Rorschach's Journal

June 16, 1975

Stopped another rape. Prostitute, was screaming. Clothes torn off. Left in front of police station. City is filthy, filled with-

"So, uh…"

"Yes, Daniel." Rorschach pauses in his writings, irritated by the interruption. His stubby pencil hovers over the stained paper. As Nite Owl steps closer, he rests the splayed pages against his chest, hiding the untidy scrawl from his partner's eyes.

"That was some beating you gave that guy, tonight." Daniel seems uneasy.

"Hmm." Rorschach is not interested. He turns away from his partner, and continues writing, using the moonlight on the building's rooftop to illuminate his tiny canvas.

-scum. Streets stained red with paint and blood and sex. New graffiti near apartment. Anarchist symbol, red A in circle. Will find-

"You really messed him up." Daniel frowns, unhappy with being ignored. He edges around his partner, who makes an annoyed grunt and tucks the journal, incomplete, away in his coat.

"Took to hospital." Daniel had insisted.

"Well, the girl didn't do anything wrong."

"Whore. Scum," Rorschach grumbles, and peers over the edge of the roof at his floundering city.

"You don't know that." Another grunt, this time noncommittal. Daniel sighs, and sidles up next to his partner. Rorschach growls quietly, and takes a step to the side. He doesn't like being that close to anybody, particularly when they were taller than he was. "Look, Rorschach…" Something in Daniel's voice makes Rorschach turn his head slightly, to show he's listening. The Nite Owl sounds troubled, as if unsure how to continue. "Is there… a reason, you, uh, dislike women?" Rorschach tenses, and looks away. "I don't mean to pry- I mean, I know you don't like Laurie-"

"Dresses like whore. Whores are scum. Masks…" Rorschach pauses. "Masks are not scum."

"So… You don't like her because of her costume? Because of… God. Because of, her, uh, sex appeal?" Daniel feels dirty just for saying it. He first met her when she was sixteen; and though it had been a decade, it still felt wrong to look at her.

"Hm," comes the brief, unenlightening reply.

"Are, you, uh… Hom-"

"No." The blunt, but somehow sharp reply catches Daniel off guard. He looks away, adjusting his goggles. "Not interested."

"Not interested. In sex? Love?"

"Sin." They are quiet. Rorschach seems slightly unsettled, flinching when Daniel finally turns away from the edge and grazes his shoulder with a friendly hand.

When Nite Owl climbs into Archie and Rorschach does not follow, he suddenly realizes that something large, something that stuck in his partner's throat like spoiled meat, had slipped unsaid through the cracks, but it's too late.

a/n: Found this little jewel alone and forgotten in my fanfic folder! How could I not upload this? I think it's delicious :D But depressing :/ Bah, anyway, here you go. Hope you enjoy! I'm trying to get back into a writing mood, so stay tuned, alright? I'm working on Impact Radius and an unpublished Dark Knight fic, but I'm uninspired. I think I'll do another 10 ficlets to get the creative juices flowing.

The title, "Peccata Mundi," is taken from the Catholic hymn Agnus Dei. It translates to "Sins of the World."