*bone deep sigh* why can't I just let ideas go
Okay!
Harvey feels the ground shake and snarls, storming to the door of his base and throwing it open. "Oi!" Harley glances over at him, hanging from one of her girlfriend's vines one-handed, and waves. "Destroy the city somewhere else, I'm busy here!" Harley pretends not to hear him and swings off, soaring though the air, mallet aimed for Batman, and Harvey rolls his eyes, slamming his way back into his warehouse.
The two of them might be leaning more towards anti-heroes now, but the Rogue in them runs deep, and Harvey knows he'll just have to power through with his work, because they won't be stopping any time soon.
Half an hour later, Harvey lifts his head, listening closely. He's not imagining it, he decides, pushing back slowly from his chair and grabbing a gun. There's no noise outside. No cackle, no rumble of veins pushing up concrete, no whirr of a grapple, no sirens.
Harvey takes the side door this time, and sneaks out. Out here, the silence is even more ominous, and he keeps his gun lifted as he creeps out onto the street. Plants are strewn across the street, some crawl across the road, others over buildings, some lay mutilated in the path, clearly having encountered the the Bat and his batarangs.
Harvey maintains it's a stupid damn name. Batarangs.
There's no sign of Harley, Ivy, or Batman, and Harvey can feel the familiar prickly sensation at the base of his spine that something is wrong.
"I don't fucking know, Harls!"
Harvey snaps his head upwards, and groans under his breath. He slips back into his building, and quickly makes his way to the roof. He slips onto it through the second, hidden entrance and stops dead at what he sees.
Batman lays splayed on the roof, unconscious, with Ivy and Harley kneeling over him. With the entire roof reeking of heat scent.
Two-Face cocks his guns and steps into sight, levelling a muzzle at each of them. "Step away from da Bat. Now." Both freeze, and Ivy growls at him, an alpha challenge that gets his hackles up.
"You think we're going to hand him over to you to have your way with him?" Harley growls, the pissed-off sound coming from a beta rankling his instincts, alerting him he's in danger.
Two-Face doesn't react beyond tilting his head. "Which one of us has a rap for sexual crimes, huh? What pollen d'ya use on him, Ives?" His tone may be light, but the undercurrent of threat is not hidden, and Ivy flinches slightly.
"You know I don't use those pollens anymore, Harvey."
"Harvey's a naïve fucker. I don't trust you."
"It wasn't us," Harley soothes, sliding an arm around her alpha's waist. "We were fighting, and he just hit the deck. We didn't even hit him. The smell's pretty hard to miss, so we brought him up here so no one could smell him, and we could find one of his Robins."
Two-Face holsters his guns and hurries forward, glaring when Ivy makes to stop him. "They can't help." He drops to his knees next to Bruce and moves his head into his lap, hand glancing over the cowl. The little part of his face visible is pale and shining with sweat, and it's only going to get worse.
"Well they can sure do more than we can," Harley hisses, crouching next to him, and Two-Face shakes his head again.
Cautiously, he studies both of them. "If I told you his identity, can I trust you not to use it against him?"
Both freeze, and Ivy narrows her eyes. "You know who the Bat is?"
"Some of us do. We ain't gonna fuck it up for ourselves by giving him no reason to stick to the constraints of a secret identity, now, are we?"
The mates share a long look, then turn back to him and nod in sync. "You can trust us," Ivy assures.
Two-Face moves his gaze to Harley, and smiles at her, plucking the memories from Harvey's consciousness. "Page 52: omega's are biologically curated to bear pups, so should mate at eighteen in order to—"
"—begin the reproductive process as soon as possible while they're in their prime fertility." Harley finishes the quote as stares at him in wonder, then at Bruce, jaw hanging open slightly. "No fuckin way."
Ivy stares at them both, utterly lost. "Why are you quoting reasons to oppress omegas at each other?"
"Because Bruce hated his out-of-date medical textbook and his rants are branded on my brain," Harley explains, inching closer. Two-Face reluctantly inches back, giving her the room, and she takes Bruce's hand, stroking his cheek over the cowl with the other.
"Bruce who?"
"Bruce Wayne," Two-Face fills in, keeping his voice quiet. You never know who's listening in Gotham.
"He's Batman?" Harley asks, watery.
"So now ya know why da Robins won't be no help."
Harley looks like she's sucking on a lemon, and glances at Two-Face. "We can't leave him here. Do we take him back to the Manor?"
"Oz's place is closer." He scoops Bruce up into his arms, and Harley takes the lead, sweeping back across the roof, mallet clenches rightly, ready to take out any threat to Bruce that might emerge, while Ivy brings up the rear, radiating confusion.
Harley leads them to the Batmobile and takes Bruce's hand, leaving Two-Face in an awkward crouch to let the scanner unlock the car. He slides into the back with Bruce, Ivy after him, while Harley gets into the front, and stares at the console in confusion.
"Why are there thirteen gears?"
Bruce shifts in Two-Face's lap, and he whines quietly, writhing.
"Initiate autopilot?" An automated voice asks, and Harley laughs in relief.
"Yes."
"Destination?"
"Cobblepot Manor."
"Autopilot, to Cobblepot Manor."
Harvey eases the cowl back and strokes a clammy cheek, rumbling quietly. "It's okay, Bruce, I've gotcha." The omega is clearly drifting closer to consciousness, and Harvey holds him close.
"Can we trust Ozwald?" Pamela asks, amd Harvey grins at her.
"I have ways of making sure we can."
Part 2
