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This was written for the Watchmen kinkmeme. The original prompt was this link: www . youtube . com /watch ?v =s 6NNXLfYRQA (all spread out) and the idea was that instead of a mask, Walter makes a full-sized doll that somehow comes to life and takes on the identity of Rorschach.

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It was three more days before Nite Owl saw Rorschach again. He was getting ready to go out in Archie when he felt a stare and looked up to see him, barely visible in the shadows of the tunnel. Nite Owl honestly didn't know whether to break into a relieved grin or yell. He had made excuses to lurk by his phone the first two days, wondering if Walter or Rorschach would call, and had finally decided to go on patrol the night before. Rorschach stood silent, hands in pockets, like a dog that wasn't sure it was welcome in the house. Nite Owl saw the hesitation and silently prayed his usual knack for turning situations awkward wouldn't ruin this.

"It's about time!" he called, letting the grin out after all. "Let's go!" He started up the ladder without looking back. Don't be nervous. Don't be awkward. This is no different from any other time he takes off for a few days. Just act normal. He got into his seat and begin flipping switches noisily. Finally he heard footsteps approaching and was glad the goggles hid that he squeezed his eyes shut in relief as Rorschach closed the hatch and sat down in the other chair.

"Glad you're back," he said as they started off and it was too late for Rorschach to change his mind and disappear. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." The hat was pulled low so only the bottom part of his mask was showing, but his head tilted slightly. They were watching each other carefully. Rorschach was on high alert for any too-curious looks or questions. Nite Owl was just trying to tell if Rorschach was actually breathing. Sure enough, there was a steady rise and fall in his chest and Nite Owl had to focus on the instruments to keep an amazed grin off his face. Ok, so it didn't make any logical sense for a hand-sewn man with no lungs to breathe, but it was cool. Nite Owl had always been curious about Rorschach's real name and face, and now that he knew he didn't have either, he still had something to be curious about. No reason to lose patience yet. Maybe eventually Rorschach (or hey! Maybe Walter) would tell him the whole story.

"What?" Rorschach said, just barely a snap, and Nite Owl knew he hadn't looked away fast enough.

"I'm just impressed," he said honestly. "I was going to ask about your arm, but then I saw your coat. You can barely see the stitches in it. It's almost like you were never-" He almost said hurt, then changed his mind. "-Slashed. Walter really knows what he's doing, doesn't he? He did a great job." He heard himself babbling a little and reined it in.

"Hrrm," Rorschach said, agreeing, "That's something you two have in common."

"Oh yeah?"

"Both makers. Both create things."

Nite Owl couldn't help but be flattered at the comparison. After all, nothing he made had come to life on its own, but wouldn't it have been cool if it had? And it was kind of nice to be in the same category with someone Rorschach thought highly of. Nite Owl was even the teensiest bit jealous. Rorschach had someone to go to besides him, which was admittedly more of a relief than an annoyance. He had someone to patch him up and keep him company and keep him sane. All this time he had been worried about his partner being cold or hurt or hungry and- wait...

"Can I ask you a, um, personal question?" he said before he could lose nerve. New tension snapped taut in Rorschach's frame.

"What?" he asked, and his growl was back full force.

"What do you do with all the sugar cubes? I mean, not that it matters. You can have as many as you want, build scale models of the Pyramids, for all I care. I'm just... curious... I guess..." He risked a sideways look glance and shrugged as casually as he was able. "Just curious.

"Buy those especially for me." Rorschach said after a moment. "Don't you?"

"You seemed to like them."

"....." Rorschach made a new strange sound and looked at his hands, loose in his lap. "Give them to Walter. Needs energy more than I do."

"Makes sense," Nite Owl agreed. Rorschach was looking at him as if expecting him to be insulted. Over sugar cubes. Yeesh. I thought I was the one that didn't know him... Just sugar cubes, for crying out loud. Not like they're precious or rare... Unless maybe they were to Walter. He sure hadn't looked as if his life had had a lot of sweetness. The thought of the highlight of your day being secondhand sugar cubes brought home in what had to be horrifying pockets was heart-tugging. Nite Owl wondered briefly what Walter was like happy, remembering how close to despair the man had seemed on his doorstep. Maybe only Rorschach knew.

"I only got to talk to him for a minute or two," Nite Owl said. "But I liked him." Rorschach made another sound, this one more his usual grunt. "We did have a common anxiety after all." Nite Owl tried to lighten things with a smile and feigned elbow nudge. It didn't connect. Nite Owl wasn't pushing his luck too far. Rorschach looked at him for a moment, then back out the window, and he decided to let it go for now.

The sword was still missing from the museum, so they decided to make the rounds and see what they could find out. Rorschach expressed disappointment that Nite Owl had let the thieves get away with the sword. Nite Owl pointed out that he had been well and truly distracted at that point. They went back to the lot behind the museum where they had fought the thieves and started investigating from there. By then, there wasn't much left, but they did find some scraps of black material and a few subway tokens.

"You know the subway tunnels better than I do," Nite Owl said. "Is it a feasible hideout for a bunch of wannabe ninjas?"

"Hundreds of homeless live down there," Rorschach turned a token over in his palm. "Don't see why not."

"That many?" Nite Owl was checking a blood spatter and trying not to imagine the mess that would've been here if Rorschach had been human. It would've been a bloodbath, all over the inside of Archie too, and his costume as he tried to hold the wound shut long enough to get to help. He was glad for anything to pull his mind from that image. "Why?"

"Average year round temperature. No outside interference. Most don't last long. Humans aren't meant to live in holes." He pocketed the token and rolled his shoulders, maybe testing his new stitches. "Not like alligators."

"You don't mean the urban legend about them in the sewers," Nite Owl said, fairly sure he was kidding.

"Not the first time I've had to be sewn up," Rorschach said, motioning at his shoulder. He didn't sound like he was kidding. "More things in heaven and earth, as they say." He turned away before Nite Owl could argue. "See what security knows about the trap they fell into. Might be some clue there."

***

Inside the museum, they found some of the day shift guards trying to stay awake with coffee and churros. Almost the entire night shift was either dead or in the hospital with electricity burns, organ failure, and nerve damage. Only three out of fifteen hadn't been trapped and they were being questioned by police.

"Inside job," Rorschach muttered. The guard nodded a little sheepishly.

"Looks that way," he said. "They're saying it would've taken to long to set up all the wires on the floor and somebody would've noticed unless they had inside help."

"What was so special about this sword?" Nite Owl asked.

"Beats me," the guard sighed, but his partner perked up a little.

"It's a relic," she said. "I pulled that hall during the last big field trip. Heard the guide talk about it four times that day. It was given as a tribute gift to some opium drug lord way back when. Too long to really be a practical weapon, y'know, but a symbolic one. Something like 'may your enemies always be in reach of your blade'. Then they were cleaned out by a new power and all their stuff got stockpiled, and the latest heir to it all donated a bunch of the stuff that wasn't actually valuable to different museums. We got the sword and a tapestry."

"You remembered all that?" her partner teased.

"I pay attention. What snack is D7 in the vending machine?" she asked back.

"M&Ms," he answered immediately, then grimaced. "Ok. Got me."

Their effortless camaraderie was endearing to Nite Owl, but he felt Rorschach shift with impatience and decided to go before anyone's fingers were threatened. He thanked them and shooed Rorschach back towards Archie.
"Drugs and violence don't change, do they?" he asked once they were in. "Any thoughts?"

"Maybe new enemies in reach of an old blade," Rorschach said.