A Better Gotham
Harley Quinn x Poison Ivy
Word Count: 1557
No Warnings
Requested by: @frostbite883
Request: If the Joker never existed and Harleen Quinzel was still a psychiatrist working at Arkham Asylum and Pamela Isley wasn't experimented on and now worked as a botanist somewhere in Gotham in this scenario, different would their lives be?
An: To answer your question, I think they'd both be thriving. Possibly even thriving together.
Masterlist
Gotham City was mostly a peaceful place. The skies were clear and the crime rates were dropping everyday. There was a small period of time where criminals were doing crimes, getting arrested, and released only to have the cycle repeat. That all changed when Arkham Asylum hired Harleen Quinzel.
Harleen Quinzel was the most qualified Psychiatrist in Gotham City. If her degrees and academic achievements didn’t already speak for themselves her work at the asylum did. Harleen was magical with most of the prisoners, it was easy for her to dissect, diagnose, prescribe, and reform a lot of these inmates. Not every inmate could be helped and Harleen understood that but she did her best to push for prisoner reform.
Thanks to her diligence the city around her started to change. Gotham was safer than ever before thanks to her work. She had been acknowledged by her peers and a lot of her fellow Gothemites. She didn’t have a lot of friends to celebrate with but she did have one.
Gotham’s resident environmentalist, Pamela Isley. When crime was at its peak the city was in shambles. There was garbage everywhere, fires weekly, the water was almost a dark green; it was truly horrendous. Pamela spent a lot of her time trying to clean up the streets but it was almost impossible until Harleen was dealing with the cause of most of the environmental devastation.
Once crimes were less prevalent the streets weren’t only metaphorically cleaner but also physically. Pam worked hard to promote how much it was important for Gotham City to be clean. She often rallied up groups to help her clean up the city street by street. She lobbied for more trees in the city to raise the quality of air and she even proposed a new eco-friendly water system that the town implemented.
When she felt that she had taken care of the waste problems in Gotham she moved on to her true passion. While Harleen focused on people Pamela focused on nature. She had been studying advanced botanical biochemistry for years and she even had a PHD in the subject.
She used that degree to open up her own botanical garden in Gotham. It was a great way for her to learn more about plants and teach others. Her botanical garden was one of the main tourist attractions in Gotham. Pam had plants that other people had never even heard of. Her special cross breeds drew the attention of many other scientists in the botany community. She was making strides in the field that no one else could have imagined.
Not only was she an accomplished environmentalist in the city of Gotham but Pamela was almost famous in the world of advanced botanical biochemistry. She had been honored and received many awards and had even been offered high profile positions outside of Gotham City. However all that Pamela wanted to do was manage her beautiful little garden and hangout with her best friend Harleen Quinnzel.
Each woman usually had a schedule filled to the brim but they always set aside two in their week where they could catch up and hangout with each other. Both women were overly passionate about their work so they had a rule, they could only spend an hour talking about work. That made each woman try to get out a little so that they had something to talk about, not they minded sitting in comfortable silence.
Today was one of those days that they had scheduled a hangout. It was around fall so the day wasn't as bright as usual, in fact it was raining. The rain wasn’t coming down too hard but it did prompt them to cancel any outdoor activities and settle for movie night at Harleen’s.
“ Harley, what are we going to order?” Pam called to the woman in the kitchen from her comfortable spot on the couch.
“ You know I hate that nickname, Poison Ivy,” Harleen shot an unwanted nickname right back at her.
“ Hey! Harley is way nicer than you calling me a plant that could make someone burst out in hives”
Harleen strode into the living room with 2 takeout menus in her hands,” Fine, I’m sorry Pammy. We’ve got Cobblepot’s Cobblestone Pizza’s or Bane's Bueno Burritos."
" Oh definitely Cobblestone, the last time I went to Bane's I was sick for days," Her hand rubbed her tummy as she remembered the awful burrito.
" It's probably because of the fake paste they pass off as meat," Harleen plopped on the couch next to Pamela.
She placed the order for the pizza and turned on a movie for the two of them. The movie was utterly boring and didn't have their attention long before they bursted out into small talk.
" Harls?"
" Yes Pam"
" You seeing anybody lately?"
Harleen rolled her eyes, " You know no one is willing to date someone with a schedule like mine."
" Oh come on Harls, we spent hours setting up that dating profile for you"
The psychiatrist shrugged, " Everyone on there was just looking for a quick hookup."
" Did you even go on one date?"
Harleen was going to lie but Pam sensed it and gave her a look," No, I didn't"
Pamela wss going to start up but Harleen cut her off, " Who needs a relationship when I've got you?"
The environmentalist looked away from her friend slightly blushing," Well we aren't dating Harleen"
Harleen took notice of the light rose tint to Pamela's cheeks. It was no secret that there was always a little underlying tension when the women spent time together.
A lot of it stemmed from being the only one the other had. They had been the only consistent in each other's life. Cleaning up the community was hard for both of them and they often leaned on each other for support and relief. They relished in each other's success and failures. No matter how small the victory was, they were each other's support systems.
In Harleen’s eyes Pamela was her person. It never got more complicated than that for the woman. It was always so easy with Pamela. Making time for anything else seemed impossible but when it came to Pamela she had all the time on the world.
Pamela felt the same way about Harleen. To Pamela, Harleen was the prettiest flower in the garden as cliché as it sounded. She didn't realize how strong her feelings toward her friend were originally. It wasn't until she realized that everytime she accomplished something the first thing she wanted to do was share the news with Harleen.
" We might as well be. I mean if I'm not a work I'm with you and honestly there's nowhere else I'd rather be"
Harleen was hesitant but she still managed to put her hand on top of Pamela’s. Pamela glanced at their hands before intertwining their fingers.
“ What are you trying to say Harls?”
Harleen smiled looking down at their joint hands,” Well you’re always asking me about my dating life. I think it would kill two birds with one stone if we just started dating. Think about it, you wouldn’t have to ask me any questions about my love life and I’d be in a committed relationship. Sounds like a win-win to me”
Pamela tilted her head pretending to ponder it over, “ It does seem pretty logical, there’s only one thing that’s worrying me.”
“ And what would that be Dr. Isley?”
Pamela smirks, “ Well Dr. Quinzel, I would have to run a kissing test to see if we are biochemically compatible”
Harleen couldn’t help but laugh, “ We’ve kissed before”
Pamela looks at her wide-eyed, “ When was this and why don’t I remember”
“ When we both had too much to drink at Bruce Wayne's Christmas party”
Pam pales even further, “ That whole night is literally a blur”
“Well let me help you remember. Your hands were here,” she places Pamela’s hands on her waist, “ My hands were here,” her hand lock behind Ivy’s neck, “ And then I leaned up a little bit”
The rest of the sentence was lost when their lips met. The kiss wasn’t crazy or wild but it was passionate. Completely overdue if they were being honest. Harleen reveled in the moment as Pamaela’s lips brushed delicately against her own, creating just enough pressure to make Harleen crave more. Pamela was experiencing a similar sensation as Harleens plump lips molded perfectly against hers. This was bliss for the both of them.
The kiss was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell being rung. They pulled away slowly, staring into each other's eyes. Harleen didn’t get the chance to say anything as the doorbell rang again. She huffed as she had to go answer the door. Pamela laughed at her stubbornness and waited for Harley to return.
“ Well at least the moment was ruined by piping hot pizza,” Harleen walked back to the living room with a pizza box in hand. She set it down on the table before plopping back on the couch next to Pamela.
“ It’s not a big deal, I mean we have plenty of time to make more moments considering that we’re dating,” Pamela said nonchalantly, grabbing a slice of pizza.
Harleen grinned, getting herself a slice as well, “ I suppose you’re right Dr. Isley. We’ve got all the time in the world”
