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“Look what the cat dragged in.” The voice was friendly and cheery, but it put Alex on alert instantly. He had heard that voice before. Not when he spoke, exactly, but always in videos with his voice. Tom said it was because of soundwaves carried through the skull or something like that. Regardless of the reason, that voice was what other people heard when Alex spoke.
Alex stepped the rest of the way into the dusty-looking bookstore and let the door shut behind him. His eyes were still adjusting to the dark after the brightness of the day outside, but he could see someone standing behind a desk or counter a little way into the bookshop. The figure hopped over whatever was between them and sauntered forward.
“I must say,” the figure said, still in that disturbingly familiar voice, “you are quite the curious one, Alex.”
By that time, Alex could see the other’s face. It was exactly the same as Alex’s, though with a brighter, carefree expression.
“Julius?” Alex asked. Even before the other answered, Alex knew he was wrong. His clone wouldn’t have such an open expression. And they had different scars. This was something else.
“No, not Julius,” the other confirmed, smiling. “But then, you knew that. Unfortunate, really, that your Julius is such an unpleasant fellow. Otherwise, it would have been funny to gather the three of us together. Can you imagine showing up to school with Julius and I? What would the teachers do?”
Alex smiled slightly. No matter how disturbing seeing his own face attached to someone else was, at least this time, the other Alex seemed to have a sense of humor.
“Panic, probably,” Alex answered. “I am a bit of a troublemaker. But I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage…”
“What you’ve been calling me is fine,” the other waved the question off. “If you want something more, Doppelganger would be most accurate. My kind don’t really do names.”
“So, you aren’t human, then?” Alex asked slowly.
It seemed impossible. And yet…
“Correct,” the other confirmed. “I know you haven’t started worrying about me trying to steal your life, and I want to say that I will not. I’m a sort of fae; we need to follow the rules to get what we want. Bargains and whatnot, you know?”
“I can’t imagine you find many willing to sign their lives away,” Alex said dryly.
“Are you sure?” the other asked. “You can’t think of any reason someone might want someone else to take their name and face? Oh, it’s gotten rarer these days, as it’s harder for humans to make a new name and go off and reinvent themselves. But it happens. You have the skills to do it, after all. And the desire.”
Alex swallowed hard. The other stepped closer.
“Doppelgangers are mindreaders,” the other said softly. “We can always read the surface thoughts of the humans around us. But when we shift into the form of a specific human, it does much deeper. We still have our own thoughts, of course, but I know exactly why you came here. You came seeking law-books. In the hopes of turning your life around.”
“I have people I care about,” Alex managed. “People in my life now. I don’t want to abandon them.”
“You could meet them again as someone else,” the other suggested. “Or you could give me a few years of your life. You could even spend those years reading the law books you want. And who knows: I might even manage to solve your problems while you’re gone.”
That was a sweet vision. Alex imagined going on vacation for a few years and then returning to find his identity safe and all his problems gone. But a dream was all it could be. During those years, his friendships would change and grow. That was just a reality of time. Gone, he would never make up that absence.
“A good point,” the other said softly, thoughtfully.
“What is this really about?” Alex asked.
“I made a deal with the owner of this bookshop,” the other said. “He wanted time to write a book. I got to meet new people with a friendly face and a knack for finding exactly what they want. The owner hasn’t finished his book. He’s a year in and hasn’t even started. Worse, he’s seen the reviews and knows he’s a worse shopkeep than I am. While I am in his form, I can feel all of the resentment he feels for me.”
“That sounds unpleasant,” Alex said. Both for the shop owner and the other.
“It is,” the other agreed. “Like, you have no idea how bad it is. I need to get out of here, but I can’t just poof away.”
“You can come with me,” Alex offered.
“But you don’t want me wearing your face,” the other noted.
“I imagine you’d be a better spy than me,” Alex reasoned. “Even a better friend. If you pretended to be me, other people would think I’m that good, and then the real me would be… disappointing.”
“I do cheat,” the other grinned. “But I would need to wear someone’s face. Not the shopkeeper’s. I don’t want to be miserable all the time. And I can’t just take someone’s life without permission. If I’m you or one of your friends, I still wouldn’t be able to really live. Though, maybe with your face, in the underworld? Perhaps using Julius’s name?”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Alex piped up. “I can’t exactly stop you, but MI6 would probably bring me in to talk.”
“And then you’d resent me,” the other sighed.
“I’d try not to,” Alex said. It didn’t sound convincing even to his ears.
The other just laughed and shook his head.
“I do think you’re on to something, with the criminal underworld idea,” Alex mused. “It’s a lot easier to be someone new, there. Demanding government IDs is cop behavior. But you can’t be just anyone. If you incriminate anyone, they’ll resent you.”
“Right,” the other muttered. “I suppose that leaves dead people.”
“You can do dead people?” Alex asked.
“Yeah,” the other confirmed. “It takes practice, but I always found it to be an ethical alternative to pretending to be someone alive. But nowadays, life and participation in society requires IDs and whatnot and I can’t just use a dead person’s face with a mysterious past. Don’t judge me like that! It’s hard to find criminals of high enough quality that they can live totally off the grid!”
“What about famous dead criminals?” Alex asked.
“Well, for one, they’re famous,” the other pointed out dryly. “Hard to stay under the radar while wearing a famous face. But more importantly, I need a strong memory. Yeah, I can use someone else’s… memory…”
The other trailed off in response to Alex’s half-formed thought.
“Gotta be a friend,” the other whispered. “Can’t be resurrecting your enemies.”
“Can’t be family,” Alex whispered back. “That would incriminate me.”
“Must be an excellent criminal,” the other breathed, something sparkling in his eyes. “If they’re subpar, I’ll get caught.”
“Must be someone people will believe faked their death,” Alex reasoned softly. “You won’t be able to access any of their ill-gotten gains or reputation otherwise.”
“I can only think of one person,” the other murmured. “And I know you can’t think of anyone else either.”
“He tortured people,” Alex protested.
“He wasn’t ambitious, was he?” the other asked. “He’d be fine following your rules. And he said he loved you. If that’s true, I would inherit that.”
The other didn’t even really need Alex’s permission, Alex thought. But he appreciated him waiting for it, anyways.
“Okay,” he breathed. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, focusing on the memory.
A forehead met his, gently.
“Hello, little Alex,” said a voice with a faint Russian accent that Alex knew could be dropped with ease.
Alex opened his eyes and met Yassen’s. Only they were clearly not the assassin’s, because they were crinkled in a mischievous grin.
“He did love you, in his own, special way,” the other said. “He’d be happy to see you as old as you are.”
Alex choked down a hysterical laugh.
“He will be happier after I help you with your MI6 problem,” the other continued, pulling away. “Let’s get you set up with those law books. But you must know that those won’t help you.”
The other spun around and slipped into the shelves of books silently and with twice the grace that he had possessed while wearing Alex’s face. Alex followed.
“I figured,” Alex said. “I mean, I hoped, I wanted to believe, but…”
“But you aren’t the little I told to go back to school,” the other said nostalgically. “Don’t laugh! I can feel nostalgic for something I didn’t experience!”
“I’m not saying you can’t,” Alex said as he caught up to the other. He received an armful of books in reward. “But you kind of took credit for that advice, which was kind of terrible,” he continued as the other led him back to the counter, where he spotted a cashier’s station.
“Ah, yes,” the other said, now with all of Yassen’s terrible quiet deadliness. “Because they were coercing you. With threats and even blackmail they created. Yassen didn’t think they would do that. Not to the ward of one of their own. He thought they were only manipulating you.”
“That would have been bad enough,” Alex said. Somewhere deep down, he hurt, but his voice didn’t waver. “I mean, they did do that, as well. It was quite unpleasant.”
“I remember,” the other nodded. He rung up the books he had picked out, refusing Alex’s attempts to pay. “Go now, little Alex. I need to speak with the shop owner about the end of his deal and then get set up in the underworld. I will be in touch shortly.”
“Okay,” Alex paused, his new books in his bag, at the door. “Stay safe, Doppel. See you.”
“You too,” the other, Doppel, smiled gently after Alex.
It was not an expression Alex had ever thought to see on Yassen’s face, but he thought it suited.