Chapter VII

Nothing Ever Ends

Dan descends the stairs toweling his wet hair, the smell of brewing coffee drawing him to the kitchen like a siren's song, luring him from the luxuriant steam of a too hot shower into the shock of the cooler room-temperature air. Of course, random strangers do not break into one's home and start coffee, so Dan deduces Rorschach must have returned. He sighs, and is a little surprised to find he feels a bit of a relief at the thought, especially after this morning's abandonment. Abandonment. Dan winces a small bit at the thought. Rorschach doesn't owe him anything. Is under no obligation to stay. Hell, he didn't even really expect the other man to stay even this long. They are not… Well, Dan doesn't know what they are, but they are not that.

"Hey, you!" Laurie says as Dan enters the kitchen. "Just making myself at home. You don't mind, right? Rorschach came by to see Jon this morning. So, thought I'd tag along back here. Have some breakfast with you guys." She shrugs before opening up the cabinets, looking for mugs. "Better than the alternative," she mumbles, too quietly for him to hear.

"Oh, no. That's fine," he says with a warm, if slightly confused smile. "Where is he?"

"Here."

The voice behind him is gruff, Dan knows this is par for the course, but he can't help but stifle a small grin as the other man scowls just to emphasize how put-upon he is.

"Oh, good!" Laurie says. "Just set that on the table."

Rorschach sets down a small white box closed with a white string. Dan looks at him. "What is it?"

Laurie passes him a knife from the drawer, "Open it up."

Dan shoots her a quizzical look before giving the string a quick cut. The opened box reveals what appears to be a freshly baked coffee cake.

"He picked it out," she says with a grin. She sets down three plates and three napkins.

Dan rises quickly from his seat and pats his back jeans pocket. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry. How much do I…"

"Sit down," she scolds, with a laugh. "It's on me. Or rather, it's on Uncle Sam. Either way, you don't own me anything."

"You sure? I mean, it's no big…"

"Dan. Stop being such a gentleman," she says with a wink. "I invited myself over, the least I can do is bring something for breakfast. And he wasn't taking advantage. If that's what you're worried about." She takes the knife from him and proceeds to cut them each a generous slice.

***

"So," Dan says to Rorschach through a mouthful of cake. "You, uh, you visited Jon this morning. Find out anything?"

"No. Confirmed Miss Ju—"

Laurie interrupts with a very unsubtle cough.

"Confirmed Laurie's assertion. When asked about your magazine article, Manhattan claimed experiment by research facility in California had no culpability. The 'anomaly' as he referred to it, was as described. An 'accident of nature.'

"Ah, well." Dan gets up from his seat, dusts off any stray crumbs that may have gathered on his lap, before moving to clear the table. He collects the plates, and deposits them in the sink before offering refills on coffee.

Rorschach gets up from his seat as well, and ever-so-slightly nudges Dan aside to reach the canister of sugar. "Pardon," he says quietly, only just above a whisper.

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

Laurie snorts. It would be easy to tease them now, in this comfortable domesticity the two seem to share. She knows it would be a cheap shot, if only as a means of covering her own unhappiness. She finds herself here in Dan's kitchen more and more often, unceremoniously dropping by on random mornings proffering bagels, or doughnuts, or pastries, or coffee.

The three of them find their own rhythm, and she is easily absorbed into the home when she finds she can no longer relate to her long-time love.

The morning breakfasts still continue, until one night, Rorschach returns with news of an apparent murder. And the three of them, together, float out into the night to investigate.

***

a/n: Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this thing. Thanks also to those who left words of encouragement, they were helpful more than you can know :D I hope this end here isn't a let-down, I had very nearly ended it at the last chapter, but didn't want to imply R was gone forever. *shrugs*