A/N: This is my response to Supaslim's ten ficlets challenge. It evolves around Rorschach and Daniel solely (as does nearly everything in the Watchmen archive, which is sad), and are rather poorly thrown together. I apologize in advance. It wasn't intended to be taken as slash, but I guess you could see it that way if you want to.
The rules of the challenge are:
1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like.
2. Turn your music player on and turn it on random/shuffle.
3. Write a drabblet/ficlet related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterward! No matter how whacked out your drabble is. :)
4. Do ten of these, then post them.
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Truth Beneath the Rose by Within Temptation
Rorschach believed that no sinner could truly be redeemed, under any circumstances.
Daniel tried to convince him, but his words had no effect upon his partner. He was fiercely rubbing his forehead, fending off a headache. "People can change, Rorschach. Not all criminals always stay engaged in criminal activities after coming out of jail."
"Scum. Doesn't clean itself. Destined to rot in prisons."
"That's not true, Rorschach! If someone really realizes that what they did is wrong, and try to make up for it…"
"Scum."
Rorschach would hear nothing of it. Dan thought, 'How can we be this city's savior?'
A few days later, when the two of them were out patrolling, Nite Owl fell behind. As he was catching up to Rorschach, he heard the gang member or crack head or whatever unlucky soul the masked man happened to be beating up murmur, "Forgive me."
And Rorschach replied, "No."
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Silver and Cold by A Fire Inside
Rorschach hated Antarctica. He was freezing, though he would never admit it. Behind the latex of Rorschach's face, Walter eyed Nite Owl's Sno Owl suit with envy. He shivered, turning up his collar against the whirling snow. His fingers were going numb behind his gloves, the thin fabric offering little protection.
The hoverbikes motor was drowned out in the roar of the wind. Rorschach strained to hear it, wanting to hear something other than the driving wind, to see something other than snow.
'Not white.' He thought. 'Snow's not white. Silver. Silver and cold.'
He shivered again, trying in vain to catch up to Nite Owl's retreating, insulated back.
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Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley
Rorschach let it slip at some point that he did not believe in a God.
Dan was perplexed by this, sitting at his kitchen table with a warm cup of coffee between his hands. "Really? What do you believe then?"
"Nothing. We are alone here."
Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Dan registered that Rorschach would probably only talk about this to him. They were much closer than either would admit.
"Then what is our purpose here?"
"Be the best we can be. Clean up streets. Be Rorschach and Nite Owl."
Dan nodded, having no real response to the raw emotion he could hear beneath the surface in his partner's voice.
A week later, Dan found his door kicked in again. He smiled wryly, knowing who it had to be. He stepped into his own house, following the light into his kitchen and down into the basement. Rorschach was digging through various items on the shelves, apparently looking for something.
He made no comment, though he obviously heard Dan come in. Dan sat silently on the stairs, watching.
Eventually, Rorschach seemed to find what he was looking for. He straightened up, folding a small book into his jacket and walking down the railroad tracks out of Dan's house without a word.
Dan stood up and looked at the shelf Rorschach took the book from. He quickly realized it was his copy of the Old Testament that had vanished with the masked hero.
"Hallelujah." He muttered, eyes to the obscured heavens, wondering if a God watched him in return.
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Alone by Aqua Timez
When Dan was a small child, he had found a small bluebird with a broken wing. Reading from various books, he had splinted it and set it back out into the forest, with the childish belief that it would be okay.
"Your fragile, folded wings are just tired from the deep blue sky…" He murmured, remembering the event later.
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Funny Farm by Dr. Demento
Rorschach was beyond crazy after he investigated the Roche case. Dan watched, helpless, as Rorschach babbled everything about what he had seen and done.
"The dogs were eating her. They were eating her!"
Little did he know it would be the last time Rorschach would speak in full sentences. He would have listened more, then. Made Rorschach talk more. Maybe try to preserve the last memories of Walter Kovacs.
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Shiroi Machi by Zwei
New York was beautiful in the winter. Dan had somehow convinced Rorschach to walk through the park with him. Ice glistened on every tree branch, snow piled on the paths. Trees finally dropped those last few resistant leaves in the face of the first great frost.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Dan asked, stealing a glance at his companion out of the corner of his eye.
"Hurm." Rorschach fingered one of the frozen branches, watching the pale sunlight gleam off of the translucent surface. The ever shifting inkblots never betrayed any of his emotions.
"Pure." He finally deemed. "Free of corruption."
They walked in silence for some time. Dan said nothing, enjoying the quiet companionship. Rorschach was equally silent, but for perhaps different reasons. His mask remained firmly on his face, not willing to compromise and show his face to his partner with the risk that someone else could have found out his precious identity.
As they left the park behind them, Rorschach admitted, "Beautiful."
Dan smiled.
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Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel
'There is a definite sound of silence.' Nite Owl thought one night. He looked down at New York from the top of a building, Rorschach standing at his side.
'If there was no sound to silence, how does someone know it is there? It has to exist. Someone has heard it.' He smirked silently. 'Perhaps Rorschach has.'
It was a slow night. They had stopped a mugging and an attempted rape, but that was all. At this time of night, they were usually forced to split up in order to combat the sheer number of criminals.
A scream tore the night. Rorschach replied with a single "Hurm." before gesturing in one direction and shooting his grappling gun.
'The sound of silence…' Nite Owl mused, gliding to the ground near the alleyway where the scream originated. 'I wonder if I can ever truly hear it….'
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Afterlife by Avenged Sevenfold
Dan- No. Sam Hollis watched his son playing in the sandbox from behind the window. He was an oddity. Not only was his hair a shade redder than La- Sandra's natural color, he had somehow amassed a collection of freckles.
He wondered vaguely if Rorschach was haunting him from the afterlife.
He immediately dismissed the thought. He was just being paranoid.
Then his son looked up at him. His expression was so somber, Sam caught flashes of memories past in those dark eyes…
'Rorschach…' He thought, smiling and shaking his head. 'I hope you're not wasting your afterlife trying to watch out for me.'
He glanced at the heavens. He was sure Rorschach would be up there, despite all his violence and rage.
'You don't belong here. Go ahead Rorschach. You should be free.'
Then his son came inside, and he lost his train of thought.
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Keep Giving by Zwei
Rorschach craved social contact, but didn't know how to get it.
From the little Dan could read in his partner's actions and mannerisms, this much he was certain of. Rather than confront the recluse about it, he simply offered his friendship to the other vigilante. Rorschach latched onto this with the fervor of a drowning man to a flotation device.
Dan always smiled sadly after Rorschach left, remembering the sadness and loneliness he always imagined the other felt.
"All I can do is keep giving my friendship to you. All I can hope is that you accept it."
His walls were the only listener to the whispered promise.
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One-Winged Angel by Nobuo Uematsu
Whenever Dan tried to picture Rorschach in heaven, he always ended up with a one-winged angel.
It was not because he disliked his friend and partner, but because the sentiment seemed to fit him. Purity, violated and damaged, remaining resolutely strong despite losses.
In his mind, whenever he talked with Rorschach (making him wonder about his mental health), the scowling man would murmur his rage and indignation at being killed before he could spread word of Veidt's deceit.
This always made Dan extremely guilty. He could tell the world about the plot, the fake destruction of New York, but no one would believe him. What would one person's tale have against thousands of very real deaths?
The other thing Rorschach would frequently mention was his worry that his memory was going to die.
Dan would silently reply, 'Come. I would never let you die. Not in life, or the afterlife.'
The beautiful, broken one-winged angel that was once Rorschach would seem to smile slightly at this. Dan was blinded by that brilliant smile, remembering how he had never seen it in life before it was too late.
It took him many, many years to get over the ghost of his friend and to have a real relationship with Laurie. He could never truly forget him though.
A certain red-headed one-winged angel still perched on his shoulder and scolded the scum in the alleys of the streets that Nite Owl II no longer fought.