Oh my God, I am so so so sorry it took this long to write this! I was sick, and then there was writers block, and then there was work and stuff... Anyways! I am so sorry! Please, forgive me? (pouts) Anyways, here you go! Thank you for being patient to those of you who were!

8

Laurie was not pleased. Jon was getting worse by the day, and she had nothing to do besides ignore it if she could and get on with it all. She was at the mall now, spending some government money because she was bored, upset, and just angry. Three men had checked her out as she passed. One had attempted to pick her up. It was tempting, but he lost. And now here she was, eating at a lousy food court. Today was not her day. Perhaps she could go see Dan? Jon wouldn't mind. All she would do was bring home the things she had bought, and then be on her way. At least one Dr. Manhattan was at a press conference again. She figured the place would be empty when she got there, unless he was still working at the same time, which was also very likely. She sighed and pushed herself up, gathering her bags.

As it turned out, the house, if that was what it could be called, was, in fact, empty. She had mulled over her anger on the way to the mall and back, and had simmered down quite a bit, but this... So the man would never duplicate himself for a press conference, but he couldn't even simply be one person while they were in bed? And, just like that, she was angry again, and, yes, she wanted to see Dan.

At this point in time, Dan was not home. He was visiting Hollis. It was dark out by now, and Alex had just gotten back from her new job. The man with the sign worked in the tailors shop next to the pet store and had left a few hours ago, apparently an early shift end. Usually she was out before he was. For some reason, she couldn't help but keep glancing at him when he was around. It was just the smell that made her feel funny. Not sick funny, just... funny. He really did smell like him...

It had been a while since she saw Rorschach last. In a way, she couldn't help but wonder how he was, it was in her nature to care about other people first. Even if he did have some asinine tendencies. He was still a person, after all. And that smell was the only way she knew him, anyways. She walked on, unaware that she was being followed, too lost in thought to care right now. She wanted to know that mans' name... And then she was yanked into an alley and slammed against a wall by a man in a ripped up vest, and everything went numb. He had a knife. He was looking at her, not just her face, all of her. She didn't care what he said, didn't hear it, she just struggled as soon as she realized what was happening. She broke away from him, managed to scream for help, and then was tackled and dragged back. No one was there, dear God, no one was there!

He said something about how she was pretty. How he wanted to see what else she looked like. Wondered what she tasted like. She broke free again, ran again, the wrong way, down the alley, but there was another end, a turn, right there, there would be another street there. She was only a block away from home, this couldn't happen here... She tripped, or the guy behind her tripped, and he grabbed her ankle. And she screamed while she was being pulled back, and she tried so hard... There was a noise. The weight of his body was gone. It took her a moment to open her eyes and she saw him fighting with someone. Someone who's fedora fell to the ground, and whose coat flapped about his knees. Oh, God... She stood, pushing herself up by using the wall behind her, and not taking her eyes off the scene. She couldn't.

And there he was, the man she had been thinking about the whole time, for reasons she didn't understand. She had seen fights before. This was the first time she had ever watched a whole fight, though, and it was the first time she saw how he fought, even though she had helped him that one time. She had never seen anybody fight like this, like it was the last, only, first, thing he could and would ever do. She knew his life depended on it, but he actually fought like it. She was still crying. And it was done, and Rorschach straightened up, adjusted his coat, and bent to reach his hat, right by her foot. He looked up, and she wasn't sure, but she thought they were both suddenly frozen for a moment.

Eventually, he stood up again, and he looked her over. "You again? Are following me?"

She didn't say a word, she just stood there, leaning against her hands on the wall. And then, with one sob, she lurched forward and buried her face in his chest. And he had never been so shocked in his life. No one had ever bothered... They would rather not even touch him, they said he smelled, that he was all sorts of things that they didn't like, they never, ever had ever bothered to hug him, not once, not even Daniel.

Not even his mother.

He cleared his throat, and, very gingerly, he patted her on the back and then gently pushed her away from him. "Shouldn't be here at night. Were working?"

She nodded, silent.

"Could have hailed a cab." That was stupid, there weren't any here right now. She said nothing. He sighed. "Are you alright?"

Finally, she looked up at him and nodded. "Thank you." It was a whisper, but it was something.

"You get into trouble often. Either have very bad luck, or criminals are simply attracted to you." He should not have put it that way, he saw the look that crossed her face. And saw something else. He had looked elsewhere. He shouldn't have noticed that, that was wrong... Impolite, and indecent. He looked away. After a thought crossed his mind, he began unbuttoning his coat. "Ripped your shirt. Shouldn't go home like that. Here."

She stared at his outstretched arm as though it were the most amazing gesture he could have made. She hadn't expected him to offer her his coat? She looked up at him, then back at his hand, and then, very shyly, she thanked him and took it, wrapping herself in it. "Hurm. Welcome." They stood there for a bit, neither one of them knowing exactly what to do. He decided he may as well take her to her uncle. "Can walk you home. Will have to go a different way, more secluded. Won't be good for either of us if we're seen together, especially when you're wearing my coat. This way. And stay close." She nodded, and obediently followed him, staying at his side without saying a word. "Look ashamed. You shouldn't. Not your fault, criminals will attack anyone alone at night. Just so happened he attempted what he did."

"I'm sorry."

Now he was confused. "Why?"

"There are other people you could have been taking care of. You don't seem happy you ran into me."

"Am not usually happy about anything. Not your fault."

"But that's the third or fourth time I got into trouble here. Like you said, it happens to me a lot. I'm bothering you with it all, aren't I?"

How was he supposed to answer that? This wasn't something he was used to... "Aren't bothering me."

"I don't?"

"No."

"But uncle Danny said you don't usually like girls in any case."

Ah. So that was it. She thought she was bothering him because of that. "Don't like typical girls. Only care about clothes, shoes, and makeup. At least here. Most only want to go to bed with a man. Lot are walking the streets at night. All the same, I thought."

"Thought?"

"Yes."

"Until..."

"Aren't the same as most girls. Different."

"You don't mind me because I'm different? In a good way?" He noted she was being careful not to use the word 'like'. Did she think he would take the meaning wrong?

"Yes. I suppose so. A good way." And now they were in the Nest, and walking up the basement steps. And, just barely, she was smiling.

He opened the door for her, and a few moments later her uncle was walking toward them. He saw the situation, stopped moving, looked from one to the other, and said, "What happened?"

"Man attempted to assault her. Saw it, stopped it. Gave her my coat because her shirt is ripped open."

"Jesus..." He moved forward and wrapped his arms around Alex, and then pushed her away enough so he could look into her face. "Are you alright?" he asked, pushing back her hair.

"I'm fine now, yeah."

"You're sure?"

"Uh-huh."

"Positive?"

"Yes."

"Thank God..." He pulled her in again, and kissed her on the head a couple times. "Come on, sit down or something... "

She nodded and let him guide her to the couch.

"Rorschach..."

"Have already been thanked, Daniel. Don't need to hear it again. She's safe," he said, speaking around a sugar cube he had just put into his mouth.

Dan had learned early that when Rorschach said he didn't want to be thanked, it was best not to thank him. "Okay... Come on, Alex..." He was about to move on when she pointed out something.

"Rorschach, you're bleeding..."

He looked down. Oh. "From previous fight. Will be fine in a few days, not that deep. All I need is some –"

"Come here and let me look at it at least," Dan said, "It's the least you can let me do. Besides, usually when you try to treat your own wounds as bad as that one, you just make it worse, or have you gotten better at it?"

He meant it to be kind, not to criticize. Besides, she still had his coat, and it was the least thing Dan could do. He had been partners with him for years, he knew how determined he could be. If only he had been determined enough not to quit. He sighed, and gave in. He wanted his coat back, after all.

Just as they were crowding into the living room, a female voice came in from the kitchen. "Dan? The front door was unlocked, so I just let..." Laurie stopped at the doorway, looked around the room, and said, "Um. Am I interrupting something?"

Alex noticed it almost immediately. The room seemed to drop about twelve degrees when Laurie looked at Rorschach. He tensed up, and she could tell he wanted to say something other than what he did, which was, "Laurie." It was in the form of a greeting, not simply a statement of her name, but at the same time it didn't sound like that. It sounded like he had used her first name on purpose, not because they were on first-name terms. He had said it to annoy her, for lack of being able to say anything else considering the company.

"Rorschach. I see you... came back."

"Never went away."

"You know what I meant."

At this point in time, Dan spoke up in a hurry. "Uh, Laurie! Hi! Uh... How are you?" He stood up and went to greet her, and she returned the greeting as best she could, not taking her eyes off the man in the purple pinstripes. "Uh, Laurie, this is my niece, Alex. Alex, this is Laurie. She's an old friend."

"Um... Hi. Nice to meet you," said Alex. She tried to be as polite as she could without giving away the fact that she was curious as to why it was so apparent that this woman and Rorschach disliked each other. Very politely, she held out a hand, keeping the coat wrapped around her with the other, aware that she was only wearing a bra under her now torn shirt, and it was probably askew or something. It would be impolite to just let that out under the circumstances.

"Pleasure," Laurie said, and took her proffered hand. They shook, but it only lasted for a split second, as she seemed to be confused about whose coat Alex was wearing, and didn't like the idea. She could always just say she was cold or something, but there was a blanket behind them on the couch and that wouldn't have made any sense. "So, I see you two have... met." She continued, smiling a smile that was more like a grimace.

"Yes," Rorschach said, "Few months ago. Came here with injuries, she helped Daniel tend to them. Saved my life later. Just saved hers. So, yes, we've met."

"Great." That meant, basically, that no, it was not great in her opinion, and she didn't quite care who knew it. It simply was none of her concern.

"Uh, Laurie, why don't we head on into the kitchen and I'll make you some coffee or something," Dan said, trying his damnedest to prevent a fight of some kind breaking out in front of his niece. "I'll just... I'll explain a little bit in there, okay?"

With a last look at Alex and Rorschach, she turned and went back where Dan had suggested. He mouthed a few words to them, telling them to just hold on, and followed her. After that there was silence.

Alex didn't take kindly to silence, so she spoke up. "Did... Something happen with you two?"

"Hurm?" He was eating another sugar cube, and she refused to allow herself to think that it was a little cute.

"You and that lady. You don't like each other much, do you?"

"Not particularly, no."

"How come?"

"Don't get along well. Isn't very considerate of others, and never liked wearing a costume in first place. Wasn't even good heroine material. Simply there to look pretty."

"Oh. So... that bad, huh?"

He nodded and took off his suit jacket to get a closer look at his wound while they waited. "Doesn't like me, and I don't like her. Try to keep it quiet between us, but usually end up fighting anyway."

She looked at him poking at the wound, and said, "You know, if you let me change my shirt, I can at least try to clean that for you. And then you can let Uncle Danny do whatever he thinks he should."

"Only needs some alcohol."

She smiled softly. "You don't think much about yourself, do you? Too busy standing up for people you don't even know?"

"Have no reason to care very much."

"Yes, you do. Otherwise, how can you keep going for very long?"

He looked up at her, his incredulous expression hidden behind his face, and was about to say something when Dan came back in the room. "Well... Laurie left. She said she didn't want to bother us."

"Didn't want to be in same building as me."

"Aw, come on... She isn't that bad. Once you get to know her a little better."

"Won't allow it. Neither will I. Mother makes her dress like a whore, makes her fight the way she did, and all she has to show for it is money that she gets simply for existing. Doesn't work to get it. Gets paid for doing nothing. Difficult to associate with someone like that."

"If you would just... You know what, never mind. Lets get a look at that injury..."

With a grunt, Rorschach lifted part of his shirt in order to show them the wound. "Blunt object hit me. Must have broken a blood vessel and then been split open somehow. Not that big of a problem."

"You're whole side is bruising up. How did you manage to fight like this?"

"Have higher pain tolerance than most. Have worked on it."

"I see... Alex, would you mind getting the rubbing alcohol from the bathroom mirror?"

"Okay. Let me change my shirt first..." She headed quickly to her room and changed, briefly scanning the scrapes and bruises she had gotten from her struggle, and then went to do as she'd been asked. When she returned to the couch, Dan had gotten some cotton balls and was already rubbing some dirt off with water from a cup he brought in. She politely held out the bottle, and then sat on the couch next to the 'patient'. From there, it was just the same as it had been the last time, Rorschach saying nothing and herself watching the work that was being done. No stitches were required, and eventually she and her uncle were left alone.

"So... I take it him and Laurie don't get along at all?"

"Nope, they don't. Not at all," Dan said, cleaning up the used cotton and any alcohol drippings.

"Were they always like that?"

"Oh, God, yeah. You see, if there's one thing you learn about Rorschach, it's that it takes a whole lot to get him to trust someone. Especially females. But, he seems to get along just fine with you, did you compliment him or something?"

"I don't think that's it, unless it was indirectly. Maybe just being nice to him is a compliment in itself."

"I bet it is. Hey... Are you gonna be okay? I mean, that guy didn't... get anywhere, did he?"

"No, he didn't. I'm okay now, just a little shaken up. Um... I think I'll just go to bed for now, though, I should be okay in the morning."

"Alright... If you're sure, I won't bother you about it, but... you know, just, um... Well, good night." He kissed her forehead and she bade him good night also, and headed off to her room.

As she passed the couch, though, she noticed something on one of the cushions. One of Rorschachs' sugar cubes had fallen out of his pocket. It was a different kind than the ones they had here, with the name of some diner or something on the wrapper. She picked it up, looked at it for a bit, considered, and then popped it into her mouth. She went to bed just fine, after writing in her diary about the days' events, and had some strange dream involving a cat, some guy that was like a huge black shadow, and the man that worked at the tailor shop. For some reason, she kept calling him Rory.

A/N: Again, my apologies! On top of all that stuff mentioned above, our internet was shut off, and therefore prolonging the time it took for this to be posted! I is sorry! Anyways, I don't know what's gonna happen next, no clue at all, so I think you might just have to be patient again... Thanks for reading, stay tuned! ~NS~