Even now that patrolling together was no longer routine Rorschach materialising out of the shadows suddenly was something Dan was used to, and he managed to suppress the urge to jump. At least until he saw the wings, intricate black and white patterns fading into the darkness at the edges in a way that made them appear to take up the whole alley. The white practically glowed in the dark, like Rorschach's mask which the wings almost seemed to have been chosen to match.

'Are those real wings?' he asked.

'What else?' asked Rorschach, and the 'you idiot' look was easily readable through his mask.

'They could have been mechanical,' said Dan. It was unlikely, Rorschach's grasp of mechanics was as about as good as his grasp of obscure literary references. And no one but him would be making Rorschach gear. 'When did this happen? And how?'

'This morning. Spent day indoors, too conspicuous. Not sure how, criminal fraternity unlikely. Winged vigilantes not to their advantage. Veidt a possibility, although likely would have asked. Investigation ongoing.'

'You've had wings less than a day and you're out on patrol?' demanded Dan, deciding that was the important part. He was sure having two entirely new limbs would throw off anyone's sense of balance, even Rorschach's. Not to mention that he likely hadn't figured out how to use his wings for anything yet, but they could still be wounded. 'You didn't think you should, I don't know, train first. Just what are you planning to do in a fight?'

Rorschach tilted his head towards Dan. 'Hurm. Wing it?'

Dan closed his eyes briefly behind his goggles. 'No. Come on, we're going back to my place. The city can manage without us for tonight.'

Dan started walking quickly before Rorschach could muster an argument, and was relieved to hear footsteps behind him. Less relieved when they faltered, and he turned to see Rorschach catching hold of a wall to save himself from tipping over backwards. He retraced his steps and caught Rorschach's shoulder, helping him up, and was not surprised to be brushed off as soon as Rorschach had his balance back.

'I knew you shouldn't be on patrol,' he said. Rorschach glared at him and followed him back to his house without comment.

Back home and with Rorschach sitting safely in his kitchen, Dan persuaded Rorschach to let him take a closer look at the wings. He handed over a pack of sugar cubes as a distraction from him prodding at them, feeling like a school nurse handing out lollipops. The wings were big, a harness could possibly be devised to hide them but the result would still make Rorschach look like a hunchback. They were also beautiful. The patterning and, now that he could see them clearly, the shape made them recognisable as gyrfalcon wings. Flight seemed unlikely, but swooping off buildings at criminals was an effective tactic for Mothman and he only had fake wings.

Rorschach was still wearing his trenchcoat, neatly adapted to fit around wings. The back panel had been cut away from the sides, so that it could be pulled up between the wings and then buttoned to the sides above them. The stitching was very neat, and Dan tried to get his head around Rorschach spending his day in hiding adapting his costume with careful stitches. He ran his hand along the edge of one wing, ruffling and smoothing the pinions, slipping below them to feel the downier feathers below. The feathers fluffed up in surprise and there was something about that undeniable reaction to his touch that made him push his luck, sliding his hand under the feathers until he touched skin. The wing twitched away from him.

'Stop petting my wings.'

'Sorry, just smoothing the feathers.' Dan tugged his hand away guiltily. 'They're white morph gyrfalcon wings,' he added, for the sake of something to say. 'Gyrfalcons are the largest of the true falcons, and they used to be flown by kings.'

Rorschach nodded. 'Think I could fly?'

'I doubt it,' said Daniel. 'You could probably glide a short distance, but adding wings to the human body doesn't make it capable of flight. There would have to be other modifications. Body weight for a start, birds have hollow bones…' He trailed off, aware his audience was probably not interested in the specifics.

'Modifications possible?'

'I don't know, I wouldn't have thought so. But I wouldn't have thought sprouting wings overnight was possible either.' Dan was more than a little surprised that Rorschach was looking to be capable of flight, rather than have the wings amputated as soon as possible. He wasn't sure he would want to keep unexpected wings, and he'd dreamed of flying since he was a boy.

'Have scales?' asked Rorschach, when Dan looked at him uncomprehendingly he added, 'Internal modifications not obvious. Should check before assuming absence.'

'Oh, yes, in my bathroom. I'll get them,' Dan added hastily, not wanting Rorschach to try and navigate the stairs while overbalanced backwards.

Rorschach turned out to weigh less than a third of what he should, and while he didn't seem displeased with the result it worried Dan. Something had got inside Rorschach and started changing his physiology and neither of them had enough knowledge to know what problems it might cause.

'I think we should call Adrian,' he said.

'Probably wise,' admitted Rorschach. Dan, who had been braced for an argument, hurried to the phone before he could change his mind.

Adrian answered the phone with a great deal of grace for someone who had been called at two o'clock in the morning, brushing off Dan's apologies and merely asking what the problem was.

'Uh,' said Dan, trying to find a way to say this that wouldn't make Adrian think he was on drugs. 'Rorschach kind of, um, we think it was genetic modification. That is, we could use your help with.' Rorschach was definitely rolling his eyes under the mask, Dan could tell. 'With wings,' he finished.

'Gyrfalcon wings?' asked Adrian, sharply.

'Yes, how did you know?' asked Dan, just as sharp.

'I had some serum stolen a few weeks ago that should have had that effect, although it certainly wasn't intended to be used on humans.'

'Oh. What was it intended to be used on? Is it dangerous?'

'No, it shouldn't be,' said Adrian. 'It was intended to be used on cats. I had thought of creating a type of sphinx, but growing wings in utero would lead to problems during the mammalian birth process. So I made an ingestable serum that would alter the genetic structure of an adult.'

'Ingestable? Are you saying Rorschach ate it somehow?'

'Presumably. I don't suppose you know what he's been eating?'

Apart from half the contents of my cupboards? 'No, not really,' said Dan.

'Hmm. I think it would be best if I looked him over, you know where my facilities are?'

'Yes. Thank you, we'll be there as soon as possible.' Dan hung up with a great deal of relief. Adrian knew what had happened and, presumably, could deal with the results. Certainly better than Dan could.