Jason typically makes it a point not to mess with Poison Ivy, but when one of his plans results in the destruction of one of Ivy's greenhouses, he lands himself on her shitlist.
He figures it'll be easy enough to steer clear of her.
Unfortunately for him, Ivy has plans for him.
this fic popped into my brain one night and wouldn’t leave me alone until i wrote it. so. *gestures* have this
please mind the tags
thank you so much to @this-was-a-terrible-idea for betaing this for me <3
>> AO3 <<
Jason generally makes it a point not to mess with Poison Ivy.
No one’s ever asked why, but if they ever did— Well. He’d tell them that he agrees with her. Kind of. Humanity as a collective has really done a number on the planet, and while there are a great many of them who want to do better, there are also, unfortunately, a powerful few who don’t. Where they differ is that Jason would really much rather her efforts stuck to those powerful few instead of any poor fuck who happened to be unlucky enough to be near her latest target.
Not that he really has much of a leg to stand on in the area of collateral damage.
Case in point: One of his most recent missions happened to involve bombs, and said bombs might have, maybe, been more powerful than he’d expected them to be. And he might have, maybe, possibly, taken out part of one of Ivy’s greenhouses in the resulting explosion.
So. Now he has an extra reason to tell people why he’d rather not cross paths with Ivy, if they asked.
However.
The universe is rarely ever kind to Jason Todd, and the latest way they’ve chosen to demonstrate that is by ensuring he ends up directly in her path.
Jason nimbly dodges a vine trying to grab onto his leg. “We don’t have to do this,” he tries, even as he thumbs off the safety of his pistol. “I can just pretend I didn’t see you and go the other way.”
“Tempting,” she drawls. More vines twist around her feet. He can’t quite tell where they’re coming from.
The hell is she doing out here, anyway? Her dynamic might have been lost to the experiments she endured, but she’s more territorial than any alpha Jason’s ever met. She usually sticks to the parks, not the abandoned industrial areas. To be fair, it’s not Jason’s first choice of hangout either, but there was a drug lab in the area whose manager had been lacing their products with an old strain of fear toxin, and he meant to dig it out at the root—then salt and burn it for good measure. Point was: It wasn’t the first time he’d had to spend his nights in the area and it wouldn’t be the last. Ivy, though. Ivy needed greenery, and there wasn’t much to be found here.
Not unless she felt like branching out to seaweed, anyway—or whatever other kinds of plants were lurking in Gotham Harbor.
Another vine whips through the air. Jason rolls out of its way, and winces at the impact it makes when it hits the ground. He fires at it. The bullet rips through the plant, sending a spray of green splattering through the air and across the pavement.
Ivy shrieks.
Two more vines lunge toward him—one’s going for his gun, the other his leg. He fires a shot as he dodges. Another hit. Ivy doesn’t shriek this time. Nor does she waste any time in sending more vines after him.
It’s all Jason can do to keep up. As Robin, Bruce never brought him out when Ivy was around, and as Red Hood, he’s had scant few encounters with her. None of those had been alone, either; there was always someone else to split her ire between. On his own…
He can feel himself flagging. He hasn’t exactly slacked on his agility training, but it’s been a long time since he had to keep it up for this long—let alone keep track of so many opponents. Whatever demon plant Ivy brought with her seems to produce an infinite number of vines, all of them thick and sturdy and barely phased by Jason’s bullets. More than a few of them are bleeding sluggishly, but despite that, they’re just as quick and strong as their brethren.
It’s probably a waste to keep firing them at this point, but Jason’s not sure what else to do. He has a few knives, but he’s not sure they’ll be able to hack through the tentacles, and as for his bombs… He’d rather save those for whatever the source of the plant is.
Which he needs to find, quick.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spots an alley. He knows this area well enough to know that it has a few branching points down it. If he’s fast enough, he could run down it and circle back without her noticing—although, the rooftop might provide a better vantage point…
The rough edges of a plan start to form.
He fires a shot at another vine, then makes a break for it. He gets barely halfway down the alley before the ground splits under him and a vine bursts through the asphalt.
What the fuck, he thinks, spinning on his heel. There are more vines behind him. He ducks under one—jumps over another, but the third snags him. He kicks out, of course he does, but the other three swarm him, wrapping around his legs and arms, and his torso too. He squirms and strains against their hold… but they don’t so much as budge.
Finally, he goes limp—the last option of a cornered omega. Clearly he’s not going to be able to brute force his way out. Not yet, anyway. Better save his energy for an escape later.
There’s no rush in Ivy’s gait as she approaches him—only a sway in her hips. Jason thinks it’s meant to be sensuous. It reminds him of a predator instead. She comes to a stop in front of him. There are still more vines winding around her feet, her ankles. Something about them reminds him almost of faithful hounds, yapping at her heels.
The way she reaches out to caress one only adds to the image.
“Seems I’ve got you all trussed up, Hood,” she says, her voice smile-warm. It contrasts with the coldness in her eyes.
He swallows. “Seems so,” he repeats, thankful for the modulator in his helmet and the way it hides the crack in his voice. “Look, I’m—I’m sorry about the bomb. I didn’t know it’d be so strong, or that you had a greenhouse nearby. It won’t happen again.” His heart pounds in his chest. It’s not from the exertion. Nor is the sweat beading at the small of his back.
Ivy clicks her tongue. “You were careless.”
He winces. It’s nothing he hasn’t heard before. Bruce says it to him at least once every time they meet. Coming from Ivy, though… It doesn’t bode well for his immediate future, that’s for sure. “Yes, I, I guess I was.”
She snorts. “You’re usually so mouthy, Hood. Cat got your tongue?” One of the vines breaks off to trail over his chest in a mimicry of a seductive touch.
He can’t stop his shudder. “Just a little—” The vines creep higher on his leg, constricting around his upper thigh, entirely too close to his groin for comfort, and his breath hitches. “Just a little tied up at the moment.”
Ivy laughs again. “Don’t worry,” she says. “I’m not going to kill you.” The vine strokes over the cheek of his helmet. “No matter how tempting of an idea it is. No… I have a better use for you.”
The way she smiles sends a chill down his spine.
“Let me go. I’m not— I know I fucked up, I know I was careless, or whatever, but I’m not— I’m not who you have an issue with.” He really shouldn’t be begging so early, he knows, but— Well. Maybe he lied earlier. Maybe he doesn’t avoid Ivy because he agrees with her. Maybe he avoids Ivy because she, and her pollen, scare the shit out of him. “You’ve got bigger fish to fry than me.”
Ivy doesn’t answer. She turns away instead, walking toward the mouth of the alley with that same sensuous, unhurried gait. The vines follow. First the ones at her feet—then the ones wound around him, taking him with.
He swallows harder this time. “The others will notice I’m missing. They’ll come looking for me. That’s not attention you want.”
Ivy doesn’t stop walking—but she does turn her head back to look at him. “Will they?” she arches an eyebrow.
Jason doesn’t manage to stop the flinch. He does manage, at least, to swallow the keen in his throat.
His pack doesn’t want him. Haven’t for years, and all of his attempts to fill that void have, so far, been unsatisfactory. It’s an ache he’s learned to live with, mostly. But sometimes it digs deeper than usual.
Right now is one of those times.
Because Ivy’s implication is right. They would eventually, maybe. Oracle at least would notice he hadn’t checked in in a bit, he thinks. Or Bruce would notice that the Alley had been quieter than usual. Maybe. Or—well. More likely no one would notice until things started falling apart. And that, well Jason had taken steps to make sure that his operation could keep running for months without him. He’d had to, after the Outlaws formed.
Which—
Roy would notice. The thought is like the first breath of air to a drowning man, and he clings to it tightly. Even if no one else noticed he was gone, Roy would. He’s the closest thing to pack Jason’s had since he died. He’d come looking for him.
It would still probably take a week, at least, but Roy would come.
“Someone will. And I promise you, Ivy, whatever you want from me— It’s not worth the hell they’ll bring down on your head.”
Ivy looks back again, but this time she doesn’t respond.
Nor does she let him go.
Instead, one of the vines sneaks up to where his helmet meets his suit. It looks for an opening—but the seal holds. For a moment, Jason is relieved. Then another twists around his wrist, and under his glove, then up beneath the fabric of his under suit. Something pricks him, and then he feels the cold rush of fluid in his veins.
They don’t even make it out of the warehouse district before he blacks out.
Wearing @saimachaudhry.official Pearl's necklace for her next music video. #saimachaudhry #sc #saima #ivyjay #jewelry #fashion #glamour #diva #smile #swag #blog #celebration #celebrityDiaries #creative #nyfw #nyfw2019 #fashionista #world #joy #women #1 #fashiondesigner #one # (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxv3qmshV8X/?igshid=aod8zj2hekju
I could say it, but you won’t believe me
you say you do, but you don’t deceive me
it’s hard to know they’re out there
it’s hard to know that you still care (x)
somebody on dA was telling me about their favorite Warriors ships aaaand they happened to mention Ivy/Jay, which I shipped very very hard back when Night Whispers and SotM were released, before Hollyleaf showed up <3
