Ivy lifted up the body gently in her arms – it weighed almost nothing. "I need to return her to the earth at once," she whispered, carrying it into the greenhouse and shutting the door. Harley started sobbing again and raced off, and Two-Face left the room to be on his own, leaving Bruce and Selina alone.

"You couldn't save her, huh?" asked Selina, quietly. "There wasn't any way?"

"No," agreed Bruce. "No, hers is another life that…Batman will have to live with the guilt of losing."

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself," she murmured. "She didn't seem unhappy at the end. I hope we can all meet our deaths with such dignity…whenever they might be."

"Hopefully a long time from now," said Bruce.

Selina was silent, and then cleared her throat. "When Rose called me…she asked that I come here not for her, but for you."

"Me?" repeated Bruce.

Selina nodded. "She said it was obvious, even at that one dinner, that you…cared about me. And she wanted the two of us to be together. She told me that…although she loved you, she knew her time was limited. And she wanted you to be with someone who could love you for the rest of your life. Apparently she couldn't fathom things like selfishness or jealousy…she just wanted the people she loved to be happy."

"I wish I could have saved her," murmured Bruce. "The world needs more people like that in it."

Selina nodded. "Anyway, even I'm not tacky enough to ask you out right now," she murmured. "But if you ever feel particularly lonely…give me a call sometime, huh?"

"Thanks, Selina," he said. "I will call you. I promise."

"Ok," she said. She kissed his cheek. "See you soon, Bruce."

She left him, and Bruce headed into the living room, where Two-Face sat, flipping his coin obsessively.

"You ok, Harvey?" asked Bruce, gently.

"No," he muttered. "But I will be. Eventually."

Bruce took a seat next to him but said nothing. "I…never wanted to be a father, Bruce," Two-Face murmured. "But…I really enjoyed it while it lasted. And now it's over. She's gone. She made me see…that there was more to me than my criminal persona. She made me like who I was, because she loved who I was. I've never experienced that before, unconditional love…"

He buried his face in his hands. "And I never will again," he whispered. "She's gone."

"Well, maybe someday you'll have other kids, Harvey…" began Bruce.

"With who, Bruce?" demanded Two-Face. "Pammie won't want any more after this. And I can't…really see myself with anyone else long-term."

"There's still time, Harvey," murmured Bruce. "That's what Rose taught me. That the world is actually…full of lots of wonderful things. And we have the time to appreciate them, so we should make the most of it."

"Mr. Wayne, I believe this is yours," murmured Ivy from the doorway. She held out the rose brooch to him and he took it from her.

"I'm…very sorry for your loss, Miss Ivy," he said.

"I am used to loss, Mr. Wayne," she murmured. "And so should you be. It is the nature of life."

Bruce didn't know how to respond to that, so he just nodded. "I'll…uh…give you two some time alone. See you soon, Harvey," he said, patting his friend on the shoulder.

He left, shutting the door behind him. "You ok?" asked Ivy, gently.

Two-Face nodded. "You?"

She nodded. "Yes."

They didn't say another word, and Ivy slowly sat down next to him. "We…didn't make that bad a family in the end, huh?" asked Two-Face, quietly.

"No," she agreed. "No, we didn't."

He looked up at her. "Why…did you choose me to be Rose's father?" he asked.

She laughed without humor. "Who else would I have chosen? Anyway, I…missed you. I wanted you involved in my life again, however remotely."

"Guess your plan worked," said Two-Face, forcing a smile. "I'm here now."

She nodded. "Look, Harvey, there's something I have to tell you," she murmured. "I haven't been completely honest with you, or anyone, about Rose."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

She sighed, meeting his eyes. "Rose is…perennial."

"What does that mean?" asked Two-Face, puzzled.

"It means she'll grow back," she murmured. "That's why I had to return her to the earth so quickly…it absorbed her body and returned her to her rootstock."

"Explain that…to a non-plant lover," said Two-Face, slowly.

"When I grew Rose, I grew her from one seedling out of many," explained Ivy. "The others I planted into the soil so that when Rose's time came, she could return to her roots, and…grow again."

"Pammie, are you saying…she's not dead?" asked Two-Face, slowly. "That she's gonna…come back?"

Ivy nodded. "But not until we're ready, Harvey," she said, placing a small seed into his hand. "This is…one half of what's needed to grow Rose back. I want you to keep one, and me to keep the other, so that next time…it'll be our mutual decision to have our daughter. We can grow her back now or…whenever you're ready. She's just…going to go through this every winter – she's going to die every year and be reborn to live her life cycle another year. The only thing that can permanently destroy her is violence. But…I don't think I can put her through growth, life, and death again so soon. I also don't think I can put myself through it all again so soon," she sighed. "Loving people is so painful sometimes."

"Yeah," agreed Two-Face, looking at the seed. "Worth it, though."

"Yeah," she agreed.

They didn't speak. "Well, I don't think it's fair on Rose to…let her stay resting for long," said Two-Face, slowly.

Ivy smiled. "You wanna take care of her during her childhood this time?"

"I want us both to," he said, taking her hand. "I wanna be there for her…and for you, Pam."

Ivy smiled at him, and then leaned forward and gently kissed him. "Well, c'mon then," she said, standing up and pulling him toward the greenhouse. "Let me show you how she's grown. And this time you can do the late night feedings, once I show you how to make up her growth formula, of course. And you can change the diapers and do the laundry and the cooking - I mean, a man's gotta be good for something, right?"

The End