[Backdated, for Walter/Rorschach]

[halfafinger]

She'd been looking for him for a day or two before she gave up. If he didn't want to be found, she was sure he wouldn't be. And besides, Margot had better things to do with her time than chase after a madman

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[inktest]

Rorschach bent down and picked up the discarded match-stick. He held it in his hands and felt the faint trace of the heat that it held seconds before.

"You dropped this," he told her, his voice deep, rougher than Walter's. He felt better than before. True, his skin still burned, but it was covered now. He had his face back and the ink moved in the moonlight as he looked at the woman.

[halfafinger]

The voice...sounded familiar. But it couldn't be him, could it? Maybe a clone.

She looked up and couldn't tell at first, because he was wearing a mask. But the mask looked familiar too. It was the one that had been on the tray, the tray she'd brought to Walter, the tray he'd snatched the mask from and fled the clinic with.

"Walter?"

[inktest]

"Rorschach," he corrected her, remaining still where he was. He felt the familiar power of being able to stare at the person in front of him while knowing they couldn't see anything about him. He allowed a subversive grin to creep across his face.

"I don't know who Walter is anymore."

[halfafinger]

Margot watched the ink pattern shift in the shadows. Her cigarette was burning down and ash fell onto her shirt, but she didn't appear to notice straight away.

"I don't either," she said eventually. "What happened to you?"

[inktest]

Rorschach shrugged and turned away. He watched the snow fall to the ground. The big, white flakes reminded him of New York. For a minute, he thought he preferred this, the island, because he saw the thick white flakes falling and didn't have to worry about them landing on piles of alleyway garbage or dead bodies. But then he realized- No...That's the stuff I love. He missed New York.

"Look, it's true. This island isn't New York," He turned to Margot. "But there are people here and things happening here that need punished. And that's what I'm for. Now. That I have my face back, ok?" He allowed a silence.

"This is my face. I left the clinic so you didn't have to see it."

[halfafinger]

"So why are you letting me see it now?" Madmen often had circular logic. It stood to reason. Margot seemed patient enough, though, and her only expression was that of slightly incredulous curiosity.

Not much different from her usual look of blank boredom, really.

[inktest]

"Light is different. Can play tricks on you..." Rorschach stepped forward as his ink shifted in the natural night light.

"Also, I don't plan on staying around here long. I have a gun to find..." He allowed his voice to trail off once more, leaving the question of who or what gun in the air. "But I wanted to find you. To explain. This is who I am."

Rorschach turned away as if to leave, but stopped.

"That better be ok."

[halfafinger]

Margot shrugged, even though he couldn't exactly see the movement with his back to her.

"You can't change who you are," she said simply. "Nobody can."

She decided not to ask about the gun. Better not to know, probably.