Mad Love (Harlivy version)

Chapter 5

Harley stood in the yard behind the asylum wearing the athletic clothes she'd packed for the gym later- spandex shorts and a bright red sports bra. "This is stupid." She said under her breath. "Seriously, Harley. This is dumb."

'Nuh-uh.' The little voice in her head replied. 'Ya got this, Harleen. Jus' look at'cha, Girlie. Still look 16 if ya ask'in me.'

Harley glanced over her shoulder, making sure she was truly alone. "Well..." she said with a nervous smile. "Here goes nothing." And with that she took off running across the grass, her bare toes digging into the dirt for traction. Once she'd reached the correct speed, she high-stepped then planted her right palm into the ground and used her momentum to flip her legs over in the air. She combined the cartwheel with back-handspring and finished the run off by pushing hard with her legs and tucking her knees to her chest. Head over heels she rotated in the air, landing the back-flip with a satisfying 'thud.' She instinctively straightened out her legs after she stuck the landing, raising her arms above her head and arching her lower back- presenting the successful skill to the imaginary judges. Wearing her brightest camera smile, she bowed to the fence and then to the building.

"See, Harleen? What'd I tell ya?" The voice asked. She smiled to herself and walked back to her starting position, then began another run at the routine, this time repeating the sequence twice before sticking the landing.

She panted, a shit-eating grin on her face, her tongue hanging out of her mouth like a dog as she sat down in the grass.

"Ya just get too wrapped up in'ya own head sometimes, Girlie." The voice scolded.

Harley stretched contentedly and spread out on the grass, watching the sun as it set the sky ablaze in brilliant shades of orange.

The Dark Knight watched the young doctor from his perch atop the asylum. She was sprawled out in the lush green grass, enjoying the unusually vivid sunset. Despite Poison Ivy's general toxicity, the greenery surrounding Arkham always seemed to improve while she was in lock-up. As the sun began to slip behind the Gotham City skyline, Dr. Harleen Quinzel roused herself by pushing up into a handstand and then kicking her feet over her head until she was confidently carrying herself away across the lawn.

"Hmm..." Batman thoughtfully regarded the enigma that was this woman.

/

Ivy sat in her cell watching as the other patients were ushered into the cafeteria. She drew her legs tight to her chest and wobbled into a lying position much like an egg would. An egg with consciousness, of course. Humpty-Dumpty, specifically. The Joker had somehow found a way out of his straight-jacket long enough to punch a guard in the teeth and had been moved to the maximum security block, meaning Ivy was now truly alone. 'Good riddance. That crude clown can rot down there.' She thought. No company was better than The Joker's company. No company used to be better than any company, in Ivy's opinion. But something was changing- shifting inside of her. She wasn't sure exactly what it was and she certainly wasn't sure if she liked it, but it would have been irresponsible not to at least recognize the disturbance. She stared for a long while at the fern across the room. It wasn't growing at the rate she'd expected it would. That measly little fern was supposed to be her escape plan, but it simply wasn't strong enough. Ivy didn't even have to look at it to know. She could just feel it

"Hey!"

The redhead sat bolt upright as Harley suddenly thrust herself into view. Harley smacked a plastic rectangle against the glass and Ivy quirked an eyebrow at the foreign object.

"What's that?" She asked, momentarily excusing the sensual whisper from her tone.

Harley grinned. "Movie night."