tampered | Is it bright where you are? And have the people changed?

Is it bright where you are? And have the people changed?

When; In Progress
Rating; R (language + violence = Watchmen)
Characters;

2ndnightshift
Summary; A few drop-ins and a knock-down drag out. (SPOILERS)
Log;

Glass shatters over the carpet and crunches smaller under the deliberate steps Dan takes to slam his once admired comrade against the stacked television sets. The yield provided by the plastic frames reverberated through the suit. He'll push harder next time so it would really hurt.

One unlikely explosion in New York City approximately thirty five minutes ago inspired more than a few in Daniel Dreiberg. No meticulous reasoning behind its origin save for a man throwing punches at the only reasonable target. Punches right into his face.

The tick of a clock carried quietly through the seconds. It wasn't that figurative doomsday clock. At least not the same one. From one blink to another, something happened. That entertainment center of a wall doesn't look quite so sleek and majestic. There is carpet beneath them, not expensive tile. Dan only pauses for a second, his vice grip at his new arch foe does not let up. "What now?"

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What now?

Honestly, Dan.

Adrian raises his chin just slightly, enough to show his friend--at least, they were friends once--that despite the blows to his face he is not swayed. He has come to expect this of Daniel Dreiberg, had factored it into his plans some way or other because even if he is a simpering as one Rorschach would put it, he is relentless when driven in the proper direction. It's only fortunate that this direction has little bearing on his own. What's done is done and can no longer be changed. Adrian has no reason to phrase it as a matter of it being helped. He has helped all he can.

"You do what you are good at, Dan," Adrian says under his breath, "you keep the peace."

The peace I made.

Only then do steel blue eyes focus past the uncowled man's shoulder. The wreckage here does not resemble glass and stone and other beautiful things in which he has dressed Karnak. Jon, he wonders but doesn't believe. For one, Dan and Laurie aren't retching. And two, Laurie isn't even here. This is different. This is not part of the plan. His eyes narrow sharply.

"Off."

It's not much of a request or a demand because as soon as the word leaves his mouth Adrian already has his hand on Dan's wrist, gripping firmly to weasel his way under the stockier man's build. One shoulder under is all it would take to flip him on his back. Preferably through the store window.

Karnak would never be so tacky under Adrian's direction. While that was very disturbing, Dan is very unsettled by the absence of Laurie. What kind of crazy wild card is at play? Her name is on his tongue, he's airborne before he can say it.

That Veidt method or whatever he called it, it sure did the trick. Fighting hand to hand is easier when someone is closer to your weight class. Or skill level. Christ, could this get any worse? Off Dan was all of that glass on him and around him clinked almost sweetly.

One breath. Two breaths. Nite Owl is on his feet again, slowly for a damage check, thinking time too. "Another leg of your brilliant plan?" the sarcasm is here to stay. Dan steps over the low window ledge, once he's near enough he kicks low, then high.

Low enough for Adrian to jump over it.

"Your sarcasm--"

High enough for Adrian to evade.

"--is unbecoming."

When he lands in a crouch he sweeps forward. His cape moves with him, fluid and fast, and his feet already hook behind Dan's knees to bring him down. He should be so lucky that Adrian feels no need to step on his chest and keep him down. Apparently that's Laurie's job.

Ouch. That's two hard falls in close proximity. Add those to the good slams prior to Jon's intervening.

"-still didn't answer my question." While he's down there, may as well try and bring Adrian down too. The suit doesn't slide well across carpet, momentum carries the swing of Dan's torso as he just hauls away at one of Adrian's feet as he begins to stand.

Wrestling on glass. This is new. Senseless, someone barbaric but so far keeping that theme. "What's up now? Huh?"

Oh slick. Caught at the ankle, Adrian moves with Dan while grabbing the nearest makeshift weapon. It's a chair and yes, he may look thin and unassuming dressed in purple silk, but Adrian Veidt has perfected efficiency. His body is strong enough to handle what he needs, and right now all he needs is this chair in Dan's face. One strike makes to wrench his foot from his former comrade's grip before he can hit the floor. When he succeeds he follows the force of his own swing to turn on the ground itself. A second strike hooks back but it doesn't aim for Dan, not yet. His kick comes first, square to the chest, and the within a half second it's followed by the chair that comes down, legs first, to pin him by the cape and cowl to the ground. It takes but a hop to get Adrian in the seat, heel already pressed to Dan's throat.

Nite Owl is still a fairly formidable opponent. He is excellent on the street. It is another set of odds entirely when placed against Ozymandias.

"I'd suspect Jon but this would be out of character for him. I don't suspect you, Dan, something for which you're very fortunate."

It's the same as saying shut up, let me think. But Adrian is already trying to piece this puzzle together.

Just as angry as he is, Dan listens. Not because he trusted Adrian enough to not crush his neck, but because he is quite attached to suit.

Silently (panting a little) Dan considers the stated facts. They aren't at the South Pole. This isn't Karnak. Jon wouldn't have any reason to stop them from fighting. Funny that he had any motivation at all to-- "Well, why not? Get rid of more people who know. Rorschach, you, me. It's a short list, Adrian." Speaking factually settles Dan's mind a little. The adrenaline is still high in his blood. He can still picture that blue flash of light reflecting on the snow.

He isn't putting tears into it. Adrian isn't so callous. And anyway destroying the suit gets him nowhere in the end, therefore doing so serves no purpose. His combativeness lessens and leans forward, his arm on his knee in what would look like such a casual pose were his foot not on Dan's neck and his chair poised over his torso.

"New York will rebuild three times faster with Veidt Enterprises involved in reconstruction," he explains like Dan ought to know better, like Dan ought to know he would certainly have a hand in picking up the city he helped to destroy.

Adrian recalls Jon's words, without condoning or condemning. Neutrality. Jon could have killed him if he truly wanted to but he didn't for whatever reason. Adrian likes to think he has that reason wrapped up in a clean box neatly shelved away.

"It's your home too, Daniel," Adrian utters before lifting his foot and getting off the chair completely. He kicks it aside so Dan can stand too. Adrian clenches and unclenches the hand with a shallow hole in his palm. His mind is no longer on his fight with Dreiberg; it's on this place. Whatever this place is. The debris around them is hardly modest and Adrian has no intention of making reparations for it, not when there are other things at stake.

After standing, Dan just stares at Adrian. They fought along side one another. They had the same cause, once he could have sworn that they had other things in common then their war on criminals. They loved New York, even after what it became in wake of the Keene Act.

"What's left of it is." He hasn't seen the damage. It may as well have been the focus point of the destruction the way Dan was treating it all. Adrian Veidt was his friend. Disgust makes him look away to the surroundings.

Speaking of destruction, this place was a mess he sees. It's a store, he sees now. The aisles are dark. Looks pretty dark outside too. That doesn't take away from the vandalism. Dan looks at it now a little ashamed of how he acted. A little.

What's left of it? The same applies to Beijing and Moscow and a handful of other major metropolitan cities, symbols of a global place. Adrian looks at Dan from toe to the top of his head and back down again. He did what needed to be done. His friend, or whatever he is based on what's left of their friendship, if anything is left at all, is no better for upholding his own principles. Someone needs to fight the war at street level, let it be Nite Owl. Someone needs to end the ills that cause the vermin to scuttle along the gutters in the first place, let it be Ozymandias. Dan can't see this, he doesn't blame him. Not completely anyway. What's left of it, he says. There would be far less were it not for his master stroke. Has Dan even stopped to think of the nuclear fallout they avoided? No, he doesn't think so.

"Don't feel too terrible," Adrian says, noting the way Dan looks around the damaged place. He dabs at his own mouth, knowing his face still bleeds from the punches Dan had landed in Karnak. He says nothing more as he steps over glass and onto the darkened street. He continues down a few paces only to pause and glance over his shoulder.

"I'm going to investigate. You may join me if you keep a good bridle on your anger."

When a person has nuclear war shoved into their senses everyday, maybe it loses meaning. All the things that couldn't be broadcast on the networks like those nights with Hollis and those days he thinks back on more and more, all the people are what matter. That newsstand up the street is probably gone. The Gunga Diner with that waitress that always calls him 'hun', she's likely in the ashes too.

As much as it might sicken him, at Adrian's side has been the safest place so far. He hasn't directly placed himself in harms way. So long as there aren't any scientific chambers, and the coast is clear of those, it would make sense for to stick around. Maybe that was what he wanted him to believe though. Getting along with Adrian was easier when it wasn't a game of chess. Now that the board was visible, Dan couldn't help it. "Investigate," he repeats still unsure.

The material of his cowl folded in places it shouldn't have. It would be alright. Nite Owl was properly masked again. Who knows what was going to be around.

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Is it bright where you are? And have the people changed?

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