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yall-batman-fanfic · 22 days ago

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The Dark Side of Academia | Bruce Wayne/Batman x OC!Magician ft. Poison Ivy

Synopsis: Inspired by Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 2. Vivian crosses paths with Poison Ivy when she was brought to Gotham University by an ambitious scientist to be part of their research as Dr. Pamela Isley. In their time there, Poison Ivy comes across a man who Vivian shares a disdain towards.

There are three things that Vivian would welcome as a surprise when she comes to work.

Her adopted children, who would always drop by at her place of work whenever they could.

Her husband, who would try to join her for lunch at the cafeteria despite her telling him how impractical it was for him to drive all the way from Wayne Enterprise to see her. But she loved the effort anyway and would make the time to go to his place of work too.

And crime. Gotham crime.

As a tenured professor at GU and as a tenured Gothamite---yes, she's earned that title now too---finding some costumed criminals or a crime organization taking over GU for their personal agenda is normal.

Quite a high bar, if she was asked. But when she came to Metropolis University, the bars of her encountering any of those, especially the last one, was slim, so when she saw Gotham's notorious eco-terrorist walking the halls of the campus, Vivian couldn't help but hide behind the wall and hope that Poison Ivy did not notice her.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

She needs to call Bruce!

Shit, she forgot. He's off-world now.

Shit!

“Professor Vivian Pryor, what a surprise!” Vivian jumped at the sudden greeting of Lena Luthor.

“Ms. Luthor, hi,” Vivian greeted, fixing herself. “I wasn't… I wasn't expecting you here.”

“But I just saw you just now, I was about to call for you but then you hid behind the wall,” said Lena.

“Right. Sorry, but I thought I saw a familiar face, that's all. I needed to be sure,” Vivian laughed, making up an excuse.

“Oh, I think I know who it was you saw,” Lena reached to her side and pulled up the person that had Vivian panicking. “Professor Pryor, I'm sure you know Poison Ivy---also known as Dr. Pamela Isley.”

Vivian couldn't believe it, it was really Poison Ivy standing there, wearing clothes and not fern. Her red hair still had a couple of flowers, her skin green, but she looked more civil and non-lethal. But Vivian knew that Poison Ivy could still be dangerous, especially with the presence of plants.

“Ivy, I'm sure you know one of Gotham's celebrities---Professor Vivian Pryor-Wayne,” said Lena.

Ivy folded her arms over her chest and fave Vivian a look that says she didn't like her one bit. “Yeah, I do.”

“And I've read so much about you, Dr. Isley,” Vivian added.

“It's Poison Ivy. I don't go by that anymore.”

“I see. Dr. Ivy, then?”

“Just Ivy. Why? Do you want me to keep calling you Professor?”

“No, Vivian's fine… but, you might want me to---never mind. It's nice to meet you here. In a place of academia, and not running from plants in Gotham.”

An awkward silence came between the two women and Lena stepped up to clear the air between them. “Professor Pryor was called here to consult on one of Metropolis University's studies on Alchemy---they're trying to decode some old journal---and who better to do that than the country's renowned Symbologiest and Iconologist, right?

“Really? I was in the impression that all you know are pictures and stories,” Ivy stated.

That struck a nerve. This time it was Vivian who crossed her arms over her chest, “There are alchemical symbols that never came to record. I studied runes, hieroglyphics, and---as stated in my resume---symbology. That includes alchemy. I even wrote my bachelor's thesis based on the unidentified and dead Alchemical symbols found on Strauss’ notebook---and translated it too.”

Another tense silence.

Ah, the not-so-rivalry-rather-tension between STEM and HUMSS in academia.

Self-important-bitch, Ivy thought.

Egotistical-assholes, Vivian didn't say but her face did.

“Right, well, I'll just give Ivy a tour of the campus. I do hope we could catch up later, Professor,” said Lena Luthor.

“We'll see. See you both around,” Vivian left.

~ * ~

“Say that again,” Dick said.

Right after running into Poison Ivy, Vivian went straight to the courtyard of the campus and made a call to the next person she could talk to whenever Batman was off-world with the Justice League.

“Dick,” Vivian sighed. “I ran into Poison Ivy in MU. She was with Lena Luthor and I think they have this research, I don't know. Got anything about that? Anything fishy?”

“Can't say, Luthor's really not in our jurisdiction, you know… That's mainly the big S’ turf, but I'll look into it. Maybe Kara knows something. She tends to know something.”

“Thanks, kiddo.”

“How long are you going to be there?”

“How long is Bruce going to be on that research trip to the forest?”

“Can't say, but you can't seriously think about staying there until he gets back, right? Wouldn't want to lose you to shiny Metropolis, Viv,” he laughed.

“Don't worry, as much as I like seeing streets without blood or motor oil or whatever that is on Gotham's pavement that is a mix of vomit, piss, and shit… I'd rather spend a day locking my bullet-proof doors than have Superman use my car as a battering ram against some alien.”

“Glad to see that you'd prefer Gotham's crazy than Metropolis.”

“Yeah, well…” Vivin trailed off as she found Poison Ivy walking out of the building looking pale and shaken. “That's just the Gothamite in me, you know. Hey, kiddo, I gotta go. Call me back?”

“Sure thing. I'll also tell Tim about this too. Bye, Mama Bird.”

Ending the call, Vivian hid her phone before she approached Ivy who was pacing around the area, the plans were all growing wildly around her too.

“Ivy?” Vivian cautiously came close.

“Holy shit!” Ivy jumped and almost had vines attacking Vivian if it weren't for the woman realizing who it was. “Shit, shit, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to do that.”

“No, it's okay,” Vivian did not dare move as the sharp and thorned vines were near her neck and her arteries. “Do you want some coffee? I was about to get one myself and I saw you out here all… as much as people market it to amp you up all night, it calms my nerves actually.”

Ivy sighed and had the vines return to the plants around them. “Yeah… I guess coffee is a good idea.”

~ * ~

Maybe she shouldn’t be surprised that she was having coffee with Poison Ivy when Vivian did just share mimosas with Harley on a yacht to freaking Greece a couple of years ago. But she was. Poison Ivy has always been one of Batman’s recurring villains whose goals are not entirely evil but her plans to do it are considered to be. Even Swamp Thing thinks so to. The Swamp treasures all life, not just the Green.

As they sat in a more private place in the cafe drinking coffee and having slices of cakes, Vivian tried to look past through the many times Poison Ivy had Gotham hostaged into one of her plans—and almost had her trapped in her schemes—and see the person who was having a panic attack right after seeing something that spooked her.

Before she was Poison Ivy she was Dr. Pamela Isley, a scientist, and someone who was also in Academia. Just like her.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Vivian asked. “Or do you just want to have coffee and distract yourself from it…”

Ivy sighed. “Did you ever do something that you regretted? Not like buying some Prada shoes that you’d never wear, but really, really, regret it so much because it changed your life.”

“Well, I can’t say I’ve regretted buying Prada, and I rarely buy from Prada. I like things in the department store that’s prices aren’t always three-to-four figures,” Vivian chuckled. “But yeah, I’ve done some things in my past that I really, really hate and I think things would have been different if I didn’t do it.”

“Like what? Moving to Gotham? I know that you lived in Liverpool and that you got into GU through the Martha Wayne Foundation. A long way from home if you ask me.”

“I have my reasons… I guess, yeah, if I hadn’t gone to Gotham my life would have been different. I wouldn’t be here, teaching, with a successful career. I wouldn’t have met my husband and I would have my family now. But that’s not what I was referring to.”

“What—got involved with your professor or something?” Ivy leaned back on her seat, her arms folded.

“I did but not that… It happened when I was much younger, before I came to Gotham. I was going through some things when I was a teenager, and something happened that almost drove me to insanity, and it drove me to leave Liverpool and start somewhere far away and where I can have a good start. I’d rather not say what it is, but I know what you mean…

“If it didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have this life now. I’m happy but there are things that I wonder if it didn’t happen, what now? Would I still have gone to Gotham or would I have just stayed in Liverpool and still be with that ex. But I have no regrets of going here, even if I’ve had more than my fair share of Gotham’s crazy.”

Ivy sighed. “I saw someone back there who… let’s just say was part of my “villain origin story”,” she rolled her eyes at that. “I was under his tutelage, and we were a thing. It was against every ethical shit there is, but we made it work. I looked up to him—fuck, I even loved him…

“He was about to lose his grant because he’s done nothing original and wasn’t doing anything at all for his career. Then he saw my work and he tried to steal it. Long story short, after I tried to beat the crap out of him, he locked me in a lab with poison from my own work, I had to resort to using my own formulas to save myself and turned myself to this.

“I tried telling everyone about that really happened, but he was right… no one listened. I lost my credibility, my career, and my life. I lost everything then.”

“I am so sorry, Ivy… I don’t think I can even imagine that. What happened to you is awful,” Vivian held her hand. “I never knew. All I knew about Dr. Pamela Isley from GU was that, she was a student there, then there’s this accident and now you’re a…”

“Eco-terrorist?” Ivy chuckled. “Yeah, I know.”

“If it’s okay, may I know who this man is?”

“I’m sure you’ve met him a couple of times now—actually, you did. You both were on that documentary on some plant that Harley got you and the Bats to go with her and get it.”

“Hold on, you don't mean…”

“Dr. Jason Woodrue.”

That fucker?

Vivian scoffed. “Why am I even surprised? But, fuck!”

Ivy raised a brow at her. She wasn’t expecting Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes Mrs. Wayne has a dirty mouth. “I guess you didn’t have a good experience with him?”

“He tries to get into every woman’s pants during that shoot. He’s a total creep,” Vivian said in a hush tone. “I know that I should have done something but there are things that even money or the Wayne name can’t do… I was just lucky that my husband is this hulking guy who kept him away from me between shoots. Academia isn’t always this pristine and non-political as it seems.”

“You have no idea,” Ivy laughed.

“Please don’t tell me that you're going to work here—I assume you’re here to work on something since you’re here with Lena Luthor.”

“Yeah, I’m going to do environmental-urban research under the Luthor Grant, but it also means I have to work with Jason Woodrue.”

“Why here? Why travel here and not at Gotham?”

This time Ivy raised a brow. “I don’t think the Wayne Foundation is going to give me a lab and freaking funding.”

“In our defense, you don’t really have a good track record lately…”

“And how about the fact that you’re also into deep shit with the Batman?” Ivy raised a brow. “I know, Harley told me about it. How you and the Bat are close, and that you have magic.”

Vivian sighed. Damn you, Harley. “She told you, huh.”

“Yeah.”

“He’s a good friend. Trust me. Like, a really, really good friend.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But really, Dr. Isley, after talking to you now, I think we could give you a shot. It would mean me battling other members of the Wayne Foundation board but I’d try to get you that—as long as your plans don’t involve destroying human life.”

“No promises… Thanks for this, this really helps.”

“Does Harley know—is she here by the way?”

“She’s at our apartment—did you know that property tax here is freaking murder?”

“Please, the many times I’d hear Bruce and Lucius whine about the taxes that Wayne Tower has to pay, I could buy a freaking house in Gotham Central with those rates.”

Ivy laughed, really laughed. Vivian never thought she would ever see Ivy do something like that. “It’s nice, talking to someone who understands. I know that Harley is my girlfriend but Academia wasn’t really her thing, you know?”

“You don’t always have to forgive. You can just move on from something and never forgive them… I know how hard it is to ever forgive someone.”

Ivy frowned. “I know about the miscarriage and Two-Face. I’m not always a horrible person, so I’m sorry about that, Professor Pryor.”

Vivian smiled. Reaching for her locket–the one that Jason gave her–Vivian took out one of the flattened dandelions inside and gave it to Ivy. “This is from the garden where we buried my daughter. I keep a fresh one with me at all times. It help me remember that she wasn’t a tragedy. There was happiness. We were happy to know that there was a possibility.”

Ivy accepted the dried plant and brought it back to life and turned it to a dandelion flower again. “Thanks, I think I can face him now and we’ll see if this can work. If it doesn’t I can also have Harley bash his brains out.”

“Please don’t.”

~ * ~

She fucked up. Well, she thinks she fucked up.

The following day, Vivian was met by a newspaper headline saying: JASON WOODRUE DIES AFTER A FREAK ACCIDENT. Before she could even make a call, Dick was already calling her.

“You saw?” Dick asked her.

“I did. And I think I just fucked up.”

“How? I’m headed to Metropolis now with Damian.”

She told them about her talk with Ivy, who Jason Woodrue was to Dr. Pamela Isley, her origin story. But they already knew how she became Poison Ivy, just not the entire picture of it. “Then I told her that she doesn’t have to forgive him, that she can just move on.”

“So, her moving on means killing her toxic-ex?” Dick said.

“I DON’T KNOW!” Vivian sighed. “I feel kind of responsible, because maybe I should have told someone about this—but we were hitting off so well yesterday and I thought maybe I got through to her… shit, Bruce is going to kill me.”

“He’s not. Don’t worry about it… the whole thing about Batman is giving people a chance to change… well, that right after beating up criminals with his sledgehammer punches.”

“What am I going to do now?”

“Go to MU? Do what you usually do. We’ll be there in an hour.”

“And stay out of Ivy’s way, Mom!” Damian told her.

~ * ~

She was doing a good job in staying out of Poison Ivy’s way but then Harley came to campus, running, and yelling: “I’M COMING, IVY!”

Vivian choked on her coffee when she heard that, and she–like the others in the campus—went out of their labs and classes to see the commotion. Vivian excused herself from her colleagues and went to see what Harley was running around for and why it sounded like she was really about to come.

“Harley!” Vivian ran after her.

“Ah! Professor Pryor! Hi, Ivy said you were here! Great, I need your help!” Harley filled her in with all the details she saw, Ivy was in her office, accessing the green, and she saw vines trying to kill Ivy. Then there was Frank–Ivy’s best-plant-friend–who told Ivy that Jason Woodrue turned to a plant and is trying to kill Ivy

“And the only way to save her is to kill Jason Woodrue!” Harley summarized.

Great. Easy peasy.

When they go to the place where Woodreu’s body was, Harley kicked down the door and started trying to cut down the plant-man.

“Hey, Professor, wanna help out here?” Harley exclaimed.

“Move aside!” Vivian cursed under her head and placed a hand on Woodrue’s chest and—

Fire burst from her palms and she—as Harley said—burned the motherfucker and all the plants that were under his control.

“Shit!” Vivian gasped as she looked down on the ashes of what was Woodrue—or what was left of him, which was a monster.

Did she just kill someone?

Is it considered killing if the man was already dead and what was left is this mutated being who was just a monster. The monster who was all that Woodrue was.

Right?

Batman’s going to kill her.

~ * ~

Bruce arrived at Vivian’s hotel just as the MCPD finished their interview with her. They greeted him as they left the place, and when he got in he saw Vivian sitting on the couch—where the interview was held—with Dick, Damian, and Lucius waiting there with her.

“Welcome back,” Vivian greeted him and drank the remaining half-full glass of scotch.

She’s really stressed out with what happened.

Dick told him about it just as he was heading back to the Watchtower, and now he immediately had Cyborg open a Boomtube for him and he arrived at Gotham to change, then he got on his chopper to head to Metropolis.

“How are you?” Bruce asked her.

“I am better now. Dick and Damian got here just as MCPD took us from MU. I called Lucius before MCPD could question me. And he helped me out. Made sure that my name and the Wayne name is out of this because I just burned what remains of Dr. Jason Woodrue after Ivy killed him in a lab filled with poison.

“And–off the record—I think I coerced her to do it after we had a heart-to-heart of moving on and the shitty-side of Academia. I am completely fine.”

Silence came to the hotel room, the men and Damian looking at her as she poured another drink but drank from the bottle instead. Maybe that’s for Lucius. Yeah, it is for Lucius because she handed it to the man.

“She’s not fine,” Damian concluded.

Lucius accepted the drink. “Like I said, you wouldn’t have known.”

“But I should have at least told someone, right? Bruce, in your opinion, did I just kill someone?”

Bruce sighed. “Well, according to the records that Dick sent me, there is nothing left that was Jason Woodrue. What was his consciousness, and I think there wouldn’t be any other way to defeat him than to burn the tree. Sometimes we can’t save everyone, Viv.”

“I just think this wouldn’t have happened if I told someone about Ivy and Woodrue’s history…”

“I don't think that's your fault,” Dick spoke up. “You gave Ivy a chance to move on from it, you didn’t think she would do it. And to be honest, after hearing about her history, I can respect what she did.”

Another sigh and Bruce went to sit beside his wife and hold her hand. “It’s okay. It was a leap of faith. That’s what all of us do, actually.”

Vivian leaned on her husband and hugged his arm. “He was an asshole–like, the biggest one out there. I’ve met and dealt with assholes in Academia and he’s one of the worse; and though I know that we don’t kill, but fuck—I’m glad that she got that out and dealt with the motherfucker.”

“Don’t worry, there are days when I also want to just end things to get rid of this world of one bad person, but I just keep reminding myself that if I do that then what makes Batman different from the rest of them.”

Bruce asked Dick and Damian to pack up Vivian’s things while he helped her calm down in the living room. She was lying on the couch, her head on Bruce’s lap so he could massage her scalp; and Bruce talking to Lucius to know what was going to happen next after this when they heard the knock on the door.

Lucius got up to answer.

“Who is it, Lucius?” Bruce asked when the man hasn’t welcomed nor spoken anything.

“Hi!” Harley Quinn came in with Poison Ivy.

Vivian and Bruce jumped up at their entrance, and Dick and Damian were in fighting stances.

“Whoah, chill out,” Harley told them. “We just came to bring the Professor a little somethin’ for helping out my Ivy!” Harley walked up to Vivian, pushing past Bruce and handed her a potted plant.

“Thank you?” Vivian said.

“It’s from the dandelion you gave me,” said Ivy. And some other plants. I made a formula that would help with growing the flowers and keeping them fresh. You can add that to your daughter’s garden. I know that our talk didn’t go as you planned, but it helped.”

Vivian glanced at her husband then to Ivy. “Glad it helped?”

Bruce sighed in the background.

“And it seems that after killing Dr. Woodrue I won’t be keeping that Luthor Grant, so who knows when I’ll be back in Gotham.”

Vivian laughed. “I see what you’re doing, Dr. Isley.”

“Well, I wanna see if Waynes do live up to their word,” Ivy smirked. “Or are you all just talk for a good PR?”

“I told you, it would be a hard shot considering your track record. But give us a good proposal and we’ll see.”

“See what?” Bruce asked.

“A grant from the Wayne Foundation,” said Ivy.

“Viv, you didn’t,” Bruce massaged the bridge of his nose.

“No promises. We’ll see where your proposal takes you, Dr. Isley.”

“I’ll write up one that you nor that fancy-schmancy foundation of yours wouldn’t even think about saying no. Well, see you around! And say hi to Batman for us!”

With that Ivy and Harley left, leaving a room of confused men and Vivian admiring the flower in the pot.

“Is it just me or does this flower have eyes?” Vivian showed the pot to Bruce.

“If that think starts talking…” Dick started.

Bruce sat down on the couch and hung his head low. He was gone for sixty-four hours and so much has already happened. What the hell?

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