A/N: I started out completely unsure about where this was going, and this is the result. It might be a little pointless, but maybe someone out there will appreciate it. The implied slash is very slight and you could even interpret it as something else if you want.
---
His mask clung to him in the thick summer heat, mixed with the sweat of a good workout of beating up muggers in back alleys. Nite Owl was tired and Archimedes was under repair, forcing him and his partner to walk their nightly patrol. His knees wanted to buckle under the weight of his body and the weight of the humid night air. He thought, vaguely, that even Rorschach the Impenetrable looked tired. Then again, he could have been imagining that Rorschach's breath was becoming more ragged under his mask.
"Don't you ever get hot in that trench coat?" he asked without thinking, glancing to his side at Rorschach.
Rorschach simply grunted in response. He had been doing that a lot more often; substituting his already broken speech into grunts and mere flinches and shrugs. Something about the swirls in his partner's mask seemed more and more disconnected as night after night passed. Rorschach rarely looked him in the eyes anymore, not that one could tell with the mask, but Dan could. Now the gaze went passed Dan Drieberg to stare at something beyond their nightly patrol.
Nite Owl's suit did not breathe well. Sweat developed in places where moisture should not be allowed to tread. Dan wanted nothing more than to take off his stupid goggles and oppressive cowl and wipe the sweat off his brow, but knew that it probably would not be the wisest thing to do in the not-so empty street, where criminals knew him as Nite Owl and not as Dan Dreiberg.
"How about we call it a night, Rorschach?" he asked, again without thinking. Rorschach did not stop walking, even as Dan did. "This heat is oppressive. We're going to pass out from exhaustion if we exert ourselves too much."
"Crime doesn't stop for breaks."
Dan resisted the urge to fling a nearby garbage can at his partner's back and chose to catch up to him instead. "All I'm saying is that we won't be of any use if we aren't in top form."
"Feel fine. At top form." A pause. "Can quit if you want."
"Rorschach--that's--I'm saying just for a night. Heck, just for a second. I just need to get my bearings, here."
Rorschach stopped abruptly. They were in front of a stoop. Dan collapsed on the steps, prying off the goggles that were suctioned to his eyes and wiping his brow.
"Not good idea."
"I'm putting them back on," Dan readjusted his goggles on his face, leaning back on the steps. He squinted his eyes shut, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on.
"Need to keep going." Rorschach began to walk again.
"Damn it," Dan cursed under his breath, getting up as pains pulsed in his calves and back. He followed far behind Rorschach.
A garbage can crashing to the ground. A scream for help. Rorschach was gone as soon as Dan blinked his eyes, and Dan attempted to run just as fast as the other man, adrenaline pulling him into a sprint down the alley way.
Rorschach turned his run into a jump and landed on one mugger, breaking the scum's wrist and bashing his head on the ground on the way down. A knife skidded on the ground in front of Dan's feet. The second mugger held an unsteady gun at Rorschach, but it was twisted out of his grip in an instant, the mugger's face distorted by the punch Rorschach sent his way. Rorschach hopped off his first victim, who Dan pulled away by the collar of his shirt. He saw the shadow of the mugger's victim sprinting away from the entire fight, and then glanced down at the wallet on the ground.
"That's enough, Rorschach," Dan frowned as Rorschach did not relent on beating the second mugger with his fists. He only stopped after a minute more. Dan pulled the first mugger to lean on the wall. He glanced back at the wallet and picked it up, looking down the alley way with a small sigh, "Don't beat them up anymore; I'll be right back."
Rorschach did not nod, turn around or look back, simply facing the wall. Irritated, Dan started down the alleyway.
He was some feet away when he heard something heavy drop to the ground.
He looked back, "Rorschach?" A third body had been added to the dirty alley's ground. Dan sprinted back, the wallet dropping out of his hand. He bent down, checking Rorschach's rapid pulse. "Shit." The skin under Rorschach's glove and sleeve felt cold and sticky with sweat. He looked around, almost hoping something in the alley way could provide some relief from the muggy heat.
He eyed Rorschach's trench coat, and quickly set to shedding it. He grimaced at the smelly wetness found in the interior and threw the coat to the side. He unravelled the white scarf around his neck, as equally dank as the trench coat, then came off the gloves. As he was unbuttoning a jacket blazer that he had oddly not expected to find, an inkling crept into the back of his mind that he had never been forced to see his partner so vulnerable and exposed. He got Rorschach down to a white dress shirt--coated in yellowing sweat--and his purple pinstripe suit pants, the hat long having fallen off Rorschach's head. It shouldn't have surprised him that the smaller man had thick muscles compacted into his body, but nonetheless he observed them with raised eyebrows. He then eyed the mask warily.
He knew he had to remove it. Heat was most concentrated in the head. Without the mask, Rorschach's body could breathe again, cool off. Dan hesitated. The shifting black shapes had slowed, inching at a slug's pace on his partner's face.
Dan bit his lip and swallowed spit. He was not sure if he was afraid of his partner's reaction to taking off his mask so much as he was afraid of what he would find behind it. He teased his fingers underneath the mask at Rorschach's neck.
"Hrrk." The masses of black began to pick up their pace.
Dan did not remove his fingers quite yet. "Rorschach? Are you awake?"
"Face..." Rorschach's arm moved like a rag doll's to rest a hand on Dan's wrist, "Don't."
Dan retracted his hand and leaned back, "You passed out. I think the heat got to you." Rorschach inched his head up, and tried to follow with his body. Dan put a hand on his chest, "Don't."
Rorschach flinched away from the touch, but his head fell back to the ground heavily. His blunt fingers touched his palms, and then he moved his hands to his chest. They moved rapidly, patting himself down. "Where... clothes..."
"I have them. You need to get cooled off. These clothes are too heavy in this heat--it's no wonder you passed out," Dan scowled down the alley way, "We should probably get out of here and get you some water." Rorschach attempted to get up again, this time Dan helping him up to his feet. Rorschach wobbled, and Dan pulled him to rest on his shoulder. Rorschach grunted in what Dan interpreted as disapproval, but nonetheless leaned heavily on Dan. "I'd hate to say I told you so, but..."
"Just did."
Dan smirked, adjusting his hold on Rorschach with a small hop. "We'll, uh, come back for your clothes later."
Rorschach grumbled. "Feel naked."
Dan stiffened a bit at that, but tried to put it in the very recesses of his mind as he moved. As they walked, Rorschach's hold on Dan's shoulder slackened and his legs wobbled, his weight becoming heavier.
"Rorschach..." A grunt in response. "I think I should carry you the rest of the way." Rorschach stopped, his body swaying, even as Dan tried to steady him. When Rorschach said nothing, Dan could only take that as silent consent, which Dan almost didn't want. Rorschach looked at him expectantly. Dan cleared his throat, "So... I'll just..." He got in front of Rorschach, bending a little. He waited. "Rorschach... uh... piggyback?"
A pause. "Oh."
Just as Dan was about to look behind him, Rorschach scrambled on his back. Fingers dug into his shoulder, a thick yet small body draped across his back, and yet Rorschach's legs seemingly refused to wrap around his torso, ramrod straight, his arms solely supporting his body. Dan grabbed his calves, getting jostled as Rorschach jumped and flinched at the contact, and managed to get Rorschach's legs around his body. After a moment or two of adjustment, hearing Rorschach "enk" and "hrrk" behind him, he began to move again.
Rorschach was completely tense on his back. Dan tried to ignore the heightened stench of Rorschach--something unique to him, but not exactly pleasant, especially in the heat and with his body drenching in sweat. When he unconsciously squeezed Rorschach's calves, a simple result of him adjusting the other's weight on his back, Rorschach jumped again.
"You all right?" Dan asked, hearing Rorschach grunt in a tighter tone than usual.
"Dirty." Rorschach managed to ground out.
Dan blinked, "What?"
Dan winced as Rorschach's grip on his shoulders tightened. "Don't like this." Rorschach said, biting it out.
Dan scowled, "It's not exactly a walk in the park for me, either, but you were about to pass out again. Come on, we're not too far from my apartment. Just a little while longer." He adjusted his hold on Rorschach again, bouncing him on his back, causing a louder "enk" to break through.
For Rorschach's and his sake both, they had been going through alleyways, avoiding the open streets to his apartment. He was uncomfortably glad for the choice as he shifted his hold once more, this time feeling something prod his back, immediately aware of what it was. His throat went dry, his stomach flipping upside down, but his outside showed no reaction, as he was almost too shocked to react. When Rorschach shuddered, in an almost painful but not quite painful enough way, a pinprick struck Dan's stomach and he grimaced.
Dan immediately set Rorschach down as soon as he reached the stoop of his apartment. He unlocked the door and swung it open and Rorschach shot passed him and through the door. Dan tried not to look him in the eye but noticed the ink blots on his face moving rapidly. "Slow down," he called after him, trying to sound casual and concerned, but it came out as a croak. When he shut the door, he heard pipes screeching in the walls and water rushing through. The light to his hallway bathroom cracked through the darkness.
Dan went into the kitchen by mechanism and filled a glass with water. When he reached the bathroom, he found the door shut. He opened it a crack, seeing Rorschach bent over the sink, his wet hands covering his unmasked face. The mask clung to his scalp. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal muscular forearms, and Dan saw glints of orange hair in the light.
Rorschach immediately pulled the mask down over his face when Dan walked in, snapping his head around. Dan indicated to the glass of water. Rorschach snatched it out of his hand and gulped it down, revealing the only parts of his face that Dan has seen--his nose and mouth.
"You... seem okay, now." Dan said, not knowing what else he could have said.
"Will leave then." Rorschach brushed passed him, handing back the now empty glass and rolling down his sleeves once more.
"Hang on," Dan stopped him down the hallway, reaching a hand out to his shoulder. Rorschach pulled away from the touch, but stopped. "Don't exert yourself, that's how you got into this in the first place, remember? Just rest here for a bit--or for the rest of the night. It's almost four o'clock anyway. The night's practically over."
"Can't stop. Scum always swarming city." Dan felt it again. Rorschach looking beyond Dan at something else. Then suddenly he came back, looking Dan up and down. "You should rest. Carried me here."
Dan set his jaw, "You think I can sit here while you go out? Not after what just happened. Who knows where you'll pass out next time."
Rorschach grunted, looking away, "Can handle self fine. Don't need nanny."
"If that were true you would've known when to give yourself a break." Dan put himself in Rorschach's line of vision. "Remember what I said? You can't help the city if you don't take care of yourself."
Rorschach was silent, but then grunted. "Noted."
Dan noticed him sway a bit. "You're still exhausted." Rorschach only grunted in response. "Take the couch. You can sleep here tonight."
Rorschach stiffened, but as he did his shoulders slackened, and he leaned slightly back against the wall. "Will... try." Dan sighed, finally relaxing himself. There was a pause. "Want clothes."
"I'll get them for you if you stay here and lay down on the couch," Dan nodded to his living room, beginning to walk toward the front door.
He stopped as Rorschach grunted, "You're good partner, Daniel."
Dan sighed, looking back. Rorschach stood stiffly against the dim light of his apartment. "Someone has to look out for you."
Rorschach nodded, disappearing into his living room.
The muggers were gone when Dan came back to the scene of the crime. He only vaguely wondered if they had run away or if they were captured by police. The clothes still lay in a heap on the dirty ground and felt surprisingly cool in the heat. A few stray cubes of sugar lay next to Rorschach's coat.
When he finally reached the stoop of his apartment once more the sky was glowing bright blue. He stopped to watch it for a moment, then took off his goggles and mask, letting his mouth twitch into a strange smile.
His apartment was dark, and he hoped that meant that his partner was fast asleep. The only light came from the glow outside that snuck its way through his blinds in the living room. He was unsurprised to find that Rorschach slept in his mask, or that he slept curled up into a tight ball, as if the world around him pressed against him at all sides even in his sleep. Without hesitation, Dan draped the coat against him.
Rorschach jumped awake, throwing the coat off of him and looking all around.
"Sorry," heat rose to Dan's cheeks and he suddenly felt very stupid. He turned on a light, looking back to see Rorschach fully recovered from his near-fright, holding the coat in front of him and looking at it like a lost friend. Dan threw the rest of his clothes on the coffee table. Rorschach looked at the rest of the clothes, grunted, then covered himself with the coat and almost immediately fell back asleep.
Dan slept for the rest of the morning, but was woken up by noises down below, one small clang and clash too many. Too tired to go down, he simply listened for the noises, figuring Rorschach was raiding his kitchen and could handle himself fine. He stiffened as he heard steps coming up the stairs.
The door cracked open silently and he immediately felt Rorschach's tense presence. Dan was still, acting like he was asleep, but was not quite sure why he bothered. He closed his eyes when Rorschach stepped up to the side of his bed, standing there. He felt Rorschach staring at him, and it almost made him feel pressured to act more asleep so that Rorschach couldn't figure out that he wasn't--if he already did, he certainly wasn't saying anything.
"Hrum." It was long, drawn out. Almost tired.
Then the presence was gone, and Dan heard his stiff window being pried open. Rorschach left, using the fire escape.
Dan reached for his glasses and blinked, staring at a folded note left on his end table that had been ripped out of one of his notepads downstairs. He unfolded it; it was simply Rorschach's insignia in scraggly pen. Taking it as a thank you, Dan put it inside the end table drawer and fell back asleep with a smirk.