Before I let you read the second chapter of Doppelganger, I just wantrd to let you guys know that I've just returned to school, so my updates are going to be reduced to just the weekends. Hopefully I'll be able to update on Friday night and then again on Sunday, but I can't make any promises. Anyway, on with the story.

"I'm telling you, something's up with her, Frank." Aneisha said. She and Tom were in HQ, trying to convince Frank that their redheaded friend had gne completely insane. So far he wasn't buying it.

"Zoe's been through a lot, you two." Frank said. "She's just found out she's the clone of the Mastermind and she has over eighty twins. She needs time to deal with that."

"Yeah, but she's been acting weird." Tom said.

Frank sighed. "How is she acting weird?"

"She's been swearing and mouthing off to everyone." Aneisha replied.

"Yes, but how?" Frank asked. "Something specific would be nice."

"She actually called Melissa a raging bitch the other day." Aneisha replied.

"So? It's common knowledge that Zoe and Melissa hate each other." Frank said.

"Yeah, but Zoe's side of it is mostly glaring and rolling her eyes behind Melissa's back!" Aneisha protested.

Frank sighed. "Okay. I'll get Dan to talk to her about it."

"Why Dan?" Tom asked. "Why can't you?"

"Right now Dan seems to be the only one who can get through to her." Frank replied.

Zoe looked up at Dan, biting back a smile. Dan noticed that her eyes twinkled with mischief, something that confused him slightly. Lately there seemed to be something fragile about everything she did, as if she were seconds away from breaking. Since she wouldn't talk to him about it, all Dan could do was try and distract her from her own thoughts and make sure he was there when she did break.

But right then there was nothing breakable or fragile about her. Before Dan could question her about it, the bell rang, summoning the two of them to geography with Mr Flatley.

As Dan tuned out the headmaster as he rambled on about Japanese culture, he turned his pen in his fingers, occasionally tapping it against his desk. He could see the back of Zoe's head, a fountain of auburn flowing down her back. Pursing his lips, Dan thought back to a few days before. Melissa was being her normal annoying self, trying to flirt with Dan. Then Zoe had come up and asked through gritted teeth if the brunette could leave Dan alone. When Melissa had refused, an argument between the two girls had begun, which ended in Zoe calling Melissa a raging bitch, which earned her detention.

Breaking through his thoughts, Zoe turned and smiled at Dan over her shoulder. Dan smiled back at her, watching as she flushed and turned back to the front. She seemed okay now, but who new how long that would last? Her behaviour had been very sketchy lately, very unpredictable. It was almost like there was two versions of her walking around but they had completely contasting personalities.

After school, Dan decided to take the long way home. He needed time to think.

He couldn't understand what was up with Zoe. She had the right to be upset, but she ddin't seem to be. Half the time, Dan could see the she was barely holding it together. The otner half, he barely recognised her. Everything about her in those times seemed different - the way she looked at people, the way she walked, the way she talked. Thinking about it, in those moments, she reminded him of Katherine, a character in a TV show his sister liked to watch. He could never remember what the show was called, just that there were two characters that looked exactly the same but they had contrasting personalities. Katherine was selfish and sadistic. The other girl, Elena, was the opposite. She was caring and selfless, putting others before herself. Dan gathered that much from the little bits that he had seen.

Dan shook his head as he pushed open his front door, dumping his school bag at his feet and stripping off his school blazer. He walked into the living room and jumped over the back of the couch, landing next to his sister, who promptly slammed her foot into his leg. "Jesus Christ, Dan! Do you have to do that?"

"Not really, but it's fun." Dan replied. He reached into the bowl perched on the girl's lap and pulled out some popcorn, popping it into his mouth. The blonde girl shrieked, pulling it away from him and glaring.

"Care!" Dan moaned. "Let me have some. It's been a long day."

"No. You're a dick." Caroline replied. Dan grunted and got up. "Fine. I'll go get some chocolate. And I'm npt giving you any."

Caroline stuck her tongue out at him as he walked into the kitchen, pulling open the fridge. He found a Cherry Ripe sitting in the door and he grabbed it, shutting the door with his foot as he tore open the wrapper.

"So, how's your girlfriend?" Caroline asked, walking in and leaning on the other side of the counter. Dan sighed, leaning on the opposite side of the counter from his sister as he pulled the wrapper back from the chocolate and took off a bite.

"What?" Caroline asked. "Trouble in Paradise?"

Dan shook his head as he finished chewing and then swallowed. "No. It's not that. She's just been acting weird."

"In what way?"

"Almost like . . . She's got two different personalities. Sometimes she'll seem completely fine, but sometimes I can hardly believe that it's her."

"What do you think she's acting like that?" Caroline asked.

Dan shrugged. "I don't know. I guess she's just having a hard time with everything."

"So what happened again?"

"She found out that she's adopted." Dan said. It was the story he'd adopted the day he and Zoe got together, the day he'd spent at her house, holding her and kissing her in his feeble attempts to soothe her pain. He didn't like lying to Caroline, but it was the closest to the truth that he could give her.

Caroline pursed her lips and developed an accusing look in her eyes, but then it faded as she said, "She'll be okay, Daniel."

Dan simply muttered something in return, taking a bite of his chocolate. Caroline watched sadly, resisting the urge to hug him. Her and Dan had never had the most usual sibling relationship. The only fighting they'd ever done was the good-natured name-calling passed between them. There'd never been any rivalry between them and when they were younger, they'd both openly admitted on several occasions that they were considered the other their best friend.

But lately, something had changed. It started at the start of the school year, when Dan started being around less, like their parents. He came home from school later and there was something different about him - there was something disiplined about him now and there was a wisdom in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Caroline put it down to this girlfriend of his - this Zoe that he was so crazy about - but in her heart, she knew exactly what was going on, she just refused to admit it. She may be blonde, bit she certainly wasn't stupid and her head wasn't in the clouds. She knew that no matter how strong love may be, it can't change someone so drastically in such a small space of time.

Caroline reached out for the chocolate in her brother's hands, but Dan pulled it away and bit back a smirk.

"You're not allowed." Dan said.

"You're not the boss of me." Caroline protested.

"I'm older. That means you have to do what I tell you." Dan said.

"Only by two minutes!" Caroline said.

Dan shrugged. "I'm still the older twin."

He finished off the chocolate and started to walk off as Caroline shouted, "Fuck you!" after him.

Dan laughed as he clambered up the stairs. "Love you too, Care!"

Sorry about my language. Just a warning, this story's going to have slightly more cursing than my other ones have. I hope you liked this. Originally, Caroline was supposed to be Dan's younger sister, like Becky was in Strength and Life, but then I got the idea of having them as twins. I thought it might be a fun idea to play with.