Ch. 46
Walter woke up, and if it weren't for the bright light, he would have thought he had never slept at all. He moved his head a little, realizing the light was from the bedside lamp. Maybe it was still night. He turned his head a little more to look at the window and realized there was also sunlight pouring through. Ah, morning, after all. Then why did he feel so drained?
Laurie was next to him and his arm was over her. She felt so soft underneath him, it took him a moment to realize her state of undress. With this view of her, the memories of the night before came back to him in a rush, making a lump form in his throat. He had broken down like a child, and he hadn't done anything to stop himself. Walter looked at Laurie's sleeping face. She had comforted him, he remembered, but what did she really think? He was sure that without raw emotions hanging in the air coupled with the morning sun glaringly reminding them of last night's incident, she wouldn't be so forgiving. He was sure she would think that he had acted quite foolishly; that's how he saw himself, anyway. Maybe she would start to judge -- people always did -- and she would decide that he was too messed up for her want to deal with, after all.
Walter rolled onto his back, contemplating leaving again, until he remembered the promise he had made to her never to do that. He sighed bitterly.
Laurie stirred next to him.
"Walter?" she asked, turning to see if she was there. "Oh, hi."
Laurie was smiling at him, but Walter couldn't return it. That cold dread was building up in him again, starting at that lump in his throat, only to trickle down to the pit of his stomach.
"Are you feeling okay?" Laurie asked him, as she reached out to run a smooth hand across his forehead.
Walter nodded.
"Good," said Laurie, smiling at him again and letting her hand rest on his chest. Walter glanced down at it and took it.
Walter waited for one long moment before he couldn't bear it any longer. He glanced at Laurie, trying to form the question in his mind.
"Are you ashamed of me?" he asked her, finally. It wasn't exactly how he had wanted to say it, but it was the best he could do.
"What? No," said Laurie, looking surprised. "Of course not. Why would I be?"
Walter studied her eyes. She was only looking at him with warm concern. Walter kissed her gratefully.
"Thank you," he told her.
Laurie gave him a curious look, but she didn't pry. She smiled at him instead.
"What do you want to do today?" she asked him.
"I have to go to work," he said.
"Oh," she looked disappointed. "I forgot."
Walter glanced at her.
"I always work every day except for Sunday," he said. "How did you forget?"
"I don't know," she laughed, "For some reason I always think crime fighting is your job -- I mean, mine too, but... You know, we're out for long hours in the night; working, basically."
"I have two jobs, then," he said, shrugging. He was looking around for his shirt before he remembered that it was probably crumpled on the floor somewhere in the other room. He sneaked a peek at Laurie and blushed as he remembered how she felt under his hands.
"Do you want to meet up here, or at Nelson's?" Laurie asked him.
"Here," he told her. He stood up reluctantly and walked into the other room. Laurie followed him after she put on a robe.
Walter picked up articles of his clothing and slowly put them on as Laurie watched him. He turned away, embarrassed as he had to undo his pants to tuck in his shirt. He put on his tie and jacket, then folded his coat under his arm.
"You have really nice arms, you know?" Laurie said, suddenly.
"Err, thank you," said Walter, looking down. "You have very nice... parts."
Laurie's eyes widened a little.
"I meant it as a general term," said Walter, throwing out his hands and dropping his coat. They both bent over to pick it up and fumbled over each other.
Laurie took one quick glance at Walter before she shoved him against the wall and kissed him furiously. Walter was afraid that she would rip his clothes from him, but she just ran her hands over his head and neck. After she was finished, she kissed him more gently on the lips before she straightened herself and tried to fix his hair. Walter glanced up at the clock and gave Laurie a brief kiss before he went towards the front entrance.
"Walter, your coat--" said Laurie, as he opened the door.
"Keep it here," Walter told her, "And those."
Walter gestured towards his mask, hat, and gloves then smiled at her before he went out. He barely had time to shower and change -- no time to eat, yet again. He went to work with a quick step. He came in to find the shop a mess, with Mr. Petersen standing among bits of papers, pins, and buttons around him on the floor, as well as overturned drawers and dummies tossed about.
"Mr. Petersen," exclaimed Walter, in alarm. "What happened?"
"Just couldn't find my measuring tape," said the old man, shaking his head as the offending object lay across his shoulders.
"They're here," Walter said, gently pulling the tape down to show him. "See?"
"Oh, such a good boy," said Mr. Petersen, sounding faint. "So good, and so clever, too."
"Maybe you should sit down," Walter suggested, as he steered Mr. Petersen away from the chaos and to the back of the shop.
"Thank you," said Mr. Petersen, as he allowed Walter to help him into his chair. "What would I do without you?"
Walter wondered what indeed, and he quickly worked to clear up as much of the debris as he could before the customers started coming in. Mr. Petersen let Walter handle all of them -- the old man wasn't napping today, but he seemed agitated -- and stayed in the back away from business. Walter didn't mind, though he worried about his employer a little. He wondered if Mr. Petersen even had any family. The thought of the frail old man going home alone made Walter sad.
Walter had a quick lunch during his break. Though he hadn't eaten that morning, he wasn't very hungry for lunch either, so he just had a danish. He looked around him at the cafe as he ate, eyes bright; feeling quite alert and good about himself. Walter looking inquiringly into himself for the reason and smiled. After eating, he was walking back to the shop when he passed by a display he couldn't resist looking at.
Walter peered down in concentration as he looked in the window of a jeweler's. He thought he saw a shadow pass by, but didn't pay attention. It wasn't until he saw someone standing next to him in the reflection of the window that he jumped in surprise.
"Hey," said Dan, laughing.
"You should be glad I didn't punch you," exclaimed Walter.
"What did I do now?" asked Dan, looking alarmed.
"You startled me."
"Oh," Dan laughed again. "Sorry. I guess you didn't hear me."
Dan glanced into the window and grinned at him.
"Thinking about the future, are we?" Dan asked.
Walter said nothing, but he didn't try to hide his smile. Dan adjusted his glasses.
"Are you going to the Crimebusters meeting tonight?" he asked Walter, rather emphatically.
Walter gave him a dirty look and glanced around him to make sure nobody had heard what he said.
"Why don't you go across the street and shout to me from there?" Walter said.
"Why?"
"Nevermind."
"Well, all right." Dan shrugged. "I guess I'll leave you be, then."
Dan started to turn away, and Walter wondered why he had extended a hand to be so friendly to him all of a sudden. He had an image of Dan as Mr. Petersen, alone in his old age and felt a little guilty.
"Wait," said Walter.
Dan turned and looked at him with interest.
"Are you good at this... sort of thing?" Walter asked him, as he gestured vaguely towards the jeweler's.
"What, appraising jewelry? Counterfeiting it? Standing in front of shops and talking loudly to people?"
Walter gave him a dry smile.
"Choosing something appropriate."
"Oh," Dan adjusted his glasses again and stooped down to look into the window. "I might be able to, but I guess you need to tell me what she likes."
"What she likes?"
"You know, like favorite colors, stones, shapes, that sort of thing."
Walter gave him a blank look and Dan shrugged.
"Well, if you asked me to pick one without any information, I would go for that one." Dan pointed.
"The third one from the back?" Walter asked him.
"No, the one right in front of it. Second row from the back."
"Hm."
Walter noted it and nodded at him.
"Thank you," he told Dan.
"You're welcome." Dan stood there waiting, as if for Walter go with him.
Walter shrugged and started to walk, and Dan accompanied him back to his shop.
"Is this where you work?" Dan asked, glancing inside. "It's nice."
"Thank you," said Walter.
They stood in awkward silence.
"Uh, bye, I guess," said Dan.
"Good bye, Daniel."
Walter went inside and half-expected the shop to be in a disarray again, but Mr. Petersen had thankfully fallen asleep. Walter tended to the shop and cleaned up at the end of the day. He woke up Mr. Petersen and flagged a taxi down for him and sent him on his way. Walter stopped by his apartment to change into his costume suit before he went to Blake's house. He was wondering why he was so hungry before he realized he hadn't eaten much that day. Oh, well -- he would ignore it and eat later that night. He knocked on the door and heard Laurie's voice from somewhere inside.
"It's open," she called to him.
Walter opened the door and walked inside, closing the door and locking it.
"You shouldn't just leave your door unlocked like that," Walter said to the open air.
"Oh, Walter, I just unlocked it knowing you would be home soon," called Laurie, whose voice came from the kitchen.
Walter went into the kitchen to find Laurie at the stove, cooking. She turned and smiled at him. Walter shivered.
"Here, sit down," Laurie said. "We have time to have a quick dinner before the meeting starts."
Walter obeyed and waited for Laurie to serve him. They ate together without a word, then Walter got up to find the rest of his costume essentials as Laurie cleared the table.
"Let me get changed," Laurie told Walter, as he put his mask on. Rorschach waited for what seemed like forever -- why did it take so long? She just had one thing to put on, then the armor, which was basically just straps going together.
Nightshade finally emerged from her room, smiling.
"Let's go," she said.
They held hands all the way to Nelson's, then let go as they stepped inside. Captain Metropolis was there, along with Nite Owl II.
"Hello there," said Nelly, looking pleased. "Good to see us all here."
"What about Ozymandias?" asked Laurie.
"Oh," Nelly frowned a little. "Didn't he tell you? He's given up crime fighting."
"What?" exclaimed Nite Owl II.
"He didn't give me the details, but that's what he told me," Nelly said, shrugging.
"Wow," said Nightshade, frowning at Rorschach. Rorschach nodded at her.
"So, what's this meeting about?" Nite Owl II asked.
"I wanted to know if you three have heard anything about the new Hooded Justice," said Nelly.
"Huh?" Nite Owl II looked at Rorschach and Nightshade, who were just as surprised as he was.
"Hooded Justice II? Ah, well," Nelly blushed a little. "Guess I'm the only one who keeps up with out-of-state news."
Nelson reached over and pulled out a newspaper article.
"He's based in California," said Nelly, "Started off taking care of crime by himself, until he got called in to join a group. They started off a crime fighting team of their own over there, did you know that?"
Rorschach wasn't really listening to what Nelly was saying. He grabbed the paper and stared. His eyes were fixed on the picture more than the actual article. It wasn't a photo -- just a composite drawing, based on eye-witness reports, it said. The man was wearing what looked like a hood over his head, with generic looking protective clothing underneath. He was wearing sunglasses over the hood, and really did look remarkably like Hooded Justice. Rorschach was very certain the man hadn't intended to look anything like Hooded Justice, however. On his chest the man wore a symbol of a circle with an oddly shaped cross under it. Inside the circle, looking vague and faded in the small drawing, was a smile.
Anyone could miss it at first glance, but Rorschach was instantly drawn to it. He felt cold anger start at the base of his spine, making him shiver as it went up his back to rest on the back of his head, giving him a peculiar headache.
"...With attire akin to New York City based Hooded Justice from decades before, our state's own Hooded Justice II helped us rid the area of twelve major criminals," read Nightshade, as she peered over Rorschach's shoulder. She went silent as she read the rest, then gasped. "Wait, what?"
Nightshade reached around Rorschach to take the paper away from him. He let her, intrigued and waiting to hear what she had to say.
"This article says that he kills people," said Nightshade, looking shocked. "Murders them and leaves them around for the police to find. Am I reading this right?"
"That's how they deal with crime around there," Nelson nodded. "The crime fighters carry pistols and other sorts of weaponry, actually."
Rorschach, Nightshade, and Nite Owl II all looked at Nelson as if he had just announced he was going to pull out his eyes and eat them.
"And the police let them do this?" Nite Owl II asked in disbelief.
"Oh, yes," said Nelly, putting his hands behind his back. "The police forces there, especially the LAPD during the 1950s, were quite ruthless. They used to rule the streets, brutalizing citizens and dealing out their own punishment -- even street-wide executions. Made some of our more... violent... fellow crime fighters here look tame in comparison."
Nelson turned and started rifling through a collection of papers he had in a cabinet.
"Some people had enough and started fighting back. But when your enemies all have guns, what else can you do but arm yourself in the same manner?"
Rorschach did not understand this. They had gone against armed criminals before. He couldn't imagine the NYPD ever allowing something such as this. If granted to go on killing rampages and shooting sprees in this manner, at what point did vigilantes become felons themselves? Californians must be insane.
"Suffice to say, they're more lenient towards certain things over there," Nelly explained. "Anyway, I thought you might be interested in hearing one of our own has had a tribute."
Nelly looked wistful as he turned to look at a picture of the Minutemen -- the exact same one that the Comedian had at home -- that he had behind him.
"I'm sure HJ would have been flattered," he said, softly.
"Oh, hey," said Nite Owl II, "I almost forgot -- I have copies of the photo we took, you know, of us all at our first Crimebusters meeting?"
Everyone stared at Nite Owl II. That meeting was ages ago; they had all forgotten about the photo, it seemed.
"I have them in Archie, though," said Nite Owl II, frowning.
"Archie?" Nightshade asked.
"Oh," Nite Owl II laughed. "Short for Archimedes -- it's my owl ship."
"So you're saying you're never going to give us the pictures until you've forced us to board your vessel?" Rorschach asked.
Nite Owl II gave Rorschach a surprised look as he laughed.
"Wow, you make it sound like I love to torture you guys by imposing my garish presence onto you," he said, "Am I that bad?"
Rorschach didn't respond. Nightshade smiled and winked at Rorschach but said nothing either.
"I would like it if we could work together though," Nite Owl II said, in a quiet voice, as if he hadn't noticed the implication behind Rorschach's silence. "It's really not good working out there all alone."
He hung his head a little and looked quite sad.
"None of that now," said Rorschach, quickly. "We'll go with you."
"Could you try to find out more about Captain Carnage while you're out there?" Nelly asked.
Rorschach snarled to himself, but Nite Owl II nodded.
"I would like to know what he's all about, for sure," he said.
"Oh, we know what he's about," Rorschach said under his breath, but nobody seemed to hear him.
They discussed a few more things before they left Nelly's house -- Nite Owl II, Rorschach, and Nightshade, to be exact. Nite Owl II talked pleasantly as he took them to where he had Archie hidden.
As Nite Owl II climbed the ramp that led up into the ship, Rorschach leaned in towards Nightshade.
"Watch, he's really taking us up there to kill us," he told her.
"Rorschach," exclaimed Nightshade.
"Then he'll stuff our bodies and have us strapped to the seats like dummies."
"Oh my god."
"The man's crazy," Rorschach said. "If it's the only way he can get us to stay with him forever, he'll do it."
Nightshade laughed and punched his shoulder playfully as she went inside. Rorschach chortled to himself as he followed her.
"Guess you can keep them up here while we go out and fight, but here, you can look at them for now," said Nite Owl II, handing a photo to first Nightshade, then to Rorschach. He started up the engine and started fiddling with buttons.
Rorschach studied the picture. It made him feel bad to see the Comedian and Ozymandias who were no longer fighting with them.
"I'm framing mine," Nightshade told him.
"So am I," he told her.
"Fine," she said. "We'll have both pictures on the mantelpiece, then."
Rorschach stopped and stared at her, but she had already gone to the front to sit by Nite Owl II. And goodness, he had already started talking.
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To be continued...