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Chapter Text

Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley, Ph.D.
Most famously known as the “eco-terrorist”, Poison Ivy.

The protector of nature herself has been locked up in Arkham Asylum for 12 months, 2 weeks and 2 days now. Longest she has ever been so far, and the reason?
She decided to kill an arrogant man who kept on destroying forests for the sake of capitalism. She couldn’t help but scoff at this. People should “reward her for getting that asshole off of the ground”, as she said after she was arrested.

And being locked up wasn’t even the worst part. She got used to it over the years. But during all of her “stays”, they let her go out into nature, and let her feel the sunlight on her skin. Let her go out to enjoy the soft warm breeze on her arms, as she smiled to herself, let her feel like a free woman.

Months have passed since her last stay before this one and the directorate changed. Since they felt like her little accident with the snobbish man was brutal, they took away the rights from her to go out into the garden.
12 months, 2 weeks and 2 days. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she thought about all of this.

She sat in her cell, weaker than before, and counted the days. She couldn’t even plan her escape, for what use? Her powers weakened due to the loss of sunlight, and the only plant in her cell was dying. Being half-plant meant that her mental state was somewhat connected to the plant.

The plant was pale-green, almost grey. Its leaves were limp, almost lifeless. That’s how Dr. Pamela Isley felt now. That’s how she’s been feeling for almost a year now.

~

12 months, 2 weeks and 3 days passed. Nothing seemed to change in the eyes of Poison Ivy. Not that she knew that something really did change in Arkham Asylum.

~~

A new employee stepped into the building of the Asylum.
A psychiatrist, a young woman, named Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, Ph.D.

She was ambitious and had hope for change. She entered her office with a coy smile, obviously excited, but terrified of her first day at the asylum.

She looked outside of the quite dirty window and took a long breath. She gently smiled as memories swayed through her mind. The years at the university, the years which felt like were millions, all those cases. She finally got where she dreamed of. Her first chance to look into the “criminal mind”.

Her fingers danced across window ledge, and quickly span around. She slowly stepped in front of her desk and giddily sat down. She took down her fake glasses, whose purpose was only to “prove” to the uppish men who worked alongside her. Otherwise, they wouldn’t believe that “someone with looks like that” would choose to study psychology.
She put her right hand on the case in front of her. She took another long breath, bracing herself, and picked up the case.

This case contained her first patient. Her “first assignment” as her colleagues referred to as. She disagreed with them of course, but wouldn’t dare to oppose them. She truly believed that no one was born evil, only they have minor or deeper flaws. Some that could be worked on, some that needed some understanding. True, there really were some cases where she had no choice but to think that there really are people, who aren’t worth working with, or saving.

One of those people was the Joker. She always despised him. She studied him during her years at the university. She felt nothing but disgust towards that man. A soulless creature he was. She adored the circus, mostly harlequins in that matter, but to associate that wonderful experience with that horrid man? Despised him for that also.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and muttered “oh to hell with it, open it” under her breath, her accent slipping out. She opened her eyes, and the excited look in her eyes changed into curiosity.

“Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley aka Poison Ivy” The file read. Here she was. Her first patient. Her red-painted lips turned into a smile as she thought about it. “My first patient” - she muttered again, and sighed, as emotions waved through, as memories started racing through her mind again.

She did it. In 2 hours she’ll finally meet her first patient.

Chapter Text

The sound of heels knocking against the cold and grey tiles. A whistle could be heard close to Poison Ivy’s cell. The dim-green woman rolled her eyes at the objectifying habit that the men around her did so often.

The sound of heels seemed to get closer to her cell, and eventually slow down.
Ivy grimaced at the thought of another check-in. The nurses made a habit out of checking the strange metahuman’s physical condition as if they could figure anything out to change her back, or whatever they wanted to do with all these surveys.

Tapping on the keypad, card sliding, beeping sounds, slow opening of the cell door. Only the shadow was visible as the woman stepped into the cell. Ivy sat on her bed and squinted as the so-called-room light up slowly. Thus by that, the mysterious woman became more and more visible as the lamps started working.

A few meters away from her stood a slim, but athletic-looking woman with light blonde hair which she wore in an awfully perfect bun, and piercing blue eyes. She had a light smile on her lips, a smile that almost seemed genuine. Her posture was calm but somehow cautious. She was wearing a black, knee-length skirt and a red button-up shirt. On top of it, all was her white coat, which was essential to her job.

The doctor stepped closer to Ivy and held her hand out. She flashed her a polite smile and said on a calm voice;
„Dr. Harleen Quinzel, nice to finally meet you, Dr. Isley.”

She stood there, her hand waiting for the green hand to connect with her, but it never did. Ivy eyed her with a hostile look. She never had much faith in humanity, but after that lifeless year, she became even more cautious. Everyone she has ever met has disappointed her.
Although, as much as she would not like to admit it, she was pleased to hear that she was correctly addressed. Everyone in the Asylum called her either Poison Ivy, Pamela or Ms. Isley, but never Dr. Isley. She pushed away the pleased and proud feeling in her chest and continued to glare knives at the woman.

The psychiatrist finally gave up and lowered her hand with a „disappointed but not surprised” sigh. She lowered her eyes and bopped her head, but when she looked back up at Ivy, the expression didn’t change. The soft smile remained on her lips. Ivy almost pitied her for being this ambitious. Naive, she thought, humanity is going to backstab her.

„I believe you have already guessed what’s the whole point of this.” Dr. Quinzel motioned around with her hands, and continued;
„I have been assigned to be your psychiatrist, Dr. Isley”

The said woman sarcastically laughed, and shifted around, and crossed her arms.

„Oh, for what? So you can change me, make me think about my terrible crimes?” Ivy said in an innocent voice, widening her eyes almost comically. Her voice changed back to her normal, low voice.
„Well let me tell you something, Dr. Quinzel, I’ve been there, I’ve been through all of these, they’ve tested me, and surprisingly, all that crap never worked!”

Dr. Quinzel, to Ivy’s great surprise, chuckled at her response. Like as if Harleen remembered where she was, she quickly looked down and closed her mouth, but the grin on her lips remained there.
She adjusted her glasses and looked back into the green eyes. Ivy furrowed her brows and blankly, but curiously, stared into the eyes on Harleen. A twinkle appeared in the sea of the blonde one’s eyes.

„I know about all of those so-called psychiatrists, and frankly, between us, all of those were a bunch of idiots” Her accent slipped out, but she didn’t seem to mind that.
„I’m obviously not here to change you, because in my opinion, why would anyone change someone like you?” She nudged her head and raised her eyebrow.

Ivy froze. „Well, that’s new.” She thought to herself. This girl surely was something else. She wasn’t afraid and said what she wanted to. The wall she built up between her and the blonde woman seemed to crumble. Ivy seemed to soften, and the tight grip on her arm disappeared.

Dr. Quinzel continued:
„I’ve arrived not so long ago, and I had plenty of time to read about your case. I consider myself pretty lucky to have been assigned to work with you. Work alongside you, since I’m the one learning here.” She kindly smiled at the pale woman.
„So... should we get into it?” And she shrugged her shoulders as she searched for the chair, which she quickly pulled out, and hopped down on after it.

Ivy sat there, motionless and speechless. She dumbfoundedly nodded and muttered a low „alright”, as she shifted, to fully face Dr. Quinzel.

Harleen pulled out her little notepad, scribbled down the date, and looked back up at Pamela for a moment, before looking down again.

„Let’s skip all the backstory since we all know that, let’s just talk about something you’d like to, or whether there is anything you’d like to tell me before we get into it.”

She looked up slightly from her notebook, the glasses laying on the bridge of her nose. A spiral of golden hair poked out from her bun and it danced next to her cheek.

Ivy watched Harleen, as she gently put the lock of hair behind her ear.

„She is different. She is curious, she’s gentle, she’s also not afraid, and very, very ambitious.” Ivy made mental notes as she studied the woman’s face.
It felt like all of these adjectives were written on her face. She looked vivacious, genuinely happy and...kind. She really did seemed kind natured. Her whole aura felt amiable and inviting. Pamela was truly stunned. It may have been the first time she met someone with an aura like this.

Maybe this is why actually Dr. Pamela Isley opened her mouth, and for the first time in a year, talked to someone in the asylum. And not about her backstory, her looks, her powers, her family, her traumas.

Herself. She talked about what she actually wanted to talk about. What she thought of the world, what she thought of herself and opened up about the joys that gave her precious memories.

It was like Dr. Quinzel had some kind of power that made her tell the truth and only the truth. She felt almost lifelike, felt like she hasn’t been locked up here for a year, without nature.

She actually looked kind of hopeful into the future about her stay at the asylum. This girl might make her days less sufferable.

Chapter Text

Harleen was genuinely surprised by the fact that Pamela opened up to her on the first day. She was completely stunned.
As she walked back to her office, not caring about her colleagues calling after her and asking how it went, she giddily grinned to herself.

She quickly entered her office and shut the door. She leaned against the door, took a deep breath, closed her eyes and giggled. Harleen started jumping and did a little victory dance, which ended with her punching the air and repeating “yes yes yES YES YES”. After she finally calmed down she straightened her back and inhaled the smell of the musty office. The twinkle in her eye appeared again as she looked back at the case on her desk. She went over the dark brown desk and sat down, put her glasses and notebook down next to the case of Dr. Pamela Isley.

When Harleen studied Pamela Isley during those two hours, she was definitely stunned. She was in awe of this woman. All of her accomplishments, her studies, the way she built up herself, her reputation... it amazed Dr. Quinzel. The only obstacle she got into was Dr. Isley’s antipathy towards humanity.
Pamela had her fair share of trauma, which led to her distancing herself from her fellow humans. As she grew closer to nature, she grew more apart from humanity. She tried getting back to her original circle, but the people just kept on disappointing her. When Harleen read the case of the murder, which essentially led Pamela back to Arkham, as cruel as it sounded, Harleen felt as it was well deserved. Poison Ivy really did fight for the greater good, she just...used quite unusual ways to do it. Dr. Quinzel thought that Pamela should stick onto her doings, just maybe choose a different method. The first step should be to earn back the trust of Dr. Pamela Isley, in the name of humanity
This was the thought that stuck in her mind as she walked to the cell of Poison Ivy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Ivy opened up to her, Harleen’s heart softened. She felt as if she had known this woman her entire life. As she talked she could feel the pain in her voice, even if she was sharing the fond memories of hers. The green eyes changed colors throughout the stories, and sometimes, which may have gone unnoticeable to anyone, a tiny smile appeared on the green-skinned woman’s lips. Harleen noticed it, and as a domino, it made her smile even wider.

These little moments flashed through Harleen’s mind as she looked through her timetable. She would meet Pamela 5 times a week. Each session 60 minutes long.
Harleen was filled with joy and determination. Dr. Isley still had power and humanity inside her, and she wanted to show her that. She pulled out her book, where she would plan out the next sessions, and come into conclusion, and noted down all the essentials to start.

Before diving into the planning, she looked up again and smiled to herself. “This will be life-changing, I know it,” Harleen thought to herself. By that, she meant her whole career, her job, her experience. But she also thought it may also change the life of Poison Ivy. She genuinely believed in her patient, and it the fact that she doesn’t need to change. Just a little convincing about humanity. And to treat her well. Pamela deserved that. Little did she know, that this day really did change both of the lives of the women.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As days went by Pamela started feeling more and more alive. Besides the fact that she got to finally talk to someone with the „same knowledge level”, she could let go of herself for once.
Those tense months within the walls of Arkham made her forget who she was and what was that brought her joy. Mostly because of the isolation from nature, which created a hole in herself, a scar. She did feel like that was the worst torture she has ever gone through at the asylum.

And these sessions were never one-sided conversations where Pamela shared her thoughts. Harleen talked quite often, and thus by that Ivy got the know the woman more and more.
Harleen shared her past with her, her „backstory” as she joked, dreams and basically, she could talk about anything. She carried joy with her, that kind of joy that was contagious. She lifted the souls around her.
Ivy could see it didn’t just affect her only, but the fellow employees around Dr. Quinzel. The whole spirit around Arkham has seemed to...change. Like even the walls appeared to change color. Maybe it was just in the eyes of Ivy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 weeks have passed since the first session. It took enough time for both of them to finally get to know each other more closely.

Pamela seemed to be quite fond of these sessions and caught herself getting excited for each hour they met. It was as if the psychiatrist was the ray of sunlight in this dark institution. A hand to help her, and make her days less insufferable.

Harleen always tried to keep herself composed around her patient, but she couldn’t help but loosen up around her. She didn’t have to be strict, didn’t have to prove to her patient that she was great enough, and she could finally even take those fake glasses off.

Because Pamela not only did believe in her mind but knew, that she was smart and great enough to be working here. She wasn’t like her mates at the university who judged her by her looks and immediately put her in the „dumb blonde” box.
Harleen felt herself around Pamela. Not only her „doctor self” could shine, but didn’t have to hide her true spirit, the blissful and radiant self.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As another week passed Harleen got rid of her fake accent. Only a few bricks were left of Pamela’s wall, she completely stopped distancing herself from the other woman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pamela needed one month exactly to finally open up about how she felt at the moment.
How lost, distanced and lifeless she felt from the isolation.
Green eyes stared into the blue ones as Ivy explained it. She expressed how she felt in the nature like a poet and used brushstrokes to apply the feelings. The smell, the feeling of stepping into the wet grass, her fingers drumming against the trunk.
During that session, only Ivy spoke. She never stopped, she was almost out of breath and even for that hour, she felt as if she were outside, being alive again.
Harleen felt like she was there with her. As if she were sitting in the garden with a book in her hand, next to the botanist who nursed her babies. The stillness of it, the coziness of it. Exactly like an impressionist painting, a work of Édouard Manet himself.
As Harleen breathed in she could feel the sweet smell of the flowers around her.
The way the red-haired woman painted the scenery, Harleen could feel every emotion she expressed through it.

60 minutes has passed, the guard on the other side notified them with a knock. Poison Ivy closed her mouth with a loud sigh.
Harleen hasn’t spoken any word during that session. She muttered a quiet and humble thank you, smiled at Pamela, nodded, then left.

Pamela swore she saw a teardrop run down the face of the psychiatrist.

Chapter Text

Harleen quickly stepped out of the cell of Poison Ivy and rushed into her office.
She slammed down her notebook and quickly wiped her cheek to get those dried tears off.
She pulled out every single one of the drawers on her desk and stormed through every file that lay in them.
She wanted every lawbook, every file, every case about Arkham Asylum on her desk.

She had got work to do.

~~~~~~~~~

Pamela noticed that Harleen was in a rush when she arrived the day after their last session. It was unusual since no matter how giddy the girl was, she always held her posture composed, and calm.
This time she had her shoulders slumped down, and she was breathing heavily.

„Sorry, I had to run here, I just need a few moments, Pam,” Harleen said through heavy breaths, slipping the nickname into the sentence, which she started using not so long ago.

The first time Harleen used it, the doctor flustered for a second and apologized, saying „It’s a nature of my habit, please excuse me, Dr. Isley.” And scratched the back of her neck, and flashed Ivy a loop-sided smile. Pamela neutrally replied with an „It’s okay.”, so Harleen kept on using the nickname, which Pamela secretly liked. In exchange, Harleen introduced herself once again. The way she did it was quite comical, Ivy couldn’t help but stifle a laugh and smile at the woman standing in front of her. She did a quick bow, then straightened herself once again and stretched her hand out to the woman standing in front of her, who was now grinning widely.
„Dr. Harleen Quinzel. But just call me Harley! Everyone does! Or even shorter, as Harley Quinn, ya know, like harlequins” And the psychiatrist winked at her and shrugged her shoulders.
Pamela, like fixing her mistake for not shaking hands with her for the first time, gently took her hand and shook it.
„It’s a pleasure to meet you, Harley Quinn.” And gently smiled at her.
They held each other's hand for a couple more moments, before letting go and bursting into laughter. Pamela laughed genuinely for the first time in many years. After many years she felt happy in the company of a human. The deeply buried human part resurrected.

Pamela looked back at the exhausted woman and decided to let this strange moment slide.
„It’s alright, take your time, Harley.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the days went by, the more peculiar Harleen was. Every single time, she seemed she seemed to appear more and more hasty. It always seemed like she rushed from an other building just to get here. Even her hair was messy, more strands poked out of her bun, which felt like it were almost going to fall apart.

Pamela never questioned it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2 months have passed, and during those times that passed, there were days in which Harleen seemed stressed. Other days she felt tired. There was a week, where Harley seemed blue even.
Ivy tried to ask why she was feeling so down, but the doctor just brushed it off, and sadly smiled at her, simply saying „It’s nothing to worry about”.

Ivy did worry. Her heart ached at the view before her. She wanted nothing else, just to comfort her, and help her somehow.
She wished she could do more, than to sit around, talk, with ignoring the other woman’s state.

But she just couldn’t.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

17 months, 6 weeks and 4 days have passed since Poison Ivy got arrested.

17 months, 6 weeks and 4 days have passed since they locked her up in this insane institution.

17 months, 6 weeks and 4 days have passed, without any sunlight, and any contact with nature.

It’s been almost 5 months since she first met Dr. Quinzel.

During those 5 months, Pamela’s look on humanity slightly changed. She even caught herself getting attached to the doctor. The doctor’s wellbeing worried her more than her own.

Those 5 months made her forget about the worsening of her state. More and more weeks passed since she made any contact with any plant, but those 5 months slowed the rapid deterioration of the physical state.

And it was all because of one Harley Quinn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The session had been going on for 5 minutes now, and the doctor herself was not in the room. Pamela impatiently tapped her feet on the white tiles and kept glancing up at the clock.
She wasn’t frustrated, but...worried. Her heart was racing, she was terrified that something might have happened to the kind-hearted Harley. Terrifying scenarios played down in her head, and she squeezed her eyes shut, to get rid of them.

She ruffled her hair up and was about to look up at the clock once again when she finally heard the tapping on the keypad. It was her. Ivy let the air out slowly through her nose.

All of her fears disappeared after she was the expression on Dr. Quinzel’s face.
It radiated pure joy. Pamela’s heart drummed against her ribcage. She hasn’t seen that expression in a long time.

Harleen grinned widely, and like if she wanted to clarify why she was this happy, she announced;
„Good day, Pam, sorry for being late, I just have wonderful news!! You’ll hear about it pretty soon, so just keep calm!” (Pamela hasn’t moved since Harley stepped in.)

It felt like a stone has fallen off of Ivy’s heart. She would do anything just to see Harley this happy all the time.

The session fell back to its normal rhythm. It was like that for a week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week passed since Harleen stepped into Ivy’s cell with a marvelous grin and an announcement of great news.

Ivy, as usual, was awaiting her daily session. She heard the tapping on the keypad once again, and straightened her posture, and smiled, to greet the woman.

Instead of Dr. Quinzel, 3 guards stepped through the cell, and Pamela’s eyes widened in fear and betrayal. Harleen wasn’t there with them.
During those 10 seconds, until the guards slowly stepped next to the green-skinned woman, she imagined various possibilities why this might’ve happened.

1., Harley has been fired.
2., Harley got another patient.
3., Another routine check
4., Harley...manipulated her.

She gritted her teeth at the last possibility, hardly believing it, but her stomach still turned into knots.

One of the guards finally spoke;
„Alright Isley, you either gonna stand still, try not to pull any plant tricks on me, or we’re just gonna put you to sleep for that little distance, a’ight?”

Even if Ivy would’ve tried doing that, she had no strength to do it. She put her hands up, as the sign of surrender, to show the guards that she’s gonna keep calm.

Another guard motioned with her hand and Pamela followed her through the door.

She had no idea what was going to happen.

Chapter Text

The guards led her to a van, the one that is used by the police. It was matte black and had no windows in the back, where she was sitting with the guards.

She was getting frustrated.

She didn’t dare to ask any questions, just to dodge away from any harm they might cause her. She was weak enough.

They didn’t speak to her through the whole ride. One of them was holding a gun, in case the inmate would attack. Pamela rolled her eyes at that.

The ride felt like hours, and thus by that, Pamela began the question the reason, why this was happening.
Were they moving her to another place? Do these people even work at Arkham?

Her thoughts got cut in half when the van slowed down and stopped.
The guards stood up and opened the door of the back of the van.

Pamela was blinded by sunlight.

~~~~~~~~~~

She shut her eyes quickly, she still needed a few moments to get used to something, she hasn’t experienced in a year and a half. While this sensor in her body was closed, she took a gasping breath and smelled in the air.
Life. She smelled life around her, thousands of plants. She was so overwhelmed with this feeling, she popped her eyes open, to see it.

She started walking towards the end of the van, squinted her eyes, and put her left hand above them.

Her shoeless foot hit the ground, and like electricity, the feeling of the soft ground shot through her body. Her body started breathing again as the Sun hit the uncovered parts of her body.

As her eyes finally got used to the light, she opened them wide and finally saw the view. She spun around and took the scenery in. She took intense breaths in and grinned. She spotted countless trees, infinite land, but her eyes stopped at a small, homelike garden not so far away from her.

The guards seemed to stop following her. One of them was leaning against the van, the two of them were close enough to her to keep an eye on her. They still had their weapons.

She looked back at those two close to her, and as if the guards read her mind, they nodded and gave her permission.

As she got closer to the garden, she spotted another figure. She sped up, to find out the identity of the shadow. The shadow waved at her kindly.

„Is that...” muttered Ivy to herself, as her eyes shot open in realization.

„HEY, PAM!” The familiar figure shouted to the approaching woman.

It was her. It really was Dr. Quinzel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ivy started running towards her, which alerted the guards. Harleen told them off with the wave of her hand.

As Ivy got even closer, she could finally make out Harleen. She appeared to be wearing casual clothes. Black ripped jeans, a turtleneck, and a colorful jacket on top of it all, and sports shoes.

Her hair was in two pigtails which, Ivy had to admit to herself, looked utterly adorable. If someone told Ivy, that this woman, and her psychiatrist, were the same person, just a few months earlier, she wouldn’t believe them.

But as she got to know her through these sessions, it was harder to believe, that someone as giddy, playful and joyful, would wear her work attire outside her job too.

The woman she saw in front of her was Harley Quinn herself, the woman who quite literally changed her life. The girl she grew quite fond of during the months.

Ivy finally slowed down and crouched after the sprint, lowered her head, before looking straight into the blue eyes with a gigantic smile. She was breathing too hard, to even greet the doctor. Harley saved her from that.

„I bet you have millions of questions, huh? Don’t ya worry, I’ll explain all of this pretty quickly, but come with me before all of that.” And turned around and started walking deeper into the garden. The back of her jacket had multiple diamond patterns on them, mostly black and red ones, and smaller blue and pink ones. Harley got out of her sight pretty quickly, so she straightened up pretty quickly, and walked after her.

Ivy couldn’t help but gasp at the view before her. Maybe it was because of the isolation, or simply because the garden truly looked gorgeous. Maybe it was because Harley was here with her, and the other woman lit up the garden with her spirit.
Ivy slowly, but surely, was becoming stronger. Minute by minute she felt more alive.

As she stepped deeper into the garden, more and more different and various plants appeared in her view. Her eyes practically sparkled.

She ducked under the branches which hid the view where Harley went.
Pamela couldn’t help but gasp again. There was a cozy little „garden inside of a garden”, the only difference there was, the fact that it was completely covered in all sides by trees, such as acacia, which Pamela admired dearly. There was also a dark bench, which legs were covered in vines. There was a tiny creek under the bench. Harley walked around that bench, which seemed like was there as long as the trees were.
Harley sat down on it with crossed legs and with an excited smile on her face.

Ivy got closer, and instead of sitting down next to the blonde woman, she sat down on the ground and inhaled the smell of it with a gentle smile and faced Dr. Quinzel, with stars in her eyes.

Pamela was practically glowing. Her skin wasn’t so pale and lifeless anymore, she was majestically green. Healthy green, Harley couldn’t take her eyes off of it, especially thanks to Pamela’s radiant smile. Even her orange-ish hair gained back it’s deep red color.

Harleen wasn’t over-exaggerating when she thought it was the most gorgeous view she has ever seen. Even the woman she saw in her cells was drop-dead gorgeous, but now? Harleen had to compose herself and tried to reboot her brain, to actually start forming words.

Harleen cleared her throat and turned to Pamela again with a flushed face.

„Now, lemme explain everything, let’s start at the beginning.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Harleen left the session with tears on her cheek she decided one thing.

She’ll do everything, would risk everything, to get Pamela out of this depressing, isolating place, even for a moment (she deeply wished she could get her out permanently), to get Pamela back into nature, to make her feel alive again. Because Pamela sure made her feel alive.

Ivy always spoke so highly of her, it gave her such great confidence, that she felt like she could even take over the world. She always entered her sessions with a warm feeling inside of her chest.
During those 60 minutes, she felt like it was only her and Ivy on the whole wide world. No one else besides them.

She thought about these, as she rushed into the office of the head of the institution with cases in her hand, papers falling out of it due to the rush.

She slammed the door open, which earned surprised faces, and rushed to the desk of the director, and threw the case on his desk.

„Good afternoon, sorry for bursting in, but I have a serious issue I’d like to talk about.” As much as she tried to keep it formal and polite, her tone was slipping.

The „leader” of the Asylum just looked at her with wide eyes and a quirked eyebrow but nodded at the panting psychiatrist.

Harleen straightened her posture, cleared her throat and jumped right into it.

„I truly believe that the asylum has no right to take away such needs as sunlight from someone who requires it even more than us, and by that, I meant Dr. Pamela Isley, mostly known as Poison Ivy. She has been locked up here for a year without any contact with nature, without even air, for God’s sake. That is utterly inhuman, and I politely demand permission to change that.”
She couldn’t dare to say, that Poison Ivy also had no place at an institution like this, but she kept her mouth shut.

Harley has been escorted out of the room after this outburst.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harleen tried contacting them again the next day. Nothing changed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next week Harleen tried, they threatened her with taking her job away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

She waited for a month, during that time she got collected as much data as she needed about Ivy as she had to, to reach her goal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She tried once again, more furiously than before, and promised them, that she wouldn’t stop showing up at the office until they allowed her this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a week where she felt like there could be any moment, where she would be fired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While feeling hopeless she uplifted herself with finding the best place she and Ivy could have their sessions, the greatest place Ivy could connect to nature again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During those 3 months of research, she decided that she would use her secret weapon. The research she did while those months gained her thousands of articles that could be used against Arkham, which could lead to the closing of it and maybe even jailing the „leaders” of it.
She blackmailed them. As she said before, she would really do anything, to get Pamela out of this place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They turned completely white when she showed them the reports about the asylum. They didn’t hesitate at that moment and gave Harleen permission.
Also shortened Ivy’s stay at the place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pamela has been hit by a wave of feelings.
Harley did all of this for her. Harley fought for 2 months long, risked her dream job, just to get her out of that cell and feel life again. Harley cared enough about her to do all of this!

Harleen was looking at her with this. Look in her eye? That made Pamela feel like she was the whole world.

She got so overwhelmed that tears filled up in her eyes and started sobbing. No one has ever done this to her before, no one cared like Harley did, even if that woman only knew her for a few months.

Harley’s brows furrowed in worry, and hurriedly got up, too fast that she accidentally fell on her side. She quickly recovered and slid in front of Ivy, and kneeled in front of her.

She looked at the woman in front of her, her heart breaking in two. She remembered that she was not allowed to have any physical contact with her patient.

“Screw it.” Dr. Quinzel decided because this was an emergency.
She knew Pamela wasn’t too used to anyone touching her, but she risked it. She slowly lifted her right hand, and gently put a piece of Pamela’s hair behind her ear, so she could get access to her right cheek, and wipe those tears off.

Ivy looked at her through the tears in her eyes, and did the thing, she thought would never do. She threw her arms open and embraced Harleen strongly,
She sobbed into her shoulders, and chuckled on a low and thankful voice, and muttered thousands of thank yous into Harley’s shoulder.

Harley’s chest was fluttering, as she drew circles against the back of Ivy to calm her down.

They lay in each other’s arms like that for minutes, until eventually, Ivy calmed down.
Harley was caressing Ivy’s hair softly, and Ivy buried her nose into her shoulder. She felt safe in her arms. Both of them did. Neither of them wanted to let go, but Pamela wanted to say thousands of things to Harley, and so did Harley.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They lay on the soft ground together next to each other. Ivy had her eyes closed, still speechless after this gesture, and her lips turned into a soft and gentle smile.

Harley looked up at the sky, and broke the silence:

„Do you know why I chose this place?”

Ivy turned her head to look at the blonde woman next to her. Harleen’s eyes were fixated on the sky, but it looked like she wasn’t really looking at it. She had this wistful look in her eyes, and it felt like she was someplace else.

„The university where I studied is near this garden. So is the gym where I had my acrobatic competitions. And not so far away from the place where I grew up.
Once in a while when I was a teenager I’d walk around and just explore the city. When I was around 17 I came across this place. I just thought it was awesome, so I returned quite often. I even started practicing some pretty crazy jumps here, because I couldn’t dare to try those at home in front of my family.” She chuckled at the memory.

„I came back here at least three times a week during high school, and always came here to calm myself before the competitions.” She furrowed her brows before continuing.

„I had no time to visit during the first two years of university, because of all the rush, the stress and all that stuff ya know. Gosh, I was so frustrated, those two years were so goddamn miserable, I had like zero confidence, and I was so close to giving up and ditching this dream.”

Ivy rolled to her side and put her hands under her face and she looked at the side-profile of Harley. Her expressions changed various times during her story.

„After one day, I decided to just... run? Like to run away from all these problems? I wasn’t really looking where I went because I was pretty furious and didn’t care about it. But all of a sudden I stopped and opened my eyes. And surprise, surprise, I was here again.”
She took a deep breath and had a nostalgic look on her face.

„It’s like my subconscious led me here? It said, „Harley, get your shit together.” And led me here. And I started laughing, but also tears ran down my face? It was pretty cinematic not gonna lie. But anyways, I came back to this place, like it was a connection, kind of like...”

„Home.” Ivy finished it. Harley turned her head and finally looked her in the eye.

„Yeah. Like a part of me. And you kinda made me realize this? When you opened up during that session, geez. It was like you shared yourself, all of you, the most personal part of you, and somewhere in the back of my head the little picture of this garden popped up. In the beginning, I could only sympathize with your connection towards nature, but at that moment, I completely understood it. As weird as it sounds.
And my heart soared for you, for all the terrible stuff they put you through, I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing!!” She gestured with her hand as she quickly sat up, as her face formed into an expression filled with rage. She looked forward and breathed through her nostrils.

She turned her face back to Pamela with a loving expression painted on her face.

„So yeah, that’s why we’re here. I felt like this way I could show gratitude and awe towards you, because gosh, I never met anyone like you.”

Ivy sat up and put her hand on top of Harley’s.

„For all those years where you didn’t believe in yourself, I’m the perfect example of you being wrong at that time.” Ivy gently smiled at her and continued.

„I’m not lying when I say that you span my life upside down. In the good term, of course.” She softly chuckled at this part, and looked behind Harleen for a second to take the view of the garden in again.

„When you appeared in my cell for the first time, wearing those dumb glasses, your hair in a bun, looking all professional, at first I was like; „Another doctor who came in here to fix me, maybe try to even cure my skin, and just completely cut me off from any contact from nature, by taking that dying plant away.” But I certainly didn’t expect that to happen, I— „

She couldn’t form words to express herself at first, so she just gaped, motioned around with her hands, and quirked her eyebrow, which earned a small giggle from Harley.

„You made me feel alive again. I mean look at me! Who you’ve seen at the asylum was certainly not Poison Ivy, but this one... now this is her.” Ivy grinned back at Harley, mirroring the expression on the other woman.

„And all you needed was a little Sun, which those assholes refused to give you.” Harley half grumbled to herself.

Ivy lowered her head as she warmly chuckled. She looked back into the ocean of blue eyes with the lightest green eyes.

„Oh, Harls... The garden wasn’t the one that made me feel alive and myself again, I mean it sure helped me to get stronger physically, but to... resuscitate me? No, daffodil, it wasn’t the garden. It was all you.”

Harley froze in her shock, and slowly tears started to bubble up in her eyes.

„All of this because of your bubbly and uplifting personality, your open heart, your kind-hearted soul, your terrible jokes, your contagious smile, and honestly I could go on and on for ages, but we don’t have time for that. It was you, who made all of this possible. I even doubted my view on humanity, made me realize that not every human is so terrible. Still need a little convincing, not so sure about all of them...
But one thing I’m sure about – „Ivy lifted her left hand to wipe the happy tears off of Harleen’s cheek, just like the other woman did not so long ago „- is that you’re the best of them all.”

Ivy (with very light tears in her eyes) pulled the now sobbing woman closer to her, and pressed a soft kiss on top of her blonde head. Harleen put her head on Pamela’s chest as they laid back down to the grass.

„Just to clear some things up.” Harley sniffed, and Ivy without even looking at her could feel the smile on her face.

„We’ve got 10 sessions left – Ivy’s eyes widened at that, and as if Harley could see it, she continued with – but don’t ya worry, not because I got fired thanks to all the blackmail, they kinda fear me now, but because they’ll let you out in 2 weeks. As I said before, I made them color their pants with the reports.”

Ivy was speechless for a few seconds, before opening her mouth.

„Is this one out of ten, or will it start tomorrow?” Ivy half-jokingly asked, but deep down she didn’t want these to end.

Harley laughed on a teary voice and jokingly replied with:
„Nah, this ain’t one of them, you’re not gonna escape me that fast.”

The two women giggled together, Harley slipping down due to all of it, so she was not laying on the stomach of Ivy with her back.

„Believe me, I’m not rushing anywhere.” Ivy replied and she meant it. She didn’t want to let go of Harley this fast. She grew too close to her to lose her now.

They lay together in comfortable silence for a few minutes, with their eyes closed, enjoying the soft, but chilly breeze in their hair.

Harley broke the silence again, on a timid and soft voice:

„I was thinking that... since I highly doubt that you would go back to your abandoned greenhouses that maybe, just maybe, you don’t have to, look I ain’t forcing you to anything, those places are cool too, I wasn’t saying they’re like wack you know, but-„

Ivy cut her rambling short as she laid her hand on her arm, to calm her down. She moved her thumb softly against the soft fabric of the jacket. Harley tried again, calmer than before, and jumping straight to the point.

„So, I thought that maybe you could stay at my place, til you find a new apartment. It’s not so big, but pretty cozy and warm, has like a little balcony, you could put some plants there if you’d like, and ooh, it’s also close to several parks, and-„

She was cut short with Ivy’s full-hearted chuckle. Harley quickly sat up to see her reaction.

Ivy opened her eyes again and gave Harley the most loving smile.
„I’d love that, thank you so much Harls.”

They stared at each other for a few moments, feeling like they were the last to individuals on the planet again, before laying down on the grass one more, and last time.

Harley had hear head against Ivy’s chest, and her right arm thrown around her torso.
Ivy had one of her hands under her head, the other gently laying on the side of Harley.

They wanted to stay like this together. Somewhere far away from here, the dying in Ivy’s cell came back to life and bloomed again.

During this still-life, they thought about what might happen in the future, and excitedly awaited it. It’s crazy how both of their lives changed so quickly.

17 months, 6 weeks and 4 days have passed since Poison Ivy got arrested.

She had been locked up in the asylum since that, and after 17 months, 6 weeks and 4 days, she finally saw sunlight and regenerated, could smell the wonderful smell of fresh flowers.

162 days ago Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel got a job as a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum.

153 days ago Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley met Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel.

In 2 weeks Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley is going to be a free woman. While she was awaiting that, Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel was laying on her chest, who not so long ago brought up the idea of living together, until the Pamela found a home of own.

As much as she could search, she knew she wouldn’t find a home since she already found it. She was exactly there at the time. Pamela just needed 10 more sessions with Harley to finally come to that conclusion.

It was a garden, filled with life and joy, made out of love. She referred to it as the „Garden of the Kind Natured”. Pamela knew it was utterly sappy and overly cheesy, but it was just the truth.

In two weeks Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley would be a free woman, but until that, she wanted to enjoy the remaining time of those sessions in the garden.

With her Garden of the Kind Natured.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The End