scoffed. "Don't be. You're in between me and someone I love, and that is not a safe place to stand. Now, give me my Evelyn."
Mortimer responded by cocking the pistol and pressing it further into Eve's throat. "Actually, Ivy – may I call you Ivy? – I have an alternative proposition for you. I've actually been explaining it to Eve, here. How would you like to work with me?"
"Excuse me?" The words may have been innocuous, but Ivy managed to make 'excuse me' sound like the worst death threat imaginable. She couldn't believe his audacity, but while the voices of the plants in her head were egging her on, urging her to slay him where he stood, she felt herself holding back. That was her Evelyn with him, scared, weak, and unable to escape. She wasn't going to risk her being shot in the time it took for her plants to reach him. She could attack him, and yes, she could kill him, but she could lose everything by doing so. Instead, she stood her ground, and waited for an opening.
"I can see you don't really like the idea – still, the question's moot. I wasn't asking permission. You will work with me," Mortimer said menacingly, "or the woman you love will die. If you let me study you, take some samples, and you don't betray me in any way, she will live. She will be perfectly safe; all you have to do is behave yourself. You have to decide, right here, right now. Let me study you, or she dies today. You will watch her die."
Ivy stared at him, slowly going over what he'd said. She couldn't believe he would even suggest that to her, knowing what she was capable of doing to him. She looked at Eve's desperate face, and she knew she would do anything to keep her alive.
But Mortimer didn't know that there was another reason that Ivy hadn't approached him, besides wanting to make sure he didn't do anything stupid to Eve – on the leaves that covered her back, there was a small tracking device that was emitting a very faint beeping, and under the scarlet curls of hair on the left side of her face was a tiny microphone-earpiece combo. If all was going to plan, Batman was currently scaling the side of the building, and would be with them soon. All Ivy had to do was keep Mortimer talking.
It had been relatively easy, in the end. After wracking her brains to think of anybody Eve knew that might want to harm her, Ivy had remembered the name 'Phillip', which had cropped up in Eve's conversation over the phone when she'd first moved to Robinson Park. Ivy had disregarded it at the time, knowing only that Phillip was Eve's boss, but had left it at that in favour of focusing on her lover. It hadn't taken them long to find records of him and his employment at the Gotham City Science Institute (especially since Bruce remembered meeting him, but he hadn't told Ivy this). The hours had been consumed by them hunting for CCTV footage from Eve's apartment block to prove that it had been him who'd taken her, letting the Commissioner know what was going on, and hitting several spots around the city to see where Mortimer and Eve might have gone.
She'd been rather disturbed when they'd tracked down his home, and found files and records detailing almost every single time she'd been in the news, going back years. It had been exactly like something out of a horror movie, and it had finally cemented in Ivy's mind the idea that her Evelyn was being held captive by someone who was clearly quite mad. After that, she'd been even more desperate to find them, but Batman had managed to keep her calm and thinking rationally. They had formulated this plan, to send Ivy in first and hopefully lull Mortimer into a false sense of security. Batman had figured out that it wasn't Evelyn he wanted, but her, for whatever reasons made sense to his unhinged mind, and that he might actually be happy to see her. Happy enough to let her have a conversation with him, at least, which would allow Batman enough time to figure out which room they were, and for a division of the GCPD to mobilise outside the building in case things really went south.
And now, here she was. Her Evelyn was in one piece, if not safe and sound, and she had to keep the madman's attention directed at her. She took a deep breath. "If I let you study me," she began slowly, trying to make it sound as if she was actually considering the ludicrous idea, "will you let Evelyn go?"
Eve started screaming at her through the gag, shaking her head and crying. Her eyes begged silently, No! Don't do it! Pamela, don't do it! as she struggled in Mortimer's grasp, trying desperately to free herself. Mortimer gave her a rough shake, then released his grip on her arm and raised his hand instead.
"Don't!" Ivy cried, throwing out her arm to stop him. "Don't touch her." She looked at Eve and allowed herself a tiny smile. "Evelyn, listen to me. Trust me. It will be okay." She tried to convey the truth of the situation silently, without giving anything away to Mortimer, wishing she could simply take Eve in her arms and tell her what was actually happening – that she would be safe, and it would all be over soon, if she only went along with the plan for the next few minutes. As it was, all she could do was spout platitudes and hope that they had the desired effect, while her hands itched both to kill Mortimer and comfort her lover.
The seconds ticked by, and finally Eve nodded, placing her trust in Ivy completely and letting her protests subside. Satisfied, Mortimer grabbed her again and held her uncomfortably close.
"So," Ivy said, "I'll ask again. If I let you study me, will you let Evelyn go?"
"You're sort of a package deal, I'm afraid," Mortimer replied, sounding anything but apologetic. "Without Eve, I have no guarantee of my own safety. She's my collateral – she'll be around to keep you in check, and make sure you co-operate. Otherwise, well…boom." He jabbed the gun into Eve's throat again, making her wince.
Ivy took a moment to suppress the wave of anger that rushed through her when she saw this. "And…what sort of things are you hoping to find out about me?" she ventured.
"Oh, I want to know everything!" Mortimer beamed at her. "How this happened to you, what you're capable of, how you can communicate with plants… I want to find out exactly how you work, and the true extent of your power. You fascinate me." He had no idea that he was mimicking Eve's own words from months before.
"I see." Ivy held up her hands, and the vines wrapped around her wrists retreated. To an outside observer, she was surrendering. "Fine. I'll do it." When Eve began to protest once more, Ivy shook her head and looked at her. "You know I would do anything to keep you safe. If this is what it takes, then so be it." Even though she was acting, the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks were real, and the words she spoke rang true.
"Ivy. I'm here. Do it now."
The gravelly voice in her ear had never been more welcome than at that moment. Ivy managed to keep a straight face, and extended her arm out towards Mortimer. "If you meant what you said, then Eve is safe as long as you have me. Release her."
For a second, Mortimer looked as if he was going to argue, but then he shrugged. "Fine. A deal's a deal."
Finally, he moved the gun away from Eve and put it in his pocket, and that was when the window smashed into a thousand pieces and a huge, dark shape flew into the room.
All hell broke loose – Batman soared through the air with his legs extended and kicked Mortimer in the back, sending both him and Eve sprawling, but Ivy was there to catch her. Moving quickly, she and her plants worked to remove the duct tape, and finally Eve was free to throw her arms around the woman she loved and bury her face in her hair. Her shoulders shook with sobs of relief. Ivy then held her at arm's length, checking her over, taking in the smudge of a bruise across her tear-stained cheek and the dark rings under her eyes. "You're okay, you're okay," she kept saying, breathless with relief. "I've got you, Evelyn." In spite of everything going on around them, they came together and kissed for the first time in what felt like an age.
Across the room, Mortimer had somehow managed to escape the Batman by scrambling behind the nearest bench, and had taken off running towards the other side of the room. "You lied to me Ivy!" he shouted, sounding genuinely hurt. "You bitch! You lied to me!" He kept running, but Batman was after him, leaping from bench to bench. Panicked, he spun around and drew his gun, firing wildly at his pursuer.
Batman dodged the bullets.
Eve, unfortunately, wasn't so lucky.
She was following Ivy towards the door when it happened – something hard and hot struck her in the back and came out the other side, through her chest, and she fell to her knees. "Pamela…" she gasped, and collapsed to the floor.
Ivy screamed.