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This is the never finished sequel to my Birds of Prey fic Chasing Shadows and I honestly do want to finish this fic. Especially since I remain perpetually addicted to Birds of Prey fanfic whether it's based on the comic book or television series.
Something that definitely has to do with how fucking slashable both of them are and how I've had a sad nerdgirl crush on Barbara Gordon even before she was played by the utterly delectable Dina Meyer. I've had this idea for a fic which combines the comic book and television universe. Basically implanting the real comic book Dinah Lance into the television world replacing the teenage telekentic/telepathic original character that took her place. Can you even imagine how good that would've been? The sexual tension between Helena and Dinah as they bicker over Barbara rights would be so good and I myself would be torn as to who I'd want Barbara to pick in the end.
I should write that damn fic and I should finish this damn fic. Man, I suck. Anyway, read and enjoy.
TITLE: Infinite Masquerade
SERIES: Birds of Prey
AUTHOR: Dreiser
EMAIL: dreiser7@yahoo.com
YAHOO/AOL IM: dreiser7
MY WEBSITE: http://www.dreiser.net/
CONTENT: F/F romance. F/F sex. The stars are Barbara/Helena. Don't like it, don't like them, don't like the series, please don't bother to read the fic.
SUMMARY: Sequel to Chasing Shadows. As Barbara and Helena begin to build their new found romance they find that sometimes keeping happiness can be more difficult than finding it to start with.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but my undying belief Billy Zane is prettier than most women. Looking at him in Tombstone almost makes me straight.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again I'm mixing and matching comic book and TV show continuity into one jumbled mess. That being so I'm taking bits here and there, altering them slightly so they can go together nicely. This is a Frankenstein type effort.
Infinite Masquerade
By: Dreiser
No matter how many times Helena Kyle found herself crawling around in the dank and the dark, with the reeking scent of stale sewage wafting up into her nostrils, she still remained unused to it. Some would assume that she enjoyed every part of her role as a superhero but that was hardly the case. Sure, she liked the fighting and sure, she liked getting praised by Barbara for a job well done, and there was a definite sure that she liked keeping the few innocents New Gotham had left safe.
However, one thing she didn't like in the least was being on her hands and knees moving through gross grimey substances as she infiltrated the latest storage house for their mysterious big bad's newest weapons shipment. God, when Helena found out who this woman was she was going to kick her ass good for ruining her favorite leather pants like this. She would probably never get these stains out, not to mention the fact she was positive her hair would stink like nasty things for a week even after a million showers.
Pausing in her crawl and internal complaints, Helena heaved a huge sigh as she stared at the proverbial fork in the road she had been told to go down. "Oracle," drawled Helena slowly, smirking as she realized she didn't need to say more since Barbara would already know what the problem was as soon as she spoke.
"Go left," Barbara's voice immediately murmured in her ear. Helena heard the slight sound of the redhead's chair squeaking and as she did, she knew Barbara was leaning back, stretching her arms over her head. "After a hundred feet you should see the cover for a manhole above you. It's going to be locked but I'm sure that won't pose a problem."
"That's me, Little Miss Brute Strength," chuckled Helena only to groan a moment later when her hand landed in something particularly squishy. "Ugh. You realize I'm going to hug you when I get home just so you have to suffer through this smell with me. I bet I'll have this stink stay with me for the whole week. It'll be hell on my tips."
"Bar patrons don't like being served by the smelly?" asked Barbara playfully, her eyes flying over the various Delphi monitors as she tracked Helena's movements. So far all was going according to plan and the arms suppliers were no where near the brunette and didn't have the faintest clue she was even there. Something which made Barbara relax, if even by just the smallest bit. "No one ever told me that."
Snorting at this, Helena retorted, "Since when do you go into bars?"
"I visit you at work," reminded Barbara primly, "almost every day now. Or haven't you been noticing?" Releasing a faux sigh of annoyance, she commented, "I guess I'll just let you suffer in your smelliness alone this week then." She heard Helena chuckle at this but before the brunette could reply, Barbara's eyes narrowed as she saw an unmarked car arrive in front of the building through the mini cameras she had Helena set up earlier. "Our girl made the scene," Barbara murmured evenly, adjusting the parameters on the cameras to try and get a closer look. "Damn..."
"What?" Helena's floated out to her, echoing with concern.
"Whoever she is, she's smart," said Barbara lowly, frowning deeply as their enemy entered the building flocked by huge bodyguards, all of which blocked Barbara's view quite effectively. "Even with the cameras you placed I didn't get a good look at her."
"Not even with your super duper zoom?" asked Helena, sounding surprised. From what little of Barbara's lecture on the mini cameras she had forced herself to pay attention to it seemed like they were the latest and greatest technology had to offer.
"If I use zoom I can see the top of her head," replied Barbara in wry tones. "And while I admit to being vaguely fascinated by the fact that she's not a natural blonde I don't think that helps us in determining who exactly she is."
"I could stake out all the hair salons and kidnap the chicks with blonde dye jobs," Helena offered with a smile in her voice that soon spread to her lips when Barbara chuckled. "Is that a no then? I swear," Helena huffed, attempting to sound upset and almost achieving the effect, "you say you want me to make suggestions and when I do I get shot down."
Continuing to chuckle softly, Barbara's eyes flitted over the monitors and saw that the bad dye job was apparently head the same place Helena was. "You're so silly," Barbara accused softly, her fingertips flying across the keyboard as she hacked into the electrical system the building was linked up to. "I wonder if all your regulars knew that your front of mysterious sexuality was just a cover up for sheer goofiness they would tip so well?"
"A cover up?!" Helena's voice rang out into the tower, thoroughly offended at this comment. "If you think me being sexy is a cover up then I think we have to have a very private conference when I get back to the clock tower."
"Looking forward to it," murmured Barbara in altogether husky tones that caused Helena's right eyebrow to shoot up and a slow smile to form across her features. "Are you there yet? She's joined them."
Blinking at this question, Helena paused in her crawl to look up and saw that she was indeed right underneath the manhole. Shaking her head, she marveled at how in sync they always managed to be, just as she wished it would never change. Gritting her teeth hard, Helena jerked her arms back and slammed the palms of both her hands upward, denting the manhole significantly and moving it enough for her to get some leverage to push it off entirely.
"Huntress?" Barbara asked worriedly.
"Already done, Oracle," responded Helena even as she extended the fingers on her hands wearily before massaging the muscles in them. That was going to leave bruises later, she was positive of it. Darting her eyes down the darkened hallway, she wondered where the hell she was. It didn't look anywhere close to civilized, certainly not anywhere close to where their big bad had to be. "Where now?"
"Look up," Barbara instructed, eyes narrowing as she watched through infrared the figures gathering together. They were starting their meeting, it seemed. "There should be a catwalk. I don't know how secure it should be, but--"
The sound of the slight strain of old metal met her ears as Helena interrupted, "It's about as secure as me around your boyfriend, but it'll do. How far ahead is she?"
Helena's words were only met by the quiet sucking in of Barbara's breath. Closing her eyes briefly, Helena bit her lip as she realized what she just said and wondered why she had done it. She had Barbara now, she really did, but still...
She hadn't broken up with Wade yet. Despite having Barbara, being able to kiss her, to hold her, to... no, she hadn't done that. Helena hadn't made love with Barbara and part of never could, not until she knew things with Wade were over and done with. Although she knew logically he wasn't competition, that he never had been, since he hadn't known Barbara, not by the smallest degree and never would know her, it still hurt.
All she wanted was for Barbara to choose her, real and truly, just as she had chosen Barbara and that wouldn't be true, not so long as she was technically still with him. God, she hated herself for being so pathetic, so needy, when it came to the redhead but she couldn't change it, no matter how she wanted to. She needed Barbara that much.
"Oracle," Helena said finally, her voice low and filled with regret, "I didn't mean..."
"It's fine," said Barbara swiftly and Helena heard the tiniest quiver in her voice, one that stabbed her through the heart, making her wince at it. "Do you see them yet?"
Glancing downwards, Helena felt the expected burning in her eyes as they shifted to reveal what she sometimes thought to be her true self... her only real self in existence. Narrowing them, she crouched down, a low growl rumbled deep in her throat as slim fingers wrapped around the rusted steel of the catwalk, crumbling it into dust.
"I see them," growled Helena, eyes flashing with a strange hunger. "And I see her."
"Don't make a move until you're sure of the situation, Huntress," warned Barbara, somehow knowing that Helena was moments away from acting. There was always this tone in her voice when she was. One of danger and excitement something totally out of control and thrilling at the same time. "Hold off."
Instead of replying, Helena watched the rusted metal fall like aged snowflakes onto the arms suppliers as their target raised her head now covered in a hood that split the colors of blood red and pure black, to lock hazel eyes turned golden with Helena. In movement that was as sure as it was elegant, she produced a gun from the depths of her long overcoat and fired at the catwalk, shattering its weak hinges.
"Huntress?!" Barbara's panicked voice filled her ears and it was all Helena could do to not laugh at the sheer joy of the situation.
Finally she had found someone who might present a challenge and twisting her body while she plummeted through the air, Helena smiled at the concept. "I'm fine, Oracle," replied Helena while her eyes lit wildly with anticipation at the upcoming battle. "But don't expect me to talk for awhile. It looks like I have some business to attend to."
The last thing Helena heard from Barbara was a sigh of relief then her heavy boots hit the ground with a solid thump and she lifted her head to meet the eyes of a group of very stunned arms suppliers, most of whom hadn't pulled out their guns yet. Almost feeling sorry for their stupidity, Helena pounced with a growl, knocking the first one out with a hard kick to his head, making him fall with a loud crash into their crates.
Watching the crate as it splintered apart, Helena took in what was there with shock before she whirled around to intercept the fist of one of the men they had assumed were arms suppliers. A wicked smile curling on her lips, Helena allowed herself the smallest feeling of enjoyment when he screamed at his bones crushing under her grip. Then with all too much ease, she pulled back to punch him side long in the head, rendering him unconscious. Ripping through her opponents with the ferocity and ruthlessness of a savage animal on the prowl, Helena soon found herself alone save three.
The big bad and her apparent protectors. Once again, she locked eyes with that golden gaze and once again, Helena felt the anticipation of the moment seize her, and growling low in her throat she said, "Party's over."
Turning slightly and ignoring the alarmed cry of one of her bodyguards, the big bad looked Helena's way and as she did, she revealed a face covered in a black mask that obscured her features just enough to make her indistinguishable, before twisting shining ruby lips into a horrible smile. Slowly and steadily lifting her gun into the air, she rested it precisely in line with Helena's head, matching its point directly in between her eyes. Her trigger finger covered in a silky white glove while her other hand played at her waist, no doubt hovering over the other weapon she had resting there.
"Not until I say so," she replied in a voice that was as much pure madness as it was a little girl lost, her golden eyes burning into a fiery rage.
Knowing the moment was coming, that the moment was here, Helena couldn't help but smile as her muscles contracted, watching as the gloved finger squeezed gently on the trigger. Then they were engulfed in darkness and without being told, Helena knew Barbara was behind it, and the smile growing on her lips, she ducked the bullet to push herself forward, springing towards their enemy even as she shoved one of the guards out her way to crash into yet another portion of the shipment. Grabbing the other by his overly muscled neck, she squeezed tight, growling in triumph at his desperate gasps before he blacked into unconsciousness and she tossed him carelessly aside.
"Just you and me now," Helena said, her words a smooth caress and her body an oiled machine, fluid and ready for attack at the slightest sign. "It's your move."
Cold gloved fingers were on her before she had time to react, firmly holding the back of her neck and slipping under her heavy jacket then the material of her shirt to dig into her waist as red lips hovered over Helena's own and transformed into a wicked smile. Her eyes watering against their will and a horrible dizziness overtaking her, the last thing Helena saw was those lips descending onto her own and then she was lost.
As she fell into darkness, hands reaching futilely towards her enemy who was moving further and further away from her, Helena somehow clearly heard the parting words that sprang from those oh so deadly lips.
"Never play with poison."
Then there was the fading echo of her laugh full of insanity and triumph until nothing remained. Helena faded into a darkness so absolute and so deep that she thought she might never escape and as she did she apologized to Barbara for ruining her chance before she even got to really prove herself worthy.
And then there was no more.
---
Helena woke to a soothing hand cupping her cheek as the other pressed a cloth, cool and comforting, against her forehead in a tender gesture. Groaning as she leaned into the touch, she opened steel blue eyes and looked at Barbara's worried features.
"Hey," rasped Helena, her throat dry and sore, protesting speech. "What happened?"
"Shh," Barbara softly cut Helena off, pressing her fingertips lightly onto bruised lips before pulling back to look upwards. They were in the area of the tower that Barbara had fashioned into a miniature hospital of sorts, leaving Helena to ascertain she was in pretty bad shape. She always had been when she ended up here. Following Barbara's gaze wearily, she saw Dinah lurking above them in the shadows, arms folded over her chest and a dark expression covering her youthful face. A week wasn't time enough for the teenager to forgive Barbara for her involvement with the fabrication of her mother's death but part of the redhead wondered when, if ever, she would be forgiven. "Dinah saved you. Once the shooting started I got her on the com for back up."
"The kid beat her?" Helena asked with a degree of disbelief, immediately feeling her pride ruffle at the very thought. If that woman had managed to get her off guard how in the hell had Dinah managed to do it?
"No," said Barbara quietly as she observed Dinah for a few moments before the girl turned from her and walked into her room wordlessly. Sighing heavily, she looked to Helena and smiled in reassurance. Soon she would have to deal with her and Dinah's problems but now wasn't the time. "When Dinah arrived everyone was gone. I don't know why but she left you there."
As Barbara said this, bright green eyes grew hooded, lost in guilt and anger so much that Helena forced her hand to move up, shakily touching the redhead's chin in a weak caress. "I'm okay," Helena murmured, attempting comfort. "Really."
Exhausted as she was, Helena could still feel the tightening of Barbara's muscles in her jaw as she set it hard and looked Helena steadily in the eyes, seemingly having resolved whatever issue she had with herself for the moment. "I think I know who she is," said Barbara simply as her hand traced up to rest on Helena's softly.
"You think?" echoed Helena with a frown. Usually Barbara didn't have to think about things like this, she just miraculously knew. Helena knew it all had to do with Barbara possessing an eidetic memory and the most sophisticated computer system on the planet but it still somehow seemed like magic to her. "You don't know?"
Soft chuckles entered the air before full lips pressed against Helena's palm, tracing it with an aching tenderness before Barbara pulled away to look at her with smiling eyes. "I don't know how but you always can make me laugh," whispered Barbara in a confession that appeared to surprise herself.
"Huh," Helena snorted as a fond smile spread across her lips. Fingertips uncurled to touch Barbara's lips lightly, almost reverent of them. "That's good because I can't think of anything I like hearing more than your laugh."
Happiness lit those green eyes and while it did, Helena thanked whoever was in charge for probably the millionth time for giving her this chance with Barbara, swearing that she wouldn't ruin it no matter what came their way. But all too soon happiness faded away to reveal the very familiar look of solemn concern as Barbara said two words that Helena supposed should rattle her to her very soul from the way her partner said them, but instead simply left her feeling altogether confused.
"Poison Ivy."
There was a moment of what seemed to be unending silence, then Helena blinked her heavy blue eyes and asked in nonplussed tones, "What?"
Raising a sculptured red eyebrow in surprise, Barbara heaved a sigh that was half exasperation and half fondness before she accused, "You never pay attention when I go on about the good old days, do you?"
"You never go on about them, so how can I?" replied Helena impishly.
"Right," Barbara sighed again, reaching her free hand up to massage her neck. Looking at Helena through veiled eyes, she smiled softly, "I forgot about that."
Watching this, Helena frowned deeply. If she knew Barbara then she was tied up in knots over this whole thing. She always was after any such event. So pushing herself up to lean against her pile of pillows and the wall, she said roughly, "C'mere."
"You shouldn't move," Barbara protested, moving closer more out of worry for Helena than in response to what she said. "You're still weak from the poison and--"
"I'm fine," interrupted Helena quietly, hands reaching out to land firmly on the other woman's shoulders. "Turn around for me, huh?"
"Helena..." Barbara protested still, but whatever words she had planned to say next died on her lips as sensitive yet strong fingers played over her skin, kneading out all traces of the tension she had trapped there. A satisfied groan falling from her lips, Barbara said in rough tones laced with pleasure, "How did you learn to do this?"
"Around," Helena replied with a slow smile of satisfaction. Barbara's skin was a soft as silk and just as delicious to her touch. Watching as the redhead's neck lowered and what little tension was left evaporated from her system, Helena leaned forward, resting her lips just millimeters from Barbara's ear as she murmured, "You feel so good."
Barbara turned ever so slightly but it was enough to lock bright green eyes with steel blue and as she did, her heart jumped into her throat just as it did every time she could see how completely Helena truly did love her. Sometimes the intensity of the emotion scared her. Barbara hadn't dealt with anything this powerful in a very long time and the idea of losing control like she saw herself doing around Helena frightened her to her very core. Despite that, she couldn't deny the connection between them anymore. To do that would be like denying a junkie of their latest addiction, she was sure.
"Helena," said Barbara in a husky murmur of acceptance before the brunette moved in a seamless gesture to seize her lips in a kiss.
It was unlike any of their earlier kisses, it wasn't one of gentle want, endless love, or even one of rising passion. It was all of these and more. It was a desperate need that tore at Barbara's soul as she realized with this kiss Helena needed her as much as she needed Helena and for either to lose the other would be the end of them both, throwing them into a horrible type of living death she had seen only once before.
In the dark and unending depths of Bruce Wayne's eyes the day after the Joker paralyzed her and murdered Selina.
Whimpering as Helena's lips slowly pulled away from her own, Barbara's eyes fluttered open and she was graced with Helena wearing a very sheepish expression. "Sorry," said Helena quietly, a light blush forming. "I couldn't help myself."
Just when Barbara thought she knew everything about Helena Kyle, had seen every side to the woman, something like this would happen and she would realize no matter how long she lived she would never accomplish that. Helena had too many sides to her personality, too many complex facets that made her who she was and made Barbara love her so completely. They always would.
Cupping Helena's cheek gently and smiling when the brunette leaned into her touch, Barbara murmured, "I'm not sorry."
"Good," Helena replied as a smile spread across her lips. "Because neither am I." Blue eyes twinkled with mischief and she added, "That was a fib earlier, just so you know."
"Mmm, I thought so," said Barbara in a murmur, her green gaze playful as she dropped her hand down to hold Helena's. "And just so you know, Poison Ivy is a who not a what. She's also the one I think got the drop on you tonight."
"Got the drop on me?" responded Helena in highly offended tones as one of her eyebrows almost lifted off her skull. Scowling deep, she said, "Since when has anyone managed to get the drop on me? I think you're hallucinating, Barbara."
"Right, I hallucinated you being unconscious and fighting the effects of a highly potent poison when Dinah brought you back tonight," Barbara said dryly.
"I'm fine now, aren't I?" Helena remarked with a careless confidence only she could produce. Holding up her right arm, she squeezed her biceps to produce a muscle that was nowhere effective in showing off her strength. "See? I'm a regular Supergirl."
Rolling her eyes, Barbara shook her head before smiling. "If you were Supergirl you probably wouldn't have been susceptible to her poison. Then again, if you weren't a metahuman you wouldn't have been able to fight it off so well, either."
"I'm Supergirl," repeated Helena smugly with a nod of her head.
Eyeing Helena for a moment, Barbara let a smile play on her lips and reaching out to lightly tweak the brunette's nose and said in a low and sexy burr, "You're silly." Her smile widening when Helena's only reaction was to look at her blankly before nodding slowly, Barbara let her mind fall back on their present business. "Poison Ivy disappeared during the chaos of the Arkham riots that allowed several of the inmates to escape. The Joker being the most prominent of them all," Helena watched green eyes darken like they always did whenever Barbara spoke of that period in her life. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like to wake up and find yourself suddenly helpless, unable to perform your life's calling because of the actions of a madman. "Like all the others, she staged an attack of her usual forte, only she vanished when she was done." Barbara turned to meet Helena's gaze, knowing how deeply the other woman shared her pain from that night so long ago. "You know I tried to help him."
It was always him, never Bruce, never Batman, and certainly never your Father. It was always just him. Someone present in the back of their minds, lurking there like a ghost from the past, unwilling and unable to let them go, clinging to them just as endlessly as the horrors of that night would. So instead of replying, Helena nodded quietly and Barbara shut her eyes and released a weary sigh, remembering it.
"We couldn't find Ivy though," said Barbara, her voice reflecting a surprise she would probably never lose over the incident. "It was odd considering she was never the type to lay low. She stood out compared to most of the people we fought back then." A frown pursing on her lips, Barbara pushed up her glasses and ran her fingers through her hair while she attempted to find the proper words to explain Poison Ivy's mentality. Peering at Helena with glasses that were already sliding down the bridge of her nose, Barbara said, "All thanks to an unwavering belief structure that can never be changed."
"Which is...?" asked Helena with a small trace of annoyance. As much as she loved Barbara it was rather frustrating that the other woman assumed just because she had a huge database of bad guys in her head that Helena would have one too.
"Her motto is basically plants over people," Barbara replied, a smile quirking on her lips.
"Okay," murmured Helena thoughtfully, settling down in the bed and resting against the way too fluffy pillows. Steel blue eyes were lidded but remained sharply observant of any change in Barbara's mood. "Then this whole set up fits her m.o. perfectly. Especially me getting that fun little poisoned kiss of hers."
"When we found out about the meeting, we assumed it was weapons they were dealing in," said Barbara in quietly thoughtful tones. "Except those crates were anything but. In fact, they were filled with things only someone with Ivy's advanced knowledge of botany and biochemistry could have possible use for," Barbara continued, a frown forming as she removed her glasses with a sigh. "But I just can't imagine..."
"Imagine what?" pursued Helena, tilting her head to look at Barbara worriedly. It wasn't very often she saw the redhead stalled like this. Usually Barbara figured out the motives of their current enemy in two seconds flat and they were off running.
Lifting her head, Barbara locked eyes solemnly with Helena and said, "I can't imagine why she would return to New Gotham after so long. None of them have ever done that, Helena. They either live and die here or they move on and never look back."
"Can't blame them for that," Helena snorted. When Barbara arched an eyebrow at this, Helena chuckled and gave a careless shrug. "C'mon, Barbara, even you have to admit this city, for better or for worse, is one mighty big shithole."
Sighing softly and allowing herself to feel the tiniest bit of humorous appreciation for Helena's words, Barbara lightly tapped the brunette's chin with her index finger. "Who do you kiss with a mouth like that?" she murmured in teasing tones.
"You tell me," drawled Helena, a smile tugging at her lips, her blue eyes twinkling. When Barbara moved forward to give her a light kiss, Helena formed an exaggerated pout and said, "Aren't we getting kiss stingy."
"Kiss stingy?" Barbara laughed, shaking her head. "Stop inventing new phrases and concentrate on the case, hm?"
"Right, the case," said Helena, nodding seriously. Folding her arms across her chest, she looked at Barbara for a long moment then said, "You're not sure it's really her, are you? Something about how this went down... it's making you doubt it."
Flipping her glasses in her hands and studying them as the frown on her face deepened, Barbara said, "Ivy wasn't one for lackeys like what you saw at the warehouse. She never works with others because to her people are as welcome to the world as the sun burning out might be. Also," Barbara lifted her gaze and smiled, "there's something else."
"Yeah?" asked Helena curiously, tilting her head. "What's that?"
"Ivy's a natural redhead, just like yours truly," Barbara murmured, a trace of humor dancing in her voice. "If there's one thing she cares about just as much as her plants it's her looks. They've always been integral to her plans, using them to seduce powerful men and then take their money to fund her ecological efforts."
"What does that have to do with thinking it's not her?" Helena asked with a frown.
"The woman at the warehouse had dyed blonde hair, remember?" replied Barbara, grinning slightly. Leaning back in her chair and looking very pleased with herself, she continued, "There's no way Ivy would do that to herself. Her red hair is as much her trademark as her plants. She would never dye it like that."
Pondering this, Helena finally snorted then shook her head. "Vain super villains. I never thought I'd see the day." Peering at Barbara with lidded eyes, she said, "If it isn't Ivy who is it? I thought you said only she could make all the crap in those boxes dangerous."
"Not Ivy," Barbara murmured thoughtfully, her brow furrowing. Green eyes glowed in the darkness, the passion in them reminding Helena just how much Barbara needed this, loved this, that it was as much a part of her as breathing. "But someone who knows her."
They locked eyes and held their gazes for a moment then Helena heaved a sigh and asked the all important question on both their minds. "Then who would've known her well enough to have her formulas?"
That stumped them both thoroughly. After all, Barbara had never heard of Poison Ivy teaming up with anyone in the old days. She hated people for their role in destroying plants natural habitat and only really dealt with them in the terms of seduction to reach her goals. So who in the world would have been close enough to Ivy to possess knowledge of her most secret and deadly formulas?
Before this was finished, they would discover the answer, and it would shock them.
---
"Bats in the belfry, cats in the alley, rats in the sewer, but they all leave their precious little hiding places to greet me!" Harleen ranted through gritted teeth. Safely tucked into her penthouse suite, she pulled off her mask and shoved it into her split color overcoat, throwing it into the air as she stared out the window at the glitter of New Gotham, the city she would ruin. "The pests need to be exterminated."
When she came up with this latest plan, it seemed genius to her. Her mysterious foe, the woman in black, as she had come to call her, couldn't possibly compete with something as subtle as poison. And thanks to her darker days in her relationship with the Joker, she knew of some of the most deadly poisons in the world.
"Red," Harleen whispered the word like the very precious thing that it was. After all, it was her and her alone that had ever been able to sway her from the Joker's side, even if for just the shortest while. A smile curving her lips on thinking of the other woman, she sighed and slid down into the nearest chair with elegance. Tilting her head back on the arm, she gazed up at the ceiling and murmured, "Where did you go? Nobody knows. I wanted to look for you after I busted out Mr. J but then they moved him and by the time I could look you were gone. Poof!" Harleen smacked her hands together then let them slide apart as she said sadly, "Vanished into the night like a dream."
Sighing mournfully, Harleen tilted her head slightly, lying against the comfortable armrest of the chair and reached out to lightly caress the petals of the Golden Orchid. It was the last present she had gotten from Ivy before her friend disappeared. A creation of genius and love, a flower that died at sunrise only to be reborn when night came.
Golden just as you are to me. That's what Ivy had said when she handed Harley the orchid, a small and satisfied smile tugging at her lips. Harleen's hand dropped listlessly from the flower as she recalled that voice, a siren's call to anyone to heard it, alluring and seductive in its smooth drawl, oozing with confidence. She wondered if life might be more fun if she had her Red with her now. Certainly they had their share of entertaining times while together. The perfectly timed robberies, the nights of playing with enamored men, the mornings waking up in Red's arms that were so like Mr. J's but not...
She held no illusions about herself, none at all. Harleen was quite aware that she was more desperately insane than even the worst of her patients. Even more, she knew that her insanity lay with her unending obsession with the Joker. With a man that didn't love her, in fact, probably couldn't love her or anyone, and someone that dealt abuse far easier than he could give the simplest kiss.
All of her life, she controlled those around her. Men were putty in her hands and although she possessed the intelligence to gain it otherwise, she wouldn't hesitate to admit her degree in psychology was something that more rewarded her ability to twist and turn even the most powerful of men with sex. When she arrived at Arkham, she already had her plans made. Despite what her supervisor said to her in sneering tones, Harleen had no doubts of her talent, she would get one of the patients to talk to her. She would learn all the thoughts the most infamous criminals Gotham had and once she did, she would profit from them, writing a glorious and fame inducing novel.
That was why she was interested in the Joker, because he was the most dangerous of them all. A criminal genius the likes few had known and though it took months to get just one session with him it was worth it since it was the start of all her dreams coming true. Only he hadn't said what she expected him to. She had researched all of the Joker's tricks and not once had she found any mention of his past. Only vague rumors and a few petty assumptions of how he became what he was, but nothing solid. Certainly nothing that prepared her for him talking about his relationship with his abusive father and the rare happy childhood moment of attending the circus. The second that the Joker caught her unprepared, his trap was sprung. He was no longer merely just another patient or some crazy lunatic she could make money off of. Suddenly he was an all too real person who had feelings just like her, just like anyone, and Harleen, like so many before her fell into the predator's perfectly laid trap.
It wasn't long before Harleen saw the Joker as he wanted her to. Nothing more than a confused child… a little boy that wanted to make the world laugh at his jokes just like he wanted his father to and when they didn't, lashed back horribly. He didn't know what he was doing was wrong, all he knew was that they didn't get his jokes and he desperately wanted them to, more than anything else. For the first time in her life, Harleen felt out of control and giddy from her emotions for a man. Before she had always felt superior because she had always been in control.
Men were always so easily swayed by her, changed into whatever she wanted them to be and that was hardly the case with the Joker. Soon, it was the opposite and she found herself being molded into a creature of his own design, breaking him out of Arkham after seeing the Batman return him beaten and bloodied from one of his own escapes. When she had shown up at his cell, blown it wide open with explosives, dressed head to toe in a Harlequin costume that he had said at their very first encounter fit her name so well, laughter had burst from his lips and it was the sweetest thing she ever heard.
When it was all over, the Joker said that she had performed wonderfully but no... she couldn't go on any jobs with him because she was his special girl. She was to be his big gun, the secret weapon he pulled from out of nowhere and used to get even. Always remember, he had said to her, the Harlequin is a sly and clever puppet and so you must be for me. Sly and clever, but always a puppet. MY puppet because only I can pull your strings, Harley. Only I have that power.
So she was for him. Hidden away, planning and performing the most dastardly of plots while only the very select few graced their eyes upon her. Vague rumors seized Gotham about the Joker's homicidal honey but no one knew for sure if they were true. It came to be that he tired of her though. Grew sick of her affections and womanly ways. Yes, the Joker wasn't like any other man, that was why she loved him. But it was that same quality in him that caused him to throw her aside.
Or rather, shoot her into the sky, drugging her and stuffing her inside a rocket in a simplistic attempt to rid her from his life forever. Unfortunately for the Joker, a rocket ride would hardly be the end of Harleen and she soon found herself discovered and nursed back to health by one of the rare people that could stand tall against her puddin'.
Poison Ivy.
There was something in Harleen that longed for strong people to take control of her. It was what had lured her to the Joker in the first place and when the rocket door was torn open to reveal the glittering green of Pamela Isley's eyes, she was captured again. Just like the Joker, she was highly intelligent, possessing a brilliance few could match, and by the same measure that brilliance had made her an outcast. Well, that and the fact she had tried more than a few times to eradicate human life from the planet.
But Harleen was hardly picky about something like that. Especially not when she found herself intrigued by a woman just as smart as her Mr. J and perhaps even more ruthless. A woman who, despite these tendencies, was shockingly kind to her. A woman who had taken her in, bandaged her wounds, let her cry on her shoulder, and before it was all done would use her own skills to make Harleen something more than she was.
If there was anything that Harleen hated it was shots but when Ivy captured her with those eyes that glittered so bright and brilliant, her voice a sensual drawl as rose red lips tugged up in a reassuring smile, she surrendered without a fight. The drug had made her woozy and as Ivy laid her gently in bed, Harleen struggled to keep her eyes open as the redhead explained how it worked to her. Unbearably soft fingers had smoothed her hair while Ivy's dulcet tones washed over her.
"Sleep now, Harley. When you wake up you'll be stronger than you were before. Stronger and faster, enough to take the Joker down if you want. Also... you'll be safe around me now. No more getting sick because of the toxins my body naturally creates. That means if you ever want to come back to me, you can. No matter what."
By the time that Harleen woke, Ivy was gone. Part of her was sad to see her friend go but she knew why the other woman had done it. Ivy realized Harleen had to finish all her business with the Joker before ever possibly moving on. Except things didn't go as either of them thought. When confronted with the new and improved Harley Quinn who almost killed him in a homicidal rage, the Joker was more impressed than ever and begged for her to return to his criminal clown syndicate.
In seconds Harleen was in his arms. So the cycle began again and sometimes when his insults and injuries became too much to bear, she would return to Ivy and for awhile she was happy. Then the Joker would crook his finger, coo her name, and form a huge smile across his features and just as quickly as she came to Ivy, she would disappear.
Thinking back on it, she would be stupid to not think she must've hurt Ivy at times with her selfish behavior. As much as she hated the idea of that, Harleen really couldn't help herself. It was for Mr. J, after all, and he was more important to her than anything.
Important enough for Harleen to go through the few belongings Ivy had left at her old safe houses around New Gotham and piece together the formulas she'd seen the other woman create. Sitting up slowly, Harleen rested hazel eyes on the Golden Orchid, the key to her latest plans to punish the citizens of this city on the behalf of her puddin'.
Maybe it was wrong to use the flower Ivy created for her for that purpose but what else could she do? All of her previous plans failed and she had a feeling that her mysterious woman in black couldn't compete with the genius of Ivy's formula. A poison so potent that just a drop could make two liters of crystal clean water deadly.
All she had to do was wait for her lackeys at Star Labs to contact her, saying that they had effectively made more copies of Ivy's Golden Orchid. Once she had the plants, the plan would be ready to be put into motion and then nothing could stop her. Not even the annoying woman in black who had managed, yet again, to hide her identity from Harleen simply by lurking around in the shadows.
In her gut Harleen knew the woman in black was linked to the Bat. There was no other explanation for her and her fighting skills. Or the frustrating knack she had for ruining all of Harleen's carefully arranged plans of revenge. It didn't matter though. Thanks to Ivy she would finally have what she always wanted since meeting the Joker.
For the fools of New Gotham to be the butt of a most spectacular joke. And what a joke this would be when it was all said and done. One of horrifying magnitude.
---
If there was one thing that Helena would never be good at, it was using computers. The most she could manage to do was open a text file and find porn online. Needless to say, both of these tasks were something that required next to no computer skills. Barbara had tried more than a few times to teach Helena about the Delphi system and the basics of hacking but each lesson ended more disastrously than the last, leaving Helena with little enthusiasm for attempting another.
Perhaps because she loved computers due to what she could do with them, because when using them being paralyzed no longer mattered, Barbara tried again and again to get Helena to love them as she did. However, it was futile gesture as Helena simply had it in her head she couldn't learn and so she wouldn't learn.
Which is why Helena sat on the long metal table, kicking her legs aimlessly as she leaned forward, peering at Barbara who was typing at superhuman speeds. An impish grin forming on her features, Helena breathed in Barbara's ear, lightly ruffling the hairs on her neck as she spoke.
"Whatcha doin'?" asked Helena in teasing tones.
Turning her head slightly, a smile tugged at Barbara's lips as she faced Helena. "I'm searching biochemical and botanical supply orders that occurred over the internet and matching which ones would meet Ivy's research needs."
"And that means what exactly?" Helena pursued with a grin.
"That means I'm trying to contact the ever elusive Poison Ivy," said Barbara, pushing up her glasses as she frowned. Looking at Helena out of the corner of her eyes, she smiled softly and asked, "Is there something you want to say?"
"Yeah," said Helena solemnly, leaning back on her palms and staring at Barbara. "Why exactly are you trying to contact a nutcase who used to be one of your big problems?"
"Because," Barbara sighed heavily, continuing her search, eyes flying across the monitors as her fingers moved at an inhuman pace. "If I'm right about this and Ivy isn't involved with our mysterious new enemy, she'll be none to pleased about someone using her formulas without her knowledge. We can use that to our advantage."
"And what if she knows they're using them?" asked Helena, her eyes growing lidded.
"Then we're in trouble," said Barbara simply. Stopping in her search, she turned to Helena who met her eyes in an easy gaze, cool and composed. "Something about this doesn't fit Ivy's personality, Helena. I can't see her leaving Gotham for as long as she has only to return and use plants of her own creation to cause death again."
"Her plants?" Helena echoed, confusion playing over her sculptured features. Moving forward, she looked at the nearest monitor and the beautiful flower, golden and glowing, displayed on it. "Hey, I saw this in those crates."
"The Golden Orchid," said Barbara slowly. Taking her glasses off, she cleaned them on her shirt as she continued, "The last of Poison Ivy's known creations. A flower that dies at sunrise only to bloom again at sunset. When it does, it releases a shimmer of golden pollen that despite its beauty, can be highly poisonous when mixed with the proper amounts of certain chemical and botanical extracts."
Looking at the screen thoughtfully, Helena murmured, "Ivy cares more about plants than people, right? So if someone is out there using a plant that she created herself for some sort of whacked out plan she doesn't know about, she's not going to be happy."
"More than that," Barbara turned to Helena, looking her deeply in the eyes as she put her glasses back on. "If my theories about the formulas that this person is using are just halfway correct then they're not just going to use the Golden Orchid's pollen, they're going to squeeze the very life from these flowers, to get the base origin of the pollen itself and create an even more dangerous poison. That would surely kill them."
"Killing plants that Ivy made herself," said Helena in lost tones, her voice trailing off. Staring into the distance, Helena put herself in Ivy's mindset and said softly, "To her that would be like murdering her babies."
"She won't be happy in the least," Barbara replied, arching an eyebrow at the sheer magnitude of the understatement she had just made. "I think we can use that to perhaps have Ivy cooperate with us in apprehending this woman and in creating an antidote to whatever poisonous formula she plans on using."
"Why can't you do it?" asked Helena with an guileless innocence that pulled at Barbara's heartstrings. Especially the way a particularly persistent shock of black hair fell into Helena's steel blue eyes when she tilted her head in confusion as she spoke.
Deciding to give into her itching fingertips, Barbara smiled softly and pushed the locks of hair from Helena's face, her hand falling softly to rub her cheek. "I'm not the genius you'd like to make me out to be, Helena. Biochemistry and botany aren't my areas of expertise in the slightest. I might be able to improve the immunization formula Bruce created for us when we dealt with the natural toxins Ivy exudes but this..." Green eyes crinkled around the edges and Barbara found her hands held in Helena's soft yet strong grasp, a searing hot kiss touching her palm, making her gasp. "It's beyond me."
"Nothing is beyond you," Helena replied, absolute conviction echoing in her words and body language. With a tug, she pulled Barbara lightly forward and leaned down to rest their foreheads together as their eyes met in a steady gaze. Squeezing Barbara's hands in her own, she murmured, "I've seen you do things no one else can."
"I could say the same about you," said Barbara simply. Pulling back from Helena, she traced her fingertips lightly on the face in front of her before dropping her hand sadly and looking off to one side. "There are certain things I'll never be able to do, Helena. I think it would be best for us both if we accept that now."
Immediately, a frown marred Helena's features and her eyes narrowed decisively. Landing on the floor with an audible thump of her boots, Helena grasped the arms of Barbara's wheelchair and moved forward with all the fluid grace of a cat. Her breath was soft and quiet, nothing more than a vague sound, more of a feeling than anything. One which tickled Barbara's skin and tied her stomach into knots as she gazed at the Delphi system, monitoring her search progress as it went on.
"What's that supposed to mean, Barbara?" asked Helena, clenching her jaw. She could feel the metal hidden underneath the soft leather bend in her grasp and slowly, Helena released her hold on the arms to the wheelchair. When the redhead failed to answer her, a growl escaped Helena's lips and she firmly but gently held Barbara's chin in her hand, forcing the other woman to match her gaze. "What do I have to accept? That I'm not as smart as you? That I'm not good enough for you? That--"
"You have to accept that I'm stuck in this chair," Barbara interrupted, her tones colder than the fiercest winter night in Gotham but her eyes blazing with a level of rage which even Helena, with all of her anger, couldn't comprehend. "I'm not about to feel sorry for myself about it, Helena. Lord knows it's been long enough and I've gotten the point in my head. This is the lot I was dealt in life, that's fine. I can accept that. But you…" Sighing deeply, Barbara's eyes grew clouded as she continued, "You're special. I can remember what it was like, being your age and living this life. I felt more alive than I ever had and I wonder if I'm holding you back. I can't share that with you." Lifting her gaze, Barbara locked eyes with Helena and said solemnly, "I just can't."
"I've loved you since I was eighteen and you've been in that damn chair since I was sixteen and I knew you how long before that?" Helena answered with a soft and almost deadly calm. Falling gracefully to her knees, she scooted forward, pressing in between Barbara's legs as her hands wound upward, lightly touching her sides in a soft caress. Pressing her face in the redhead's lap, Helena said, "Nobody can share everything. It doesn't matter if you got a perfect working body or not. That's not the issue, Barbara. This is about what's going on in your head. It's about you thinking, for some stupid ass reason, that you're holding me back because you don't have legs that work anymore." Her fingers dug slightly into Barbara's skin, holding her with a desperation that shocked the other woman as Helena looked up into her eyes. "Well, I don't have a brain that works so good. Does that mean I'm holding you back? Hell, right now the kid doesn't have an attitude that's working at all! Is she holding us back? I don't think so." Scooting up further, Helena pressed into Barbara, their lips barely hovering apart and her breath warm on the other woman as she spook. "Everybody's got flaws but us accepting them and loving them anyway? That makes us a family."
A long bout of silence passed before Barbara smiled softly, blinking back the tears gathering in green eyes even as Helena wiped the ones that fell away. Looking into solemn blue gaze in front of her, she whispered, "I think your brain works fine."
"Yeah?" asked Helena impishly, tilting her head and causing several locks of hair to fall into her eyes. "I'm starting to wonder about yours."
"Why you!" Barbara exclaimed as she moved to playfully hit the other woman.
Only Helena was too fast for her and Barbara soon found her hands in the brunette's gentle hold as she pressed ever forward and then their lips met. With a soft whimper of pleasure, Barbara found herself surrendering to Helena and her embrace just as she had done for what seemed a million times over since starting their romance. Barbara always knew Helena was someone who craved the comfort of physical touch. A simple hug or squeeze of the hand was always more effective in cheering her mood than an endless line of words could ever be. That was why Barbara hadn't been surprised when they had begun their relationship that Helena would constantly seek her touch.
What did surprise Barbara, however, was the fact that she herself soon came to crave Helena's hands on her body. Just the simplest ruffle of her hair or the gentle press of a kiss on her neck set Barbara's body on fire in ways that hadn't happened in years. She was becoming almost frightened of it because soon she would need it. Just like she now needed Helena in her life always, even if their romance should crumble. To live without her would be certain death, Barbara knew this, but now… it was so much more.
It was dangerous to need someone this much. To need their comfort, their presence, their touch. To need them like the air you breath and the food you consume. Sometimes it felt as if she couldn't live without Helena and that scared Barbara beyond all reason. No matter what she had gone through in her life, her birth father's abuse, her parents deaths, her paralyzed legs, she had survived on her own. She remained independent, self sufficient, and rock steady in one simple conviction.
Barbara Gordon would survive on her own.
Only over the years she had slowly but surely allowed Helena to worm her way into her life and her heart in all ways possible and now Barbara wasn't sure if the one conviction she had held since she was six years old was true anymore. And that scared her.
Sensing that Barbara wasn't entirely with her, Helena slowly pulled away, ending their kiss and pressing her lips softly against the redhead's jaw. "What's wrong?" she asked in a quiet murmur, her breath warm against Barbara's skin as she crawled up to sit in her newly favorite spot that was Barbara's lap. "You left me for a second."
Moving her head to look into wide blue eyes that were as deep as the depths of the ocean and fathomless as the sky above, Barbara tucked locks of hair behind Helena's ear and smiled. "The search is finished," she said as an answer, not really wanting to begin a conversation about her real worries. "I've found all our possible Ivy's."
Helena released a soft snort at this and kissed Barbara's chin again. Nuzzling her neck and breathing in the scent of the other woman. She knew that wasn't really what she had been thinking but at the same time Helena didn't want to fight Barbara for the truth right now. Besides, if she knew the redhead, and she did, eventually she would just give in and tell Helena herself. Best to just wait it out, Helena decided as she rested her eyes on the Delphi system monitors, causing her right eyebrow to raise.
"Why is there over two thousand of them?" asked Helena in extremely dry tones.
"A lot of people love the environment," said Barbara with a chuckle that turned lower pitched when Helena growled against her skin, nipping her ear lightly. "Stop that," she chastised, lightly poking the brunette's stomach, "I'm trying to work here."
"Uh huh, work," Helena said in such a way that expressed she didn't believe one word of that. Sighing as she rested her head on Barbara's shoulder, she peered at the screen as the redhead typed furiously. "You're going to send them all the stills from the cameras?"
"And the reports about the break in," Barbara nodded, attaching the files as she finished typing her message to all of the possible Ivy's. "That way the ones who aren't Ivy will just think this is another warning from their environmental brethren about the ruination of the planet via crime lords while Poison Ivy…"
"Will know someone's killing her babies to take over Gotham," finished Helena. Releasing a soft laugh, she kissed Barbara's neck and moved up to her ear, tugging it in her teeth before she murmured, "I love it when you're sneaky."
Chuckling at this, Barbara replied in smoky tones, "And I love it when you do that."
"Oh yeah?" Helena quirked an eyebrow and smiled wider. Dropping her head down to kiss Barbara's collarbone as her hands drifted to tenderly spread underneath Barbara's shirt and against her skin, she continued, "How about this?"
"That too," said Barbara, turning her head to meet Helena for another kiss.
Then there were no more words. At least, not until Alfred arrived bearing groceries for their always foodless cabinets and refrigerator. That was when the teasing began. And a good deal of it directed at Barbara. Of course, it was nothing she couldn't handle.
Mostly.
(This is where I stopped writing.)
Something that definitely has to do with how fucking slashable both of them are and how I've had a sad nerdgirl crush on Barbara Gordon even before she was played by the utterly delectable Dina Meyer. I've had this idea for a fic which combines the comic book and television universe. Basically implanting the real comic book Dinah Lance into the television world replacing the teenage telekentic/telepathic original character that took her place. Can you even imagine how good that would've been? The sexual tension between Helena and Dinah as they bicker over Barbara rights would be so good and I myself would be torn as to who I'd want Barbara to pick in the end.
I should write that damn fic and I should finish this damn fic. Man, I suck. Anyway, read and enjoy.
TITLE: Infinite Masquerade
SERIES: Birds of Prey
AUTHOR: Dreiser
EMAIL: dreiser7@yahoo.com
YAHOO/AOL IM: dreiser7
MY WEBSITE: http://www.dreiser.net/
CONTENT: F/F romance. F/F sex. The stars are Barbara/Helena. Don't like it, don't like them, don't like the series, please don't bother to read the fic.
SUMMARY: Sequel to Chasing Shadows. As Barbara and Helena begin to build their new found romance they find that sometimes keeping happiness can be more difficult than finding it to start with.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but my undying belief Billy Zane is prettier than most women. Looking at him in Tombstone almost makes me straight.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again I'm mixing and matching comic book and TV show continuity into one jumbled mess. That being so I'm taking bits here and there, altering them slightly so they can go together nicely. This is a Frankenstein type effort.
Infinite Masquerade
By: Dreiser
No matter how many times Helena Kyle found herself crawling around in the dank and the dark, with the reeking scent of stale sewage wafting up into her nostrils, she still remained unused to it. Some would assume that she enjoyed every part of her role as a superhero but that was hardly the case. Sure, she liked the fighting and sure, she liked getting praised by Barbara for a job well done, and there was a definite sure that she liked keeping the few innocents New Gotham had left safe.
However, one thing she didn't like in the least was being on her hands and knees moving through gross grimey substances as she infiltrated the latest storage house for their mysterious big bad's newest weapons shipment. God, when Helena found out who this woman was she was going to kick her ass good for ruining her favorite leather pants like this. She would probably never get these stains out, not to mention the fact she was positive her hair would stink like nasty things for a week even after a million showers.
Pausing in her crawl and internal complaints, Helena heaved a huge sigh as she stared at the proverbial fork in the road she had been told to go down. "Oracle," drawled Helena slowly, smirking as she realized she didn't need to say more since Barbara would already know what the problem was as soon as she spoke.
"Go left," Barbara's voice immediately murmured in her ear. Helena heard the slight sound of the redhead's chair squeaking and as she did, she knew Barbara was leaning back, stretching her arms over her head. "After a hundred feet you should see the cover for a manhole above you. It's going to be locked but I'm sure that won't pose a problem."
"That's me, Little Miss Brute Strength," chuckled Helena only to groan a moment later when her hand landed in something particularly squishy. "Ugh. You realize I'm going to hug you when I get home just so you have to suffer through this smell with me. I bet I'll have this stink stay with me for the whole week. It'll be hell on my tips."
"Bar patrons don't like being served by the smelly?" asked Barbara playfully, her eyes flying over the various Delphi monitors as she tracked Helena's movements. So far all was going according to plan and the arms suppliers were no where near the brunette and didn't have the faintest clue she was even there. Something which made Barbara relax, if even by just the smallest bit. "No one ever told me that."
Snorting at this, Helena retorted, "Since when do you go into bars?"
"I visit you at work," reminded Barbara primly, "almost every day now. Or haven't you been noticing?" Releasing a faux sigh of annoyance, she commented, "I guess I'll just let you suffer in your smelliness alone this week then." She heard Helena chuckle at this but before the brunette could reply, Barbara's eyes narrowed as she saw an unmarked car arrive in front of the building through the mini cameras she had Helena set up earlier. "Our girl made the scene," Barbara murmured evenly, adjusting the parameters on the cameras to try and get a closer look. "Damn..."
"What?" Helena's floated out to her, echoing with concern.
"Whoever she is, she's smart," said Barbara lowly, frowning deeply as their enemy entered the building flocked by huge bodyguards, all of which blocked Barbara's view quite effectively. "Even with the cameras you placed I didn't get a good look at her."
"Not even with your super duper zoom?" asked Helena, sounding surprised. From what little of Barbara's lecture on the mini cameras she had forced herself to pay attention to it seemed like they were the latest and greatest technology had to offer.
"If I use zoom I can see the top of her head," replied Barbara in wry tones. "And while I admit to being vaguely fascinated by the fact that she's not a natural blonde I don't think that helps us in determining who exactly she is."
"I could stake out all the hair salons and kidnap the chicks with blonde dye jobs," Helena offered with a smile in her voice that soon spread to her lips when Barbara chuckled. "Is that a no then? I swear," Helena huffed, attempting to sound upset and almost achieving the effect, "you say you want me to make suggestions and when I do I get shot down."
Continuing to chuckle softly, Barbara's eyes flitted over the monitors and saw that the bad dye job was apparently head the same place Helena was. "You're so silly," Barbara accused softly, her fingertips flying across the keyboard as she hacked into the electrical system the building was linked up to. "I wonder if all your regulars knew that your front of mysterious sexuality was just a cover up for sheer goofiness they would tip so well?"
"A cover up?!" Helena's voice rang out into the tower, thoroughly offended at this comment. "If you think me being sexy is a cover up then I think we have to have a very private conference when I get back to the clock tower."
"Looking forward to it," murmured Barbara in altogether husky tones that caused Helena's right eyebrow to shoot up and a slow smile to form across her features. "Are you there yet? She's joined them."
Blinking at this question, Helena paused in her crawl to look up and saw that she was indeed right underneath the manhole. Shaking her head, she marveled at how in sync they always managed to be, just as she wished it would never change. Gritting her teeth hard, Helena jerked her arms back and slammed the palms of both her hands upward, denting the manhole significantly and moving it enough for her to get some leverage to push it off entirely.
"Huntress?" Barbara asked worriedly.
"Already done, Oracle," responded Helena even as she extended the fingers on her hands wearily before massaging the muscles in them. That was going to leave bruises later, she was positive of it. Darting her eyes down the darkened hallway, she wondered where the hell she was. It didn't look anywhere close to civilized, certainly not anywhere close to where their big bad had to be. "Where now?"
"Look up," Barbara instructed, eyes narrowing as she watched through infrared the figures gathering together. They were starting their meeting, it seemed. "There should be a catwalk. I don't know how secure it should be, but--"
The sound of the slight strain of old metal met her ears as Helena interrupted, "It's about as secure as me around your boyfriend, but it'll do. How far ahead is she?"
Helena's words were only met by the quiet sucking in of Barbara's breath. Closing her eyes briefly, Helena bit her lip as she realized what she just said and wondered why she had done it. She had Barbara now, she really did, but still...
She hadn't broken up with Wade yet. Despite having Barbara, being able to kiss her, to hold her, to... no, she hadn't done that. Helena hadn't made love with Barbara and part of never could, not until she knew things with Wade were over and done with. Although she knew logically he wasn't competition, that he never had been, since he hadn't known Barbara, not by the smallest degree and never would know her, it still hurt.
All she wanted was for Barbara to choose her, real and truly, just as she had chosen Barbara and that wouldn't be true, not so long as she was technically still with him. God, she hated herself for being so pathetic, so needy, when it came to the redhead but she couldn't change it, no matter how she wanted to. She needed Barbara that much.
"Oracle," Helena said finally, her voice low and filled with regret, "I didn't mean..."
"It's fine," said Barbara swiftly and Helena heard the tiniest quiver in her voice, one that stabbed her through the heart, making her wince at it. "Do you see them yet?"
Glancing downwards, Helena felt the expected burning in her eyes as they shifted to reveal what she sometimes thought to be her true self... her only real self in existence. Narrowing them, she crouched down, a low growl rumbled deep in her throat as slim fingers wrapped around the rusted steel of the catwalk, crumbling it into dust.
"I see them," growled Helena, eyes flashing with a strange hunger. "And I see her."
"Don't make a move until you're sure of the situation, Huntress," warned Barbara, somehow knowing that Helena was moments away from acting. There was always this tone in her voice when she was. One of danger and excitement something totally out of control and thrilling at the same time. "Hold off."
Instead of replying, Helena watched the rusted metal fall like aged snowflakes onto the arms suppliers as their target raised her head now covered in a hood that split the colors of blood red and pure black, to lock hazel eyes turned golden with Helena. In movement that was as sure as it was elegant, she produced a gun from the depths of her long overcoat and fired at the catwalk, shattering its weak hinges.
"Huntress?!" Barbara's panicked voice filled her ears and it was all Helena could do to not laugh at the sheer joy of the situation.
Finally she had found someone who might present a challenge and twisting her body while she plummeted through the air, Helena smiled at the concept. "I'm fine, Oracle," replied Helena while her eyes lit wildly with anticipation at the upcoming battle. "But don't expect me to talk for awhile. It looks like I have some business to attend to."
The last thing Helena heard from Barbara was a sigh of relief then her heavy boots hit the ground with a solid thump and she lifted her head to meet the eyes of a group of very stunned arms suppliers, most of whom hadn't pulled out their guns yet. Almost feeling sorry for their stupidity, Helena pounced with a growl, knocking the first one out with a hard kick to his head, making him fall with a loud crash into their crates.
Watching the crate as it splintered apart, Helena took in what was there with shock before she whirled around to intercept the fist of one of the men they had assumed were arms suppliers. A wicked smile curling on her lips, Helena allowed herself the smallest feeling of enjoyment when he screamed at his bones crushing under her grip. Then with all too much ease, she pulled back to punch him side long in the head, rendering him unconscious. Ripping through her opponents with the ferocity and ruthlessness of a savage animal on the prowl, Helena soon found herself alone save three.
The big bad and her apparent protectors. Once again, she locked eyes with that golden gaze and once again, Helena felt the anticipation of the moment seize her, and growling low in her throat she said, "Party's over."
Turning slightly and ignoring the alarmed cry of one of her bodyguards, the big bad looked Helena's way and as she did, she revealed a face covered in a black mask that obscured her features just enough to make her indistinguishable, before twisting shining ruby lips into a horrible smile. Slowly and steadily lifting her gun into the air, she rested it precisely in line with Helena's head, matching its point directly in between her eyes. Her trigger finger covered in a silky white glove while her other hand played at her waist, no doubt hovering over the other weapon she had resting there.
"Not until I say so," she replied in a voice that was as much pure madness as it was a little girl lost, her golden eyes burning into a fiery rage.
Knowing the moment was coming, that the moment was here, Helena couldn't help but smile as her muscles contracted, watching as the gloved finger squeezed gently on the trigger. Then they were engulfed in darkness and without being told, Helena knew Barbara was behind it, and the smile growing on her lips, she ducked the bullet to push herself forward, springing towards their enemy even as she shoved one of the guards out her way to crash into yet another portion of the shipment. Grabbing the other by his overly muscled neck, she squeezed tight, growling in triumph at his desperate gasps before he blacked into unconsciousness and she tossed him carelessly aside.
"Just you and me now," Helena said, her words a smooth caress and her body an oiled machine, fluid and ready for attack at the slightest sign. "It's your move."
Cold gloved fingers were on her before she had time to react, firmly holding the back of her neck and slipping under her heavy jacket then the material of her shirt to dig into her waist as red lips hovered over Helena's own and transformed into a wicked smile. Her eyes watering against their will and a horrible dizziness overtaking her, the last thing Helena saw was those lips descending onto her own and then she was lost.
As she fell into darkness, hands reaching futilely towards her enemy who was moving further and further away from her, Helena somehow clearly heard the parting words that sprang from those oh so deadly lips.
"Never play with poison."
Then there was the fading echo of her laugh full of insanity and triumph until nothing remained. Helena faded into a darkness so absolute and so deep that she thought she might never escape and as she did she apologized to Barbara for ruining her chance before she even got to really prove herself worthy.
And then there was no more.
---
Helena woke to a soothing hand cupping her cheek as the other pressed a cloth, cool and comforting, against her forehead in a tender gesture. Groaning as she leaned into the touch, she opened steel blue eyes and looked at Barbara's worried features.
"Hey," rasped Helena, her throat dry and sore, protesting speech. "What happened?"
"Shh," Barbara softly cut Helena off, pressing her fingertips lightly onto bruised lips before pulling back to look upwards. They were in the area of the tower that Barbara had fashioned into a miniature hospital of sorts, leaving Helena to ascertain she was in pretty bad shape. She always had been when she ended up here. Following Barbara's gaze wearily, she saw Dinah lurking above them in the shadows, arms folded over her chest and a dark expression covering her youthful face. A week wasn't time enough for the teenager to forgive Barbara for her involvement with the fabrication of her mother's death but part of the redhead wondered when, if ever, she would be forgiven. "Dinah saved you. Once the shooting started I got her on the com for back up."
"The kid beat her?" Helena asked with a degree of disbelief, immediately feeling her pride ruffle at the very thought. If that woman had managed to get her off guard how in the hell had Dinah managed to do it?
"No," said Barbara quietly as she observed Dinah for a few moments before the girl turned from her and walked into her room wordlessly. Sighing heavily, she looked to Helena and smiled in reassurance. Soon she would have to deal with her and Dinah's problems but now wasn't the time. "When Dinah arrived everyone was gone. I don't know why but she left you there."
As Barbara said this, bright green eyes grew hooded, lost in guilt and anger so much that Helena forced her hand to move up, shakily touching the redhead's chin in a weak caress. "I'm okay," Helena murmured, attempting comfort. "Really."
Exhausted as she was, Helena could still feel the tightening of Barbara's muscles in her jaw as she set it hard and looked Helena steadily in the eyes, seemingly having resolved whatever issue she had with herself for the moment. "I think I know who she is," said Barbara simply as her hand traced up to rest on Helena's softly.
"You think?" echoed Helena with a frown. Usually Barbara didn't have to think about things like this, she just miraculously knew. Helena knew it all had to do with Barbara possessing an eidetic memory and the most sophisticated computer system on the planet but it still somehow seemed like magic to her. "You don't know?"
Soft chuckles entered the air before full lips pressed against Helena's palm, tracing it with an aching tenderness before Barbara pulled away to look at her with smiling eyes. "I don't know how but you always can make me laugh," whispered Barbara in a confession that appeared to surprise herself.
"Huh," Helena snorted as a fond smile spread across her lips. Fingertips uncurled to touch Barbara's lips lightly, almost reverent of them. "That's good because I can't think of anything I like hearing more than your laugh."
Happiness lit those green eyes and while it did, Helena thanked whoever was in charge for probably the millionth time for giving her this chance with Barbara, swearing that she wouldn't ruin it no matter what came their way. But all too soon happiness faded away to reveal the very familiar look of solemn concern as Barbara said two words that Helena supposed should rattle her to her very soul from the way her partner said them, but instead simply left her feeling altogether confused.
"Poison Ivy."
There was a moment of what seemed to be unending silence, then Helena blinked her heavy blue eyes and asked in nonplussed tones, "What?"
Raising a sculptured red eyebrow in surprise, Barbara heaved a sigh that was half exasperation and half fondness before she accused, "You never pay attention when I go on about the good old days, do you?"
"You never go on about them, so how can I?" replied Helena impishly.
"Right," Barbara sighed again, reaching her free hand up to massage her neck. Looking at Helena through veiled eyes, she smiled softly, "I forgot about that."
Watching this, Helena frowned deeply. If she knew Barbara then she was tied up in knots over this whole thing. She always was after any such event. So pushing herself up to lean against her pile of pillows and the wall, she said roughly, "C'mere."
"You shouldn't move," Barbara protested, moving closer more out of worry for Helena than in response to what she said. "You're still weak from the poison and--"
"I'm fine," interrupted Helena quietly, hands reaching out to land firmly on the other woman's shoulders. "Turn around for me, huh?"
"Helena..." Barbara protested still, but whatever words she had planned to say next died on her lips as sensitive yet strong fingers played over her skin, kneading out all traces of the tension she had trapped there. A satisfied groan falling from her lips, Barbara said in rough tones laced with pleasure, "How did you learn to do this?"
"Around," Helena replied with a slow smile of satisfaction. Barbara's skin was a soft as silk and just as delicious to her touch. Watching as the redhead's neck lowered and what little tension was left evaporated from her system, Helena leaned forward, resting her lips just millimeters from Barbara's ear as she murmured, "You feel so good."
Barbara turned ever so slightly but it was enough to lock bright green eyes with steel blue and as she did, her heart jumped into her throat just as it did every time she could see how completely Helena truly did love her. Sometimes the intensity of the emotion scared her. Barbara hadn't dealt with anything this powerful in a very long time and the idea of losing control like she saw herself doing around Helena frightened her to her very core. Despite that, she couldn't deny the connection between them anymore. To do that would be like denying a junkie of their latest addiction, she was sure.
"Helena," said Barbara in a husky murmur of acceptance before the brunette moved in a seamless gesture to seize her lips in a kiss.
It was unlike any of their earlier kisses, it wasn't one of gentle want, endless love, or even one of rising passion. It was all of these and more. It was a desperate need that tore at Barbara's soul as she realized with this kiss Helena needed her as much as she needed Helena and for either to lose the other would be the end of them both, throwing them into a horrible type of living death she had seen only once before.
In the dark and unending depths of Bruce Wayne's eyes the day after the Joker paralyzed her and murdered Selina.
Whimpering as Helena's lips slowly pulled away from her own, Barbara's eyes fluttered open and she was graced with Helena wearing a very sheepish expression. "Sorry," said Helena quietly, a light blush forming. "I couldn't help myself."
Just when Barbara thought she knew everything about Helena Kyle, had seen every side to the woman, something like this would happen and she would realize no matter how long she lived she would never accomplish that. Helena had too many sides to her personality, too many complex facets that made her who she was and made Barbara love her so completely. They always would.
Cupping Helena's cheek gently and smiling when the brunette leaned into her touch, Barbara murmured, "I'm not sorry."
"Good," Helena replied as a smile spread across her lips. "Because neither am I." Blue eyes twinkled with mischief and she added, "That was a fib earlier, just so you know."
"Mmm, I thought so," said Barbara in a murmur, her green gaze playful as she dropped her hand down to hold Helena's. "And just so you know, Poison Ivy is a who not a what. She's also the one I think got the drop on you tonight."
"Got the drop on me?" responded Helena in highly offended tones as one of her eyebrows almost lifted off her skull. Scowling deep, she said, "Since when has anyone managed to get the drop on me? I think you're hallucinating, Barbara."
"Right, I hallucinated you being unconscious and fighting the effects of a highly potent poison when Dinah brought you back tonight," Barbara said dryly.
"I'm fine now, aren't I?" Helena remarked with a careless confidence only she could produce. Holding up her right arm, she squeezed her biceps to produce a muscle that was nowhere effective in showing off her strength. "See? I'm a regular Supergirl."
Rolling her eyes, Barbara shook her head before smiling. "If you were Supergirl you probably wouldn't have been susceptible to her poison. Then again, if you weren't a metahuman you wouldn't have been able to fight it off so well, either."
"I'm Supergirl," repeated Helena smugly with a nod of her head.
Eyeing Helena for a moment, Barbara let a smile play on her lips and reaching out to lightly tweak the brunette's nose and said in a low and sexy burr, "You're silly." Her smile widening when Helena's only reaction was to look at her blankly before nodding slowly, Barbara let her mind fall back on their present business. "Poison Ivy disappeared during the chaos of the Arkham riots that allowed several of the inmates to escape. The Joker being the most prominent of them all," Helena watched green eyes darken like they always did whenever Barbara spoke of that period in her life. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like to wake up and find yourself suddenly helpless, unable to perform your life's calling because of the actions of a madman. "Like all the others, she staged an attack of her usual forte, only she vanished when she was done." Barbara turned to meet Helena's gaze, knowing how deeply the other woman shared her pain from that night so long ago. "You know I tried to help him."
It was always him, never Bruce, never Batman, and certainly never your Father. It was always just him. Someone present in the back of their minds, lurking there like a ghost from the past, unwilling and unable to let them go, clinging to them just as endlessly as the horrors of that night would. So instead of replying, Helena nodded quietly and Barbara shut her eyes and released a weary sigh, remembering it.
"We couldn't find Ivy though," said Barbara, her voice reflecting a surprise she would probably never lose over the incident. "It was odd considering she was never the type to lay low. She stood out compared to most of the people we fought back then." A frown pursing on her lips, Barbara pushed up her glasses and ran her fingers through her hair while she attempted to find the proper words to explain Poison Ivy's mentality. Peering at Helena with glasses that were already sliding down the bridge of her nose, Barbara said, "All thanks to an unwavering belief structure that can never be changed."
"Which is...?" asked Helena with a small trace of annoyance. As much as she loved Barbara it was rather frustrating that the other woman assumed just because she had a huge database of bad guys in her head that Helena would have one too.
"Her motto is basically plants over people," Barbara replied, a smile quirking on her lips.
"Okay," murmured Helena thoughtfully, settling down in the bed and resting against the way too fluffy pillows. Steel blue eyes were lidded but remained sharply observant of any change in Barbara's mood. "Then this whole set up fits her m.o. perfectly. Especially me getting that fun little poisoned kiss of hers."
"When we found out about the meeting, we assumed it was weapons they were dealing in," said Barbara in quietly thoughtful tones. "Except those crates were anything but. In fact, they were filled with things only someone with Ivy's advanced knowledge of botany and biochemistry could have possible use for," Barbara continued, a frown forming as she removed her glasses with a sigh. "But I just can't imagine..."
"Imagine what?" pursued Helena, tilting her head to look at Barbara worriedly. It wasn't very often she saw the redhead stalled like this. Usually Barbara figured out the motives of their current enemy in two seconds flat and they were off running.
Lifting her head, Barbara locked eyes solemnly with Helena and said, "I can't imagine why she would return to New Gotham after so long. None of them have ever done that, Helena. They either live and die here or they move on and never look back."
"Can't blame them for that," Helena snorted. When Barbara arched an eyebrow at this, Helena chuckled and gave a careless shrug. "C'mon, Barbara, even you have to admit this city, for better or for worse, is one mighty big shithole."
Sighing softly and allowing herself to feel the tiniest bit of humorous appreciation for Helena's words, Barbara lightly tapped the brunette's chin with her index finger. "Who do you kiss with a mouth like that?" she murmured in teasing tones.
"You tell me," drawled Helena, a smile tugging at her lips, her blue eyes twinkling. When Barbara moved forward to give her a light kiss, Helena formed an exaggerated pout and said, "Aren't we getting kiss stingy."
"Kiss stingy?" Barbara laughed, shaking her head. "Stop inventing new phrases and concentrate on the case, hm?"
"Right, the case," said Helena, nodding seriously. Folding her arms across her chest, she looked at Barbara for a long moment then said, "You're not sure it's really her, are you? Something about how this went down... it's making you doubt it."
Flipping her glasses in her hands and studying them as the frown on her face deepened, Barbara said, "Ivy wasn't one for lackeys like what you saw at the warehouse. She never works with others because to her people are as welcome to the world as the sun burning out might be. Also," Barbara lifted her gaze and smiled, "there's something else."
"Yeah?" asked Helena curiously, tilting her head. "What's that?"
"Ivy's a natural redhead, just like yours truly," Barbara murmured, a trace of humor dancing in her voice. "If there's one thing she cares about just as much as her plants it's her looks. They've always been integral to her plans, using them to seduce powerful men and then take their money to fund her ecological efforts."
"What does that have to do with thinking it's not her?" Helena asked with a frown.
"The woman at the warehouse had dyed blonde hair, remember?" replied Barbara, grinning slightly. Leaning back in her chair and looking very pleased with herself, she continued, "There's no way Ivy would do that to herself. Her red hair is as much her trademark as her plants. She would never dye it like that."
Pondering this, Helena finally snorted then shook her head. "Vain super villains. I never thought I'd see the day." Peering at Barbara with lidded eyes, she said, "If it isn't Ivy who is it? I thought you said only she could make all the crap in those boxes dangerous."
"Not Ivy," Barbara murmured thoughtfully, her brow furrowing. Green eyes glowed in the darkness, the passion in them reminding Helena just how much Barbara needed this, loved this, that it was as much a part of her as breathing. "But someone who knows her."
They locked eyes and held their gazes for a moment then Helena heaved a sigh and asked the all important question on both their minds. "Then who would've known her well enough to have her formulas?"
That stumped them both thoroughly. After all, Barbara had never heard of Poison Ivy teaming up with anyone in the old days. She hated people for their role in destroying plants natural habitat and only really dealt with them in the terms of seduction to reach her goals. So who in the world would have been close enough to Ivy to possess knowledge of her most secret and deadly formulas?
Before this was finished, they would discover the answer, and it would shock them.
---
"Bats in the belfry, cats in the alley, rats in the sewer, but they all leave their precious little hiding places to greet me!" Harleen ranted through gritted teeth. Safely tucked into her penthouse suite, she pulled off her mask and shoved it into her split color overcoat, throwing it into the air as she stared out the window at the glitter of New Gotham, the city she would ruin. "The pests need to be exterminated."
When she came up with this latest plan, it seemed genius to her. Her mysterious foe, the woman in black, as she had come to call her, couldn't possibly compete with something as subtle as poison. And thanks to her darker days in her relationship with the Joker, she knew of some of the most deadly poisons in the world.
"Red," Harleen whispered the word like the very precious thing that it was. After all, it was her and her alone that had ever been able to sway her from the Joker's side, even if for just the shortest while. A smile curving her lips on thinking of the other woman, she sighed and slid down into the nearest chair with elegance. Tilting her head back on the arm, she gazed up at the ceiling and murmured, "Where did you go? Nobody knows. I wanted to look for you after I busted out Mr. J but then they moved him and by the time I could look you were gone. Poof!" Harleen smacked her hands together then let them slide apart as she said sadly, "Vanished into the night like a dream."
Sighing mournfully, Harleen tilted her head slightly, lying against the comfortable armrest of the chair and reached out to lightly caress the petals of the Golden Orchid. It was the last present she had gotten from Ivy before her friend disappeared. A creation of genius and love, a flower that died at sunrise only to be reborn when night came.
Golden just as you are to me. That's what Ivy had said when she handed Harley the orchid, a small and satisfied smile tugging at her lips. Harleen's hand dropped listlessly from the flower as she recalled that voice, a siren's call to anyone to heard it, alluring and seductive in its smooth drawl, oozing with confidence. She wondered if life might be more fun if she had her Red with her now. Certainly they had their share of entertaining times while together. The perfectly timed robberies, the nights of playing with enamored men, the mornings waking up in Red's arms that were so like Mr. J's but not...
She held no illusions about herself, none at all. Harleen was quite aware that she was more desperately insane than even the worst of her patients. Even more, she knew that her insanity lay with her unending obsession with the Joker. With a man that didn't love her, in fact, probably couldn't love her or anyone, and someone that dealt abuse far easier than he could give the simplest kiss.
All of her life, she controlled those around her. Men were putty in her hands and although she possessed the intelligence to gain it otherwise, she wouldn't hesitate to admit her degree in psychology was something that more rewarded her ability to twist and turn even the most powerful of men with sex. When she arrived at Arkham, she already had her plans made. Despite what her supervisor said to her in sneering tones, Harleen had no doubts of her talent, she would get one of the patients to talk to her. She would learn all the thoughts the most infamous criminals Gotham had and once she did, she would profit from them, writing a glorious and fame inducing novel.
That was why she was interested in the Joker, because he was the most dangerous of them all. A criminal genius the likes few had known and though it took months to get just one session with him it was worth it since it was the start of all her dreams coming true. Only he hadn't said what she expected him to. She had researched all of the Joker's tricks and not once had she found any mention of his past. Only vague rumors and a few petty assumptions of how he became what he was, but nothing solid. Certainly nothing that prepared her for him talking about his relationship with his abusive father and the rare happy childhood moment of attending the circus. The second that the Joker caught her unprepared, his trap was sprung. He was no longer merely just another patient or some crazy lunatic she could make money off of. Suddenly he was an all too real person who had feelings just like her, just like anyone, and Harleen, like so many before her fell into the predator's perfectly laid trap.
It wasn't long before Harleen saw the Joker as he wanted her to. Nothing more than a confused child… a little boy that wanted to make the world laugh at his jokes just like he wanted his father to and when they didn't, lashed back horribly. He didn't know what he was doing was wrong, all he knew was that they didn't get his jokes and he desperately wanted them to, more than anything else. For the first time in her life, Harleen felt out of control and giddy from her emotions for a man. Before she had always felt superior because she had always been in control.
Men were always so easily swayed by her, changed into whatever she wanted them to be and that was hardly the case with the Joker. Soon, it was the opposite and she found herself being molded into a creature of his own design, breaking him out of Arkham after seeing the Batman return him beaten and bloodied from one of his own escapes. When she had shown up at his cell, blown it wide open with explosives, dressed head to toe in a Harlequin costume that he had said at their very first encounter fit her name so well, laughter had burst from his lips and it was the sweetest thing she ever heard.
When it was all over, the Joker said that she had performed wonderfully but no... she couldn't go on any jobs with him because she was his special girl. She was to be his big gun, the secret weapon he pulled from out of nowhere and used to get even. Always remember, he had said to her, the Harlequin is a sly and clever puppet and so you must be for me. Sly and clever, but always a puppet. MY puppet because only I can pull your strings, Harley. Only I have that power.
So she was for him. Hidden away, planning and performing the most dastardly of plots while only the very select few graced their eyes upon her. Vague rumors seized Gotham about the Joker's homicidal honey but no one knew for sure if they were true. It came to be that he tired of her though. Grew sick of her affections and womanly ways. Yes, the Joker wasn't like any other man, that was why she loved him. But it was that same quality in him that caused him to throw her aside.
Or rather, shoot her into the sky, drugging her and stuffing her inside a rocket in a simplistic attempt to rid her from his life forever. Unfortunately for the Joker, a rocket ride would hardly be the end of Harleen and she soon found herself discovered and nursed back to health by one of the rare people that could stand tall against her puddin'.
Poison Ivy.
There was something in Harleen that longed for strong people to take control of her. It was what had lured her to the Joker in the first place and when the rocket door was torn open to reveal the glittering green of Pamela Isley's eyes, she was captured again. Just like the Joker, she was highly intelligent, possessing a brilliance few could match, and by the same measure that brilliance had made her an outcast. Well, that and the fact she had tried more than a few times to eradicate human life from the planet.
But Harleen was hardly picky about something like that. Especially not when she found herself intrigued by a woman just as smart as her Mr. J and perhaps even more ruthless. A woman who, despite these tendencies, was shockingly kind to her. A woman who had taken her in, bandaged her wounds, let her cry on her shoulder, and before it was all done would use her own skills to make Harleen something more than she was.
If there was anything that Harleen hated it was shots but when Ivy captured her with those eyes that glittered so bright and brilliant, her voice a sensual drawl as rose red lips tugged up in a reassuring smile, she surrendered without a fight. The drug had made her woozy and as Ivy laid her gently in bed, Harleen struggled to keep her eyes open as the redhead explained how it worked to her. Unbearably soft fingers had smoothed her hair while Ivy's dulcet tones washed over her.
"Sleep now, Harley. When you wake up you'll be stronger than you were before. Stronger and faster, enough to take the Joker down if you want. Also... you'll be safe around me now. No more getting sick because of the toxins my body naturally creates. That means if you ever want to come back to me, you can. No matter what."
By the time that Harleen woke, Ivy was gone. Part of her was sad to see her friend go but she knew why the other woman had done it. Ivy realized Harleen had to finish all her business with the Joker before ever possibly moving on. Except things didn't go as either of them thought. When confronted with the new and improved Harley Quinn who almost killed him in a homicidal rage, the Joker was more impressed than ever and begged for her to return to his criminal clown syndicate.
In seconds Harleen was in his arms. So the cycle began again and sometimes when his insults and injuries became too much to bear, she would return to Ivy and for awhile she was happy. Then the Joker would crook his finger, coo her name, and form a huge smile across his features and just as quickly as she came to Ivy, she would disappear.
Thinking back on it, she would be stupid to not think she must've hurt Ivy at times with her selfish behavior. As much as she hated the idea of that, Harleen really couldn't help herself. It was for Mr. J, after all, and he was more important to her than anything.
Important enough for Harleen to go through the few belongings Ivy had left at her old safe houses around New Gotham and piece together the formulas she'd seen the other woman create. Sitting up slowly, Harleen rested hazel eyes on the Golden Orchid, the key to her latest plans to punish the citizens of this city on the behalf of her puddin'.
Maybe it was wrong to use the flower Ivy created for her for that purpose but what else could she do? All of her previous plans failed and she had a feeling that her mysterious woman in black couldn't compete with the genius of Ivy's formula. A poison so potent that just a drop could make two liters of crystal clean water deadly.
All she had to do was wait for her lackeys at Star Labs to contact her, saying that they had effectively made more copies of Ivy's Golden Orchid. Once she had the plants, the plan would be ready to be put into motion and then nothing could stop her. Not even the annoying woman in black who had managed, yet again, to hide her identity from Harleen simply by lurking around in the shadows.
In her gut Harleen knew the woman in black was linked to the Bat. There was no other explanation for her and her fighting skills. Or the frustrating knack she had for ruining all of Harleen's carefully arranged plans of revenge. It didn't matter though. Thanks to Ivy she would finally have what she always wanted since meeting the Joker.
For the fools of New Gotham to be the butt of a most spectacular joke. And what a joke this would be when it was all said and done. One of horrifying magnitude.
---
If there was one thing that Helena would never be good at, it was using computers. The most she could manage to do was open a text file and find porn online. Needless to say, both of these tasks were something that required next to no computer skills. Barbara had tried more than a few times to teach Helena about the Delphi system and the basics of hacking but each lesson ended more disastrously than the last, leaving Helena with little enthusiasm for attempting another.
Perhaps because she loved computers due to what she could do with them, because when using them being paralyzed no longer mattered, Barbara tried again and again to get Helena to love them as she did. However, it was futile gesture as Helena simply had it in her head she couldn't learn and so she wouldn't learn.
Which is why Helena sat on the long metal table, kicking her legs aimlessly as she leaned forward, peering at Barbara who was typing at superhuman speeds. An impish grin forming on her features, Helena breathed in Barbara's ear, lightly ruffling the hairs on her neck as she spoke.
"Whatcha doin'?" asked Helena in teasing tones.
Turning her head slightly, a smile tugged at Barbara's lips as she faced Helena. "I'm searching biochemical and botanical supply orders that occurred over the internet and matching which ones would meet Ivy's research needs."
"And that means what exactly?" Helena pursued with a grin.
"That means I'm trying to contact the ever elusive Poison Ivy," said Barbara, pushing up her glasses as she frowned. Looking at Helena out of the corner of her eyes, she smiled softly and asked, "Is there something you want to say?"
"Yeah," said Helena solemnly, leaning back on her palms and staring at Barbara. "Why exactly are you trying to contact a nutcase who used to be one of your big problems?"
"Because," Barbara sighed heavily, continuing her search, eyes flying across the monitors as her fingers moved at an inhuman pace. "If I'm right about this and Ivy isn't involved with our mysterious new enemy, she'll be none to pleased about someone using her formulas without her knowledge. We can use that to our advantage."
"And what if she knows they're using them?" asked Helena, her eyes growing lidded.
"Then we're in trouble," said Barbara simply. Stopping in her search, she turned to Helena who met her eyes in an easy gaze, cool and composed. "Something about this doesn't fit Ivy's personality, Helena. I can't see her leaving Gotham for as long as she has only to return and use plants of her own creation to cause death again."
"Her plants?" Helena echoed, confusion playing over her sculptured features. Moving forward, she looked at the nearest monitor and the beautiful flower, golden and glowing, displayed on it. "Hey, I saw this in those crates."
"The Golden Orchid," said Barbara slowly. Taking her glasses off, she cleaned them on her shirt as she continued, "The last of Poison Ivy's known creations. A flower that dies at sunrise only to bloom again at sunset. When it does, it releases a shimmer of golden pollen that despite its beauty, can be highly poisonous when mixed with the proper amounts of certain chemical and botanical extracts."
Looking at the screen thoughtfully, Helena murmured, "Ivy cares more about plants than people, right? So if someone is out there using a plant that she created herself for some sort of whacked out plan she doesn't know about, she's not going to be happy."
"More than that," Barbara turned to Helena, looking her deeply in the eyes as she put her glasses back on. "If my theories about the formulas that this person is using are just halfway correct then they're not just going to use the Golden Orchid's pollen, they're going to squeeze the very life from these flowers, to get the base origin of the pollen itself and create an even more dangerous poison. That would surely kill them."
"Killing plants that Ivy made herself," said Helena in lost tones, her voice trailing off. Staring into the distance, Helena put herself in Ivy's mindset and said softly, "To her that would be like murdering her babies."
"She won't be happy in the least," Barbara replied, arching an eyebrow at the sheer magnitude of the understatement she had just made. "I think we can use that to perhaps have Ivy cooperate with us in apprehending this woman and in creating an antidote to whatever poisonous formula she plans on using."
"Why can't you do it?" asked Helena with an guileless innocence that pulled at Barbara's heartstrings. Especially the way a particularly persistent shock of black hair fell into Helena's steel blue eyes when she tilted her head in confusion as she spoke.
Deciding to give into her itching fingertips, Barbara smiled softly and pushed the locks of hair from Helena's face, her hand falling softly to rub her cheek. "I'm not the genius you'd like to make me out to be, Helena. Biochemistry and botany aren't my areas of expertise in the slightest. I might be able to improve the immunization formula Bruce created for us when we dealt with the natural toxins Ivy exudes but this..." Green eyes crinkled around the edges and Barbara found her hands held in Helena's soft yet strong grasp, a searing hot kiss touching her palm, making her gasp. "It's beyond me."
"Nothing is beyond you," Helena replied, absolute conviction echoing in her words and body language. With a tug, she pulled Barbara lightly forward and leaned down to rest their foreheads together as their eyes met in a steady gaze. Squeezing Barbara's hands in her own, she murmured, "I've seen you do things no one else can."
"I could say the same about you," said Barbara simply. Pulling back from Helena, she traced her fingertips lightly on the face in front of her before dropping her hand sadly and looking off to one side. "There are certain things I'll never be able to do, Helena. I think it would be best for us both if we accept that now."
Immediately, a frown marred Helena's features and her eyes narrowed decisively. Landing on the floor with an audible thump of her boots, Helena grasped the arms of Barbara's wheelchair and moved forward with all the fluid grace of a cat. Her breath was soft and quiet, nothing more than a vague sound, more of a feeling than anything. One which tickled Barbara's skin and tied her stomach into knots as she gazed at the Delphi system, monitoring her search progress as it went on.
"What's that supposed to mean, Barbara?" asked Helena, clenching her jaw. She could feel the metal hidden underneath the soft leather bend in her grasp and slowly, Helena released her hold on the arms to the wheelchair. When the redhead failed to answer her, a growl escaped Helena's lips and she firmly but gently held Barbara's chin in her hand, forcing the other woman to match her gaze. "What do I have to accept? That I'm not as smart as you? That I'm not good enough for you? That--"
"You have to accept that I'm stuck in this chair," Barbara interrupted, her tones colder than the fiercest winter night in Gotham but her eyes blazing with a level of rage which even Helena, with all of her anger, couldn't comprehend. "I'm not about to feel sorry for myself about it, Helena. Lord knows it's been long enough and I've gotten the point in my head. This is the lot I was dealt in life, that's fine. I can accept that. But you…" Sighing deeply, Barbara's eyes grew clouded as she continued, "You're special. I can remember what it was like, being your age and living this life. I felt more alive than I ever had and I wonder if I'm holding you back. I can't share that with you." Lifting her gaze, Barbara locked eyes with Helena and said solemnly, "I just can't."
"I've loved you since I was eighteen and you've been in that damn chair since I was sixteen and I knew you how long before that?" Helena answered with a soft and almost deadly calm. Falling gracefully to her knees, she scooted forward, pressing in between Barbara's legs as her hands wound upward, lightly touching her sides in a soft caress. Pressing her face in the redhead's lap, Helena said, "Nobody can share everything. It doesn't matter if you got a perfect working body or not. That's not the issue, Barbara. This is about what's going on in your head. It's about you thinking, for some stupid ass reason, that you're holding me back because you don't have legs that work anymore." Her fingers dug slightly into Barbara's skin, holding her with a desperation that shocked the other woman as Helena looked up into her eyes. "Well, I don't have a brain that works so good. Does that mean I'm holding you back? Hell, right now the kid doesn't have an attitude that's working at all! Is she holding us back? I don't think so." Scooting up further, Helena pressed into Barbara, their lips barely hovering apart and her breath warm on the other woman as she spook. "Everybody's got flaws but us accepting them and loving them anyway? That makes us a family."
A long bout of silence passed before Barbara smiled softly, blinking back the tears gathering in green eyes even as Helena wiped the ones that fell away. Looking into solemn blue gaze in front of her, she whispered, "I think your brain works fine."
"Yeah?" asked Helena impishly, tilting her head and causing several locks of hair to fall into her eyes. "I'm starting to wonder about yours."
"Why you!" Barbara exclaimed as she moved to playfully hit the other woman.
Only Helena was too fast for her and Barbara soon found her hands in the brunette's gentle hold as she pressed ever forward and then their lips met. With a soft whimper of pleasure, Barbara found herself surrendering to Helena and her embrace just as she had done for what seemed a million times over since starting their romance. Barbara always knew Helena was someone who craved the comfort of physical touch. A simple hug or squeeze of the hand was always more effective in cheering her mood than an endless line of words could ever be. That was why Barbara hadn't been surprised when they had begun their relationship that Helena would constantly seek her touch.
What did surprise Barbara, however, was the fact that she herself soon came to crave Helena's hands on her body. Just the simplest ruffle of her hair or the gentle press of a kiss on her neck set Barbara's body on fire in ways that hadn't happened in years. She was becoming almost frightened of it because soon she would need it. Just like she now needed Helena in her life always, even if their romance should crumble. To live without her would be certain death, Barbara knew this, but now… it was so much more.
It was dangerous to need someone this much. To need their comfort, their presence, their touch. To need them like the air you breath and the food you consume. Sometimes it felt as if she couldn't live without Helena and that scared Barbara beyond all reason. No matter what she had gone through in her life, her birth father's abuse, her parents deaths, her paralyzed legs, she had survived on her own. She remained independent, self sufficient, and rock steady in one simple conviction.
Barbara Gordon would survive on her own.
Only over the years she had slowly but surely allowed Helena to worm her way into her life and her heart in all ways possible and now Barbara wasn't sure if the one conviction she had held since she was six years old was true anymore. And that scared her.
Sensing that Barbara wasn't entirely with her, Helena slowly pulled away, ending their kiss and pressing her lips softly against the redhead's jaw. "What's wrong?" she asked in a quiet murmur, her breath warm against Barbara's skin as she crawled up to sit in her newly favorite spot that was Barbara's lap. "You left me for a second."
Moving her head to look into wide blue eyes that were as deep as the depths of the ocean and fathomless as the sky above, Barbara tucked locks of hair behind Helena's ear and smiled. "The search is finished," she said as an answer, not really wanting to begin a conversation about her real worries. "I've found all our possible Ivy's."
Helena released a soft snort at this and kissed Barbara's chin again. Nuzzling her neck and breathing in the scent of the other woman. She knew that wasn't really what she had been thinking but at the same time Helena didn't want to fight Barbara for the truth right now. Besides, if she knew the redhead, and she did, eventually she would just give in and tell Helena herself. Best to just wait it out, Helena decided as she rested her eyes on the Delphi system monitors, causing her right eyebrow to raise.
"Why is there over two thousand of them?" asked Helena in extremely dry tones.
"A lot of people love the environment," said Barbara with a chuckle that turned lower pitched when Helena growled against her skin, nipping her ear lightly. "Stop that," she chastised, lightly poking the brunette's stomach, "I'm trying to work here."
"Uh huh, work," Helena said in such a way that expressed she didn't believe one word of that. Sighing as she rested her head on Barbara's shoulder, she peered at the screen as the redhead typed furiously. "You're going to send them all the stills from the cameras?"
"And the reports about the break in," Barbara nodded, attaching the files as she finished typing her message to all of the possible Ivy's. "That way the ones who aren't Ivy will just think this is another warning from their environmental brethren about the ruination of the planet via crime lords while Poison Ivy…"
"Will know someone's killing her babies to take over Gotham," finished Helena. Releasing a soft laugh, she kissed Barbara's neck and moved up to her ear, tugging it in her teeth before she murmured, "I love it when you're sneaky."
Chuckling at this, Barbara replied in smoky tones, "And I love it when you do that."
"Oh yeah?" Helena quirked an eyebrow and smiled wider. Dropping her head down to kiss Barbara's collarbone as her hands drifted to tenderly spread underneath Barbara's shirt and against her skin, she continued, "How about this?"
"That too," said Barbara, turning her head to meet Helena for another kiss.
Then there were no more words. At least, not until Alfred arrived bearing groceries for their always foodless cabinets and refrigerator. That was when the teasing began. And a good deal of it directed at Barbara. Of course, it was nothing she couldn't handle.
Mostly.
(This is where I stopped writing.)
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