The first time Danielle Dreiberg saw Rorschach was on her way home from school one day. The bus let her off on the freshly laid cement near her apartment complex. It was a very upscale part of town, which she was thankful for. She was petrified by the dingy parts of town some of her classmates were dropped off in. She was seventeen then. Rounding the corner, with her backpack on, she made her way past the smiling doorman and onto the elevator. She caught her reflection in the mirrored wall of the elevator and took a moment to tame her shoulder length brown curly hair. Her mother always made sure Danielle had the best clothes and latest most fashionable shoes. Danielle would be lying if she said she didn't appreciate all her mother did for her. It kept her from being bullied at school. The rich and the poor were almost segregated there. She pushed her rectangular brown glasses up on the bridge of her nose as the elevator dinged open.
There was a loud bang from the hallway and she ducked back into the elevator. That sounded like a gunshot. A man, clutching his bleeding hand made his way towards her from the hallway. Her breath halted in her throat and she pressed the close door button erratically. He blocked the doors from closing with his foot.
"Open the door you stupid cunt!" He pushed through and grabbed her by the arm with his good hand. When she saw the gun in his hand she almost burst into tears. He moved behind her and held the gun to her head, chuckling darkly. "Son of a bitch wouldn't hurt an innocent girl like you."
That was when he came into sight. She recognized the masked man, from the papers. "Coward." He growled in a deep voice after analyzing the hostage situation.
"Listen, I don't want to have to kill this pretty little girl." The man cocked the gun and Danielle let out a whimper.
"I know how it works." Rorschach replied.
"Just let me go or I'll put this bullet in her pretty little brains."
The masked man hesitated, then stepped out into the hallway, allowing the doors close. Danielle gave him one look of pure terror before the doors closed for good.
"Listen to me little girl, I will kill you if you don't do exactly as I say." He took off his tie with one hand, keeping the gun to her temple. "Hands behind your back." She did as told and he bound her wrists. "We're going to leave here together and get into my car, and if you make so much as a peep I will shoot you." They left through the lobby and the guard gave her a confused look. His car was in an alley nearby and he shoved her into the seat beside him. "That fucker will be following me." He murmured under his breath. "Wasn't supposed to go this way."
He drove with his left hand and kept the gun pointed at her. Soon they pulled up to a warehouse near the river. No one in sight. Danielle bit back a sob. She was going to die. A few men were in the warehouse, packing boxes of drugs. "Get your guns!" Her captor screamed at them. "One of those masked fucks is gonna be here!"
"Who is that, Ronny?" One of them asked.
"Does it matter!?" He yelled. "Lock her in the office."
One of the men threw her over their shoulder and left her in a manager's office. The office had large windows that let her watch the thugs. Danielle focused on untying the tightly bound tie around her wrist. She found scissors and slowly but surely cut the thin fabric. Before she could finish the power went out. The entire warehouse was filled with screams soon, and the illumination of gunshots. Rorschach was here, she saw glimpses of him dodging and spinning, taking out the men easily. The sounds of bones crunching echoed through the glass of the windows. Danielle couldn't take her eyes off of him. It was over quickly, though it felt like hours. The light came back on and he wasn't there. Danielle became panicked again. She didn't have a way out. She pulled free of the tie and Looked around; finding a heavy paper weight. She stepped back, lifting the heavy glass ball. It catapulted into the glass window, leaving a large crack. She tried again and this time it shattered. Climbing through the window, she carefully avoided the men. She didn't know if they were dead or unconscious, she wasn't staying to find out. "Hello!?" She called once outside.
"You should go." Rorschach growled.
"You-." Danielle turned. He was behind her. "Why?" Her tongue was tied. She had so many questions.
"Drug cartel, not the boss, but he was high ranking." He turned to go back inside. She noticed he had gasoline in one of his gloved hands.
She followed, against her better judgment. He began drenching the drugs in the amber liquid. He did so until all the crates were sufficiently wet. He calmly took a lighter from his trench coat pocket and allowed the gas to ignite. He turned to go casually.
"You're leaving them to die?" She asked, following him out.
"Yes." He answered. "I told you to go."
"You suggested I go." She replied.
He ignored her and made his way to the road, he turned the corner and left her standing in front of the flaming building.
That was the last time Danielle saw Rorschach for two years. When she went home that night her backpack was in her room and her mom cried, holding her. Her dad yelled and cursed out the masked heroes. Danielle remained silent, but she knew she wasn't done with this world of masked vigilantes.
She met Hollis a few months after, when he fixed up her car. He was a sweet older man, and she had found out his identity by accident. She became like a daughter to him, and sometimes would bring meals around for them to share. When she had suggested becoming Nite Owl II he was so ecstatic he made her start training the next day. She trained for a whole year, and began working in the automotive shop he owned. She learned how to fight well, and began creating weapons and experimenting with gadgets. She was never a weak girl, but the training increased her strength and stamina. Many days were spent at the library reading books on ancient fighting techniques and just as many practicing such skills. It was two years later when she felt ready to put her skills to use. She had created a whole new suit for herself, with light-weight brown armor. Her prized goggles perched above the owl like mask. She had been hesitant about the cape, but Hollis suggested it could be use as a sort of paragliding apparatus. She tried using it off his roof, and landed safely on the ground. They were like an actual owl's wings.
On her first night out she followed a story she had been researching. Snuff films had been leaked to the populous from a mysterious source. Danielle watched the tapes, teeth gritted, looking for clues. She would have to get used to the filth of the city. She took note of the architecture in the house. She had lived in this city her whole life, she knew where the dumpy parts were. In fact, she recognized the particular shade of the walls looked like a building kids would get off at when she rode the bus. Sometimes the door of the complex was open and she noted the light green walls. She didn't know if the police had deduced this, but it was worth a look. The building was half way across the city. She took one of Hollis' inconspicuous cars that no one would steal. She parked the car in front of the complex and walked around to the fire escapes. Using a grappling gun she made her way stealthily through the escapes. It wasn't a particularly tall building, for which she was thankful. If her hunch was correct, the room used to shoot the films had a fire escape. Three of the rooms had their blinds pulled. She used a pick to unlock the first window. She peeked through the blinds, it was an old ladies house. Danielle relatched the window and moved onto the next. This one was odd, the latch was hammered shut. Bingo. She smashed the window without hesitating. A foul smell emanated from the room and Danielle nearly gagged. She silently inched her way through the window, until she was standing in the room. The room was not empty, and she used her night vision goggles to navigate the messy room. The carpets were stained with red that was never going to come out, and a video camera stood on a tripod in the middle. The bathroom was shut and so was the bedroom. Suddenly a creak came from the corner of the room. Danielle moved when it was too late. A fist came firmly connecting with her stomach, she doubled over. Her leg went to side swipe the figure out, but he dodged. His knee connected with her left breast and suddenly his assault ended. She took his shock to her advantage and she grabbed his arm with one hand, shooting her leg out to kick him in the hip. He collapsed to the ground and she was able to get a good look at him.
"You!" She exclaimed at the masked man, who stood up deftly.
"Who are you?" He growled the question.
"Nite Owl." She responded simply, breath coming quickly.
"Nite Owl is retired." He responded. Well he wasn't winded.
"He is retired."
"Then who are you?" He stepped closer. Danielle couldn't tell if the smell was him or the death that hung in the air.
"His successor." Danielle answered simply. Her breast and stomach ached more than she expected them too.
"Are you… ok?" He sounded awkward and shy as he asked her the question.
"It's fine, I attacked back." She smiled and he went to switch on the lights.
Rorschach was quite simply stunned when he turned on the lights. He did not recognize this masked woman who barely showed an inch of skin. So unlike other female masks. Possibly disfigured. She said she was Nite Owl ll, which he believed. She was skilled, but new, he could tell. Her voice was familiar though, and this bothered him. He had heard it somewhere before. She was shorter than him, which he liked. Her lips were a shade of pink, which he found agreeable. His mother had worn dark red lipstick. Her eyes were dark brown, also different from his mothers. She must still hurt, he had stopped when he felt the flesh of her breast connect to his knee bone. Women were a complicated subject for him. Most he interacted with were whores, vile creatures, who teased him, called him a fag. But Nite Owl seemed to be honorable. He decided to tread carefully with her.
"This is where they filmed, correct?" She asked. He could see pity in her eyes.
He nodded in response and she crossed her arms. She went to study the camera and he went to the bathroom. She was distracted trying to turn it on when Rorschach moved on to the bedroom.
"What was in there?" She asked.
"Corpses. Three women, one man." He didn't stay to watch her reaction.
"Why would they do this?" She asked rhetorically, viewing the footage recorded on the camera.
"Filth, savagery, they're animals." Rorschach returned back to Danielle. "Room empty except rope and weapons."
"I think I got something here." She rewound the footage to show two men walk into frame. They smiled at the camera and one pulled on a mask, while the other went behind to film. Danielle paused it. "The rest is just them killing a girl." Danielle accounted the video to him smoothly.
"What next?" She asked Rorschach.
"We kill them."