Author's Notes: Hello there. This is a chapter that I've waited FOREVER to write and I'm really excited to be doing it. Even though it was a total bitch to get off the ground. And I must confess, this wasn't even my idea. It was my sister's. So thanks, sis. :P

Warnings: Dan being an adorable little idiot and Rorschach wanting to kill him, mostly.

14. Twilight Lady

To say that Daniel was in trouble was an understatement. To say that Daniel was dead meat was also an understatement. There were no words to describe how much trouble he was in and how close he was to death at that very moment. He fidgeted nervously with the end of his cowl and waited for Rorschach to punch his lights out. The shorter man hadn't been this angry since he'd left a captured thug alone for two seconds while nature called and after he'd finished fighting with his costume, the man was gone. Really, this was something of the same vein.

"Well, Daniel?" Rorschach's voice was quiet with forced calm, "Where's the Twilight Lady?"

***

Daniel felt uneasy as he set Archie to hover over a hotel building on the edge of town. This was way too easy. They'd been trailing the Twilight Lady for months, each time they figured out a vital piece of information, she slipped through their fingers again, leaving them with a hastily cleaned out building (warehouse, tenement, apartment buildings) and another tantalizing piece of evidence. Another clue that seemed to give Rorschach's prided detective skills the finger and to make Dan worry for his friend's (and her) sanity. It was really starting to piss Rorschach off, more so than Dan who (secretly) had a lot of admiration for her spunk. Even if she was a prostitute.

But now, it seemed, they finally found her. She'd apparently set up base at a hotel that used to be run by The King of Skin before he and Rorschach had arrested him. It would seem that the place had been kept in the business. They'd been careful this time, too. Watching their moves closely, making sure they didn't do anything to aggressive that would startle her, give them away. It had driven Rorschach crazy; subtlety was definitely not the man's strong point but after the third failed attempt of running headfirst into things as he was wont to do, he was forced to allow Daniel to take over a bit. Not that he would ever admit Dan was right. But Dan wasn't exactly looking for miracles, so he never pressed the issue. Hadn't even teased him.

It was almost funny, how tense and full of furious energy Rorschach was, sitting next to him in Archie, a quivering ball of muscle and rage. Almost funny, because he was like this every time they almost caught Twilight Lady, and Dan found it to be tiring at this point. He sighed, not wanting to press the issue and returned to the thermal screen.

"Okay, so I'm detecting the heat of only about fifteen bodies, so I think we may have actually found the base of operations for her and not just another one of her… erm… brothels." Dan was annoyed at the blush that spread through his face. What was he? Thirteen? "I'm going to refine the images now, so maybe we can see which one is Twilight Lady." Rorschach grunted, leaning forward to the screen. Daniel punched in a couple of keys and the yellow-red splotches quivering on the screen morphed into distinctly human figures. He grinned triumphantly, "Well, it's not being able to see through walls exactly, but it's pretty damn close." Rorschach stared at him flatly. Dan cleared his throat, "Okay… well, anyways. There are three ways into the building; here, here and here," he pointed to different sides of the shifting screen, "And each is manned by two guards. Typical muscle, shouldn't be a problem. There's only one way to get into the room and that's the obvious front door. That's also manned by two guys there." He pointed to two red outlines shifting by a dark blue divide, "And the rest- six plus the Twilight Lady-are inside."

Rorschach made a thoughtful noise, "The six inside, think they're going to be a problem?"

Dan bit his lip in thought, "No. I think they're business associates. Don't want to get their hands dirty. They should be fine." He turned to Rorschach, pulling the goggles over his face, "You ready?" Rorschach grunted again, pushing on his hat and tugging at the handle, opening Archie.

"Okay." Nite Owl followed after him.

They went in through the roof so as to quietly bypass the guards outside. Although Dan suspected Rorschach would rather punch a few people than sneak around, he expertly picked the lock without any complaint. They descended the stairs, tripwire tense and hyper alert to any noises that could signal trouble. They found none.

So it came as a surprise that when they opened the door to the hallway that she and her security personnel were already waiting for them.

Well, shit. Dan thought bemusedly.

"Hello, boys," Twilight Lady laughed saucily and her men opened fire.

The smartest thing they could have done in that situation was to slam the door closed, go up half a flight of stairs and wait for her to come to them. But surprise was a hell of a thing and as much as it shut down the logical parts of Dan's brain, it really pissed off Rorschach. So naturally, Rorschach took it upon himself to deprive most of them of their weapons and consciousness. Really, he should have been killed, but Dan supposed it was lucky her security was such a bad shot.

Then again, maybe she did it on purpose.

Laughing in delight, Twilight Lady dashed down the hallway, taunting, "Catch me if you can!"

Rorschach let out one of those snarls that worried Dan and dropped the man he'd been punching and sprinted down the hall. Daniel swore and finished off the last of them as fast as he could, then followed his partner.

When he found them, Rorschach had Twilight Lady cornered in a room. Obviously, Dan had just missed something particularly insulting she'd said to him because he was in the middle of an enraged growl and raised his fist in the air.

Dan lunged forward and caught it. Rorschach was trembling in rage and even his inkblots looked furious, "Nite Owl. What are you doing?"

Dan gulped, "Just take it easy man," he answered in what he hoped was a soothing voice, "You can't hit a woman, it's bad form."

There was a stunned shock and Rorschach turned fully to face him, "…What?" There was a snicker from the trapped woman behind them.

"You-you're not supposed to hit women. It's not… it's wrong, you're not supposed to."

Rorschach was looking at him like he'd never seen him before in his life, "You're behaving like a child. I'm not going to kill her. I'm going to restrain her. If she resists, I will use force. She's a criminal, regardless of gender."

"Well, yeah but--"

"Not really in the mood for outdated chivalry, Nite Owl."

"But--"

"Shut up."

Exasperated, Rorschach turned back to the Twilight Lady, only to have her gone. For a moment, they both stared blankly at the empty floor where the woman once stood, then Rorschach slowly trained his gaze up at the ceiling, where a panel was missing and a short end of a cable still swung.

"Well, Daniel?" Rorschach's voice was quiet with forced calm, "Where's the Twilight Lady?"

Dan swallowed a few times, then walked past Rorschach to stand right under the open panel, "Well… she- ah- appears to have escaped by-by shooting a little cable through the…um… ceiling and then climbing through."

Rorschach nodded slowly, "I see. And would it be any use at all to go up to the roof and attempt to apprehend her again?"

"Um…" Dan winced, "Probably not. She could be anywhere. She probably knows some shortcuts out that we don't and uh… she's probably gone by now."

There was an agonizing silence. Rorschach rubbed a fist against his forehead, tipping back his hat at an almost comical angle. Daniel had never seen him at a loss for words before, this was a first. Finally, he spoke, sounding strangled, "One week, Daniel." He held up one gloved finger for emphasis, "Don't want to see you for one week."

Daniel nodded dumbly, throat still dry, "I understand."

Rorschach mirrored his nod and stomped out of the room, shaking his head and slamming the door behind him. Dan resisted the crazed urge to laugh hysterically.

Well, hell.