It was another moment of realization. The mistake had been made... They had taken the plants away from Poison Ivy and brought them into the corridor, but she had already made contact with them, she had already formed an empathic bond. They now truly were her children and Dr. Birch felt she could almost sense their anger as they were taken away from the chlorokinetic villainess.

"Holly, drop the- HURK!" Hazel's exclamation was cut short by a series of thick, rasping coughs. The bulb that Ivy had surrounded had exploded like an over-filled water balloon. A sticky dark fluid splashed over Hazel, Holly, and Margaret. Both guards and the doctor recoiled in disgust while the guards at the far end of the hall came rushing forward.

"STOP!"

The voice shouted so clear and loud that for a moment, everyone actually did stop. Even the goop-soaked women stood stock still, like dear in the headlights. They all turned toward the voice, and every guard looked upon a wide eyed and alarmed Pamela Isley.

"Listen to me... This is very important, these next five minutes are crucial. I mad a mistake, I admit that now; yes Hazel, I was scared, you were right. After what we discussed this morning I was scared, and I made use of a plan I shouldn't have used, and didn't need to use. Right now I'm very sorry I did that; and late I'm sure I'll be sorry I'm doing what I am now... But I don't want to see any of you die, if not for your own sake than for mine... I don't want any more deaths on my conscience." Pamela explained, slowly turning her vibrant green eyes on Marlow. "Those gas masks won't do a damn thing for any of you if you touch any of these three. By now the juice has seeped into gaps in their clothing, gotten onto their skin and into their pores. In a few minutes they're all going to be in a very bad state, unless you let me help them... But I need you to trust me. And I need you to let me out of my cell."

Marlow stared at her for a moment, and then he laughed. "You must think I'm out of my mind, Pam."

"Dammit, James, I don't care if you think you're the god damned king of england! Hazel's helped me too much and we've worked to hard for me to blow it all now. I want a chance at redemption, I want to get the fuck OUT of this hell hole once and for all and the only way I can do that is if I make up for this stupid stunt I just pulled now let me the hell out of this goddess forsaken room!!!" Pamela shrieked, her nostrils flaring as she slammed her fists against the glass between her and the Arkham employees.

"I... I don't feel good." Hazel rasped, taking a single shuttering step to the side and leaning against Holly for support. Both the females guards had the benefit of wearing their masks, ensuring that at least the nightshade's berry juice didn't splash into their mouthes. Dr. Birch wasn't so lucky. She had yelped with alarm when the bulb exploded, inadvertently catching a large gush of strong, bitter fluid upon her tongue. Now the young psychiatrist was blinking, bleary eyed and pale, with her fingers twitching and convulsing involuntarily.

"...She's swallowed it. Dammit, Captain, make a decision, either let me out or watch her die, after a dose like that there's no way you're getting her to a hospital in time!"

In spite of the precarious situation, with three people exposed to raw nightshade, the assembled guards all looked at Pamela incredulously.

"Stop staring you idiots! I made a mistake all right!? I was scared, don't look at me with those incompetent eyes and tell me you all aren't scared out of your WITS right now! I did something stupid and I want to make up for it; trusting me probably seems like the stupidest idea in the world to you at the moment but tell me who else in this pit can provide an antidote to a plant toxin this deadly?!"

Captain Marlow and the other guards exchanged uncertain looks, then Hazel let out a groan and slumped in Holly's arms.

"Dr. Birch!" Margaret exclaimed, the woman took a single step forward, tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground. Though the poison reacted slower through skin contamination, Poison Ivy's enhanced version of it was already wreaking havoc with Margaret's system. Holly was the only one still standing, desperately holding Dr. Birch up and looking rather weak in the knees herself she turned her eyes on Captain Marlow.

"Captain... you've gotta let her out of there. If you don't..." Holly shook her head, not wishing to think about it. "For god's sake, James I'm getting married in three months... Margaret has two kids at home, don't just stand here and watch us die!"

Marlow growled, wrestling with the decision for only a scant few minutes more before he jerked his head towards Pamela's cell. "Richards get her out here, she's right, we need her god damn help."

As one of the guards headed for the door Hazel tried to shake her head. No... No.. It could be a trick! Don't! She thought frantically, but her mouth wouldn't work anymore. She couldn't get her body to respond at all, and her every nerve was searing with pain. She'd never felt anything like this. The panic of feeling everything internal while your external body refused to respond to your commands. She heard the cell door click open, she heard Marlow tell his men to stay at the ready... then it all went black.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Light. Light is a terrible, foul, loathsome wretched thing... At least, it is when you first wake up from a long sleep. At the moment Hazel hated light... That was odd. There was no light now. In fact, the room was quite dark. Where was she? She could hear beeping... steady beeping.. a heart monitor? She looked around, and the beeping suddenly increased as her eyes fell upon the black mass. It lifted a gloved finger in front of it's lips for her to keep quiet.

"What are you doing here?! Where is here?!" Hazel hissed angrily.

The white lenses stared impassively back at her, then he lifted a clipboard and tapped his finger next to a logo at the top of the sheet. The symbol was that of Essen Memorial Hospital.

"Wha? Ivy! She-"

"I know."

"What happened?"

"She saved you."

Hazel blinked in confusion, staring up at the Batman. "She what...?"

"She saved your life. Margaret Oak's and Holly Madison's as well." He explained. Holly opened her mouth to respond but he continued before she could. "It would seem you were right in some ways... Some part of Isley wants to reform. I'm not convinced that she actually can reform, and you'd be a fool to trust her anymore, especially after this... But don't give up on her. Whatever you're doing, it's proving that somewhere beneath the Green, Pamela Isley still holds the compassion and kindness she had before the experiment that birthed Poison Ivy."

This time he didn't waited for her to turn away before making his disappearance, he simply turned and headed for the window.

"Batman, wait!" Hazel called out. He paused, turned to glance at her from over his shoulder. "How... How do I keep going after this? I could have died."

"But you didn't... Because she recognized her mistake. Before you came to Arkham, Doctor, Poison Ivy never had never had a crisis of conscience. They let her out of he cell, put her into direct contact with plant life; she could have escaped at any time, but she didn't. She saved all three of the very people she'd put in danger in the first place; she showed compassion for a human life other than Harleen Quinzel. Whatever you're doing, Doctor... It's working."

As he left, Hazel was only left with even more questions; specifically, what on earth was she doing that had worked? All she had done with Pamela this past week was talking about a life which, for the most part, Pamela seemed to have completely made-up. Once more she was left to wonder, what exactly was real and what wasn't? Once more she was left wondering if the Batman was right... Now it was he who believed there was a chance to redeem Pamela Isley, and Hazel Birch who wondered if Pamela Isley was even still there beneath the green of Poison Ivy.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Inside her cell, Poison Ivy sat upon her bed with her lips pursed and her head hung low. No longer was she allowed to wear a simple inmate's jumpsuit. They'd gone the whole nine yards of 'crazy person' and locked her inside a strait jacket.

"That's gratitude for ya, huh, Red? I mean here ya are, ya save the Doc's life and two guards too, and all they do in response is lock ya up even tighter! They could've at least let you keep the flower, huh?" Harley said from her cell, trying her best to cheer up her friend.

"No, Harl... I don't blame them. If I were in their position I'd lock me up tighter too. It was stupid mistake."

"But ya said you were scared... We all get scared sometimes, Red... You an' your flowers, there like me an' my teddy!... I miss Teddy."

"I'm sure you'll get him back as soon as they let you out."

"Ya think so!?"

"Of course... you'll get out of here sooner than I will.. as soon as they need the space, or as soon as you've calmed down enough that they think they can keep you contained on a daily metric ton of Prozac."

"Aw c'mon, Red... Dr. Birch still likes ya! Ya just made a mistake. That Dr. Birch, she's a good sort. She reminds me of me when I was workin' here!"

At this Pamela smirked faintly, her eyes glittering in her dimly lit cell. "Yes... She is like you when you were here, isn't she Harley?"

"Yeppers!" Harley replied, nodding her head eagerly in agreement even though Pam couldn't see it. From inside her cell, Ivy laughed, that low, husky, sensual laugh that seemed to both excite and terrify anyone who heard it. "What's so funny?"

"Shh... Quiet, Harl. The babies are sleeping..."

"Babies? What babies, Pammy? What're ya talkin' about?"

"I said quiet!" Ivy snapped viciously, causing Harley to give a little meep of submissive fright.

"...Sorry, Ivy."

"It's okay Baby... It's okay, go to sleep. Mommy's here."

Harley shivered softly and slid under the covers of her bed... Whoever Poison Ivy was talking to, she could tell it wasn't her.