I was going to wait a bit longer until I posted this one, but I just couldn't! Here you go!
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I slumped against Ivy just as she sat up, cradling my head in her lap.
"Harley!"
I felt a warm trickle down the centre of my back. The pain burned through my flesh like acid.
"You're alive?" I whispered.
"I'm here Harley, hold on okay?" Ivy panicked. I felt someone apply pressure to my wound.
"Harley, stay awake," the Riddler ordered, "keep her conscious Ivy."
Ivy stroked my hair, her eyes glassy with tears. I looked at the pair before me. Arkham frowned and passed his bloody knife to Sinner.
"I wished you'd never got tangled up in this mess, Harleen. You were such a good doctor," he said slowly. Sinner wrapped the knife up in some cloth and tucked it into her coat, smiling at me as she did so.
"We were always one step ahead of you, Harleen. You think I'd leave you alone in my office for you to make your little "discoveries" by accident? Oh please!" Sinner laughed. Arkham wrapped his good arm around her waist.
"We knew what you were trying to do with Pamela - catch Alyce out on her attempt to murder her. But how could you, when it wasn't Alyce who was in that chamber-"
"Don't tell her, please, she-"
"Who...was...it?" I struggled, "that man...on your phone...who really did it?"
"I did," a familiar voice called out. Running footsteps approached and the man joined Sinner and Arkham in front of us.
Charlie.
"No...no it can't be you. Not you, Charlie,' I wept.
His eyes widened as he took in the sight of me.
"You said she wouldn't get hurt, you said you were trying to help!" he yelled at Sinner.
"She was beyond help."
Sinner stepped forward, "I'm sure you heard all my messages, Harleen, why did Gordon call me, hm? What could he possibly want to talk about?" she questioned. I stared at her desperately. "I'm deeply concerned about Harleen, Doctor Sinner, there's something not quite right with her."
I gasped for breath as the pain spread through my body.
"Gordon he...he tried to drug me," I said.
"As I asked him to. I asked him to sedate you as you were becoming a danger to yourself and everyone around you. He told me you called about Pamela last night, confirming to himself what had to be done."
Sinner grinned and retreated back to Arkham. Charlie shook his head at me.
"I love you, Quinny, but it was getting too much! You were changing rapidly, that bastard poisoned your mind. I didn't go home with that girl, I followed you. I was parked right outside your apartment but you were too drunk to notice. I saw you with Guy and you looked so happy. You looked normal again. You should be with someone like him, someone normal. Not that psychopath!" he rushed, close to tears himself.
"You don't understand, Charlie. Ivy...why didn't...why didn't you..."
"Tell you? Harls I know what he means to you, I didn't know he was a big threat-"
"But he tried to kill you," I interrupted
"Yes. But I knew that Sinner would be behind it, that she had corrupted him so-"
"So you tried to pin it all on me. Good job, Pamela," Sinner sneered.
I groaned as the pressure increased on my back.
"She needs help now, Ivy! Where is he?" The Riddler demanded.
"But why...why did you need Ivy?" I asked.
Arkham looked at Ivy with an icy stare.
"She was your hope, so easily taken away. But we wanted her alive, her connection with plants and the earth is so fascinating that-"
"You were going to experiment on me," Ivy finished.
"Exactly. And you needn't worry about this escape plan, the back up security system is about to come online. Doctor Crane is on it as we speak. No one is leaving," Arkham grinned.
Suddenly, a man appeared behind the three of them. A man in a scarecrow mask. He pushed the barrel of his gun to the back of Sinner's skull.
"Goodbye, bitch."
Bang!
The room erupted into chaos. Ivy slid off the metal trolly and the Riddler gently lifted me onto it.
"You just stay with us."
Bang!
Charlie called out in agony but I could see nothing. I felt myself being quickly wheeled out of the room and away from it all. We rushed along hallways to the elevators.
"Please, please," the Riddler whispered above me. We stopped and I heard a faint ding and I was pushed into the mirrored box. The doors rattled shut behind us. The Riddler gasped for breath.
"I didn't...know...if they...would work," he said between raspy breaths. I stared lifelessly up at the light.
"Am I going to die?" I asked quietly.
"Not if I can help it."
I focused on the light and listened to my heart beating twice as fast as it should. Then I heard the music.
L'amour est enfant de Bohême
Il n'a jamais, jamais connu de loi...
I smiled, feeling myself drift into unconsciousness.
But a vigorous bump of the trolley brought me back. Wherever we were, patients were running around loudly. I whimpered and tried to curl up into sleep.
"No, Harley, lie flat!" The Riddler commanded, forcing my legs back down. The lights were so much brighter here and the noise was deafening.
"Attention, attention."
The tanoy system crackled to life.
"My friends are distributing the gas masks as we speak. If ya don't get one...hahaha, good luck!"
"What...what is he doing?" I questioned.
"Crane's going to gas the place with his dodgey formula, the stuff he's been working on. Fear toxin."
"Fear toxin?"
"You don't want to know. We'll be safe, don't worry."
"Is that Doctor Quinzel?" someone asked.
"Help me get her to the medical ward."
I drifted in and out, unaware of any of my surroundings. When I eventually woke up fully, I was lying on my chest. Flashes of orange wizzed past me and I could hear the beeping of an ECG machine, confirming I was alive.
But the pain was still there.
"She's lost too much blood, we're gonna lose her!"
A scream filled the room and I soon realised it was coming from me.
"She needs morphine, now!"
Ivy was at my side, stroking my hair again.
"You have to be strong now, Harley. Don't you dare die."
"I promise," was all I could say before the black consumed my vision once more.
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