Disclaimer: not mine

Glad you all liked ch1! Thanks for the pairing suggestions, don't know all those characters those.

Decided the pairings Danny/Kon and Tim/Bernard – I've only seen Bernard in fics and he can have a very varying personality in them so sorry if he's out of character per canon.

Chapter 2

Tim took a shaky, deep breath. "You're…"

"Your clone," Danny finished for him. "I didn't know till a few weeks ago. I'm from the mid-west, the Wayne's aren't a big deal out there so I'd never seen your picture. And even if I did, it could be shrugged off as a coincidence or distant relatives."

Tim nodded slowly, mind spinning. "Why? Why would these Fenton's want to clone me when I was just three?" It made no sense, from the papers, they'd seen him once at an event, then again, obsessions could begin with one sighting. But he had never seen any sign of these people in his life, Babs had never mentioned finding people watching him electronically either.

"I didn't ask, I don't know if they've realised that I'm gone yet. Jazz, my sister, she's the one who showed me the paperwork and helped me leave. There are comments on how smart you were, maybe they wanted to ensure their second kid was smart? Her first pregnancy was really hard, I got called the miracle baby, my guess is she couldn't have another baby and they wanted a son. With a clone, she was guaranteed the right gender. No clue why they aged me to match you, maybe they didn't want to have to deal with diapers again?"

Tim grimaced; he'd seen enough babies to know he never wanted to deal with those. "They never talked about me or my family? Never taught you to act upper class?" Cloning him made sense if they wanted to replace him with someone who answered to them.

Danny snorted, shaking his head. "I'd never heard of you, even my friend who has a rich family has never moved in the same circles as you. Yeah, the push me at school but if they picked you for your brains, it makes sense, especially since they pushed me at science and maths."

He paused, running a hand through his hair. "Honestly, I think their focus…shifted after…making me. They went back to their college focus which they stopped after an accident almost killed a friend. They have a lab in the basement, I assume they made me in there since people would have noticed anywhere else. I grew up helping in the lab, mostly cleaning, learning to build things with my D…Jack. But…things have gotten bad which is why Jazz showed me the papers."

"You ran?" Tim asked, warily, and Danny nodded.

"It's not safe there anymore."

Well, that didn't sound at all ominous. Not safe for Danny or in general? Tim felt overwhelmed and he didn't like feeling like that. He liked being able to plan for things and Danny was not something, someone, he had planned for, could have planned for. Sure, he knew there was some vague chance of ending up cloned, but he expected it from a known enemy, most likely Ra's. Damian had been cloned by the League after all, and Ra's could have taken whatever samples from Tim he wanted to when he was out for the splenectomy.

"So, you came to me." The paperwork was good, and Danny didn't seem to be lying, though he was holding things back. But that didn't mean a lot considering some of his enemies.

"Because you deserve to know. I went through the lab before I left, I destroyed anything that looked like it could have DNA from you or me, or any tech that seemed useful for cloning, so I don't think they can do it again. If you want to go after them legally, that's up to you. Just...be careful, Amity Park isn't really safe anymore. I'll be in Gotham for a few days if you want to talk more."

"What for?" Tim asked, he wanted as much information as he could get. He'd prefer Danny stay around long enough for him to get his own tests run and dig into his story.

If Danny was being truthful then it was good to know he'd gone looking for any more DNA samples and destroyed them. They must have taken hair samples or something, everyone shed hair and he hadn't been wearing hair gel in that photo so it would have fallen free.

"I'll be hanging out on rooftops trying to contact Batman."

Tim blinked. Was it possible he knew? "Most people don't want to meet him."

"Yeah well, he's a founding member of the Justice League, right?"

"Right," that was common knowledge.

"Most of the town's given up calling for help but since I'm here, one last try can't hurt."

"What do you mean? There's an emergency call line given to every town."

"Yeah, and no one has ever answered us," he grimaced. "The majority of people have given up on the Justice League, they've abandoned us as far as they're concerned. They don't care if we're being shot at or moved to another dimension."

Tim stared. What the hell? "Bruce is a financial backer for the League," he told Danny, moving to his computer. "That gives us some access to their systems. I can send in a query for calls from Amity Park, what state is it in?" If he was being at all truthful then something was very wrong.

"Illinois," Danny answered, staring at him. He seemed wary, confused, but there was a hint of hope.

Tim got into the Watchtower call system. "How long ago were the calls?"

Danny rattled off some dates and Tim got to work.

"There's no reco…what the hell?" he hissed. How was that possible?! He picked his phone up and hit autodial. "Oracle, this is Tim Drake Wayne. I've discovered tampering with the emergency call line from Amity Park, Illinois." Using those names would let her know he wasn't alone.

"Send me your data," she answered, sounding concerned, so he sent what he'd found. They'd both helped with those systems a lot over the years, something like this getting passed both of them… "I'll call back when I find something."

"Thank you, Oracle." He hung up. "Oracle is investigating who was blocking the calls, the Justice League will not let this slide by."

"Even if it's the US government?" Danny asked him.

Tim frowned, "why would the government want to block your calls?"

"The Anti-Ecto Acts," Danny shrugged.

"The what?!"

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Danny stared at his 'original'. Did he really not know about those things? Maybe there weren't any ghosts in Gotham despite the ectoplasm levels? It was interesting that a family gave money to the Justice League could see records like that. Danny had his own suspicions there considering the muscle he could clearly see on Tim's form, the old scars on his hands, one across his throat though it was well hidden from human sight. No, Tim was a fighter, it was in the way he moved. He tried to hide it but ghosts were very good at reading emotions and body language. Ties to the Justice League…well that had Danny wondering what Tim did at night.

He could tell Tim was wary of him and his story, not that he could blame him. His parents actions were just…strange. Had they originally planned to use him to replace Tim? But why? Unless…someone had paid to have him made and they'd let that out? But then surely Danny would have been groomed to replace him, would have been taught everything about Tim's life but there'd been none of that. Vlad wasn't around back then and he was one he could have seen using him to replace Tim, to get more money and influence.

He kept his body relaxed on the couch but it was hard as he talked about the laws destroying his life. Tim was typing away, frowning as he worked and eventually, he hit something that caused the image of his screen to appear where Danny could see it on a wall, very cool. And all Danny could do was stare at it. That…that was…

"But…" he closed his eyes, fighting down the rage. How dare they!

"Danny?" Tim's voice was wary and it was weird hearing such a high-class accent in his own voice.

"That's why they've got the town on lock down, to keep us from finding out."

"Who?" Tim asked.

"The GIW, they claim to be a government agency and obviously had enough proof to convince the police. They've used the Acts to pretty much cut the town off. Getting out was not fun and took a lot of work since I wouldn't pass their tests."

"What kind of tests?" Tim asked. "Wait, I need to call Tam and have her cancel my meeting."

Danny sat back as Tim made the call, just staring at the image. The Anti-ecto Acts…weren't law, they hadn't been passed since they could undermine the Meta protection Acts. The GIW was lying to the town to control them and get what they wanted.

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Tim watched as Danny just stared at the information that had obviously thrown everything he knew into chaos. A quick scan over the proposed laws made Tim feel sick. He didn't know what ectoplasm was, outside of silly movies, but obviously it was something that people wanted for such a group to try and control a town. He'd have to ensure the League was informed, the GIW wasn't a government agency, more like terrorists.

He hesitated but then called Bernard to tell him not to come to his apartment as he had some things to deal with. He hated cancelling on him since he had to do so far too frequently, but Bernard was as understanding as ever. That was one of the many things about him that he loved.

Taking Danny to his apartment was a risk but better than continuing their discussion in his office. He had more security there as well if this was a trap. And if he was genuine…Danny looked exhausted, having to escape his own home would cause that easily enough. It would have been a very tense trip to Gotham.

"Come on," Tim stood and began shutting things down.

"Um…" Danny blinked at him.

"We're going to my apartment to go over all of this where there's no risk of someone walking in. Plus, it'll be lunch soon." He grabbed his briefcase and moved all of the papers to it.

Danny stood and grabbed the now empty backpack, hesitating. It was understandable, he had no more reason to trust Tim then Tim had to trust him but eventually he nodded and followed him from his office.

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Bernard checked his phone as it beeped, smiling at seeing a message from Tim, only to sigh as he read it. He loved Tim, he just wished their plans didn't get re-arranged so often. The downside of dating a CEO who was also a Vigilante. He hoped it was business related and not night work, he always worried about him when Red Robin was out and about. He trusted Tim to look after himself and Jason had his back too which made it a bit safer, but he couldn't help worrying.

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Danny was kind of awed by Tim's apartment, it had to have a similar amount of space to the main house part of Fenton Works! They might be genetically identical…but their lives had been so different. He wouldn't say Tim's had been easier, not with both parents being killed at different times, being adopted by Bruce Wayne, a few other things he found once out of Amity Park and able to research him. The guest room was fairly bare but was larger than his bedroom at home, looked like it had been decorated by a designer.

He supposed being shown to the guest room meant Tim wanted him to stay while he sorted things out. Not like he had anything better to do since Tim had saved him the trouble of trying to track down Batman. He was also about ninety percent sure that Tim was a vigilante of some sort himself. Since it was Gotham, he'd probably been Robin at some point, right? Before the GIW, Danny had been into following vigilantes and superheroes. Was Tim the Robin from then? The second Robin had vanished about a year before Danny's accident so he could have been the third. The age fit. But from the Gotham news he'd caught on the way, the current Robin was shorter and a lot more…stabby.

He finished cleaning up and headed downstairs to find Tim at the table with a laptop, tablet, phone, and the files Danny had given him. Tim started slightly at seeing him and Danny bit back a grimace, he hadn't realised he was moving so silently, side effect of being a halfa.

"So…what next?" he asked as he sat with an empty seat between them to ensure he didn't crowd him.

Tim moved the tablet towards him and Danny took it. "That's everything I've found so far on the Acts and the GIW. Turns out they were semi-attached to the federal government at first but when the Acts didn't pass, they kept going rather than disband as they were meant to. I tried looking for Amity Park online and I can't find much. Ended up bringing up an old map just to find its location."

So, they were focusing on that rather than who Danny was, that was fine with him. Who would want to keep their clone around?

"And can you explain ectoplasm better? I know science but these papers…"

"Are biased and not well researched," Danny finished for him.

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Tim stood on the balcony, enjoying the cool evening air. Danny was in the guest room for the night and Tim had made sure his own bedroom was totally secured, memories of Damian hovering. He'd do the same for any suddenly appearing relative. It wasn't because Danny was his…clone. He had a clone.

He pulled out his phone and stared at it, considering calling Kon. But if Danny was genuine, then it wasn't his place to tell others about his status. He called another number instead. "Hey, I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No," Bernard answered. "You okay?"

"I…I honestly don't know," Tim admitted softly.

"Should I come over?"

"I want…but I don't know if it's safe."

"Don't tell me the brat attacked again?" Bernard asked in concern.

"No, not Damian. It…it's a thing with my family."

"Aren't they, well…all dead?" Bernard was hesitant in asking, the Drakes were a touchy subject.

"I thought so," Tim murmured. "It's…complicated and I'm not really sure what to do or think. I'm going to be caught up with this for a while," he finished softly.

"It's okay Tim, I get it. You don't want me in potential danger and you need to sort this out. Want me to bring you lunch at the office or are you taking time off for once?" the question was teasing.

"I've got tomorrow at least off, there's so much paperwork. If…if you see me, ask me something only the two of us would know first, okay?"

There was silence for a moment. "Are you saying…you have an identical twin or something?"

"Or something. Just be careful till I get this sorted, please."

"Okay, security questions. Just watch your back, okay? Does the family know?"

"No, I want to keep this quiet till I work out what's real."

"Call or text when you can and I'll bring you lunch once you're back at work. I love you."

"I love you too Ber," he whispered before hanging up. No matter what happened now, Bernard at least knew to be careful.

He wasn't worried about the bats; they were good enough to tell the difference if something happened. He just really hoped his paranoia wasn't necessary. Though, Bernard's words about an unknown twin gave him a good cover story for Danny if he was really who he said he was. Tim wanted to investigate his information more but with the near total blackout on Amity Park it wasn't easy.

He'd managed to track down the Fenton's pasts since they weren't originally from Amity Park. They'd met at the University of Wisconsin and were also friends with one Vlad Masters…who had met with a near fatal accident in a lab and spent years in hospital and then amassing a fortune in ways that had Tim wary. He'd found their marriage certificate and even the birth certificate for one Jasmine Fenton, but nothing on Danny. That could be excused as him being born in Amity Park. He'd also found the records of their trip to Gotham and confirmed that they had run into his family.

He wasn't going to treat Danny like Clark had treated Kon. He was not going to be a hypocrite. And Kon would kick his ass if he was, he wasn't in the mood for broken bones. But with so many questions, he also couldn't just welcome him with open arms. He needed to know more first. And the only way to get those answers was to deal with Amity Park and then meet the Fenton's.

He knew he'd worn Danny out with his questions but the more he knew the more he could help sort the town out. Ectoplasm, the Infinite Realms…ghosts! It sounded like a bad sci-fi show or something, maybe a kids cartoon. And the only scientific research had been done by the Fenton's so was suspect. Danny definitely didn't agree with their conclusions which was interesting. Did he know some ghosts? He'd been talking around something though, trying to avoid something to do with the Portal his parents had made. There had been a quick mention of a local hero, Phantom, who was also apparently a ghost and had been trying to keep the peace between humans and ghosts all while being hunted by both the Fenton's and the GIW. If he was a hero and wanted to stay one, hopefully he could get into contact with the Justice League. Then again, with them never coming to help he might not want to.

There was so much…and of course his phone decided to ring. He saw the name and picked up. "Hey Babs," he used her name so she knew he was alone.

"Tim, what's going on?"

"I was contacted by a resident of Amity Park who managed to get out. He said they'd called the League several times for help and never got an answer."

"How the hell did someone get into our systems like this?"

"I was hoping you'd know," he admitted. "From what I've found, the GIW are not a real agency and the laws they quote were never passed. But they've kept that from the locals and have the town almost totally cut off. I had to use old versions of maps to even find its location."

"This is bad Tim. We'll have to tell the League."

"Let them decide what to tell the government," Tim agreed.

After all, they might work with them but they weren't members. Tim wasn't even a Titan anymore, not officially. The team could claim once a Titan always a Titan, but Dick had had him removed when he put Damian on the team and never thought to reverse that. Tim didn't bother pushing it, he had his friends after all, and the core Young Justice team would always stand together even if they had been disbanded to join the Titans. And he would never join the Justice League, not with what they'd said and done when B was lost. But the possibility of a whole town, small city really, being cut off and threatened by some terrorists was bigger than his issues with them.

"Do you want to give the briefing?"

"No, thank you."

"Alright," she agreed, "I'll brief B first. Sleep well."

"Thanks, you too." He hung up and took a last deep breath before heading inside to go to bed. He wouldn't get anything else done that night.

TBC…

So Danny's told him a lot about what's going in Amity but didn't tell of his accident and that he's Phantom, even though he's pretty sure Tim was the third Robin.