Prologue

Too bad that this will never get passed you, Daniel. Too bad you didn't get to see me off. Wish me luck, brother, for I'm not coming back. I love you for helping me, but I'm off now. If you really need anything, Laurie knows exactly where I am. Please notify her first. She's a very busy woman. As am I. Please, please, please, please don't come looking for me. I'll be fine. I know exactly what I am doing, and getting into. I can be under a different roof, and under someone else's watch for now on.

-Love,
Irene.

Daniel tensed reading the letter. How deep for a fourteen year old... He grunted with displeasure as he read the last paragraph. Never coming back? After everything he had done for her? He hated the feeling that crept over him. His little girl. His little sister was already leaving the nest. His eyes flickered to door, stairs and then back to the note. His heart hung heavily in his rib cage. How could she just leave? And how could she have been in and out without him noticing?

"What's the note about?" Daniel heard a rough, curious voice behind him wonder out loud.

'He must of come in without me noticing.' Dan thought to himself as his eyes flickered to Rorschach. 'Maybe because she took stealth lessons from Rorschach. That's how I didn't notice.'

"She left, Rorschach." Dan could see Rorschach flinch, his body tensing and then relaxing.

"What do you mean she left?" Rorschach asked, his voice rougher with anger. "She couldn't just leave Daniel! There had to be a reason-"

Dan cut Rorschach off, "Rorschach, she left. Here, read this." Dan handed Rorschach the note who took it, read it, and then his fist crumpled it when it clenched into an iron fist.

"There was a girl, at the party - during the mission. She lead her away. If I could find her then I could find Irene. I'll get her back for you Dan." Rorschach muttered, walking past Daniel. He didn't like this. Everyone in the group was involved with keeping her safe. She couldn't just bail on everyone, claiming to be fine and free of charge. They had put too much time into her. Plus, Rorschach knew better than to assume that woman Irene was with wasn't going to harm her. Every official wanted her. But the thing that made Rorschach move wasn't just that this was his best friend's sister they were talking about. This was the little girl that he cared for for months. His gut churned at the thought of her getting hurt. He went to the basement and started to collect weapons as Daniel ran down the steps.

"Rorschach," Dan called in a low voice, as if trying to stay calm.

"No, Daniel. She wouldn't leave like that, she cares for you to much," Rorschach interpreted in a voice that sounded like a father's scolding. He didn't want to be bothered. He knew the general direction of where she was. He saw her disappear. They had locked gazes. She had smiled, as if - " Does she know? Has she seen me without my mask?" Rorschach muttered under his breath, panic flood the bottom of his gut, mixing into the mess of emotions stirring in there already.

Dan sighed at Rorschach's calm movements, but he could tell he was a mess of emotions. They both were, but Daniel handled it better. It wasn't the first time she had ran away. It wasn't the first time she said she would never be back. It most likely wasn't going to be the last either. "You read the letter, you know that she left because she needed to-"

Dan was cut off when Rorschach banged his hand on the table. "Fine. I'll just let her go and she can get turned into the cops after they are done assaulting her. Do you like that idea."

"You're jumping to conclusions. This isn't the first time she said she was never coming back. We just... have to be patient. Wait for her-"

"To come back or find her dead? Yes Daniel, those sound like great options."

"Sarcasm is not appreciated here, Rorschach." Daniel said sternly, giving an unamused look at Rorschach.

Rorschach just scoffed. "Never was, Daniel."

"Would you just calm down?" Daniel asked. Rorschach turned and glared at the man next to him

"Calm down when your sister is missing? I don't think I will," Rorschach spat. Daniel sighed.

"I don't know why I'm not as worried as I should be. I don't know where she went, but she'll be back."

"How you sure?" Rorschach growled.

Daniel shrugged. "She is my sister, she's smart, Rorschach, she doesn't need us there 24/7 to live." Daniel walked over and rested a comforting hand on Rorschach's defeated shoulder. "She will come back when she needs to."

A/N: Yay! Second book! I hope you enjoy the rest. I should update soon! BTW this is not edited. Bare with me, I'll go back and do it later. :)