Rose Bud [HarleyxIvy]

Chapter 1

This story is based on one of my characters in a DC Universe Roleplay that centers before the event took place.

The steady sound of falling droplets of rain in the darkness of the night brought calmness to Poison Ivy as she sat by the window, legs pulled close to her chest as she watched the leaves of the trees outside.

It was perhaps around nine with most of the lights in Gotham already lit as she looked out through her window. Her hideout was a small cabin hidden by the tall trees outside of Gotham, it has been abandoned for long, at least that was what The Broker had said, but she really didn't care as long as she could live as close to nature as possible.

Her hideout was supposed to be a secret, no one was supposed to know where she was, she told no one about this place, thus the banging on the front door really has startled her.

Putting on her robe and tying it as she walked down the short hallway, some vines has already sneaked through the windows to be by her side, ready to strike if there was any sort of danger at the other side of the door. When she turned the doorknob and opened the door, her vines did not strike as she was faced with the blonde haired woman by her doorstep.

Harley was soaked from head to toe, the pigtails were clearly tied in a rush as strands of blonde hair stuck to het face and neck, and she didn't even wear her usual costume. Instead she was clad in a worn sweater and dirty jeans.

"H-hi Red," she shivered, obviously from the cold, yet she still mustered a small smile at the redhead. "C-can I come in?"

Ivy still could not form any sort of word as she stepped away to let the blonde in, closing the door and locking it back. "How did you find this place?" She never told anyone about the location, she even made The Broker swore not to breath a word, so how did Harley managed to show up at her doorstep?

"I s-snuck into The Broker's p-place, saw the l-list of places bought recently. F-figured you'd be here from the l-location." If the jester's teeth were not chattering so badly, Ivy knew she would have been chewing on her bottom lip.

"God Harley, you're shivering, you could catch a cold." From all the things that she could have said to her, the redhead scolded her instead. "Come on, let's go to the bathroom and get out of that clothes. I'll get some new ones for you then I'll wash your hair."

"T-thanks Pam, but n-no need to wash ma h-hair." Harley's smile and entire face hid something else from Ivy, but she knew she could ask that later. For now, she had to make sure the blonde was warmed up first.

So Ivy led her friend to the bathroom, they rarely ever close the door whenever Harley came to live with her, but today it was closed. Even when the redhead brought a loose shirt that she knew would be even more oversized over Harley's smaller body, a pair of shorts, and also underwear, all Harley did was to peek around the door, took the clothes as she thanked her, then shut the door back closed.

And it succeeded on making Poison Ivy concerned beyond normal.

But she waited, she let Harley to have the privacy that she seemed to need more than anything at the moment, as she sat on the bed. She didn't enjoy watching TV, and as she was quite far from Gotham, she did not bother to have TV. At the moment, she wished she had though, just so she could try to distract herself.

The house was so quiet she could hear everything even with the door closed. The sound of water in the tub, the silence when Harley sat inside it and took a bath, when thetub was empied, and of course when the door was finally opened.

The harlequin stood by the door wearing the clothes she was given, and she was supposed to at least look a little freshened up if it was not for how red and puffy her eyes were.

"Thank you, Red." She sniffled, obviously had been crying inside, as she approached the bed, sitting down as she flung her arms around her neck and buried her face on the crook of Pam's neck, face now hidden under the curtain of fiery red hair.

And Pam wrapped her arms around the blonde in return, rubbing her back to soothe her. "Did he kick you out again?" Harley would come to her, crying that she would never return to that maniac, stayed for a while and then eventually broke her own promise as she went back to him. And no matter how many times Pam's heart had been hurt each time the blonde left, she always welcomed her back with open arms.

It was a never-ending cycle she was trapped in.

But the slow shaking of Harley's head made the Mother Nature furrowed her eyesbrows in confusion. The jester never intentionally left her Puddin', she was always the one getting kicked out. "No... I left him."

"But why?" She should have feel relieved that the pigtailed woman left him, should have feel happy that perhaps Harley has started to see the clear image. But there was a nagging feeling that just did not feel right.

Harley kept quiet, just keeping her face hidden, and Ivy started to suspect that the wetness on her skin was not just tears but also drool, until the blonde hiccuped and tightened her hold around her friend, convincing her that she did not fell asleep.

"Harls..." Pam started as she sighed, hand coming up to stroke the still wet blonde hair. "I want to help you, but you have to tell me what's wrong."

"I left him, Pam, for good." Harley murmured, "Can't stay livin' with him now, no more."

"Is everything alright?" Ivy questioned, tucking a strand of her own red hair behind her ear. "You're hiding something from me. What is it?"

The blonde removed herself from the plant goddess, wiping her eyes and cheeks with the back of her hand. "I ain't the only one that's gonna be stayin' with you."

Pam had her suspicions, had her fear of things that might happen, and with what Harley has just said her mind went directly into one possibility. But she didn't want to believe it, didn't want to think that it was happening, she couldn't just have something like that. She had to be sure. "What do you mean, Harls?"

Harley lifted her shirt then, just below her bra line, and Pam's jaws tightened at the sight of her changing body. It was almost unnoticeable, but she knew there was something. She had ran her hands over Harley's stomach numberous times to know that it was not the same. "I'm pregnant, Red."

She despised that green haired maniac, despised him so much that she couldn't even say his name, more than she despised humans because in her eyes he was not one. And now there was a part of him inside of Harley, living and growing, depending it's life to the blonde.

"Red..."

"You should go to sleep, get some rest." Ivy said as she stood up from the bed, fingers massaging the bridge of her nose as she shut her eyes. "I'm going to be in my greenhouse."

"Pam," Harley caught her wrist, preventing her to go. "I left him because I wanna protect the kid. I don't trust anyone 'cept you to know this, not even Selina."

"I know, Harley. I know." Ivy murmured, so quietly she doubted the blonde could hear her, as she gently pried the fingers around her wrist. "Just call me if you need anything."

She didn't even dare to turn and look at Harley's expression, she knew that the blonde was hurt until she didn't say anything else, but she had to go away to clear her mind.

Ivy made her way toward the door as her ears picked the creaking sound of the bed when Harley prepared herself to sleep, and when the door was almost shut close behind her, she finally dared to look over her shoulder only to see the blonde already lying on the bed on her side, face hidden with the blankets, before the door was finally shut.