Watchmen - Dan/Rorschach - "The Right Thing"
Title: "The Right Thing"
Dan/Rorschach
Rated R
Warnings: Character death. m/m sex. Really sad. Read the summary and think twice.
Summary: kinkmeme prompt fill: "Sick fuck anon wants to see Dan kill Rorschach, deliberately and premeditatively." (Anon suggested a mercy killing post-Keene "or whatever works." Set at Karnak, an alternate ending.
"Rorschach!!--"
“Rorschach, wait!”
Dan stomped off the snow and shut the owlship hatch behind him, cutting off the howling Antarctic wind. Rorschach didn’t look up from the controls, reading through and performing each step of the checklist for take-off. His shoulders trembled as he swiveled side to side in the pilot’s chair. With his mask off, he looked lost and out of control -- a disturbing combination to recognize in Rorschach.
“Rorschach?” Dan tried again, this time imploring.
Rorschach turned violently, his face tear-streaked and eyes blazing with indignation. Dan fought desperately to ignore the guilty pain of the accusation they threw at him. “What, Daniel? Come to dissuade me? Suggest you return to other conspirators. Surely must have things to discuss, stories to keep straight. I have plans too. Innocent must be told.”
It sounded so simple in his partner’s matter-of-fact expression, but Dan knew it to be the most complicating, dangerous plan right now -- the second dangerous plan he’d heard today. It carried risk not so much for themselves as for the rest of the unaware, unwilling world. There was only one way this would work, and Dan saw it.
“No, I’m not... No, actually. It’s not like that.” Dan held up his hands, his voice running too fast and cracking an octave too high. He cleared his throat and brought it down. “In fact…” he took a step closer. “You’re right. There’s too much at stake here. Whatever his reasons, Veidt can’t get away with this. People need to know the truth. So…please, Rorschach. I’d like to come with you.”
Rorschach stared, assessing him silently. Perhaps it was an illusion of the blotches on Rorschach’s cold-flushed skin, or perhaps due to long familiarity, but Dan imagined ink blots shifting appraisingly over his face. Maybe there had never been a trick to reading his mask.
He wanted to be pleased; Dan could tell. After all the severance today, goddamn it if there wasn’t still one connection left to cling to. “Did they send you?” Rorschach asked.
Dan spoke earnestly. “Of course not, man. I left them. Just…let me do this. With you.”
Rorschach paused a few more seconds, then nodded. “Thank you, Daniel. Knew you’d do the right thing.”
Dan shivered involuntarily. Even with his insulation and warmer hood, by the time he’d followed Rorschach back from Karnak to Archie, Dan was chilled to the core. He could only imagine how frozen the other man was.
Dan swung off his cape and took it to Rorschach. He draped it over his shoulders and this time Rorschach didn’t object. He crossed his arms under the fur, sliding his hands into his armpits to warm up. Dan knelt beside him on one knee and peered through the snow swirling past Archie’s portals. The wind was still picking up, and at this distance Karnak was no more than a hazily-obscured hulk. Rorschach glared toward it.
“This means end of the world.” He said it softly, but it smacked of a proclamation.
“I know.”
“Ready for Armageddon?”
Dan shrugged, attempting a smile. “Heh. I’m not sure, honestly. I’d been trying to get used to the idea for a few months now; let’s put it that way.”
A strong gust of wind rocked the ship. Dan was not a praying man, but he inwardly pleaded for forgiveness.
As casually as he could, Dan laid a hand on Rorschach’s knee. Rorschach didn’t move. He didn’t watch Dan kneading his thigh, didn’t look at the suggestively curling fingers. But his lack of acknowledgement was as much reassurance as Dan needed.
Rorschach swayed under the heavy caress. “Daniel? Daniel. Glad you’re on mission with me.”
“We’re partners, aren’t we?” Dan pivoted on his knees, face-to-face with Rorschach. “But nothing is going to collapse until we let the people know. We have a little time yet.”
Dan took a slow breath, leaned in, and pressed his lips to Rorschach’s. They were chapped and cold, but felt even better than he’d feared they would. The last hopeful spark inside of him sank into blackness to feel those lips part and purse as Rorschach kissed him back. He slid a hand to the back of Rorschach’s neck and held him near, dipping further into his slackening mouth. This close up, Rorschach wouldn’t be able to see Dan’s forehead knit or his eyes squeeze tight against the tears.
Twenty years of frustration and denial unraveled quickly into desperate clutching and tangled limbs. The needy, seeking hands exploring his body felt more real, more human, than anything Dan had ever experienced. Maskless and at the edge of the world, Rorschach himself looked more human too -- open-mouthed and gasping wantonly as Dan rolled him onto his back. He sat astride him and pressed his palms flat against that chest -- all that skin, sinew, and bone that made him human, and fragile, and mortal.
The first aid kit lay in reaching distance, and Dan found a lotion. Rorschach choked down a moan at each stroke as Dan slicked him. Dan balanced on one hand and prepared himself.
He kept holding his breath as he carefully lowered himself onto Rorschach. He could feel the restraint in the hips he straddled -- trying not to push up, not yet. Leaning forward from bolt-upright, Dan began to rock. Shallow thrusts grew deeper, encouraged by the hands seizing his thighs with a slap.
Rorschach pulsed unevenly, body twisting and arching, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat when his head tilted back. The reminder was cruel: one Dan didn’t need. He’d still be human for a few more minutes; until then he’d just have to struggle, dissociate, and act. Dan gently removed Rorschach’s arms from his thighs and slid them to the floor to kneel on them. Rorschach left them pinned, willingly deprived of his own use of hands as long as Dan offered his, sliding broad strokes up Rorschach’s abdomen, across his chest. They dove around his neck and back up to his chin, lightly encircling his throat.
Rorschach panted for air as his excitement built, Dan intimately aware of a sudden new surge of blood in his partner. All the same, he’d completely lost his own erection.
Crying openly now, Dan locked his thumbs in the final pass over Rorschach’s throat. With a lunge, he pressed them down hard and deep, his motion sure in an attempt to be as swift as possible. He squeezed and squeezed, despite the body bucking beneath him, despite the hands that pulled themselves free and were clawing at him, despite fucking Adrian, Jon, New York and the whole goddamned world that he’d have to live with afterward. Why would it matter if the world went on, if it had to be born from this heinous act, Rorschach’s spent life, and the loss of his own soul? Soon he would slump to the floor, numbness mercifully taking over as he’d gather the body to him. Dan screamed and his stomach gave a sickly lurch, wondering whether it was a worse sensation to feel the man fading under his hands or inside his body.
Dan/Rorschach
Rated R
Warnings: Character death. m/m sex. Really sad. Read the summary and think twice.
Summary: kinkmeme prompt fill: "Sick fuck anon wants to see Dan kill Rorschach, deliberately and premeditatively." (Anon suggested a mercy killing post-Keene "or whatever works." Set at Karnak, an alternate ending.
"Rorschach!!--"
“Rorschach, wait!”
Dan stomped off the snow and shut the owlship hatch behind him, cutting off the howling Antarctic wind. Rorschach didn’t look up from the controls, reading through and performing each step of the checklist for take-off. His shoulders trembled as he swiveled side to side in the pilot’s chair. With his mask off, he looked lost and out of control -- a disturbing combination to recognize in Rorschach.
“Rorschach?” Dan tried again, this time imploring.
Rorschach turned violently, his face tear-streaked and eyes blazing with indignation. Dan fought desperately to ignore the guilty pain of the accusation they threw at him. “What, Daniel? Come to dissuade me? Suggest you return to other conspirators. Surely must have things to discuss, stories to keep straight. I have plans too. Innocent must be told.”
It sounded so simple in his partner’s matter-of-fact expression, but Dan knew it to be the most complicating, dangerous plan right now -- the second dangerous plan he’d heard today. It carried risk not so much for themselves as for the rest of the unaware, unwilling world. There was only one way this would work, and Dan saw it.
“No, I’m not... No, actually. It’s not like that.” Dan held up his hands, his voice running too fast and cracking an octave too high. He cleared his throat and brought it down. “In fact…” he took a step closer. “You’re right. There’s too much at stake here. Whatever his reasons, Veidt can’t get away with this. People need to know the truth. So…please, Rorschach. I’d like to come with you.”
Rorschach stared, assessing him silently. Perhaps it was an illusion of the blotches on Rorschach’s cold-flushed skin, or perhaps due to long familiarity, but Dan imagined ink blots shifting appraisingly over his face. Maybe there had never been a trick to reading his mask.
He wanted to be pleased; Dan could tell. After all the severance today, goddamn it if there wasn’t still one connection left to cling to. “Did they send you?” Rorschach asked.
Dan spoke earnestly. “Of course not, man. I left them. Just…let me do this. With you.”
Rorschach paused a few more seconds, then nodded. “Thank you, Daniel. Knew you’d do the right thing.”
Dan shivered involuntarily. Even with his insulation and warmer hood, by the time he’d followed Rorschach back from Karnak to Archie, Dan was chilled to the core. He could only imagine how frozen the other man was.
Dan swung off his cape and took it to Rorschach. He draped it over his shoulders and this time Rorschach didn’t object. He crossed his arms under the fur, sliding his hands into his armpits to warm up. Dan knelt beside him on one knee and peered through the snow swirling past Archie’s portals. The wind was still picking up, and at this distance Karnak was no more than a hazily-obscured hulk. Rorschach glared toward it.
“This means end of the world.” He said it softly, but it smacked of a proclamation.
“I know.”
“Ready for Armageddon?”
Dan shrugged, attempting a smile. “Heh. I’m not sure, honestly. I’d been trying to get used to the idea for a few months now; let’s put it that way.”
A strong gust of wind rocked the ship. Dan was not a praying man, but he inwardly pleaded for forgiveness.
As casually as he could, Dan laid a hand on Rorschach’s knee. Rorschach didn’t move. He didn’t watch Dan kneading his thigh, didn’t look at the suggestively curling fingers. But his lack of acknowledgement was as much reassurance as Dan needed.
Rorschach swayed under the heavy caress. “Daniel? Daniel. Glad you’re on mission with me.”
“We’re partners, aren’t we?” Dan pivoted on his knees, face-to-face with Rorschach. “But nothing is going to collapse until we let the people know. We have a little time yet.”
Dan took a slow breath, leaned in, and pressed his lips to Rorschach’s. They were chapped and cold, but felt even better than he’d feared they would. The last hopeful spark inside of him sank into blackness to feel those lips part and purse as Rorschach kissed him back. He slid a hand to the back of Rorschach’s neck and held him near, dipping further into his slackening mouth. This close up, Rorschach wouldn’t be able to see Dan’s forehead knit or his eyes squeeze tight against the tears.
Twenty years of frustration and denial unraveled quickly into desperate clutching and tangled limbs. The needy, seeking hands exploring his body felt more real, more human, than anything Dan had ever experienced. Maskless and at the edge of the world, Rorschach himself looked more human too -- open-mouthed and gasping wantonly as Dan rolled him onto his back. He sat astride him and pressed his palms flat against that chest -- all that skin, sinew, and bone that made him human, and fragile, and mortal.
The first aid kit lay in reaching distance, and Dan found a lotion. Rorschach choked down a moan at each stroke as Dan slicked him. Dan balanced on one hand and prepared himself.
He kept holding his breath as he carefully lowered himself onto Rorschach. He could feel the restraint in the hips he straddled -- trying not to push up, not yet. Leaning forward from bolt-upright, Dan began to rock. Shallow thrusts grew deeper, encouraged by the hands seizing his thighs with a slap.
Rorschach pulsed unevenly, body twisting and arching, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat when his head tilted back. The reminder was cruel: one Dan didn’t need. He’d still be human for a few more minutes; until then he’d just have to struggle, dissociate, and act. Dan gently removed Rorschach’s arms from his thighs and slid them to the floor to kneel on them. Rorschach left them pinned, willingly deprived of his own use of hands as long as Dan offered his, sliding broad strokes up Rorschach’s abdomen, across his chest. They dove around his neck and back up to his chin, lightly encircling his throat.
Rorschach panted for air as his excitement built, Dan intimately aware of a sudden new surge of blood in his partner. All the same, he’d completely lost his own erection.
Crying openly now, Dan locked his thumbs in the final pass over Rorschach’s throat. With a lunge, he pressed them down hard and deep, his motion sure in an attempt to be as swift as possible. He squeezed and squeezed, despite the body bucking beneath him, despite the hands that pulled themselves free and were clawing at him, despite fucking Adrian, Jon, New York and the whole goddamned world that he’d have to live with afterward. Why would it matter if the world went on, if it had to be born from this heinous act, Rorschach’s spent life, and the loss of his own soul? Soon he would slump to the floor, numbness mercifully taking over as he’d gather the body to him. Dan screamed and his stomach gave a sickly lurch, wondering whether it was a worse sensation to feel the man fading under his hands or inside his body.