Hi! I have decided she can meet Eddie now, but it doesn't really amount to much until later... Anyways, so sorry for those of you who were annoyed with the wait this time, I didn't mean it! But since you guys continue to love this story, I am working as best I can on it. So far, though, don't expect much in the way of action because I still don't know exactly how to get to the parts of this I know I am going to do. Hell, I even know how both versions END, for fucks' sake! I just can't figure out how to get there... Anyways, enjoy!

7

Alex had begun to go out and look for a job today, and was scanning the windows for any help wanted signs when she decided to go into a nearby store and get some candy or something. They were also out of sugar cubes again, one of which she was eating right now. The last three of the ones in the tin were now in her pocket. Having a sweet tooth was getting bad...

As she looked through the different choices of chocolate — it had to be chocolate, not some other candy — she considered getting her uncle something, although she had no idea what he liked. She settled on a Hershey bar. Everybody liked those, right? She herself grabbed a different one, and paused to consider the ice cream before deciding against it and continuing on to the counter, where a very angry customer was yelling at the poor, obviously new cashier that stood behind it, trying to appease her. Honestly she didn't care what the argument was about, so she ignored the majority of it. She was wondering whether or not she could start eating her candy before she bought it when a large man turning to look at something on a shelf bumped into her.

He apologized, and then looked at her as though surprised for a moment. Apparently, he found her interesting somehow, because he started talking to her. "How 'bout that, huh? Little mistake, and some lady goes berserk over it."

She smiled, somehow liking him already. She had a sort of sixth sense about that sort of thing, she supposed. "People are crazy sometimes, yeah. Maybe it's just 'cause she's old."

"Or on the rag."

She laughed at that. "Probably that, too, yeah."

He was about to say something else when three men with guns burst in to rob the place. They told everyone to get down, and then demanded that the cashier open the drawer, and since everyone else was there for a reason, they told them to empty their pockets.

Her uncle had told her about some guys called knot-tops. Judging by the hair, these were those guys. She was too shocked, however, to immediately comply with their commands, and they didn't like that. She was a bit confused later, though, since she had thought people from that gang didn't really rob places. And now she was up against the wall with a guy in her face. This would be the second time her life was threatened since she came here. The first time, Rorschach had been there. This time he wasn't. She really hated this city.

The big man she had bumped into earlier, though, had not moved, and apparently was not intimidated by the thugs at all. "Now, is that any way to treat a lady?" he said to the man who had her, and pulled him off. Instinctively, she looked anywhere but at the fight that suddenly broke out, ducking under the nearest place she could when the bullets started flying and the screaming got louder. She must have been crouched under that shelf for ten or fifteen minutes before it stopped. And even then, she stayed put. She had been present during bank robberies, having worked at a bank and all, but they usually did not wind up this violent. Eventually, she peeked out at the scene. There was dust, someone had phoned the police, and there was a dead thug right where she had previously been standing.

"Hey, kid. You can come out, now." That man she had met peered under the shelving at her and smiled. As she allowed him to help her out and onto her feet, he muttered something that sounded like, "I'm gettin' way too old for this shit..."

Later, outside the store and having given her account of what happened, she found the man again just before he was leaving. "Hey, hold on a sec!" She ran over to him, and moved in front of him. "I didn't get to thank you earlier... Thanks."

"Ah, no prob. Done it before."

"You have?" Was he a cop, too or something?

"Yep. It doesn't matter where, really, kid, you don't need to know that. I was in town, and I was outta smokes, so that's why I was there at all, really."

"Oh. Well... Still. Thanks, uh..." She didn't really think she could ask him his name at this point.

He chuckled. "It's Edward Blake. But just call me Eddie, everybody else does." He shook the hand she offered, squeezing a little lighter than normal, since she was a girl, and she was small. He didn't want to hurt her hand or anything. And just what the hell was it that gave him a sense of familiarity with her? He hadn't seen her before, and she didn't look like any of the girls he knew, of which there were many. But there was something...

"Okay, then. Thanks, Eddie. And, um... I'm Alexandra Dreiberg. Just call me Alex." She beamed up at him.

Well, damn... "You're welcome, then, Alex... And it's Dreiberg? You don't know a guy named Dan, do you?"

"He's my uncle... you know him?"

"I did, once, but we haven't seen or heard from each other in a while... Anyways, I gotta go, but, you know, just tell him some guy said hi."

"Okay. See ya."

"See ya."

That must have been it, then. She didn't look much like him, save for the glasses. They were almost the same kind, but smaller, the kind that didn't take up most of your face. Her whole air practically breathed that guy, though. It must have been the angle he had seen her from that triggered a recognition, then. Ah, well. He didn't think he would really have much to say to him, anyways, and Dan didn't know his identity, so it was useless for him to tell her to say hi from him. Whatever.

And he walked away.

-

What happened at the store, while it made her uneasy, did not in any way hinder her job hunt. If she was going to find herself a job, she would continue looking today. Eventually, she found a nice job opening for a position at a small pet store, where they needed a position filled. Since it was slow, they went about interviewing her right there and decided she would be a god hire. Sure, going back to being a banker somewhere around here would mean a lot more money, but she thought that after what had happened, at least here would be a safer choice.

So it happened that later that afternoon, she was telling Uncle Danny about the action she had seen that day. She was lying on her back on his desk in the basement while he made adjustments to Archie. Apparently even though he wasn't Nite Owl anymore, the flight they had taken before had at least prompted him to continue his work on the ship. In case of emergency, of course.

"Well, you got out okay, and that's good. Do you think they'll want you in the courts?"

"Oh, God, I hope not. Besides, I wouldn't be much help, I was hiding most of the time..."

"Well, in that case, probably not."

"Good." She sighed and picked up the photo of him, Rorschach, and the others, which had, in reality, been in her hands the whole time. She liked looking at it. It made her wonder why in hell any of them had quit in the first place... For some reason, though, her eyes kept being drawn to the man crouching in the front with the gun and the cigar. For a time, she looked at him, trying to figure out what was so interesting. And then her eyes noted the mustache on his face, and the hair style. Eventually, she sub-consciously removed the mask and then... "Hey!" She sat up quickly and pointed to him. "That's the guy that was there who told me to say hi to you for him!"

-

Rorschachs' journal, July 5, 1983

Discovered prostitution ring being conducted by a man from Russia. Do not yet know his name, but heard a deal being made. Upon further investigations, found that the leader brings underage females, and some males, from varying different countries by bribing them with better lives then the ones they are living, with more money and better homes. Tells them it's a job, but nothing more. Seems to be very persuasive if he can convince them. Oldest sex slave is a male, Deryk, aged sixteen. All others are fifteen and below, youngest being approximately thirteen. Disgusting. Heard deal being made for fourteen year old girl, name unknown to me as yet, will investigate further, hope to find and kill leader, thus shutting down his ring. Don't know what to do about the slaves, but will try to make it stop. Humans should not live that way willingly, let alone unwillingly. Man has been corrupted so far that such things are considered normal in crime world. Will not allow this festering disease to spread any further into the already overflowing gutters. Will continue investigation tomorrow night.

On another note, have run into Dreibergs' niece three times of late after last having seen her at his home. First time she saved my life, and for that I am grateful, but cannot help but wonder why she bothered. Am not worth putting someone else who barely knows me in any danger. Second and third times, however, was not wearing my face. Do not believe she recognized me the second time, when we pumped into one another on street. Third time, I saw her, but she did not see me. Has been hired in shop directly next to my own workplace, is to help care for the animals on sale there, and act as floor associate when not caring for them. While I do not feel in the least threatened by her being there, I am uneasy. Do not know if something I do will let her know who I am, should probably be careful. However, until I am completely convinced she will be a threat, will not try too hard to avoid her, in case it's noticed.

As the sun rose over the murky streets below, Rorschach closed his journal, took a breath, and proceeded down from the building he had been sitting on, carefully making his way to one of the more secluded paths that led him back home to retire for a few hours before heading to work.

A/N: Was that one longer than usual? It seemed like it while I wrote this... Anyways, as usual, thanks for reading and all that stuff, stay tuned! Yay! ~NS~