Ivy awoke early, in high spirits. After seeing to the plants, she decided to make blueberry pancakes for Harley's breakfast as a surprise. She could still hardly believe what had happened the night before. Her knees felt weak just thinking about it.

Breakfast didn't take long to cook. After piling up a few pancakes on two plates and drizzling them with maple syrup she put them on a tray with some cutlery and walked happily into the bedroom, where Harley was beginning to stir.

"Good morning Harl. I made you breakfast," she said with a smile.

Harley stretched with a wide yawn and sat up. "Wow, thanks Red," she said, her eyes lighting up. The little things made her happy. Ivy handed her a plate and then slid under the covers next to her so they could eat breakfast in bed together.

"What do you want to do today?" asked Ivy.

Harley shrugged. "It's too early to be thinkin' about that." She yawned again, before stuffing a large forkful of sticky pancake into her mouth.

"I thought you might like to take a day off and just relax," said Ivy. "You seem like you need to clear your head."

"You're not wrong," she said with a sigh. "There are so many things spinnin' around in my head, feels like it's gonna explode."

Ivy was silent. There were a lot of things she wanted to say but she didn't want to give her friend any more grief. She just sat and nibbled on her pancakes.

"I've sure missed your cookin', Red," said Harley as she finished mopping up the syrup with her last bite of pancake. "You'll have to teach me someday."

Ivy smiled. "All right. Tomorrow it's your turn to make breakfast."

Harley looked at her uncertainly. "Half cooked eggs and burned toast it is then."

Ivy laughed. "Stop putting yourself down. I'm sure it'll be great. I can't wait."

Harley was quiet, a troubled expression on her face.

"What's up?" asked Ivy tentatively.

Harley continued staring at her empty plate. She sighed. "You ain't gonna like this, Red, but I'm just thinkin' about Mistah J... I feel bad for leavin' him like this."

It was all Ivy could do not to roll her eyes in frustration. "He tried to hurt you – again – Harley. Don't you think you're better than this?"

Harley fiddled nervously with her tousled blonde hair. "I miss him. I just wanna know if he's okay."

"Would he do the same for you?" asked Ivy.

"Look, he cares about me, okay?" said Harley. She was getting agitated. "I know you don't like him, but if you'd seen him at his best... Well he treats me right most of the time."

"Until you don't do exactly as he wants, and then he takes his failure out on you," said Ivy. Her voice was sharper than she had intended, and Harley's face dropped. "I'm sorry, Harl – I know this isn't helping. I just can't stand to see what he does to you."

"When we first met, you told me I needed some 'good old-fashioned female self esteem' – well I got plenty of self-esteem, but there's somethin' about Mistah J. I can't help but love him."

The conversation was going in the exact opposite direction that Ivy wanted it to go, and she felt the familiar sinking feeling that told her Harley wouldn't be here to make breakfast tomorrow.

"Maybe – maybe part of me knows it ain't right the way Mistah J gets mad at me," she continued, unable to meet her friend's eye. "But I don't think I can leave. Not now, maybe not ever."

Ivy put her hand over her friend's and held it tight. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sure you think I'm a doormat, or whatever..." Harley sniffed.

"I may have said some harsh things in the past, but I understand now – there's more to it than just walking away. If you do want to walk away... Well, you know that I'll always be here. I... I love you Harley. I want you to be happy, and if that means you stay with the Joker I'll just have to accept that and be here for when you need me. If you want me to... I'll give you the antidote to the toxin." It was Ivy's turn to cry. In all the time that she'd known her, Harley couldn't remember seeing her friend look so sad.

"You're the best, Red," said Harley, and she kissed the tears away from her cheeks. "Maybe it's not the right time to say this... But last night was wonderful."

Ivy couldn't help but smile through her tears. "It was perfect," she whispered, and she felt Harley's soft lips on hers.

Ivy pulled away. "Won't the Joker be unhappy about this?"

Harley shrugged. "What he don't know can't hurt him, I guess."

"You're not going to tell him?"

"Nah, I don't wanna give him any more reason to come after you, Red," she said with a grin, but then her smile faded. "We should probably stop though."

"Yes. Sure," said Ivy, unable to hide her bitter disappointment.

Harley tilted her head to one side as she studied her friend. "I'm sorry, Ivy. If things were different..."

"I understand," said Ivy. "I – I should take a shower."

She rushed to the bathroom and turned on the warm shower before any more tears could escape down her face. Standing under the running water, she thought about everything that had happened. She was glad to have Harley back as a friend, but it was bittersweet; she wanted so much more. She wondered how much longer she would be able to cope with seeing Harley and the Joker together – that is, if he didn't end up killing her. Every time she came banging on the door in the middle of the night, black, blue and bleeding, Ivy wondered if there would be a next time. That poor woman's body had taken a lot – if the Joker could knock her out of a window, what more was he capable of? It didn't bear thinking about.

After what seemed like a very long time, she turned off the water and wrapped herself in a towel. She opened the door and called to Harley that the bathroom was free. She put on her clothes and went to her greenhouse to prepare the antidote for Harley. She was tempted to poison it, but she knew that Harley would never forgive her if she did. Part of her brain seemed determined to come up with ways to get the Joker out of the picture, but in her heart she knew that the best thing – the only thing – she could do for Harley was to support her. As much as she wanted to save Harley from the Joker, she knew now that Harley had to save herself – and if she ever did, Ivy would be waiting for her.