Author's Notes: Thanks again, reviewers. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing anything right, then I get encouragement from you and it keeps me going!

Mr. Arkham -- (Joker!?) Good point. I had tried to make him speak more normally, but it always seems too forced to me. I figured the clipped tones were "Rorschach", the normal speech, Walter. I figured since he is trying to at least pretend to be Rorschach, he would speak in that manner. Especially when dealing with people who try his patience, such as villains, or Ozymandias (and girls). I agree that he should probably slip more. I'll try again with the regular approach, but it's up to him. It seems like he has a mind of his own when I'm writing his words. :) I hope it's not too bothersome.

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Ch. 5

The streets were quiet tonight, but the docks were even quieter. Laurie was glad she wasn't alone. Then again, if she had been alone, would she have ventured out this far? She was glad that Rorschach seemed to know where they were headed. She watched him as he grilled some dock workers, asking them where the Comedian was. Nobody seemed to know, really. They just stammered a lot and pointed in a number of directions.

The Comedian. Would they really find him here, in the docks? Laurie had heard of him in passing, knew how he looked from the picture of the Minutemen on her mother's dresser. He never visited, though. She remembered hearing once that he had been kicked out years back. Uncle Nelly -- Captain Metropolis -- in a drunken state, had loudly mentioned it, though her mother had prodded him into being quiet when she realized Laurie was there and listening. As much as Laurie hated hearing about her mother's past heroics, there was a certain magnetism, a certain charm to those days of the Minutemen. Back in those days, things seemed to be tinted a different color. Things seemed better back then. At least, that's what her mother seemed to be convinced of.

Rorschach needn't have bothered to ask about the Comedian, it seemed. They had only been in the docks fifteen minutes when even Laurie spotted him. He was blocks away, but he was huge. Holding what looked like a cigar, he was standing out like a smokestack in the middle of the docks district. Rorschach steered them closer to him and the Comedian waved when they were within earshot.

"Hey trick or treat," he said, bearing a wide smile. "Is it that time already?"

"We're crime fighters too," exclaimed Laurie, though she couldn't help but smile in return. His own smile was infectious, and he seemed to be swimming in levity. She wanted to tell him that he used to work with her mother.

"Need info," said Rorschach, completely ignoring the little exchange between the two.

"Yeah?" the Comedian raised an eyebrow. "Straight to business, eh?"

"Drug smugglers here. Have you seen them?"

"Drug smugglers? Not really, no."

"Docks are your domain. You must know of recent criminal activity."

The Comedian stared at him for a full three seconds before he threw his head back and laughed out loud. Laurie looked around nervously. The Comedian didn't seem to care who heard him.

"Shit, are you kidding me?" he asked, still laughing. "You could pick any building in this place, bust in and find them in the middle of all sorts of 'criminal activity'. I ain't the elite brigade. I can't keep track of everything that goes down here."

"Must know something. Any information would be helpful."

"All right, kid," said the Comedian. Suddenly he looked serious, but it seemed more like he was humoring Rorschach. "What do you need?"

"Found connection to recent shipments of new vapor drug. Linked back to Hersch, possibly in the docks."

"Don't know about that new vapor shit. Hell, if I saw anybody with it I'd beat them senseless. What reasons the privileged have to do drugs over is my question." He looked contemplative for a moment, billows of cigar smoke rising up from his face. His eyes looked sad until he looked at them again. "Heard of Hersch, though."

"Whereabouts?"

"I dunno -- look, I ain't his mother -- but he usually goes by the name Gimmick. Stupid name if you ask me. Why be named after something that has nothing to do with you? I'm the Comedian. I make jokes. You, I bet you're Ink Face. Or Hard Ass. And you're what... Little Girl?"

Laurie didn't have time to register the remark before she almost barrelled over when the Comedian slapped her shoulder, hard. He paused, leaned in for a moment and studied her in the low light.

"Huh," he said, straightening up and regarding her for a moment. "You look really young, kid. How old are you? Fourteen?"

"No!" said Laurie, laughing in spite of herself.

"And let me guess, you're twelve," said the Comedian, looming down on Rorschach, who bristled.

"No," Laurie practically wailed as she laughed harder.

Rorschach watched the two of them as if they had just turned into pack mules.

"Anyways," said the Comedian, grinning, "You should find him in the east side. Operates in half the warehouses there, D9 through E14, I think. I'd go with you, but I don't feel like babysitting."

"No need," said Rorschach, in a half-snarl.

"Yeah, look hey -- I know you're not twelve. I'm just joking with you."

Rorschach nodded and started to leave.

"I know you're fourteen like her." The Comedian laughed.

Suddenly, Rorschach seemed to be moving at lightning speed, and Laurie had to run to catch up with him. Her smile faded when he turned and regarded her for a long moment.

"We will go to warehouses D9 through E14," he told her in an almost pleasant tone that surprised her.

"Okay," she said, smiling nervously. If there turned out to be this Hersch, this Gimmick, there tonight, she had a feeling he was going to have a very unpleasant time speaking to Rorschach.

The Comedian's directions were very precise. For a man who had no idea what they were talking about, he certainly seemed to know what Rorschach was referring to. They had barely gotten to the vicinity of warehouse E14 when they came across a group of men shouting. A man wearing black appeared to be attempting to pacify them.

"Boys, come on already," he said. "Arguing like this, it's just a waste of time."

"We want to know who killed the Ferguson brothers," said another man.

"Yeah, and why isn't anybody coming to pick up the shipments?" asked another.

"I'm sure there's an expl--"

"There isn't any explanation, Gimmick. You're nothing but a shitload of unexplained business, aren't you?"

The man in black, Gimmick, swallowed.

"Look, the boss hasn't been telling me anything nowadays. Don't you think I've been trying to get hold of him?" Gimmick asked them, arms outstretched.

"I bet he's ditched us and the plans."

"Yeah, I heard he moved to the sewers, is that true?"

"Why aren't we in the sewers too? Why are we stuck in this junk hole with the Comedian breathing down our backs?"

The rest of the conversation turned into an jumbled mass of shouts and curses. Gimmick watched for a moment before he held up his hands again.

"Look, boys," he sighed. "Why don't you take this..."

Gimmick started to look through his pockets. He pulled out a few bills.

"Take this," he continued, "and go drinking. Drink yourselves sick, pass out, and come back tomorrow. I'll try to contact the boss in the meantime. Sound good?"

The men muttered darkly amongst themselves as one of them snatched the bills away and counted them. They seemed satisfied for now, though depending on their mood they would most likely return later drunk and even angrier than before. Gimmick watched them leave with his hand on the back of his neck. He turned and kicked the remains of a spare plank aside as he headed towards the warehouse.

"Christ, what a shitty day," he muttered to himself. Rorschach sprang forward and made it worse.

"Woahthef--" screamed Gimmick, as he was first grabbed by the collar and tossed to one side of warehouse E14, then to the other side of warehouse E13.

Gimmick, not a big man, but not a lightweight either, lay dazed on the concrete. His eyes widened as Rorschach stood over him.

"God, wtaughhrughhh," Gimmick choked as Rorschach started to strangle him.

"Working for someone. Who?" snarled Rorschach.

"I...ughhurghhh...aohh.. Who are you?"

"Wrong answer."

Gimmick screamed as he was tossed into the air and halfway to warehouse E12. Laurie watched, mesmerized, but she remembered how much Rorschach disliked her doing nothing while he interrogated people. She stepped into the nearest warehouse, marked E14, and looked inside. The warehouse was three times the size of the one that had burned down, and just as full. Five light bulbs lined the top of the ceiling, adequately lighting the interior. Laurie walked in cautiously, then with quicker steps when she had determined that it was empty. Reaching for the nearest crate, she looked inside. She wasn't surprised to find candle holders. She picked one up. Yes, the fake kind, with the drugs. She set it down and searched three more crates. All of them, drugs. She couldn't believe it -- if all these crates were filled...

Where would they find use for all these drugs? Did one person use a whole crate's worth at a time? Or just a candle stick's worth? Or even just one pellet? No matter how she looked at it, there was an excess of drugs in here, and she couldn't possibly think of how there could be such a demand for them. Maybe one rich old man was buying them all to add to his bizarre collection of oddities? Laurie jumped as she heard Gimmick scream. It was loud and shrill, even through the warehouse walls. Leaving the drugs exposed and scattered, she walked out to see what Rorschach was up to.

"All right -- it's Underboss -- Underboss!" Gimmick was planted face-down on the concrete, Rorschach's foot on his head to keep him there. He was holding Gimmick's arms at an angle and judging by how far the right one went out it looked like he had broken it.

Laurie put a hand to her mouth. She knew Rorschach had been angry, but it seemed to have been more than she had imagined.

"Underboss?" asked Rorschach.

"Yes. God yes. He just wanted to get in the drug business, starting with the classier crowd. I don't know anything besides that."

Gimmick screamed again as Rorschach beared his weight on his arm. There was a distant shriek of sirens -- Gimmick's screams must have finally moved someone to call the police.

"Oh God, oh God -- he moved his whole operation to the sewers, I don't know where -- I haven't heard from him in days, that's all I know."

Rorschach twisted his arm and Gimmick started to sob and squeal.

"That's all I know, God, that's all I know!"

"Hrm."

Rorschach suddenly let go of Gimmick's arms as if they were tainted. He looked up to see Laurie watching.

"Uh," stammered Laurie. "There's drugs in there... the whole warehouse is full of them."

Rorschach nodded as the sounds of sirens drew nearer.

"Police are coming. Perfect for your article." he told her, paused, then added, "I'm sorry if treatment of man disturbed you."

Laurie looked down at the whimpering man and frowned a little.

"N-No, uh... it's not big enough. This case. It has to be something big."

Rorschach nodded. He pulled out a piece of brown paper with a pattern on it. Laurie walked over to study it.

"Wow," she said in admiration. "I wish I had a signature like that."

Rorschach reached up and without actually touching her, clipped a small excess of her scarf. Laurie watched as he affixed it to the sign, which he tossed on Gimmick, who appeared to have passed out. Rorschach ushered them to a suitable area to watch in hiding until they were sure the police would arrive in time to find Gimmick. The drugs exposed and in a convenient place coupled with Rorschach's message, the police got the idea and took him away. They didn't even bother to handcuff him. Laurie couldn't help but feel excited by her first victory. Well, she aided, at least. Actually, Rorschach did most of the work while she followed him. She frowned a little. She was going to have to ask him how she could make herself more useful.

Regardless, it was still an exciting night, and this was a perfect way to end it. She was looking forward to what they would find tomorrow. Laurie turned to Rorschach and smiled. He regarded her for a moment, and she pretended he was smiling under the mask, too. He turned and started to walk away.

Maybe not.

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To be continued...