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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 10 am before they had moved Walter to a room and told Dan he could go see him.

"Don't try to wake him up," they warned. "Don't touch anything. Don't touch him. And wear this." He had been handed a face mask and some gloves and he had done as well as he could on no sleep not to grumble that he had better ones at home. He had gone in and found Walter, practically transparent except for the bright hair, poked full of needles and tubes, and unconscious. You couldn't call whatever that was sleep.

Sleep would be nice, Dan thought, but he pulled a chair over by the bed and settled into it. There wasn't a file or chart anywhere for him to look at, and he didn't know any of the medical words on the IV bags. There was a TV mounted on the wall, but he didn't see the remote anywhere and honestly didn't feel like listening to whatever was on during the day.

"You gave us a scare, man," he said, tempted to ruffle the red curls despite all the dire warnings he had been given. "Can you hear me at all? You're pumped full of new blood, but don't tell your roommate. If he's suspicious of tap water, he shouldn't even think about donated blood, right?"

Walter didn't move or speak and Dan hadn't really expected a response. He considered closing the blinds but thought maybe the sunlight pouring in would do Walter some good, maybe even wake him up sooner.
The chair was hard, squeaky, and uncomfortable, but it was only another twenty minutes until he had finally dozed off.

***

"Daniel."

"Mrgh."

"Daniel…"

"Hnnh?"

"Daniel!"

Dan's eyes opened to see Rorschach nose to nose with him. Surprise slammed him back in the chair and Rorschach had to dodge a spastic leg kick. I didn't scream this time, he thought weakly. At least there's that.

"Have you seen the news?" Rorschach growled.

"N-no," Daniel rubbed his eyes and stood up with a creak. "I've been here all day. What time is it?"

Rorschach didn't answer. He was rummaging in the single drawer on the night stand. Dan looked blearily out the window. The sun was still high. He'd probably only been asleep for an hour or two. A frustrated sound from Rorschach made him turn to see the drawer slammed shut. Rorschach had to stand on tiptoe to turn the TV on, but he managed. Dan's sleepy brain finally decided that it was the remote he'd been looking for. Channels were flipped through quickly and then the TV was turned off with a savage jerk.

"Just tell me," Dan sighed. He almost sat down on the edge of Walter's bed, but caught himself and leaned on the night stand instead. Rorschach in daylight was a strange experience. The old stains and careful repairs on his clothes were more obvious. It didn't expose any weakness though. He exhaled hard and then went to grip the rail on Walter's bed. In the bright light, Dan could see the worn places over the knuckles of his gloves.

"Assassination," Rorschach said, looking down at his friend. "Foreign dignitary." His head whipped to glare meaningfully at Dan. "Run through by a stolen sword."

"Oh no," Dan stood up again. "Did you - Do they know not to touch it??"

"Got there too late, but the team were all wearing gloves. Left them a note to warn them."

"OK…" Dan tried to calm down again. He felt a little queasy from lack of sleep. Rorschach turned back to the bed.

"They don't know for sure yet," Dan said. "The thing they keep mentioning is organ failure, but so far his vital signs all seem steady. "

"Said anything?" Rorschach's voice had lowered to what passed for a whisper.

"No. I did fall asleep there for awhile though, but he hasn't moved since they let me in."

"Good of you to stay with him." There was emotion there that Dan was not rested enough to face. He changed the subject.

"This dignitary that died. Any connection to the sword's history? Any kin to either side of that opium gang war the guards were telling us about?"

"Unknown. Know you're tired, Daniel, but would rather have you at my back for this." He slid a sugar cube into Walter's hand, then quickly hopped on the windowsill. "Meet me back at the Nest."

Dan didn't feel right leaving Walter alone in the hospital and wished he had something to leave too, just to let Walter know he had been there. Maybe it was a silly impulse, after all, it might be days before Walter woke up at all, but just in case he did, Dan found an empty envelope in the nightstand drawer, folded it in half, drew a quick owl with a crescent moon on it, and left it sitting upright.

He was able to sleep a little in the taxi. There was heavy traffic that close to the noon rush and for the first time, he was grateful for it, getting to doze nearly half an hour before he was dropped off at his door. He could halfway remember a dream about what it would feel like to actually wear Rorschach's skin-suit that was just tactile enough to be creepy. Hoping the driver didn't notice, he paid him, and went inside.

He made a mug of coffee for himself and one for Rorschach, and headed downstairs. There was no sign of his partner yet, which surprised him. He sat down to wait and was halfway through his own mug of coffee before he remembered that Rorschach wouldn't drink the other one. Oh well. He drank that one too, feeling the caffeine begin to burn its way through the sleepy fog.

He started to get into his costume and was wishing he had remembered to get some insulation for the boots and gloves when Rorschach finally appeared.

"Sword back at museum " he said by way of greeting. "Seems undamaged, except for the blood. Some commotion over losing the silk covering. Apparently valuable. Assessing damage in flooded room. Could take awhile."

"Uh-huh. Especially with a skeleton crew of security doing double shifts." Dan was rooting through some of his old supplies. He made a victorious sound as he pulled out some of the old electrical gloves he had used while wiring up the Nest. They were too thick to wear under his gauntlets, but he tucked them into his belt. "Just in case," he said to Rorschach's puzzled head tilt.

It only took a little while to get back to the subway tunnels and from there to the booby-trapped stairway. The bodies had been cleaned up, and there was some caution tape on the stairs. Rorschach looked at it and then stepped up onto it before Dan could stop him. He seemed amused at the cut-off yelp and looked at Dan over his shoulder.

"Told you before. No heart to stop."

"Don't give me that," Dan snapped, annoyed at being startled. "You are alive. I want you to stay that way."

"You stay that way." Rorschach replied, the grade school retort rendered serious by his growl. "Let me go first."

Dan was tempted to take offense at that and might've argued on about who was protecting who, but Rorschach quickly picked the lock and opened the door. Behind it, there was only a large maintenance shed. There were rows of fuse boxes and cables and three other doors. One had the water plant logo on it and was locked up solid. The other was a fairly bare supply closet, unlocked and unremarkable. The third was locked from the outside with a padlock. Rorschach pointed out the sawdust on the floor.

"Recent," he said. "Unprofessional." Instead of going to the trouble to pick it, he slid the pick under the hasp and levered it up enough to get his fingers under the edge. After that, it took no time at all to pull the whole thing off. A sharp kick sent the door crashing inward and both men stepped inside. It looked like it had been some sort of utility closet, but someone had turned it into a little nest of their own. There were rolls of wire and a toolbox, a newer version of the gloves Dan had, and piles of newspapers and xeroxs.

A prominent one was an article about the museum robbery, and Dan glanced over it before a familiar face jumped out at him. He looked at it again, finally picking it up to squint closer. It was the same guard they had talked to, the one who knew the snack machine better than the exhibits. He was listed as one of the dead after the robbery, three days before they had talked to him.

"Rorschach…" he said, holding the picture up and tapping it with a finger. "Do you believe in ghosts?"

His partner's face bunched up over the nose in what was probably a squint. Were there really eyes in there or was it just an imitated habit? As soon as he realized what he was looking at, Rorschach made a disgusted sound.

"Inside job after all," he snarled. "Set up trap on a different shift, arranged for someone else to steal sword, and faked own death. Things so chaotic there now, who would notice? But why go to all that trouble for a sword he was just going to leave stuck through some foreigner?

"Was the name Wen Than by any chance?" Dan asked, peering closer at another piece of paper. Rorschach stopped, then made an affirmative noise. "Because according to this, that's the name of the man who donated the sword in the first place."

They looked at each other in silence, both minds humming with implications and possibilities.

"Don't believe Mr. M&M is connected with ancient Asian drug lords," Rorschach finally said. "No reason to kill Than unless there was an loose end to tie up. "

"But what?" Dan cast around the tiny room again. "His partner said that the sword wasn't actually valuable."

"Partner in crime as well?" Rorschach shrugged like it was typical. "Or stealing sword a cover for the theft of something else that was… Find her. See what she knows about rest of display. Take this." He handed over the newspaper article. "Ask her how long she's worked with a dead man."

"What will you be doing?" Dan asked, taking the paper. Rorschach made a sound that translated roughly into a smirk and backed up against the far wall. He seemed to flatten out, shrinking into a shadow a man shouldn't have been able to hide in.

"Wait here. For one of you to come back."