It wasn't until I was standing in a small kitchenette on the outskirts of Gotham that I finally was beginning to regain control over my own actions. I let out a sigh of relief, finally able to formulate thoughts in my head and wiggle my fingers at my own will. My former patient was eyeing me suspiciously as she walked towards me, and I raised my eyebrows at her,
"Wanna tell me where we are?"
Her breathy voice was barely above a whisper,
"My home."
Confusion was overwhelming my senses as I took in my surroundings. As urethral and inhuman as she was, her abode was surprisingly...simple. Pale yellow tile walls, a white floor, wooden cabinets and a wooden kitchen table. I lightly laughed and brought one hand up to my chest,
"You gassed an entire nightclub just to take me home? You could've just asked, or you know, bought me a drink."
My own joke made me smile, but no emotions registered on her face. Standing in silence for a few moments, she was studying my skin, my eyes, my hair, my clothes. I felt on display, and it was a strange feeling I only ever felt when I was around-
"PUDDIN'!"
Without much thought, I charged at Ivy, ready to kill her. She stole me away from my angel, and now he had no fucking idea where I was. Just as I swung my arm back to propel it forwards into her smooth and stagnant face, she looked me in the eyes,
"Calm down. Sit."
My arm immediately dropped to my side against its will, and I sat in defeat in one of the two wooden chairs. I huffed in frustration,
"How the hell are you doing that?"
She moved to sit down in the other seat, stroking one of the many winding leaf tattoos that adorned her skin,
"I inject my lips with a plant toxin that releases pheromones from the chloroplast of the alnus infanta into the epidermis of my victim's skin."
"I'm a psychologist not a fucking botanist."
"My kiss can momentarily control other's people's minds."
"Huh, fascinating."
She grew silent, and the look in her eyes caused me to look anywhere else other than her. What was that emotion plastered on her face? Fear? Anxiety? Pity? Somewhere inside my mind, I was hoping that Joker would burst through the door, ready to save me with a grin on his face. But this hopeful side of me was silenced by my worry: what did she want with me? I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to relieve my desire to rip her throat out as I nearly shouted,
"Well this has been a blast Plant Lady, and congrats for getting the hell out of the Asylum, but can you please let me go home? I bet my puddin' is worried sick and I hate thinking he's not happy." She leaned forward in her seat, that same look still emanating through her eyes as she whispered,
"My god. What has he done to you?"
What the hell was she talking about?
"When this little trance-thing you got me in wears off, I'm going to tear those fucking leaves off your skin, Red."
The anger over being separated from Joker was boiling inside me and spilling out of my ears. Flashes of red and white flickered in front of my eyes. The emotions were consuming my senses and I was so caught up in trying to control myself I almost missed her sing-song voice,
"I know you must be wondering why I brought you here Harleen, and I"-
"Harley," I interrupted loudly, my accent as apparent as ever, "It's Harley now."
Standing up, she walked out of the kitchen and into an adjacent room.
"The chemicals, on your skin," she called out from behind the wall, "they're manmade. Not from the earth."
"Oh, and the ones on your skin were?"
She sauntered back into view, with multiple bottles and syringes in her arms. She smiled softly,
"Yes."
Anger turned to anxiety as I watched her calculating eyes pop open the small glass containers containing varying green liquids. The way she looked at them reminded me of the way a mother would look at a child: like they were everything that mattered to them. My heart momentarily softened at the sight, but my persistent fear of needles immediately hardened it again,
"What're you doing with those?"
She pulled back the syringe once she placed it inside the first bottle, and I watched as a deep emerald syrup filled the small plastic tube. She gracefully flicked at it, letting any air bubbles escape. My heart began to beat rapidly as tears pooled at my eyes.
"Listen, Mother Freak of Nature, if Mr. J finds out you laid one fucking finger on me, he'll"-
"Silence."
My lips unwillingly pursed together and I groaned in annoyance.
"I will explain myself now, Harley."
I waited, watching the bridge of her nose, desperately holding onto moments Joker and I had shared, believing these would be my last minutes on earth. Her voice was background music as she explained,
"When I first met yo- Dr. Quinzel, the earth spoke to me, and told me you would free me of the confines of the Asylum. And she was right."
She placed the syringe at the underside of my arm, grazing my skin with the other hand as she searched for a vein,
"I'm sorry for everything you've gone through to free us, Harley. You deserved...more."
The pity and condescending sorrow in her voice involuntarily caused a snarl to form at the back of my throat, but it never made its way past my lips.
"But despite your transformation, this is my thanks to you for allowing me to return to my babies."
Her violet orbs gazed downwards towards the glass bottles,
"Use these gifts wisely."
Without warning she injected me with the viscous fluid, and immediately I screamed in agony as I felt my insides rip in half. I crumbled to the floor, shutting my eyes as the pain sent lighting flashes across my eyes as my skin began to burn, as if she had set me on fire. Black waves crashed into ebony cliffs, my vision fading fast, and I silently screamed for my angel, praying he could hear my final thoughts:
This is it. This is goodbye. Goodbye, J. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I -
As fast as it had happened, the pain stopped even quicker. The waves disappeared, the storm behind my eyes cleared, and I opened one eye and looked up, seeing Ivy staring down at me with amusement and slight concern. I glanced at my arms and my legs, they weren't scorched to ash. I was fully in tact. I finally opened both my eyes and sat up, glaring a hole through her head as I whispered,
"What did you put inside me?"
She knelt down so she was eye level to me,
"Allium moly," the latin words rolling effortlessly off her tongue, "Daucus carota, and a hint of prosopis."
"English please."
"Three plant serums, that when combined, greatly enhance agility, recovery, and speed."
I was left breathless on the tile floor as she stood up and reached out a hand to help me up as she laughed for the first time since I had met her and said,
"Your welcome, hun."
YOU ARE READING
Predator. Prey.
FanfictionJoker and Harley's classic love story takes on a modernized origin, with twists and turns ultimately leading to a deranged, power hungry, fucked up romance.