Desire leads to fear

When Trickster stumbled through the door of Ivy's house, beaten black and blue with blood dripping from almost everywhere, she did expect Ivy to run out of where she was and come greet her and Harley and she did expect her to instantly hug Harley and ask her if she was okay. What she didn't expect was for Ivy to completely ignore her.

"Yes, I see how it is! Ignore the one that was shot multiple times!" Trickster shouted throwing her arms up and waving them about frantically "Nobody loves me!" She spoke dramatically but when she realised she was still being ignored she just huffed, puffed and stumbled away.

"Harley? Are you okay? I ordered Trickster to only bring you here if he did something terrible. What did he do?" Harley buried her head in Ivy 's shoulder and Ivy realised she was crying, in between sobs Harley managed to choke out a sentence.

"H-he tri-tried to k-k-kill me red!" Ivy clenched her fists and stayed silent for all of five seconds.

"I am going kill him and that is a fucking promise." she muttered darkly.

"No you wont." Harley whispered through her sobs. Ivy was about to reply when there was a crash in the living room.

Ivy supported Harley into the living room only to find her flat screen TV face down on the floor, most likely cracked, with a wolf sitting rather smugly on top.

"CLEO!" Ivy shouted like she was about to murder her.

The young girl came bouncing happily to the living room looking very smug in their Batman pyjamas and anything that showed she was once Trickster was gone. But, her smile turned to an almost petrified look when she saw the guilty animal.

"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT THE DAMN WOLF!" Her face was now a scarlet red and if this was a cartoon Cleo was sure that there would be steam coming from her ears "DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT TV COST!"

"May I just remind you that you actually stole It. So, It didn't cost you anything," Her eyes wondered nervously around the room "Plus, he's still a puppy, I must have left my door unlocked and he got out, sorry Ivy" The green skinned woman glared at her but eventually sighed.

"Just get him out of here." Ivy stated whilst sitting Harley on the sofa. Cleo walked over to the wolf and flicked him on the nose gently.

"Naughty Jefferson!" She scolded with a smirk. The wolf, Jefferson, whimpered but tilted Its head to show he was amused. Leading the wolf out of the room she looked back at Ivy, then let her eyes wonder to Harley, she continued to raise an eyebrow and smirk.

"I'll be right back, okay Harl?"Harley's eyes widened a little and Ivy placed a small peck to her forehead "I promise." She whispered reassuringly. A minute or two had passed and Harley felt the sofa shift with the added weight.

"Are you okay?" Cleo's voice was filled with genuine concern.

"Course I am! Just a bit sore," The blonde took a moment to calm her breathing "Ya have a wolf?" Harley asked, attempting to take her mind from the pain.

"Yep! He's the only animal Ivy allowed me to keep because he's just a puppy but i sneaked the rest in anyway. There was this once time that my snow leopard trashed half of Ivy's plants so she threw her out but I managed to sneak her back in." Cleo chuckled lightly at the memory.

"You have a Snow leopard?" Harley asked with a smile and Cleo nodded.

"Once you're feeling like yourself again I'll introduce you to them all!" Cleo seemed proud and bubbly, Harley already knew they would get along.

Ivy came back in with a cloth, alcohol, a bowl of water and a pin and needle to take care of Harley's cuts.

"Ivy? Can I take some of the venom from that plant I asked about earlier?" Cleo asked while the red head cleaned Harley's wounds.

"I guess so, but make sure to clean this TV up!" Ivy replied, her attention solely on Harley.

"Why do you need venom?" Harley asked, attempting to take her mind from the stinging of the alcohol on her wounds.

"For a little project!" the young girl replied, giving a tap to her nose then continuing to run to Ivy's greenhouse like a child on Christmas morning.

Noticing there were a couple of cuts on Harley's face, Ivy sat beside her.

"Project?" Questioned Harley, focusing her mind on Ivy complexions.

"I've learnt not to ask Harl, be thankful you didn't learn that the hard way." Ivy gave a small chuckle.

"So, who is she? Possible girlfriend?" Harley gave a small almost jealous chuckle, which turned into genuine laughter at Ivys disgusted reaction.

"No! Don't be so absurd Harl. It's strange how we met really, I found her in my greenhouse curled up with my plants."

"I- what?!"

"Her blood, she's not like any normal kid. She's kind of like me, she was near the brink of death when I found her and it intrigued me how the toxin in her blood brought her to me. Once I helped her out she kind of stuck around, it's nice having her here."

Harley gave a soft smile, finding it relieving that Ivy wasn't alone all this time.

"I feel bad for ya Red! Now you have two bubbly kids to look after!"

"Ha, except I love you both in very different ways." She mumbled the words without thinking as her fingers lightly grazed across Harley's lips and the blonde gave a small gulp which the other female picked up on almost instantly. Their eyes locked and they both saw something they hadn't seen in the others before.

Ivy inched forward hesitantly but gave a silent sigh when she noticed a small smile playing at Harley's lips, Ivy's hand found it's place on Harley's cheek and her thumb caressed the soft skin as their lips inched closer.

The sound of a slight awkward cough made them both jump from eachother. At the doorway stood Cleo, wrapped up in her Batman pyjamas, holding an empty vial, with a humongous grin on her face.

"I need the keys to the greenhouse." Her voice was filled with humour.

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"Ah bats!" Joker laughed into the phone but was replied with silence.

"Not in the mood to talk? What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" He threw his head back in laughter once more.

"A little birdy told me where the three little piggys were hiding, don't you want to know?" But was still replied with silence.

"I'll take that as a yes!"

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Harley knocked on Cleo's bedroom door before entering only to find her trying to get something out of Jefferson's mouth.

"Um, Cleo?"

"Drop it Jefferson, Drop it now!" Cleo stopped her wrestling with the wolf for a slight moment to take in the figure at her door.

"Oh, Hey Harl," Turning her attention back to the wolf, she cursed at all of the gods. "Jefferson drop the bottle, now!" Each word was punctured with a breath and the wolf finally let his jaw go slack before going over to a basket in the corner, curling up and glaring at Cleo.

"Red sent me to tell you that dinner is done." Harley took in her surroundings, she wasn't at all surprised that half of Cleo's room was basically a lab.

"I shall be down in just a few moments." Cleo spun her chair around and giggled

"What are you doing anyway?"

"Im making a toxin, It's kinda like Scarecrows fear toxin. It basically show's you what you desire the most, It's a bust at the moment, I can't figure out any of the original ingredients Scarecrow used for his fear toxin!" She sighed and slowly massaged her temples.

"Don't stress, you're a smart kid I'm sure you'll figure it out!" Cleo smiled gratefully but then Harley noticed a small mischievous grin in her eyes.

"So, what happened between you and Ivy earlier?" There was a wiggling of eyebrows and Harley went red.

"W-what do y-you mean? N-nothing happened!" Harley was stumbling over her words, which made Cleo laugh.

"So that's why your face has gone red! Yes, it all makes sense now!" Her eyes had lit up with pure delight and Harley took a moment before replying.

"We were just caught in the moment..." Harley replied seriously and Cleo almost did believe her.

"So your saying If I didn't come in you two wouldn't have ended up naked?" If it was even possible Harley turned a deeper shade of read and Cleo gave a satisfied look "I rest my case."

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After dinner Cleo had gone back to working on her desire toxin, and Harley was helping Ivy clean up when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Ivy practically jumped at the chance to get away from the awkward air that surrounded the duo, making her way swiftly to the door Ivy let out a breath.

Hearing Ivy yelp, Harley ran out into the passageway quickly, only to find a familiar Bat putting Ivy into cuffs.

Harley honestly had no idea what was going on so in a blind frenzy she just ran at him and kicked him square in the chest. Batman stumbled back but regained his composure quickly, sending a right hook in Harley's direction the blonde dodged it effortlessly but managed to trip over one of Jefferson's toys.

"Seriously!" She mumbled.

Without missing a heart beat, Batman had already cuffed Harley but was no doubt surprised when a younger girl came around the corner.

"Bats! Hi! Big fan! Do you like my pyjamas!" Cleo gave a small twirl and Harley rolled her eyes in amusement while Ivy just glared at her.

"Anyway, you're just the guy I needed to see. How about doing me a little favour?" Cleo calmly walked towards him with a small giggle.

"Who are you?" He asked completely ignoring Cleo, she frowned and sighed.

"You remember that orphanage that blew up a couple of months back? Yep! Me!" Batman stared at her for a moment unsure of what was happening. "I will willingly go with you, no need for the cuffs." After deciding that Cleo was telling the truth he picked up Ivy and carried her to his car.

"Did you really blow up an orphanage?" Harley asked, clear disgust in her voice.

"Oh god no! I adore children! I just need to get into Arkham. I promise to get us out as soon as I have what I need." Cleo gave a light smile and helped Harley to the batmobile.