Danny stays duplicated as long as he can. He stays awake long into the night, talking at Jamie more than with him. Still, words do come, slow and few and unsure as they are. And greater still… somehow, impossibly, the conversation is not just Danny's own thoughts repeated back to him.
"You can take the mattress if you want," Danny offers, his eyes growing blurry, fighting sleep. "I'll take the couch."
Danny wakes some time later, alone in his apartment. Jamie is gone. Or… may his duplicate is not.
The half ghost frowns down at his own chest, brow furrowed at a novel sensation. A tiny spot of cold, just below his core. It seems to swirl and pulse, dimming and brightening.
Danny gasped, an awed surprise. He can… feel Jamie. The other is still there.
But… for just a moment, anxiety steals his breath. The feeling almost reminds him of being overshadowed. Pointdexter pulling him from his body, contorting his face. One of Vlad's clones forcing him to transform, electricity searing his veins. Fear stabs at his core.
And the feeling echoes back to him.
"Jamie would not." The words are in Danny's head but they are not his.
Despite the fear, the words also ring with sincerity. And as unsettling as the foreign thought should be, Danny is comforted, no longer afraid.
"I know you wouldn't." Danny tries to reassure. He rubs where the cold spark is nestled just below his sternum, as if he can comfort the… not a duplicate.
The half ghost corrects himself. "You're not a duplicate. You're…" He speaks, knowing Jamie can hear. "A clone, I guess. Like Ellie. Just… not strong enough to have your own body all the time."
A whisper of sadness, of disappointment comes at the words.
"Give me a bit of time to recover and we'll try again." Danny soothes.
The pattern continues. Danny duplicates again, pulling Jamie back out into reality. Each time, he feels one of the gossamer threads connecting them break.
The two do chores and try to cook together. Jamie's movements are slow, requiring much verbal instruction. The twins watch tv or read, though the younger's understanding is slow and often incomplete, like a lagging computer. Danny and Jamie play card games like go fish. The clone often stares at the card with brow furrowed, as if struggling to connect the number on the card to its verbal partner.
And yet, each struggle is a joy as Danny discovers more of his brother. Jamie is growing more confident, more sure. His words and actions quicken as his personality takes shape. The clone has his own likes and dislikes, his own opinions. At first unsure, mild, emotions half-hearted. But… those too, those new found emotions, are strengthening.
About two weeks after that fateful conversation with Jason, their neighbor knocks on their door. Danny jerks his head at the noise, eyes fixed in equal surprise and panic; he hadn't heard anything from Jason since that day, had half-thought that the man gave up on getting him to open up after that chilling conversation.
"Coming!" His voice cracked, stepping towards the door.
Frantic, Danny reached, mind and arm, to Jamie. It is easy and automatic, the impulse to put on the act, to prepare to pilot a duplicate,.
But the clone slaps his hand away, scowling. "Do not control."
Danny blinks, realizing. He'd been meaning to puppet Jamie, like he was just an empty shell. His stomach twists with the violation. "Sorry." He blushes, shamed.
"It's fine." The other just waved him off, though Danny can feel his annoyance buzzing through their connection.
And for just a moment, Danny marvels at it; earlier Jamie would have been afraid if he had tried that. But now… the response of anger, something so much stronger and solid. His twin's ability to feel is growing. A thing of awe.
Jamie raises a brow, pointing at the door. And Danny shakes away the feeling. "Okay." He breathes out. "Be cool. We've got this."
Danny opens the door to let Jason inside and for the first time, their neighbor meets the real Jamie, though unbeknownst to him.
Jason invites the twins back to his apartment, offering fresh tamales. And in turn, Danny and Jamie offer a version of the truth.
"What do you think of metas?" Danny starts hesitantly.
Jason raises a brow. "People are people. I don't care as long as you aren't using powers to hurt other people or yourself."
The older half ghost lets out a breath. "There was… an accident." Danny bits his lip. "After I… we could do things we couldn't before. We hide it from Mom and Dad."
"They… aren't good people." Jamie adds. "Hate people that aren't normal humans, alway think they're right."
"They found out and did not react well." Danny frowns, aimlessly rubbing his shoulder where his mom had shot him as he escaped.
"So we ran away. And ended up here." His clone finishes.
For a long moment, Jason silently frowns, brow wrinkled with worry.
Danny's eyes widen in alarm. "You're not going to call CPS, are you? Or the police?"
"No." The man shakes his head. "Damn kid. That all sucks."
"Yeah." Jamie shrugs, head falling.
"What are you going to do?" Danny swallowed.
Jason sighs. "I know someone that works at the Wayne Meta-human Support Foundation. Maybe they can get you some funds so you can quit those shitty coffee shop jobs and go back to school."
"But it's almost summer!" Jamie complains at the idea of going to school.
Danny tries to hide his side-eye, surprised at his clone protesting on those grounds of all things.
"You could start in the fall. Gotham schools are shitty but they're better than not graduating at all."
"Or they could attend Gotham Academy." Damian's scoffing voice cuts in.
The twins flinch at the same time, both looking towards the window where the boy's voice came from.
"What are you doing here?" Jason's voice carries a scowl.
Meanwhile Danny blinks, brow wrinkling in confusion. "Did you climb up the fire escape?"
Damian just tsks. "You were not answering your phone. Richard needs both of us for a project."
The older brother sighs. "Give me a minute, Dames." Jason turns to the half ghost and his clone. "Think about what I said." He scribbles something on a piece of paper, handing it to Jamie. "This is Duke's number. He's Damian's foster brother. B ended up fostering him through the meta-human foundation. He can tell you more about it."
"Okay, we'll think about it." Jamie looks up, smile sincere through the palpable worry.
Jason gives an approving nod, then stood expression shifting. "I am glad you're feeling better, kid."
"What's that mean?" The clone asks, nosing wrinkling with just a bit more plain confusion than offense.
"You were sulking the last time we talked, didn't speak a word to me or Danny. But you look better today." The man claps his shoulder. "I don't think I've ever heard you speak this much."
For just a second, Jamie hazards a look at Danny, a flicker of uncertainty. His eyes return to Jason. "It's been an interesting two weeks. But we're doing better."
The man apparently catches the shared look. "I'm glad you worked out whatever that was." From the window comes another tsk. "I'm coming, Demon Brat. And maybe this time let's use the door like a normal person."
Jason and Damian leave. Danny and Jamie return to their apartment. And Danny's eyes soften, studying his twin with new eyes.
"What?" The other raises a brow.
"You do look better." Jamie looks more solid somehow, more present in a way that Danny knows is invisible to a normal human. The clone smiles softly, the crease of his lips unquestioningly real. And the light in his eyes… "I'm so happy you're here." The spark is brighter than ever.
Jamie shrugs. "This was your doing."
"Yeah, I'm the one who made a duplicate. But," Danny chuckles. "I have no idea how you're real."
For a second, an expression flickers on the clone's face. It ripples through their bond, an emotion that Danny does not quite understand. Something like self-doubt…
"Can we watch a movie?" Jamie cuts in with unusual earnestness. "The one with the clown fish?
"Yeah." Danny blinks, his twin's subdued feeling dismissed by surprise; Jamie actually asking for something was a pleasant first.
Another afternoon and night with his twin. Jamie manages to surprise him with a joke. To bright giggles, Danny discovers where his brother is ticklish. The clone learns to reciprocate. But the separation still only lasts until Danny falls asleep.
"We need to try something else." The half ghost groans into his hands in the morning. "There's gotta be some way for you to last longer than me nodding off."
"It lasted longer than you falling asleep." Jamie's voice in his head answers.
"What?" Danny blinks in surprise, head jerking up.
"You fell asleep. Half an hour alone, then gone." The words are said almost casually, as if the clone hadn't thought to mention this until just now. He probably hadn't.
"Jamie, it's on your end. The problem's on your end." There is no annoyance in the words, just excitement, a newly blooming hope. "That's it! Next time, you need to pull yourself away from me."
"But… that's not… not possible." Jamie stammers the words, doubt radiating.
"Sure it is!" Danny stands, motioning emphatically. "Let's try it now."
For half an hour, Danny stumbles through an explanation of how to duplicate. The cold spark that is Jamie churns anxiously, flailing feebly and at random.
"Can't do it." The clone grits out, frustrated just as Danny's body flickers intangible.
Danny rubs his sternum comfortingly. "Dude, you just managed to turn us intangible." A proud smile quirks his lips. "Maybe we can start with basic powers. You can overshadow me, for the lack of a better word. We'll work up to actually duplicating."
Jamie does not respond with words. Still Danny feels his misgivings.
"It'll work." The half ghost reassures. Just then his phone alarm goes off. "Actually… I guess this will have to wait until after work."
"Good." The clone huffs. "Tired."
The exhaustion is almost palpable, though distinct from Danny's own energy level; he feels quite well rested. "Go to sleep then." He encourages. "I'll wake you up when I get home."
Jamie hums a sleepy good night into Danny's mind. His cold spark seems to condense, the churn of its energy slowing into something almost solid.
The half ghost hums questioningly, for just a moment wondering. Is that Jamie's core, trying to form? Danny prods his own, a discrete spherical ball of energy in the center of his being. It would be solid, in the same place as his heart if he was in ghost form. Now though it is phased just out of reality, in the same dimension his body slips into when he turns intangible.
Jamie's spark is just as intangible; he can't actually feel it if he presses down with his fingers. But the energy is diffuse, always churning faster or slower in seemingly random circuits.
Danny's phone alarm rings again and he dismisses the thought. He does have to get to work after all.
Danny does not have to wake up Jamie when he gets home, as the clone quietly mutters into his thoughts on the bus ride home.
"Did you sleep well?" The half ghost asks silently.
"There were pictures." Jamie muses. "Riding a dinosaur, petting a kitty. Ice cream. Brain freeze."
Danny just manages to hold back a chuckle. "You were dreaming." This is an exciting first. "Do you remember what dreams are?"
A hum of confirmation. "Remember Danny dreams."
"Do you remember some of my dreams?" That's not surprising; talking to Jamie over the past two weeks had revealed that the clone shared many of his memories.
"Yes." A fearful shiver. "Plasmius is scary."
And now Danny feels guilty, his stomach churning with feeling. He's giving Jamie his nightmares, his trauma just by the nature of what the clone is. And he made the decision to pull him into the mess that is his life.
"Want to exist." Jamie reminds him, prodding his core with a measure of comfort, despite the lingering chill of fear.
"Yeah. We already decided, didn't we Jamie?"
Another buzz of agreement.
When they arrive back at the apartment, Danny and Jamie get started on their practice.
"Don't be nervous." Danny reassures, already feeling Jamie's hesitation. "I trust you."
The half ghost coaxes his twin into the driver's seat. "You need to stretch. It's like… oh man, is this gonna sound weird… my body's a suit of clothes and you need to stretch to fill it. Just… move it like it was your own body." He chuckles awkwardly. "It should be easier than my first time overshadowing someone. We look exactly the same."
Danny breaths, letting himself retreat into the back of his own mind. Anxiety pours from Jamie, buzzing across their connection. But the clone does as instructed.
Vertigo overtakes Danny as the two seem to switch places. His body gasps without his permission. The body wobbles, falling to its knees.
Distantly, Danny feels his chest heave. A moan rises in his throat, slowly morphing into stuttering letters. But his tongue is awkward. It clips his teeth, earning a hiss of pain.
Danny soothes the clone piloting his body. "It's okay. Just breathe."
Jamie does so. Slowly, finally. "You're so heavy." The shaky words exit his mouth.
The half ghost would blink in surprise if he had use of his eyes. "Really?"
The clone has no response. Instead, he shakily pulls the body to its feet. He stumbles a few feet forward, nearly falling over the kitchen counter. The hand pricks a knife Danny really should have put away before now. With a gasp, Jamie jerks the fingers away.
Again, the body ended up on the floor. Overwhelmed, the clone pants. But… slowly, the anxiety shifts. A shakily hand rises to the face, eyes fixed on the red blood welling from the fingertip.
"It's okay." Danny tries to reassure. "We'll wrap it up and it'll heal."
But that was not what had the clone captivated. "Heavy. Blood…" Shakily, the other hand rises to the chest. "Heartbeat. Hu… human. This body… is human." Again, Jamie looks at the sluggishly bleeding finger. "Danny is.. Is human."
So much surprise, confusion screams into Danny's mind. But he does not understand why; what has his twin so freaked out?. "Yes, I'm human?"
"But… Jamie doesn't…. This isn't…." The clone pinches his eyes closed, straining for words. "Jamie is… is a ghost. Yes? A ghost, not… not human."
"Oh." Understanding dawns. "I guess you are. A ghost I mean." Anytime Danny duplicates, the secondary body is made of ectoplasm, a ghost even if the appearance is human. Of course Jamie is the same. "No wonder this freaked you out." Guilt pricked at his core. "Sorry, Jamie. I should have thought about how weird being human would be for you."
Jamie does not respond for a long while. A tangle of emotions vibrates through the twins' connection. Too many for Danny to parse, but the strongest…
Finally the eyes open, head shaking. "Is… is Jamie supposed to be human too?" Something like guilt rises through the words.
The feeling of inadequacy is enough to break Danny's core. "Jamie. Jamie, my baby bro, little twin, clone of my own is not supposed to be here. You are supposed to be exactly what you are. Full ghost or halfa, I don't care. I just want you here, by my side."
Jamie nods, tears rising in his eyes. "Better practice then."
"That's my Jamie."