A/N: Omigod, you guys are so nice! I have been overwhelmed by the positive response and the incredible support all of my amazing reviewers have given me. Thank you all so much. As a token of my appreciation, I tried to make this chapter just as fast, but rather longer. Unfortunately, real life intervened and you'll have to settle for length. XD
Hope it's up to snuff. No pron this time around, I'm afraid. Pure plot. I hope to make up for it soon, though. :3
AS A SIDE NOTE! It took like…7 kindly reviewers to help me figure it out, but I now realize Dan surfing the interwebs is a total anachronism. BAD AUTHOR! I'll go back and fix it as soon as I remember. Thanks again for calling me out. :D
Chapter IV
Rorschach watched as Nite Owl intercepted a mugging. He watched concealed by shadows, high on the fire escape of a building across the street. Dreiberg incapacitated the mugger quickly and dragged him by his neck to the curb, where he bound the criminal hand and knee to the light pole by the road. A curved moon insignia was threaded through the mugger's top button hole before Nite Owl whipped away into the alley.
The question was whether it would be better to worse to work less efficiently, or to put up with a blubbering Walter in his head all night. The Twilight Lady would not discover herself, however, and her network was large enough that it would take a very long time for Rorschach to pick it apart by himself.
He sighed in resignation and vaulted up the last levels of the fire escape and climbed to the roof fluidly, keeping low and out of the moonlight as he pursued Dreiberg. He found him at the stakeout they'd been monitoring for the last few days with a pair of binoculars pressed against his eyes. Rorschach walked to the other window and wrenched it open. At the grating shriek, Nite Owl was so startled that he tipped straight backward and sprawled on the floor.
Rorschach watched him with one eye as he surveyed the street corner with the other.
"Christ, Rorschach! Would it kill you to say 'hello'?"
"Hello." Rorschach grunted.
"Well…well thanks!" Dreiberg spluttered, jerking to his feet and righting the chair.
Rorschach grunted. After a few moments, a tall redhead with deep bags under her eyes and far too little clothing on her body approached the mailbox that Nite Owl and Rorschach suspected was being used as a drop point. She glanced nervously up and down the street before producing something from her PVC jacket and slipping it into the mailbox.
Rorschach climbed to the window sill and waited for her to leave the corner before he leapt out and darted across the street to the mailbox, pulling a leather case from his trench coat and choosing a lock pick and a torque wrench from within it. Dreiberg jogged up behind him just as the door on the mailbox swung open.
The whore had left a manila envelope in the otherwise empty mailbox. Rorschach picked it up and tilted it to the street light. Dreiberg was leaning uncomfortably close to see the envelope, Rorschach fought the urge to elbow him in the stomach.
Daniel scrutinized the envelope in the seedy glow of the street light. The only marking was a pink lipstick print on the back flap. Rorschach passed it to him and Daniel sniffed it gingerly before sliding a finger under the butterfly clasp and prying the wings up. The contents were in code, predictably, but since the Twilight Lady had to change her codes so often that she couldn't afford to create especially complex ciphers.
"It shouldn't take too long for me to crack this, but we can't get it done tonight," he mused aloud. Rorschach made his "annoyance" grunt.
"I'll…head back and get to work then," Daniel sighed, a little disappointed. With all of this Walter business, he'd been looking forward to cracking a few skulls. And of course, there was always Rorschach.
Archie was waiting for him in the lower levels of an abandoned warehouse, where he'd left him. Dan patted his nose fondly before opening the side door and climbing inside. He didn't bother turning on the lights, and when the door sealed shut behind him Archie was left in total darkness, save for the faint glow from the street lamps outside that streamed in through his eyes.
Dan allowed himself a moment of quiet, savoring the silence.
As per his usual, his thoughts drifted immediately to Rorschach. He'll be annoyed I made him wait so I could daydream. Snapping out of his daze, he strode to the console and booted Archie up with mechanical familiarity.
Archie's autopilot, recently added, kicked in smoothly and Dan sat back in his seat, content to monitor the various displays on the console and watch the city slide past below him.
In the immediate afterglow of hiring Walter, Daniel hadn't thought much of it, but as his thoughts fondly returned to the memory, he started picking up details he hadn't noticed before.
Daniel.
Walter had called him Daniel. How had Walter known his name?
He supposed he might've mentioned it in passing, but he couldn't remember any specific conversation. He had asked for the redhead's name and after that, well, he'd been a bit distracted. It was strange, though.
Archie dropped out of the sky and into the caved-in roof of the warehouse that stood guardian over the abandoned subway tunnel. Dan eased him through the tunnel and gently laid him down in his basement. He felt like he was saying goodbye to a friend as he switched off the power.
Did he want Walter to visit again?
Daniel stripped out of his armor mechanically, placing it on its stand gratefully as cool air reached his skin for the first time that night. The suit always made his hair tacky with sweat and he scrubbed it out of his face in annoyance.
Would Walter mind if he called him Rorschach?
That's what this whole sordid affair was for, after all; to get Rorschach out of his system before he did something stupid during patrol and Rorschach killed him in retaliation.
Walter was almost the same build as Rorschach, Dan thought giddily, if he were only an inch or so taller, he would be Rorschach's height. And Dan had pictured the muscles Rorschach must have for his job enough times to form a (very pleasant) mental photograph. Perhaps not quite as heavy muscled as Walter, Rorschach never ate much.
He didn't know why he even bothered to pretend it was a question, Daniel was going to find Walter as soon as he could. Hobos always needed money.
A/N: So that's chapter 4. More insecure!Walter lovins next chapter. A few notes about the chapter. I shamelessly stole the idea of Walter slipping up and calling him "Daniel" from a number of you wonderful, amazing, thoughtful, caring, generous, and creative reviewers. When I say Walter is shorter, I'm assuming he doesn't wear his elevator shoes when he's not on duty and, therefore, not trying to be intimidating.
I'll try to get chapter 5 up by tomorrow evening.
I know I've said it like, 3 times already, but I really cannot express how incredibly touched I am by the overwhelming positive response. Thank you all so much. ~Piggy.
