A note for this chapter, I'm not exactly 100% sure how I'm going to be writing Rorschach/Walter in this fic. Soooo, if anyone notices changes in how he talk/thinks, that's just me struggling to properly express his character . Bear with me please, I don't do this for a living, so I'm not all that good at it ^^;;;;

Also, here's a warning, there will be a bit of drama in this bit... but life is a drama soooo that shouldn't be too unexpected.

On with the show!!


Walter Kovacs stood at the corner, the wooden post of his sign resting on his hip as he watched Daniel and his new… companion exit the diner. The woman was gesturing animatedly to the man, as if trying to convince him of a particular point, while Daniel just smiled compliantly. Something he said earned him a light punch on the shoulder and Walter stiffened at the playful action. Anger quickened his heart, but he kept his expression bland and disinterested, a perfect mask.

A relatively uneventful night had left Rorschach little else to do than follow the whore when she took Daniel's cat off of the street. The vigilante was not sure, nor did he dwell on, the reasons behind his grudging level of attachment to the animal, but he did understand the potential threat that the woman posed to his former partner's well being. Nite Owl had grown soft during his retirement and so he didn't wholly blame the man for not seeing the insincerity in her smiles or the deception in her supposedly innocent touches.

'Have to warn him,' he decided. 'Can't protect himself from this city… so I'll have to do it for him.'


"I'm telling you, there's no way," Dan laughed.

Audrey chuckled, pinching the bridge of her nose with a defeated shake of her head, "Fine, fine, but will you read the book at least?"

He raised a brow, "Is there any chance that I can say no and you'll just drop it?" He smiled, knowing the probable answer.

"Absolutely none," Audrey smiled.

Daniel sighed in mock despair, "Then I have no choice." Audrey laughed and he felt happy for eliciting the light-hearted sound, as he still harbored a lingering sense of guilt for unwittingly depressing the woman the night before.

Reaching the other side of the street, the pair turned when someone called Audrey by name. Daniel looked around in momentary confusion, but the woman instantly identified the source and gently tugged the man's coat sleeve in direction of the newsstand. Daniel hung back a little as the woman embraced the newsvendor.

"I thought you said that you weren't working today," Audrey stated when she detached from her uncle.

Bernard shrugged, eyeing Daniel curiously, "Ah, the new guy got sick," he dismissed the topic with a wave of his hand and nodded to Daniel. "Who's this? New boyfriend?" the older man smiled teasingly.

Audrey lightly cuffed Bernard on the shoulder before Dan had a chance to reply, "No, he's a friend." She beckoned Daniel closer, "This is Daniel Dreiberg. Dan, this is my Uncle Bernard."

The two men shook hands, Bernard quietly approving of the other man's firm grip.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Dan nodded.

"Likewise, Mr. National Geographic," Bernard grinned.

Daniel chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, Audrey raised a brow with the expression of someone who was amused, but was still left a little out of the loop.

Bernard shrugged, pointing at Dan with his thumb. "This guy comes down at the first of every month, to grab a National Geographic and a pack of chewing sugar." Daniel gave Audrey an embarrassed smiled when the newsvendor added jovially, "Like clockwork." Audrey chuckled lightly, not finding this strange, or even very surprising, given what she had gathered in the little time that she had spent around the man. Bernard's amiable attitude shifted suddenly, "Speakin' of clockwork," he muttered, turning to unclip a newsmagazine hanging on the side of the stand.

Daniel and Audrey looked to see a grungy-looking man walking towards them, supporting an equally dirty sign on his shoulder. Audrey blinked, remembering this same redheaded drifter from a few weeks before, and an instinctive sort of chill started creeping down her spine. His eyes were a surprisingly bright shade of blue, but the dangerously intense look that he was giving her kept the artist from appreciating it. Audrey found that looking in this guy's eyes was almost like staring down a mean dog in a dark alley, but if you broke the contact (no matter how much you might want too) you'd risk showing weakness… and having the dog rip your throat out. Before her sudden apprehension could escalate to something stronger, the man broke his stare and turned to her uncle.

The newsvendor held out the magazine with a friendly smile on his face. "Here's your New Frontiersman, got 'em fresh off the truck this morning."

The doomsayer didn't answer the smile, just dug into his pocket for some change and paid for the magazine. "You'll save the next one." It was hard to determine whether his statement was a command or a question, giving the lack of inflection in his speech.

Bernard nodded, the friendliness in his expression wilting a little under the intensity in his regular customer's stare. "Sure, like always."

Turning without a word, he tucked the magazine into the pocket of his coat and walked away, not looking at either Daniel or Audrey as he passed them. When he had walked far enough down the sidewalk Bernard leaned heavily against his stand, letting out a relieved sigh.

"Wow", Dan muttered, looking down the sidewalk where the shorter man had gone. "Is he always like that?"

Bernard nodded, rubbing his jaw, "Pretty much." He muttered lowly with a shake of his head, "Creepy little vagrant."

Daniel chuckled at that, hoping to slough off the discomfort left behind by the eerie individual, and looked over at Audrey. He frowned, "Hey, are you all right?"

The woman shook herself, "Yeah, I think so." She couldn't quite shake off the uneasiness that the redhead had inspired in her. Checking her watch she smiled up at Dan, a particular type that he was beginning to think was more a mask to reassure others than her usual, genuinely happy expression. "It's getting late, I should get back home. I have a finish the mock-up for my presentation on Tuesday."

Dan frowned, not believing her assurances, "I'll walk you," he offered.

Audrey shook her head, "I'll be fine, your place is in the completely other direction, Dan." She smiled, "Thanks for the offer though," and gave him a quick hug. Daniel hesitated and couldn't react fast enough to hug her back. She gave her uncle a goodbye hug and a kiss on the cheek, "I'll see you on Thursday."

"Only if you're making your Aunt's thanksgiving pie," he answered with a half-smile.

Audrey smiled, "I always do." She waved and started down the sidewalk.

Bernard stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat, glancing sidelong at Dan, "She tries every year, but it never quite tastes like it did when my wife made it." A half-smile, "But she keeps trying."

"I can imagine," Dan couldn't glean any hidden meaning behind the statement, if there was any to start with.

The newsvendor studied the retired vigilante for a few moments. "I never had any kids of my own," he stated at length, holding Dan's puzzled eyes with his own. "So, understand me when I say that I think of Audrey as a daughter."

Daniel understood his meaning at that point, "Sir, I have absolutely no intention of hurting her." He hadn't even been aware that he had any intentions to speak of… he had only really met the woman the night before.

"And I think I can believe you," Bernard smacked Dan lightly on the arm with a smile.

After an awkward pause, Dan finally excused himself and started his own trek home. Going over the relationship he was apparently starting to build with this woman, he shook his head, 'Too fast, I'm taking this too fast.'


Rorschach's Journal, November 20, 1982

Rorschach closed the tattered book with a frustrated snap, after staring at the empty page for nearly fifteen minutes he admitted to himself that nothing was coming. "Mind isn't clear," he murmured, carefully slipping his pencil into the book's binding and tucking the journal into the inside pocket of his coat. Listening to the sounds of the city from his vantage point on an apartment building roof he frowned, the blots of his mask shifting slowly due to the stillness of the expression beneath. Walter hadn't been able to follow the whore in order to find out where she lived, so Rorschach was left to wait until some opportunity arose that would allow him to actually investigate this woman's intentions. All that he had were assumptions and theories, but what he needed was facts. Daniel wouldn't believe him unless he gave him facts that the whore was dangerous.

A soft crash from below caught the vigilante's attention. Hopping down from the inactive cooling vent, he walked to the edge of the roof and listened. Looking around he spotted a particular figure pass by a window in the building across the alley. "Sometimes the night is generous…" he thought, satisfied with his luck. Memorizing the exact location of the window, he left to continue his patrol of the city.


Audrey simultaneously yelped in surprise and cursed her own stupidity when the collection of books and videotapes she had stacked against the wall started to topple over. Jumping over her coffee table she managed to stop most of the videotapes from crashing to the floor, but she did manage to knock over her coat-tree in her rush to get to the other side of the room. Audrey winced at the sharp crash when the heavy wood hit the floor. "That's what I get," she sighed, sitting for a moment with the weight of at least forty pounds of literature pressing onto her legs and her arms full of the various tapes and magazines from the top half of the pile. Leaning to the side she eased the stack into a more controlled fall to spill easily over the floor, and stood up. "I think I handled that pretty well," she remarked to herself. Gathering up an armful of books she carried them across the living room and started arranging them on the bookshelf.

Her small two-bedroom apartment wasn't the greatest, but it was clean and the landlord was a reasonably likeable older gentleman. Continuing to finish clearing up the mass of items from her floor, Audrey paused, the hairs on the back of her neck starting to stand on end. She looked around the room, turning down the little stereo she had playing and listened cautiously. She was sure that there wasn't anyone in her apartment, but she couldn't help the feeling of being watched. Spotting her living room window she lightly smacked herself in the forehead, "Idiot." Making sure the window was locked; she closed the blinds and continued putting her things away.

Turning the stereo back up a little she broke into a box of photographs. Willingly taking a trip down memory lane she went about arranging her family and friends around the apartment. Her father's police academy photo went next to her little sister's high school graduation portrait; she remembered how much Morgan had stressed that morning. Running around the house, frantically searching for her shoes, then her hairbrush, her school ID, the list went on and on. Audrey smiled sadly, stroking her thumb across the glass over her sister's face. She remembered the girl's affinity for science and how she would get excited over just about anything ranging from obscure bits of Doctor Manhattan technology to the pink-orange color of the sky in the late afternoon.

Uncle Bernard and her late Aunt Rose, with their golden retriever, Domino, happily wedged between them, went near the small series of photos she had of Kyle. Bernard had gotten Rose that dog the first Christmas they were living together, named for how the exuberant animal had a tendency to knock anything and everything over. Audrey had made a promise to never forget that woman's smile and how the room would simply light up when she was there.

Sometime later, after organizing and rearranging the photographs about three times, and giving up on finding a good place for her handful of certificates for the kickboxing classes and the one competition she took place in during college, she neared the bottom of the box. Audrey hesitated when she felt the curve of an all too familiar frame. Her eyes threatened to blur a little, but she managed to keep the tears down as she drew the picture out. A younger collegiate version of herself smiled back at her, her own arms strung around the shoulders of a wiry young man only two years older than she was. His short straw colored hair was mussed, as it always was, his dark brown eyes bright and affable. A bruise was starting to appear on his forehead where he'd smacked it on the frame of the car door. She could still remember that day so clearly, even though it was over fifteen years ago, she could still feel the sun beating warmly on her neck as she held him, feel the bristles on his jaw scratch softly against her cheek. She could still recall how the summer air smelled faintly of honeysuckle, the broken beams of light streaming onto the hiking trail through the dense treetops, and especially how he constantly kept going off trail to track and grab some small lizard or insect to present to her. Audrey smiled at the memory, and to this day she still couldn't figure out how he managed to find that corn snake, but the faces they had gotten from a few other few hikers was well worth it. An older couple had taken this picture before they had started the trail and at the end of it-

Audrey put the photo facedown on the table. Sitting on the floor of her apartment she hugged her knees up to her chest, suddenly feeling very alone. Burrowing her face in her knees she forced herself to keep it together. "It was eight years ago," she growled to herself, her voice muffled behind her knees. "Eight years… I thought I was over this…" she hugged her knees tighter. After an undetermined stretch of time, Audrey lifted her head and looked over at the clock on her VCR. She was tired and knowing that it was nearly one in the morning didn't help at all. Getting to her feet she traced the back of the frame with her fingertips, but left it where it was. Leaning against the wall in the hallway she laid a hand on her belly, just bellow the waist of her pants, and though she couldn't feel it through the fabric of her sweats she still knew the scar was there. A reminder that hit her every morning with what she lost. Shutting out those thoughts and memories she knocked her clenched fist against the wall, unwilling to succumb to that heartache again. The touch of her anger, anger for what had been taken away from her, for the sheer unfairness of it all, helped to burn through her sorrow and to clear her mind.

Gradually calming herself, Audrey continued down to her bedroom, turning off lights as she passed them. Climbing into her bed she sighed heavily, while some floors up a dog barked, Audrey fixed her focus on that sound. An idea worked its way into her head and as her mind started to drift towards sleep, the more and more her partially awake mind started to agree with the idea. 'I need a dog.'


Rorschach spared a glanced down at his watch, dawn was still a few hours off, so he had plenty of time to start his investigation. A sharp wind blew over the rooftops, channeled through the alleyways below to buffet the late night crowds of people milling around the city that never slept. Rorschach flipped his collar up, the only sign showing that he noticed the cold, much less that it actually affected him.

Stepping up onto the railing of the balcony he launched himself across the alleyway, coming down at a crouch on the adjacent fire escape. The old metal grating rattled at his landing, the vigilante pressed himself against the wall, waiting and listening to find if his arrival had alerted anyone within. After a minute or so he crept towards the window, not even attempting to force it open, since the sound would undoubtedly alert the woman inside and he wanted to conduct his investigation unhindered. Taking out his tools he studied the window for a few moments until he found what he was looking for, there was a small gap between glass and wood in one of the windowpanes. Someone had plugged the gap with caulk, but that was pushed out of the way easily enough. Sticking one of his lock-picking rods through the gap Rorschach pushed the window latch from the outside until the catch wedged open. Pocketing his tools he carefully eased the window open and slipped inside, closing the window closed behind him.

Standing in the unlit living space Rorschach quickly assessed the area as he adjusted to the lack of available light, noting the half-empty boxes pushed up against the wall and the stack of videotapes on the coffee table, he walked a slow circuit around the room. Rorschach frowned, the black fluid in his mask shifting accordingly, opening one of the untouched boxes he only found a harmless load of cookware stored within it. He stubbornly clung to his conviction that something was wrong he picked up the facedown photograph on the table. Studying the smiling pair for a few moments, he put the photo back, feeling dissatisfied. For the first time in his career the vigilante felt like an intruder, not an investigator, but the feeling only lasted a short moment if really at all.

Stepping on a weak floorboard Rorschach tensed, the soft creak sounding ridiculously loud in the silence of the apartment. Listening in the dark he relaxed and turned his attention to a wire bound book lying on a short table by the hallway. Flipping the book open he was greeted with a sketch of the Comedian next to what was best described as a character study with notes elaborating on specific details of his costume. Thumbing further he found other pages with similar studies of all of the Watchmen, even of himself. For whatever reason, the woman had guessed at what he wore beneath his coat, a handful of concepts led to him in a purple pinstriped vest that matched his customary pants, over a white dress-shirt. There was a note on that page that was a reminder to get a sample of the fabric that his mask was made from to study. Focus had not been placed on him however, the Nite Owl was analyzed in a similar way, Silk Spectre in particular had several revisions with a supposed desire to be more 'child-friendly'.

The sketchbook and the manila folder beneath it were all issued by Veidt industries. Had Adrian told this woman who Daniel was? Unlikely. Or had she somehow discovered the connection on her own? It was too much of a coincidence for her to be employed by Ozymandias and be involved with the former Nite Owl at the same time. Turning another page, Rorschach found at least a dozen newspaper clippings with articles about him. Unfortunately Rorschach had no chance to dwell further no his suspicions as the lamps in the room suddenly came to life and pain exploded in the back of his skull, and this pain wasn't from the sudden influx of light. Something very solid had hit him in the head and the force of the impact, coupled with his momentary blindness, sent him stumbling back a few steps.

Audrey raised the baseball bat, ready to strike again, and feeling pleased with how her first hit had sent the man staggering backwards. A moment later, when the intruder recovered and she recognized him for whom he really was, any pride or confidence she had was abruptly brushed aside. "Fuck!" she barely had any time to clumsily dodge away from Rorschach's charge, dropping her "weapon" in the process and scrambling to get her furniture between her and the irate vigilante.

Rorschach stood in her hallway, gloved hands clenched, shoulders tight, and a tangible amount of hardly restrained fury washing off of him. Audrey was behind her old armchair, trying to think of something to do, 'He's going to kill me!' she thought frantically. "L-look," she tried, "I didn't mean to hit you." A part of herself was sickened with how much her voice was shaking, but that same part refused to lend her the strength she needed to call up a shroud of bravado that she usually hid behind.

His mask swirled and shifted chaotically, "Doubt that," Rorschach growled and lunged at her. She tried to run again, but Rorschach caught her by the shoulder and tackled her to the floor. His head was pounding from being hit by that baseball bat and her struggling was only serving to frustrate and aggravate him further. "Hold still," he said in the same rough tone he used on thugs and criminals, and (surprisingly) she obeyed.

Audrey felt her heart beating a mile a minute and she was in several levels of pain. Ranging from where her head hit the floor, to where the man's knee was digging hard into the muscle on top of her thigh. One of his hands was clasped over her mouth and the other was pressed sharply into a pressure point on her shoulder. Through the discomfort, terror and pain she tried to understand what he wanted. The first thought that entered her head was of course the least likely, 'Why the hell would be break in here just to rape me?!'

"What is your connection to Adrian Veidt?" Rorschach demanded, shifting his hand from her mouth and down to her throat, placing just enough pressure to be noticed, but not enough to block her windpipe… yet.

Audrey blinked, breathing heavily to keep pace with her heart as she fought to keep her hysteria down to a manageable level. "I work for h-him. Please, I'm just a toy designer," she stammered. Audrey knew that Rorschach worked with Veidt for a time back when they were both Crimebusters, that was fairly common knowledge, but it didn't explain in the slightest why the vigilante was in her home. "What do you want with me?" she choked out, wishing that the question hadn't made her sound so feeble. And not only was this man's presence terrifying her, he smelled about as nice as an old, unwashed gym bag.

Several moments passed where Rorschach simply kept the woman pinned to the floor, honestly debating whether or not he should just kill her. He grimaced at the thought, she may be a woman, but he had no concrete reason to get rid of her… Letting out an irritated growl he released her and stood up, he would have been amused by how frantically she scrambled to get away from him if he was capable of the sentiment.

Catching her breath, Audrey tried hard to get some control over herself, but she simply couldn't stop how hard her hands were shaking. Clenching her jaw she pulled on her confusion and frustration to form a tenuous ball of anger that she could cling to. "Why are you here, Rorschach?" she barked, "I haven't done anything wrong."

The vigilante seemed to think over her words for a moment, "Not yet maybe." He stepped closer to her and Audrey dropped her figurative ball, shrinking behind the couch a little. This was before she realized that he was just walking past her and towards the window. He pulled the blinds aside and jerked the window open, "When you do," he said, his rough voice low and dangerous, "I'll be back." With that he climbed out of the window and back into the city.

It took a long while for Audrey to calm down enough for her legs to carry her again. Grabbing her discarded baseball bat en route to the window, she hesitantly checked around outside the window and then quickly retreated back and slammed the pane shut. The next few minutes she was scrambling around her apartment, grabbing a handful of wood pieces she'd found in one of her moving boxes, a roll of twine and some duct tape. Wedging the wood into the tracks of the window frame she jammed it shut and then she wound twine and duct tape around the window latch until she was completely satisfied. She knew that wouldn't stop Rorschach if he was really planning to make good on his warning, but it made her feel a little better.

Backing away from the window Audrey fell back onto her couch, keeping her hands tightened into fists until they decided to stop shaking so badly. Taking a deep, shuddering sigh she pulled a blanket off the back of her couch and curled up on the cushions. With all the lights still shining brightly, and her window barricaded she tried to go back to sleep.

"That's it… I am definitely getting a dog."


Yep, this story is still plugging along. . I really shouldn't be writing it actually... I have finals to study for, but this was just one of those things that demanded to get finished once I started with it :shrug:

In other news, I think that I'm really starting to find Audrey's character; she's becoming more defined in my mind with each chapter that I get down… It's a wonder what having a family history will do... No matter how vaguely I write it down for you guys ^^; And I'm also pretty surprised with how mean I am to her o.0 She's got at least two very close family members that died before she was thirty. Funny thing is, I'm not sure whether I did this to her or if this is just her character and how she was suppose to be… Yeah, I'm one of those wierdos that think characters write themselves and sorta have a mind of their own . I admit it…

And yeah you know it's a problem when someone uses anger as a coping mechanism XD It works for her though :grins:

Enjoy and hope I don't fail my finals!! :waves: