Ch. 14

The coppery acrid stench of burning flesh rose up beyond the flames and cries of the dying. Rorschach noticed that not even the fire department was bothering to arrive, let alone the police. He watched the Comedian as he rolled a dead man over with his boot.

"Aw, hell," said the Comedian, looking up and grinning at Rorschach. "Guess he wasn't here, after all."

Fire was reflecting off of the Comedian's face, throwing his features into jagged shadows. His facial gesture seemed deliberate, that of a desperate man clinging onto the remnants of a sinking boat all the while knowing that it was futile. The boat was going under and he could see it in his eyes that this was all too painfully apparent to him. The Comedian seemed to know where Rorschach's own eyes were, despite the mask, furiously searching them as if for something that would save him. After what seemed like an eternity, the Comedian looked away and began to clean his rifle as if nothing had happened.

"What's up with that Ozymandias kid," muttered the Comedian. He seemed used to talking to himself and for a moment Rorschach wondered if he had forgotten he was there until he looked up and met his eyes again. "Have you seen that guy? Saw him skulkin' around by himself the other day -- lookin' for Moloch too, I guess."

"Idealist," Rorschach told him.

"Yeah... Guess that's what they call idiots nowadays, right?"

Funny. Rorschach would laugh under different circumstances.

"Are you Laurie's father?" asked Rorschach, suddenly. There really was no use beating around the bush, and he needed to know. He might not get another chance alone with the Comedian again.

The Comedian stared at him for a long while with an expression he couldn't read. The fire was flicking in his eyes, making them look like they were full of tears -- but of course, that couldn't be right.

"I guess she told you, huh?" he said.

"No--guessed. Wasn't sure until you just told me yourself."

The Comedian threw back his head and laughed.

"Funny kid. Very good. I like that."

"She doesn't know."

"Yeah," the Comedian nodded. "I suppose that's not surprising. You saw her mother. She threw a fit just because I talked to her."

"Did you rape Silk Spectre?"

"Shit, kid, you the inquisition?" the Comedian suddenly looked wild-eyed. "I tried to, okay? Once. Back when I was young, real young. You think I'm bad now? I was worse back then."

"No offense -- just wanted to know."

"What, if that's how she came to be born?"

Rorschach said nothing, but it had been the reason he had asked. Hollis had only mentioned one attempt in his book, but who knew if there had been a second one? The Comedian nodded as if Rorschach had just said this out loud.

"You need to tell her," said Rorschach.

"And then what?" asked the Comedian, eyes darting. "Should I tell her, 'Hey look, sorry your parents are dicks and can't get past their petty differences to give you a nice life'? 'By the way -- here are some fucking birthday presents to make up for all those years I wasn't there. But that's okay, right? Oh, and I almost raped your mother and I murder people for a living. I'm a real asshole during the week, but on Saturdays and Sundays I'm just a bastard.' "

The Comedian looked agitated. He started to pace, his eyes looking everywhere but not really seeing as he was too busy lost in his own thoughts. Rorschach wondered if these were the things he said to himself every day. The Comedian shook his head and stared directly at Rorschach and for a moment he had something in his eyes that even Rorschach had trouble looking at.

"No, she's better off with her mother and not knowing shit about me," he said, finally.

"I'm going to tell her."

The Comedian laughed, but this time it sounded like he was actually wailing. Of course, he wasn't.

"Yeah, you go do that. Do whatever you want. I don't care."

Oh, but he did. Rorschach knew. He saw that look in his eyes as he turned away from him and waved and began to walk away. That look was easy for him to notice, because where he lived, amongst the poor and downtrodden, that look was hard to find. When you saw it, you knew it right away because it was such a rare sight. It was the look he saw in people when they were about to be murdered or robbed or worse and he showed up to save them. It was hope.

Rorschach nodded to himself and turned away. He had two other locations to investigate, but suddenly he didn't feel much like it. He had no taste for the people who ran or met at these places; the sooner he apprehended them the better, but even he had had too much to look at tonight. Rorschach decided to stick to something simple and leave it up to Nightshade to go with him tomorrow. Things didn't seem right when she wasn't around, anyway.

Rorschach let his legs guide him, but he realized halfway there that he was in fact making his way to one of Moloch's other vice-clubs. Great -- well, as long as the Comedian didn't decide to make multiple rounds that night, at least he was safe in that regard. Rorschach surveyed the building, but it seemed to be closed down. Maybe they had gotten a warning call from someone else that the Comedian was out hunting. Oh, well.

Rorschach made his way to the nearby park -- rapists and the like sometimes frequented simple places like that. He found some hobos sleeping on the benches and a drunk relieving himself against a lamp post. Two lovers intertwined in a passionate kiss. Rorschach averted his eyes and stared straight ahead. Then he turned around and dove into the shadows to look at the lovers more closely.

Yes, he had thought it looked like Nite Owl II, and it was. He couldn't believe it. Why would Nite Owl II be seeing a lady friend in a park in full costume? Rorschach realized then that the woman was in costume, too. And he recognized it. Rorschach watched for a few more minutes, hoping they would sneak in some words between the kisses, but that seemed to be all they cared about at the moment. He became sick watching the display and left in disgust. Appalling. Was he planning on marrying that woman?

Rorschach shook his head. Nite Owl II was the last person he would have expected to be enamored with the Twilight Lady. How had he even stumbled across her? He and Ozymandias had been on Moloch's trail. Rorschach paused for a moment as he suddenly heard Nightshade's voice in his head. She had mentioned the vice-clubs and the Twilight Lady in the same sentence. Of course. Why hadn't he thought of that before? It was so simple, and yet...

And yet, Nite Owl II was dating the Twilight Lady. This, Rorschach couldn't wrap his mind around. Was the man insane? What about his job? What about his partner? What about the implications of courting a lady of ill-repute? Rorschach found an alleyway and paced in it. He wished Nightshade was there. Then he looked up, feeling a little crazy but driven by his impulse nonetheless.

He knew where she lived, after all. But did Nightshade know that he knew?

Rorschach made his way to her home, checking to see if the lights were on and they were. He remembered how she had looked before she retired early that evening and he was almost compelled to turn around and head back to where he came from. He stood for a long while outside, looking up at the window which he imagined to be her room, unable to decide. He saw a shadow move downstairs so he walked over to investigate. It was Sally Jupiter on the phone with someone, speaking and gesturing wildly while sipping what looked like brandy. Drunkard on top of a whore. Disgusting.

Rorschach started to climb up the building. He wished he had a grappling hook of sorts in times like these. He was halfway up when he had the sudden frightening idea that maybe Nightshade was in the state of undress. He slid back down and went to the back of the house and climbed in the kitchen window. He could hear Nightshade's mother still talking in the other room. He crept up the back stairs and looked around, not sure which one was her room. He saw light coming through cracks under a doorway in the far end of the hall and saw movement inside. He stalked over and curtly knocked.

Laurie, not Nightshade, answered the door. Damn, he had forgotten about that too. Why had he thought she would be in costume? No he hadn't, actually, he just hadn't cared. He needed to see her -- he had to tell her about what he had found, after all.

"Uh, wow," said Laurie, looking surprised. She laughed. "Rorschach -- I knew it couldn't be my mother. She never knocks."

Rorschach studied her for a moment, unable to speak. She was unmistakably pretty and he found it hard to look away.

"Nightshade," he said, pointedly -- more to himself than anyone else.

"Oh come on," she laughed again. "It's Laurie when I'm out of costume."

Rorschach grunted and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"All right. Laurie."

Laurie's face lit up when he said her name. Rorschach wondered why he had ever thought it was a good idea to come here.

"Why don't you come in, Rorschach?"

"Uh--"

"Come in." She had moved away from the door and was now gesturing inside with an inviting smile on her face. The room smelled like her.

Rorschach stepped inside cautiously, imagining that he was sullying the room somehow. Laurie closed the door and stood near him.

"Here, you can sit down, if you want." She was gesturing towards the bed. It wasn't an invitation for anything improper, of course, but he made it a point to look at it, then at her, then to stand there. She shrugged and sat down, herself. "So...what's going on, Rorschach?"

"Needed to tell you," he sighed. "About Twilight Lady. Nite Owl II."

"What, Nite Owl II is really the Twilight Lady?"

Rorschach responded with a startled chuckle. For a moment they were both laughing.

"I'm sorry," said Laurie. "What was it, really?"

"They are romantically involved."

Laurie started to laugh again, but then her eyes widened.

"Wait, are you serious?" she asked him, her hand flying to her mouth.

"Yes -- saw them."

"Wow."

"Yes." He paused. "Connection with her and Moloch, I think."

"Wait... You're not saying Nite Owl II is working for Moloch, are you?"

Rorschach shook his head.

"Not involved with the business, I think...Just the Twilight Lady."

"Wow, I still can't believe--...Wow."

"Are you coming as Nightshade tomorrow?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I just...look, I'm sorry about tonight. I didn't mean to bail out of you, it's just that -- all those people, and the...the... I couldn't do it."

He nodded as well. He wanted to tell her that it wasn't exactly his thing either, but it seemed to wrong to say that, somehow.

"I guess there's hearing my mom say that the Comedian's a violent man, and then actually seeing it. It takes some getting used to."

"The Comedian is a good man."

Laurie stared at him as if his whole attire had suddenly taken on the patterns on his mask.

"Are you kidding, Rorschach? I can say many things about him, maybe some positive, but 'good' isn't one of them."

"He is good -- he just does bad things."

"Oh Rorschach... How could someone possibly do bad things and be good at the same time?"

"The Comedian is your father."

"Yeah, well..." Laurie trailed off as she realized what he had just told her. She looked at him, lips still parted. "What?"

Rorschach nodded to her. He had said it, she had heard it, and there was no reason to say it again.

"How did you..." Laurie stood up and came to him, hands outstretched as if to grab him. She clenched her fists instead. "How did you find out? How do you know this?"

"Had an idea," he told her. "Then I asked."

"Who? My mother? Who, Rorschach? Please tell me!"

"Comedian."

"And he wasn't... joking?"

Rorschach almost laughed at that.

"No." He told her. He couldn't convey the importance of what he had said with his eyes, but he did what he could with his voice. "No, he wasn't."

"I don't believe..."

There was a creak down the hall, and at the same time Rorschach started to sprint towards the window, Laurie was already springing forward to open the closet door and shove him into it. Rorschach didn't even have time to argue as he heard the bedroom door fling open without even a knock. Laurie was right -- her mother was quite disrespectful.

"Laurie? Are you asleep?"

"With the light on, Mom -- are you kidding?"

"Well, I just wanted to see if you were all right."

"Of course I'm all right. In fact, I was about to go to bed."

"Oh, Laurie... You're angry at me, aren't you?"

"No Mom, it's fine -- I'm going to bed."

Footsteps came inside the room. He heard Laurie sigh. For someone who dealt with this woman her whole life, she was quite bad at making her leave. She was doing the opposite, in fact. Rorschach was agitated. He didn't come here to get stuck in a girl's closet. Stay in there long enough and he was going to come out perfumed and pink.

"Laurie, why don't we do something tomorrow night? Just you and me."

"I can't. I need to go crime fighting."

"It's just one night, dear."

"But it's important. We're trying to find Moloch."

There was a short pause and the temperature in the room suddenly seemed to drop by ten degrees.

"Yes, Moloch," said Sally Jupiter in a voice that made Rorschach's hackles rise. "The Comedian was always obsessed with Moloch."

"And Hollis, too," Laurie pointed out. Rorschach silently applauded her.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure he's having as much fun out there as you are."

"Huh? But--"

"Goodnight, Laurie. You enjoy your time with your friends."

Footsteps, the door closing, and more footsteps leading away. Rorschach relaxed a little but didn't attempt to leave until Laurie let him out.

"I'm sorry about that," whispered Laurie as she opened the door. "She's been getting drunk lately, and it makes her so much worse."

Rorschach nodded and looked at her. He wished he could take her hand and lead her away from this place. But that was all he could offer -- there was nowhere he could actually take her to, and he was sorry for that.

"Look, Rorschach," sighed Laurie. "I really appreciate you telling me these things, but...could we talk about them tomorrow? I'm tired, and..."

Rorschach was already halfway out the window. When he turned around she was smiling at him.

"Goodnight, Rorschach," she told him.

"Goodnight, Laurie."

Rorschach climbed out and walked into the night.

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To be continued...