FINALLY back. God that took a while. Sorry, I was totally sidetracked. And I've kind of lost my deep and seemingly unending love for Rorschach. But mind you, this is a good thing! Now I can write something without being blinded by sappy romantic feelings, and I can look at the characters more like tools than my own personal fantasies.

Anyway, sorry fangirls, not a romance. I hope you like this anyway, though.

Enjoy!

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A falling sensation overcame them.

The taste of failure transcended the lives they knew.

And with nothing left to lose, they fell, and kept falling.

They fell for an eternity.

But even eternity ends.

The real story starts here.

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Brygida's eyes opened slowly, the sudden blur of color and light overtaking her senses as she brought her arms up to shield her eyes. But light still shined through the space where one of her arms should have been. She sat up, finally noticing the softness of the bed that she was in... And that it wasn't her bed. She was in a large, purple room with gold and flowers and... She wasn't at home.

Sighing, she lifted up her hand to wipe the morning tears from her eyes...

But the hand never came. She looked at her right arm...

~*~*~

A manservant that was up early every morning jolted violently when an uncommon noise came from the room of Adrian's coma patient. The noise was horrifyingly blood curdling; a scream of disgust and horror. He rushed in, and saw the coma girl dry gagging over the side of her bed, her entire body shaking. Her stump of an arm was up in the air, as if she were trying to avoid it.

"Miss..." He said, walking towards her.

"Where's my arm?!" She cried, "I want my arm back! I—" She felt another wave of nausea crash over her as her body attempted to throw up food that wasn't in her stomach. The manservant ran out of the room. All of the staff at Karnak were instructed to get Adrian Veidt as soon as the girl woke up, no questions asked. The man just hoped that Mr. Veidt would be forgiving at 4:57 in the morning.

Brygida gasped for air, a line of spit hanging from her lip as she spat the stomach acid from her mouth and took deep breaths. She didn't want to look at her right side. From what she had seen, she had lost her arm up to the elbow. There was a bandage wrapped around it, but it wasn't bloody. It looked clean and new. She instead took to looking around the room. Her eyes suddenly snapped to the door as it opened and closed, none other than Adrian Veidt walking through. Without thinking, the girl picked up the closest thing and threw it at him. But she was a terrible shot with her left arm, and the man ended up catching it before it crashed to the floor. It was a picture of her and her mother...

"What do you want from me?" Brygida said, thinking him a horrible man as she clutched the bed sheets tightly in the hand she had left.

Adrian sat by her bedside and looked her over, studied her. She felt like a lab rat from the way he stared at her. When he moved to touch her, she slapped his hand away and got out of the bed to stand up. But that failed. Her left side was heavier than her right now, and she ended up falling over herself as she tried to stand. But Adrian caught her on the way down and hauled her back into bed.

"I want you..." He said, voice like all the chords of silk in the world, "To calm down. And to think about what you do before you do it, Miss Brygida..."

"H-how do you know my name?" Kind of a stupid question, but she wasn't thinking very hard. She felt completely violated by this man's stare; his voice slipped too easily into her ears and through her mind.

"After you passed out a month ago in Karnak, Daniel and Laurie helped me with you and your arm... Daniel did not want me to keep you here, but after some compromise and after we got you stable, he agreed to leave you... And I've been spending that time finding out who you were." He smiled slightly, "Your mother has easily taken up residence in Karnak. She has been waiting for you to wake up as well."

Brygida's eyes glistened, "My mom's still alive...?"

"And more. But before you see her, I must talk with you..."

"Please let me see my mother... I'll answer anything you want if I can see her..." Brygida pleaded with a trembling voice; she couldn't stop her bottom lip from quivering.

Adrian stopped for a moment to contemplate the possibilities of what may happen... And he nodded, getting up from the bedside, "Alright. But no one else is allowed in."

Brygida nodded feverishly, "Who would want to come in?"

He smiled, bowed his head slightly, and closed the door behind him. Brygida bunched the covers up to her chin and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. She unwittingly searched through her memories, and came upon the night that she had gone to the Antarctic with Daniel and... Rorschach.

She remembered feeling off balance, and seeing the blood in the snow... But it was her blood. Rorschach was simply gone... Except for the hat that had fallen in the snow. She hadn't paid any attention to it, but upon thinking back, she remembered that it had fluttered in the wind for a moment before falling to the snow in her blood... And her arm hadn't been there. If Jon had ended up tearing it off, which was most likely the case, where was it? She tried her hardest to keep her mind off of the fact that he was dead...

The door swung open and Brygida's mother in all her colorful, flowing garb strode through the room and threw her arms about her daughter's neck, eyes already filled with tears. Brygida wrapped her arm around her mother and cried as well. It was the one of the two reunions that she had hoped for...

"Oh how I missed you, moja kotku..." Rasia murmured into her child's hair.

"You haven't called me that since I was a kid, momma..." Brygida replied, hugging her mother as tightly as she could with only one arm.

"You'll always be my kitten, Brygida..." She got up with some difficulty, forcing herself to let go of the daughter she thought that she had lost. Turning to Adrian at the door, she nodded, and kissed her daughter on the forehead before exiting. Adrian once again returned to the girl's bedside after locking the door.

"Now..." Adrian said, pulling the covers up to the girl's chin, "In order to keep the peace that has finally come to this world, I must either entrust you with the secret that has been forced onto you by Daniel's stupidity and heroism... Or kill you."

Brygida jolted, but before she could respond, Adrian continued, "But I don't want to have to kill you. If Daniel trusts you, then I have faith that you will not betray my trust."

"Oh of course not..." Brygida breathed, "I would never..."

"I know that you had... sympathies toward our dearly departed Rorschach." Adrian intervened, "Now, I'm not sure if that means that you agreed with his outlook on the subject of justice, and right and wrong, or if you just thought him entertaining..."

Adrian discontinued talking about the masked hero when he saw the girl drag her legs to her chest, "How did you feel towards him...?"

"I... He was my friend... He is my friend..." She fixed her statement, and Adrian didn't correct her. She was obviously in a lot of physical and mental pain, and he didn't want to break her down to bits and pieces because of someone that didn't need to be talked about.

He stood up, "Since I suspect you'll be staying here a while, would you like a tour?"

"No. I don't want to stay here." Brygida replied; half savage, half broken.

"But your mother—"

"All I needed to know was that she was okay... And she's fine. She looks happier then she's been for my entire life, thanks to you. I don't need to be around her just so that I can see her break down about my dad... I don't need someone who lost everything, I need someone who has rebuilt..." She looked up at him, "I need Daniel and Laurie..."

"I will contact them as soon as possible."

"... Thank you..." Brygida struggled with those words, and they came out in an awkward mumble.

"One more thing..." She felt his eyes scan her face, and she flinched slightly as he continued, "I had known Rorschach for a long time, and never have I seen him hide the truth from anyone... If it were anyone else, even Daniel, he would have told them about what had happened. He doesn't hide anything. But... He didn't answer you when you entered the television room and asked about what had happened to New York. He hid something crucial from you, in order to save you the pain... Just how close were you two?"

"..." Brygida didn't know how to answer the question. The fact that he had died hadn't even sunken in yet. She was hoping that he would walk into the room, completely fine, tell her that she shouldn't have touched him...

Adrian stood up, "I see... I'm not sure if you were lucky or unlucky. Getting that close to a man like Rorschach is dangerous... And enlightening. You must have learned a lot about yourself. Am I right?"

"... Yes..."

"Then his death was not in vain if he influenced someone so much that they lost an arm for him." And he exited the room.

Brygida curled in on herself and cried until the clock beside her bed struck 9 AM, when she had finally passed out again from exhaustion...

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He wasn't floating like he had expected to be. There was no bright light at the end of a long tunnel. No pearly gates. No hellfire. In fact, it was epitome of neutrality. He laid on his back; the ground was hard, earthy. Smelled like... Well actually, it smelled like nothing. His senses were useless where he was. It was as if he were caught in a mousetrap, forever waiting for the cat to come around to snatch him up as its prey. But he knew that cat would never come.

He still regretted nothing. Even if he was going to be stuck in such a monotonous place for the rest of existence, he didn't mind. Everything ended, eventually. And then his consciousness would be tossed into nothingness, and he would finally be free. At least, that was what he believed.

Perhaps he was in Limbo, awaiting his punishment, or reward. He didn't care to know how the Gods worked, if there were any. If there were Gods, he could imagine them letting the humans loose against each other, and then shaking their heads at their failures, thinking that perhaps, they could try again next time.

Even though it always had the same result.

There was war, and suffering, and hatred. And above all else, there was the love that bred all these things. The cursed love that was a plague disguised as a blessing. The original wolf in sheep's clothing.

The only sense he seemed to have left was his sight. And as he willed his eyes to open, he was suddenly overcome by the blinding brilliance of a sky filled with stars. He shut his eyes again, and then reopened them after a moment of recuperation. He felt his jaw slacken slightly. No sky was ever that full in his entire life. Every single star in that sky was brighter than any of the stars that he had witnessed. City life had blocked out any kind of connection with the stars, and now, he finally...

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He heard a voice behind him.

'God?' He wondered as he turned around...

But it was Jon that stood behind him. A sudden wave of anxiety and confusion washed over him. The blue man walked up next to him, his hands locked behind his back as he stared up at the sky, "We are underneath what you humans would label as a Milky Way. But we are much too far from humans to call it such a thing..."

"... Am I dead?" The man asked, standing up.

Jon looked at him, and his lips curved up, "No. I am sorry for your confusion Rorschach, but do not worry. All will be explained soon enough."

"Why not tell me now?" Rorschach asked, his eyes on the sky.

"Because when you are captured in the beauty of the universe, words become meaningless, abstractions of feelings. Right now all we need to do is feel... Feel how good it is to breath in the stardust that created us..."

Rorschach looked at Jon and noticed that this was the first time he had ever seen the man-god in a comfortable situation. A slight smile lingered on his lips. He was at home among the stars... Perhaps Rorschach would try to do the same.

He was alive. Disappointed, but alive.

And for the moment, he didn't notice the dismembered arm at his foot.

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Brygida spent the day that she was to leave Karnak attempting to walk. She still hadn't gotten the hang of the physical imbalance, and it was really frustrating her. She wore a long sleeved purple tunic that went down to her mid thighs, and black leggings underneath. But even though her stumped arm wasn't showing, people still stared at her. Karnak had long since flourished with life, and even in the short month that she was out it was obvious that people had changed. Most of their eyes weren't judgmental or prejudicial, simply curious. But the innocent looks of the younger people made Brygida feel irritated, and she would rather they be judgmental and have a pre-determined idea of her rather than have them examine her over a length of time. She just didn't enjoy being analyzed.

Her mother walked with her every step of the way, catching her before she fell most of the times. Two percent of the time she missed, and Brygida toppled to the floor. Before the accident, she was right handed. Her left-handed abilities were limited and basic; she doubted that she would be able to pick up a pen for years. But she hoped that wouldn't be the case.

"Come on, darling..." Rasia cooed, "Let's get back to your room, we have to prepare you for your journey..."

"I'm not going on some epic quest, Ma..." Brygida replied, stumbling into a wall. She groaned and pushed herself off, stabilizing herself by landing her legs further apart. She sighed, "Alright, let's go..."

Her mother helped her pack as she sat on the bed, cross-legged and spacing out. She wasn't even paying attention to what her mother was putting in the suitcase; she didn't care. Who would care with a stumpy arm? She had looked in the mirror once for the entire time that she had been awake in Karnak, and she hated what she saw. She had lost a lot of weight after living off of IVs for a month. She missed the color in her cheeks, and the little outward curve that her belly made. She felt brittle, fragile. She didn't like it.

"As soon as I get out of here, momma..." She whispered, "I'm going to eat until I burst..."

Rasia laughed, "And I think you deserve at least that much." The woman closed the suitcase and kissed her child on both cheeks, "Tell Laurel and Daniel that I say hello, and to take good care of you."

"I'm sure they will... And their names are Sam and Sandra Hollis now. Remember?"

"Oh, of course. Silly me, I've been forgetting more and more lately, I'm sorry sweetheart." She chuckled to herself, "Come and visit some time, won't you?"

"I'll try..."

Brygida entered into the Karnak Dirigible Hanger as her bags were being loaded onto the airship. Adrian came and handed her her passport.

"Remember, you are not Brygida anymore." He said calmly, leading her by the shoulders into the airship, "If anyone calls you anything other than Magdalena Veidt, do not respond. Brygida is dead."

"I know." She replied, pulling away from him. Her mother and Adrian had come up with an alias for her, because technically, Brygida was still a wanted fugitive. But now that she was Brygida no longer, and Brygida still had two arms according to the government, she was now Magdalena. And Magdalena was Adrian's adopted daughter. She didn't exactly have a choice, since all of the paperwork was already in. She hugged her mother one last time before entering into the dirigible and taking her seat.

She unzipped her suitcase, looking through everything that her mother had given her. She didn't mind most of it, some of it was much too colorful for her tastes. She would just give it away or sell it once she got back to New York... She noticed something at the very bottom of her suitcase. Something that she had never imagined that she would see again.

Rorschach's hat. She yanked it out, setting her suitcase on the seat next to her. They had washed the hat, but it still looked dirty. Most likely they wanted to wash it only in order to get rid of the smell that Rorschach always seemed to leave behind. The girl smiled slightly, hugging the hat to her chest as she stared out the window. She would bring it to Daniel, and maybe she would finally have someone that understood her pain...

No. He felt worse than her, she knew it. It was comforting to know that there was someone else who cared...

Magdalena Veidt stared out the window, and for the first time, put her fingers to her stumpy arm... And she felt smooth skin. It was normal. She was normal. She laughed, putting the hat on her head and smiling more than she had in the entire time she was awake.

Everything would be alright... With Rorschach, or without him.