"Hello, Mr. Kovacs."
Nobody ever called me Mr. Kovacs. People called me many names; Terror of the Night, Rorschach, Kovacs, Whoreson, Ugly Little Bastard, Walter, You, but never Mr. Kovacs. I wondered if maybe I was hearing things. Considering all that had happened the last couple of days, it was very possible that I hallucinated the words. My eyes were still closed, and I could feel the ground under my back. There was light on my face; I could see it through my eye lids. Something wasn't right. There had been a flash of blue light and a brief moment of intense pain. Like I was being ripped inside-out. I remembered that, so it must have happened.
"Thought I was dead," I said, quietly to whoever might still be there. My voice sounded different, like it did when I was younger.
"Oh, you are, Mr. Kovacs." That voice belonged to neither Daniel nor Dr. Manhattan.
I opened my eyes. Everything was white which was hardly surprising given where I was. I turned my head in the direction of the voice and saw, at a distance, a little girl; brown hair pulled up into two pig-tails on either side of her head. She wore a t-shirt and shorts which was odd for the cold of Antarctica. Then again, it was odd for a little girl to be here.
"Come on, Mr. Kovacs. It's time to go."
I sat up and rubbed my chin in confusion, feeling stubble under my fingers. My fingers crept higher, till I felt hair. My face. My face was gone! It took a moment for me to remember that I had taken it off when I confronted Dr. Manhattan I looked again at the little girl. She could see my real face, but it didn't matter anymore as she already seemed to know who I was. But who was she?
Something seemed familiar about her. I was sure I had seen her before. But where? Then it hit me, painfully. Blaire Roche. The little girl I couldn't save. The case that changed me for good. The day that Rorschach truly came into being.
"So this is how it'll be," I said, giving a small bark of a laugh. "They send a demon in guise of the child I couldn't save to come take me to Hell."
The girl's head tilted to the side a little. Then she giggled. It was a sweet sound. "No, silly. You're not going there. I've come to take you to Heaven."
"Don't lie to me. Don't belong there. Done terrible things. Killed. Destroyed."
"True," she said, with the brutal honesty of a child. "But you have a good heart." No one had ever told me that I had a good heart. Not even Daniel, and he was the only friend I ever had. "You did what you thought was right. Now, come, Mr. Kovacs." She held out her hand, inviting me to come to her.
"I couldn't save you. For that alone, I should be punished."
"But you tried." There was a momentary look of sadness on her face. "I'm sorry my parents treated you badly when you told them."
"I deserved it. Deserved to be punished for what I couldn't do."
"And you've punished yourself enough. Now come on! We need to go," she cried, impatiently. Her hand still hung in the air, beaconing me.
I slowly stood and started toward her. But when I was almost to her side, something made me stop and turn back. Where I had been lying, there was a giant mark in the snow. Its formation was symmetrical. Like an inkblot in red.
It looked like a beautiful butterfly.
I started slightly when I felt a tiny hand slip into mine. I looked down into a pair of smiling brown eyes. The trusting eyes of a child. Like another set of eyes I know. She tugged gently on my hand, trying to get me to move. I turned away from the red butterfly and let her lead me to...wherever. I looked down at the little girl skipping next to me, hand still safely held in mine. "Am I really going to Heaven?"
"Oh yes, Mr. Kovacs!"
Pretty brown eyes. Like his.
"Call me Walter."
*/*/*
The idea for this story first came from a wonderful picture I saw on DeviantArt. You can see it here ( /d47uf4u). I hope you enjoyed this brief fic!