I Can't Live Without You (Harley Quinnx Poison Ivy)

Chapter 17

Harley's POV

There's always a few songs that play over and over again on the radio, like two to three times in one hour, for a couple months. Then the popular songs end up changing, just to get overplayed. It gets annoying right? Well that's the best analogy I can think of to apply to these nightmares. I felt like my mind was a broken record; a broken record that someone had tried to patch up, only to make it worse. Batgirl's antitoxin hadn't worked and now I was stuck with Ivy giving me a look that made me shrink. She would want to know the truth, and I got the feeling that she would go after Scarecrow herself if I told her the truth.
"Y-Yes..."
Ivy straightened up, her gorgeous eyes now closed as if she was fighting to keep some sort of control.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Pammy... I just didn't want you to worry. I honestly thought Batgirl fixed the problem," I said getting up on my knees on the couch, grasping her hand in mine.
I realized too late that I mentioned Batgirl, my hands going over my mouth. Oh shit...
"Batgirl? What's she got to do with this Harley?"
I sighed and sat down heavily, looking at my feet as I picked at a loose string on the couch cushion.  That's why lying is bad kids, they always find out in the end. I felt the cushion sink down slightly as Pamela sat down beside me, her good arm going around my shoulders.
"She and B-Man made an antitoxin that they were sure would counteract Crane's. For a few days there it worked, but... now the nightmares are back," I said quietly, a distraught look on my face.
"So, the toxin didn't work?"
If the hair on my head could have stood straight up, it would have, at the sudden statement made from behind us. My blue eyes shot to where the voice came from and I screamed, seeing a dark silhouette. My already frazzled nerves made me overreact, hence the scream, even though I knew who it was. I grabbed the closest thing, an expensive red lamp, and threw it with more force than I intended.
"Woah! Geez Harley, calm down," Batgirl exclaimed, barely catching the lamp before it hit her.
"What the hell, B-Girl?! How'd you-"
I stopped short when I saw the window open, the drapes billowing gently. I glared at the vigilante, while Red was the one looking like a deer caught in the headlights now.
"Don't you know how to knock?!"
"The front door seemed a little too casual," Batgirl joked. "I was afraid the antitoxin wouldn't last..."
The vigilante began to walk forward  casually, only to suddenly smack face first into my apartment floor. My gaze flicked over to my lover; Ivy's caught red handed look was gone now, replaced with a defensive glare. Her hand was up, only confirming what I had suspected the second Batgirl hit the floor: Red was using the plants in my apartment against the vigilante.
"What's the big idea, Ivy," Batgirl snapped, looking up as the vines began to wrap around her.
"Pammy, it's okay. She's just here to help," I said, laying my hand on her shoulder gently.
Fierce green eyes met my tired blue ones, the look we shared being enough to reassure my redheaded lover. Ivy retracted the plants and folded her arms, watching the female vigilante closely.
"Sorry, B-Girl, she's just a little jumpy," I said, realizing how bad it looked that Ivy was here.
"Don't worry Ivy, I'm not gonna tell Batman on the two of you. I've known that Harley was back in contact with you since she and Catwoman rescued you."
Now the both of us stared at Batgirl in surprise, not so much that she knew but more for the fact that she wasn't going to tell the big man. She got to her feet and came to sit in the chair across from the couch. The young woman looked as if she hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep. Of course, I could sympathise with her, I wasn't getting a lot of sleep myself.
"I noticed some changes in the toxin after a couple days. It changes itself rapidly once in the bloodstream. I've been up for two days straight trying to make another antitoxin, one that will dispel the toxin completely. But I haven't had any luck," Batgirl said in a defeated tone, her head sinking.
"How is it affecting Harleen though? She's immune to poisons and toxins because of the treatment I gave her," Ivy said from beside me.
"That's what's been confusing me the most," Batgirl admitted with a hand on the back of her neck.
"Wait," I exclaimed loudly, startling the two redheads.
They both looked at me expectantly and I smiled a little awkwardly in response to their gazes.
"Red, why don't you take a crack at making an anti-toxin?"
Ivy blinked in slight surprise at the suggestion, but her expression quickly became an intent one. I could practically see the cogs in her mind working and I smiled softly at the look on her face.
"I'll give it a shot, for you Harls. I'll need a sample of your antitoxin," Red said to Batgirl.
"Of course. Here," B-Girl pulled a vial out of her belt and handed it to Ivy.
"I'll be in touch."
With that Batgirl was gone out the window, leaving me and Pamela in a slightly awkward silence. I cuddled up to her as she stared intently at the vial of yellowish liquid.
"Now what do we do, Red," I asked with a yawn.
"We'll have to go back to my greenhouse, so I can start running tests in the lab there."
I gave a halfhearted squeal of delight, I would get to see my babies for a little while. I followed Ivy in her car on my motorcycle, spending a little too much time with my thoughts on the drive to the outskirts of Gotham. Thinking back on it, why would Crane come after me? I had never really done anything to him, that I could remember anyway. I shook the thoughts away for the time being once we reached Ivy's greenhouse.
"Babies," I squealed as Bud and Lou came rushing into my arms the second Ivy opened the doors.
They knocked me over in their excitement and assaulted my face with kisses, "I know I know! Momma missed you too!"
I heard Pammy's gentle chuckle as she walked past us into the greenhouse, "Come on Harls, I'm gonna need to take some blood."
I sat up to follow her, but I stopped short when I noticed something tucked into the black color that I had bought for Bud. I fumbled with the damn thing for a second before I was able to get at what was fit so snuggly into the collar. My blood ran cold when I finally got it out and unfolded it. It was a Joker card... The hair on my neck stood up as I had the sudden feeling of being watched. I shot to my feet and looked around frantically, half expecting the Joker from my nightmares to walk out of the bushes. I started to shake uncontrollably as I wondered if I was in yet another nightmare or if this was really happening. The wind picked up, tearing the card out of my loose grip and I just watched as it blew away, out of my line of sight.
"Harleen!"
Pamela's voice tore me out of my thoughts and I shook my head in a rough manner before turning to jog into the greenhouse. The boys were at my heels as I went down the stairs into Ivy's little lab. I looked around, trying to see if anything looked out of place, but it was a foolish venture as I'd never been in this part of the greenhouse before. I would have no way of telling if something was missing or out of its place.
"Come here, Harls. I need to take some blood from you," Pammy said from her seat at a counter with dusty test tubes and vials and such.
I nodded and came to stand beside her, rolling up my sleeve so she could get what she needed. I gave a light yelp at the prick but I remained silent as I watched my blood flow into a test tube. She struggled a bit because of her shoulder not completely cooperating, but Ivy was able to get three vials of blood before putting some gauze on and wrapping it. She gently patted my arm before standing up and lightly pressing her lips to mine, her hand resting on my cheek.
"I'll figure this out, daffodil, I promise," she whispered with a half smile upon her sweet lips.
As she went to work I went in the corner where the boys had curled up to sleep. I laid down, using them as pillows and just sat and watched Ivy get to work. I smiled softly, imagining her working at a normal job. I imagined  us living a normal life, working 9-5 jobs before coming home to each other, one of us cooking dinner while the other worked a little from home before settling down for the night in a soft bed together. I fell asleep to these thoughts, praying that a nightmare didn't replace them while I slept.