Once Dan felt comfortable enough that the police had dissipated, he brought Archie out of the water and they headed toward Rorschach's apartment. He glanced at his friend as they flew, wondering whether or not he should say it. Ah, screw it.

"Your real name's Walter Kovacs?" Dan asked, breaking the silence that had collected between them like cobwebs.

Rorschach scowled, but nodded.

"Why don't you like it? It's only a name."

The redhead wouldn't look at Dan as he answered, "Didn't want you to find out the way you did, Daniel. I don't care that you know now, but I wanted to be the one to tell you."

Dan sighed quietly, understanding the strange logic. Rorschach was a control freak, and the fact that Dan now knew his identity because of a news anchor on TV probably drove him mad. "Look, if you don't want me to call you by your real name, I won't. I was just curious years back, when I asked you that one time. You weren't ready to tell me, so I left it alone."

Rorschach shook his head in irritation. "You asked me back when I was starting to become Rorschach. Psychologist in Sing Sing told me that Rorschach was a coping method for me to deal with reality. He was a shield. Rorschach was my safety net when you asked for my name, Daniel. That's why I didn't tell you."

Dan mulled over the information slowly, digesting it piece by piece. It made sense that Rorschach had been a way for Walter, a mere person, to deal with the horrors of life in New York City. Not surprisingly, Walter had begun to blur the lines of reality and started to morph into Rorschach. Dan was scared to think that if he had not picked up the man the night of the fire, Walter might have been lost forever, eaten alive by the mask.

"Who are you now?" he asked quietly as they approached a dock near Rorschach's apartment building.

There was a long stretch in which Rorschach stared intensely out of Archie's right eye, jaw set firmly in concentration. But right as the ship descended down over the water and stabilized, Rorschach turned and met Daniel's soft brown eyes with his sharp ones.

"Don't know yet."

Rorschach was trembling. Sitting hunched over in the bed with his face buried in his hands, he said again, "My face, Daniel. Give it to me."

"It's still drying, Rorschach," Dan argued feebly. "I washed it for you."

"Don't care. Give it to me."

Knowing he could be well on the way to death, Dan stood his ground. "No, Rorschach. It's just a mask, and you can't hide behind it whenever you're faced with something you don't want to deal with."

The redheaded man lifted his head up from his hands and stared at Dan with wide, infuriated eyes. "Hide? You think I'm hiding from this? There is no hiding from this, Daniel. Give me my face; I need to go."

Angry now, Dan stepped forward and shut the door behind him. "It's not a face, Rorschach! It's a goddamn mask!"

Something came over Rorschach's freckled face and he didn't avert his eyes or even blink as he drew the bedcovers back and slowly stood up. "You give me my face, Daniel. Don't want to hurt you, but I will."

"Come off it, Rorschach. You're trying to run away from what happened last night. I saw you crying, man, then you fainted. You need help…"

With a snarl, Rorschach lunged forward and grabbed Dan's neck, slamming him against the wall. "Don't need your help! You quit, you whiny failure, and you only went looking for me because you're alone now!"

Dan stared him down, not letting the pain around his windpipe show on his face. "That's right, Rorschach. I am alone. I won't deny it. But fuck if I'm gonna let you hide behind that mask and lose your goddamned mind."

Rorschach bared his teeth and tightened his fingers around Dan's throat. The taller man saw spots. "Won't lose my mind. I see things clearer than ever."

"Bullshit," Dan choked.

He thought Rorschach might strangle him into unconsciousness, but suddenly the man let go and stepped back. "What do you want, Daniel? I don't understand!"

Dan rubbed his neck and held his other hand up. "Rorschach, something happened to you last night. I know that what happened to her was horrible, probably the worst thing we've ever seen, but you cannot let it control you. I want to help you."

Rorschach's nostrils flared, but his voice was weak as he asked, "Why?"

"Because you're my friend. I'm not gonna let you go over the edge, Rorschach. Not this time."

Rorschach sucked his lower lip into his mouth, biting down on it hard. "Dogs, Daniel. He fed her to dogs…"

"Rorschach, I know. But she's gone. It wasn't your fault, and you couldn't have done anything different. It's awful, I know, but all you can do is take it and use it to make sure that it doesn't happen again," Dan said quietly.

The shorter man sat on the edge of the bed, wringing his hands together. "Not Rorschach. Rorschach knows what to do, no matter what. I can't even think straight."

Dan slowly walked forward and sat down next to his friend, keeping enough space between them so that he didn't invade the redhead's personal bubble. "Who are you, then? What's your real name?"

The man shook his head slowly, still wringing his hands. "Don't want to tell you yet, Daniel. I'm not ready."

Slightly deflated, Dan nodded and said, "It's okay, then. It's all right to feel mixed up, seriously. But you need to understand that Rorschach isn't the answer to everything. You can't hide behind him whenever things are too much to handle."

"What else is there?"

Dan sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and holding his hands together thoughtfully. "Well, I have hobbies. I write for ornithology journals, I build things, I go to the library and read…You should have another life besides Rorschach."

Rorschach's brown eyes were so filled with confusion that Dan was reminded of a child. "Will you help me?"

He nodded. "Of course."