Disclaimer: Hint: It hasn't changed from before! Also I wanted to mention that the bit before about "checking trashcans for babies" was not in fact from the Watchman comic as I had thought when I wrote it (at 2 in the morning) but from another really good Watchmen fic by SirenRiya. (Hint #2: Check out her stuff!))
8-v-8
"…bumps and bruises?! Is that what you call it? He's got a broken wrist and a god-damn concussion!"
"And he's running a fever of 105."
"Yeah, and he's… wait, what?!"
"Not to mention the passing out and vomiting."
"Laurie, you're not helping."
"Look. It's obvious to anyone that Rorschach is as sick as a dog here, and I know that none of us really have any nursing skills to speak of, so why don't we just take him to a hospital?" Laurie Jusoezyk, a.k.a Silk Spectre and the only female in the Watchmen (a name she sometimes resented but then forgave when she remembered that "Watch-people" didn't quite have the same ring to it) impatiently flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "We can just take off his mask, and no one would know the difference, right?"
Dan Dreiberg, also known as Nite Owl, snapped back at her, "No! No hospitals. We aren't going to do that to a fellow teammate."
"Well why not? You know how badly off he is, not to mention a broken wrist and possible concussion. Frankly, I'm surprised he wasn't killed by some mugger. We just can't deal with this. Besides, you know Rorschach wouldn't want us cutting into our patrol time for him." Dan took his glasses off to polish time, a delaying tactic Laurie had long since picked up on. In response, she folded her arms under her breasts and shunted her weight to one leg, in a classic 'angry/irritated/not good for men' stance.
Daniel finally opened his mouth argue further, but Adrian Veidt, also known as Ozymandias, suddenly interrupted from the other side of the room. Daniel had called Adrian because he was of course the smartest man on earth, thus he would be their best bet on helping Rorschach, and she was there because Dan had called them while they were patrolling together.
Adrian spoke, trying to play peacemaker, "Laurie, you know how Rorschach is. The moment he wakes up in a hospital, surrounded by people he doesn't know, what do you think he will do?"
Laurie considered this idea for a moment, and shuddered. Visions of screaming nurses and bloodstained walls danced through her mind. "I guess your right. The body count will be lower if we keep him here." Laurie smoothed her hair back as she suddenly realized something.
Turning to Daniel, she asked, "That's okay, right Dan? You know I can't bring him home, and Adrian is the public eye right now, especially since his products are becoming so popular. What would people say if they found out he was seemingly nursing a total stranger back to health?"
"I would probably be outed as keeping a gay lover secluded away secretly and my company's stocks would drop faster than you can say, well…" As Adrian looked off to one side thoughtfully to think of some meaningful phrase or word, Laurie turned back to Dan a wide smile plastered onto her face,
"See, this is why it is best that he stays here."
Dan spluttered, "Wait, so it's okay that my reputation may go down the shit hole because people might think I'm homosexual, but not for Adrian? And what do you mean by 'outed?!"
Giving up his hunt for an appropriate phrase, Adrian looked over to him with one of his cat-ate-the-canary-and-the-cream smirks, and a feeling of foreboding hit Dan like a freight train. Those smiles never boded well for anyone. The last time Adrian had smiled like that, Dan had ended up paying for a huge amount of repair parts for Archie. He was never letting Adrian drive it again. Smartest man in the world he may be, but the craziest driver was a close second. He could give any taxi driver in New York a run for his money.
When Adrian continued in his smirking, Dan felt a shiver go down his back. Was Adrian …? Oh shit oh shit oh shit. What do I do?! It's not like I'm against gays, but I wasn't expecting this! Okay man, you've got to be cool, calm, accepting. Didn't you read a book for this?
As Dan was having his little crisis, Adrian turned to Laurie and said, "I've actually have some very basic first aid training, but really its all common sense. Here, let me write down a quick list. Do you have paper and pen?" Laurie nodded, oblivious what had just transpired between the two men.
"Its all simple, you know, give him lots of fluids, watch his temperature, and make sure he remembers to eat. For the first week, Rorschach really needs to have someone looking out for him at all times. We don't know how bad it could get, even if it is a simply flu. His lifestyle and other injuries are just going to make it worse."
Laure was suddenly hit with an idea, "Oh! I think we might need to make a time table, and get all the Watchmen members in on it. You know, like a rotating schedule? That way no one is committed to being nursemaid for a large period of time, so we can still patrol and keep down our jobs. I'm sure the others would be happy to help out." She bounced a little in her heels, knowingly ignoring the fact that no, the others would be happy to help out and, yes, they would be too polite to say so. Well, maybe not the Comedian, but she wouldn't trust him near a sick person anyways. He'd be probably end up setting poor Rorschach on fire.
Laurie didn't mention the other reason she didn't think sticking someone in a room with a sick Rorschach for an extended period of time would be good for anyone else's health either. Rorschach had a strong personality when he was at the peak of health, and an ill Rorschach could turn out to be just as mulish, or worse. She wasn't sure how she was going to put up with him herself. Laurie wasn't a doctor, but she knew that strangling your patient did not help them on the road to recovery.
"Here you go." Laurie blinked, shaken out of her reverie, and turned towards Adrian.
"Sorry, what?" The phone rang in the background as he stepped toward her, list in hand.
"Here is a rough schedule I drew out. I know I won't be able to help out a lot, but I will come when I can. It also takes into account Dr. Manhattan's schedule as well as the Comedian's, for the next month or so." He smiled charmingly, and handed her the paper.
How in the hell did he know Jon's schedule? Or Edward's? Laurie wondered as she read over the timetable. Even I didn't know Jon had a meeting with NASA this weekend. I thought we were supposed to go to Central Park. If it had been anyone else, Laurie would feel extremely uneasy about how much this person knew about the Watchmen's lives.
But this was Adrian, and she could trust him. Usually. There was that incident with the birthday cake last September…
Then his last words caught up with her. The mean mention of the Comedian still made her blood boil. "Wait. Stop. The Comedian is coming to help out?!" When she thought about the Comedian and Rorschach together in a small enclosed space, she wasn't joking when she was worried one of them would get hurt. (Only Rorschach, really.) "First off, isn't he busy playing Rottweiler for the President? And second, are we really going to trust Rorschach alone with him?!"
Adrian's expression was mild, but his voice was sharp and reprimanding as he responded, "I seriously doubt Edward will do anything to Rorschach. He respects him, quite a bit actually. He won't mind taking some time off to help an old friend."
Before she could reply, Dan came into the room, looking flustered. Huh. She hadn't even noticed he had left.
He cleared his throat nervously, and his eyes darted towards Adrian a few times, much like a mouse eyeing a cat. What was going on? Laurie thought, confused, as she saw Adrian return the look with one of his famous heart stopping smiles. Which were (if she remembered correctly, and she did) reserved only for the particularly attractive damsels in distress. "What is it Dan?"
"Oh, well, um, Jon just called. He said he would be picking you up at seven, and he would be delighted to help us out with Rorschach watching-duty." Dan's voice turned from uncomfortable to half irritated, half awed, "How does he do that?" Laurie rolled her eyes,
"Remember? He sees the past and present as the same thing." Adrian walked towards the hall and past Dan, who not so subtly froze. The blond stopped when he was abreast of the other man, and rest his hand on Dan's shoulder in a comforting manner. Laurie saw Dan tense. What in God's name was going on between them? Adrian turned his head to her, his torso twisting,
"I'm going to go check on Rorschach. Don't set the house on fire while I'm gone." Laurie huffed with the airs of a women put upon. Whatever was going on between Dan and Adrian was Not Her Business, no matter how much she wanted it to be. She was not going to turn out like her mother, (now there's a hypocritical statement, the back of her mind thought) some busybody in everyone else's business It was a fact of life that men were strange, whether they be blue or not. She ignored Dan's pleading expression and turned to walk over to the table by the window.
"Sounds fantastic. We'll just wait here and discuss the schedule." Adrian smiled at her from the middle of the room, reminding her of the Cheshire cat. Funny, she thought to herself, I never remembered Adrian's smiles to show that many teeth.
~\.-./~
Rorschach gradually returned to the world of the living. No! Not yet! He struggled, wanting to descend back into the darkness, back into the place where there were no muggers, or prostitutes, or people at all. Into the comforting blackness of oblivion. But just like a struggling butterfly in a spider's web, the more Rorschach fought, the more he became conscious of the world around him.
Reality, he thought, opening his eyes a crack to pear around, like a wasp. Looks interesting at first, but after the first sting, don't want nothing to do with it. Rorschach's eyes were already adjusted to the dimmed room, the darkness coming from the closed curtains. The room was obviously some sort of guest room, unlived in, polite looking. Smelled musty too. He bet he was the first person this room had seen in a while. Rorschach grimaced in pain. It felt like someone had wrapped his head with cloth, and then stuffed it up his nose and mouth. Rorschach began to cough, and noticing a glass of water along with a pitcher resting innocuously on the bedside table, he reached for it instinctively.
He didn't trust the water. Grabbing the glass, he smelled the water and looked at it carefully. It never hurt to check for poison.
All he remembered was that he passed out in Nite Owl's house while searching for the owner of aforementioned house, and that Dan had walked in the door as he did so. There was a good chance that he was still in Nite Owl's house, but Rorschach didn't survive on chances. The vomiting and dizziness could have been from gasses put in the air, and Nite Owl's disappearance still hadn't been accounted for. Could be kidnapped, and stuck in here as prisoner. Rorschach conveniently disregarded the fact that he was tucked into a bed, not chained to a chair. Trying to confuse me. Throw me off guard. Not going to work.
Rorschach spotted a plant in a corner of the room, and moved to climb out of the bed. Can pour water in the plant, and wait. If plant dies, know it is poison. As he pulled off the covers Rorschach noticed a clean white bandage on his wrist, the wrist he had fallen on the 27th. This led to him noticing his lack of trench coat, and more importantly, his lack of clothes in general. Rorschach didn't understand how he could have missed this. Losing one's clothes after all, is something one would think they remembered. Now that he realized this, he could feel the soft cotton sheets rubbing gently against his legs. He had been stripped down to his boxers. Even more disturbing was what Rorschach realized as he touched his exposed cheek.
His face was gone. The bottom of the world dropped out from beneath him. Rorschach immediately began to feel vulnerable, sicker than before. He gripped the glass tightly, hearing it creak under his fingers. Where was it?! Someone had taken it off. Someone would pay.
They had seen that face. The dead man's face. Walter Kovacs' face. He needed to get away, to escape.
Rorschach jumped out of bed, ignoring the tilting of the ground beneath his feet. He pushed himself to think, think, of how to get out. Window, 3rd story. Can see into other apartments. No fire escape or ledge. Two doors, one probably closet, one a way out. Possible weapons: hanger from closet, or pitcher. Fine. Worked with worse.
While his mind was furiously awhirl with plans and possibilities, Rorschach braced himself and strode purposely for the closet, glass of water still in hand. Or at least he tried to. For a second, the world went white and the thought he might vomit, or worse, faint. It eventually passed, and Rorschach forced himself to breath quietly and evenly through his open mouth, trying to ignore the burning pain in his throat. His body felt like it was simultaneously on fire and freezing. Paradoxical heat. Simulates pain, doesn't actually damage nerves. Ignore it.
Just as he took a step away from the bed, the door opened. Rorschach dumped out the water in his glass and held it tightly, prepared to smash it against the intruder's face. His stance became ready and alert, weight on the balls of his feet. Only his quick reflexes (or his sickness, although he would never admit that) stopped Rorschach from braining the person with his glass when they turned their face toward him.
"Adrian?" He rasped out, and then winced. He sounded like a confused child. Not a child, never a child. Adrian smiled gently, and then stepped forward. Rorschach watched him warily. What's he doing here? Thought he was still playing with toys.
"Ah, you're awake. Good. How are you feeling?"
Rorschach stood there dumbly, his mind a blank, while Adrian continued to smile at him with only the oblivious blondes or very small children can achieve.
.T-T.
A/N: Whew. Finally got that out. It's a bit longer from the first chapter, yay! I wanted to say thank you to everyone who reviewed. I'm actually really worried about this chapter. I hope I captured everyone's voice and behavior correctly. T_T If you don't think I did, drop me a line at tell me! I don't want to be writing an OOC Rorschach, after all. Although, Adrian is feeling a little OOC to me, what with all the screwing around with Dan(get you head out of the gutter)'s mind and all. On the other hand, maybe he's not. DUN DUN DUN!!!!