Author's Note: WOW I'M BACK. WITH A SHITTY CHAPTER. Okay, so this chapter both did not want to be written AND sucked coming out. Ugh. I'm not satisfied with this chapter at all, but I felt it was a good transition chapter between Stuff that Was and Stuff that is to come. But that's really no excuse. So, sorry for this. XP I'll get my bext chapter up too because I feel so badly about making you all wait SO LONG and all you get is this. :/ Thanks for your patience!
Warnings: Ugh. Also, a really stupid title, don't even know. lol
39. Black Parade
Dan considered not going. He never really liked The Comedian and quite frankly wasn't all that broken up about his death. But seeing Rorschach after about five years of no contact must have messed him up somehow because before he really had time to convince himself otherwise, Dan had his coat on and walking out the door. He squinted up at the sky and heaved a sigh as raindrops pattered on his glasses. He would be seeing the other members of the Crimebusters (such as it was) for the first time in about ten years. He rubbed his eyes and smoothed the wet tendrils of hair out of his face; this wasn't exactly how he thought a reunion would be like. But then, he hadn't thought about having a reunion in at least five years. It was almost funny how he still thought of the good old days, but didn't want to see any of the good old people.
It was probably because none of them were really good old people.
He rounded the corner to see a procession of people waiting outside a black hearse, waiting for the casket. He struggled to squelch the feeling of not belonging; like he was the kid who came in late to a new class, who knew he was supposed to be here, but didn't have any time to acclimate to the surroundings. Adrian caught sight of him first, and Daniel noted that he'd aged well. Just enough lines on his face to look wise, but enough youth in his face to look powerful. And of course, Daniel noted with some childish bitterness, he was in perfect physical condition. Adrian smiled, solemn and respectful, and shook Daniel's hand.
"It's been a while Daniel, how have you been?" He still sounded the same: centered, calm and knowing. It was simultaneously comforting and irritating.
"I'm all right. You look good." Daniel still felt awkward around the man, even though he spent a better part of his life in the same line of work. Hell, he'd seen the man run around in gold lame` tights and he still felt inferior. Which was stupid.
Fortunately, there wasn't a whole lot of time to carry on some kind of conversation, as Jon arrived and diverted Adrian's attention. Dan sighed and allowed his eyes to wander through the crowd. There were a lot of official looking men and past them was a crowd of wet, disgruntled looking people with the same thought on all their faces: couldn't have happened to a nicer person.
Frankly, Dan was thinking the same thing. And he didn't even feel that bad about it.
He scanned the crowd, his eyes falling on a dripping, stern faced red-haired man in the foreground. He wondered what this guy thought of the Comedian, of masks, how he felt about the Keene Act, if he felt they'd ever done any good at all. Did they ever save him, before out on the streets? Dan let his mind wander. Maybe he was one of the few that appreciated them, even when everything went to hell. Or maybe, and this was more likely, they never met him at all, and even though he probably (definitely) had his share of misfortunes, there were no superheroes to come in from the night to help. New York was a big city, and people slip through the cracks. Even in Dan's head that sounded like a cop-out
Dan bent his head against the wind and rain and left the funeral without shaking any hands. He felt eyes on his back, but he chalked it up to tiredness and the worst kind of nostalgia and walked home.
A/N: YEAH. Okay, so that's done. Sorry about that. XP But the next chapter was really fun to write so hopefully it's a lot better than this one! Haha