FicWad

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Mixed Feelings

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For a moment, Neil was unable to move, to speak, to even breathe. Then, as reality crashed down around him protesting that clones just weren't right, he slapped away the hand and took a few steps backward. "Okay," he said, "I'm either hallucinating or you're some kind of robot here to replace me." Shakily, some inner part of him thrown for a loop, Neil took up a defensive stance. "Just back off and no one gets hurt," he warned, hoping he sounded convincing.

His duplicate seemed unfazed. "How could I hope to replace someone as unique as you, Neil? I'm sure the others would catch on in seconds that I wasn't you." He shook his head, stepping close once again.

"Stay back," Neil managed weakly, putting a hand up to ward off any further advances. It came to rest on the duplicate's chest. He stared at it, and then up into his own face. "Who are you?"

"Hm, I need a name, don't I? Call me... Galen." He took Neil's wrist, gently pulling the arm down and wrapping his free arm around the blonde's waist. "Of course, if you have something else you'd rather call me, I'm open to suggestions," he whispered into Neil's ear, causing the hero to shiver slightly.

"I... no, Galen's fine, I guess." Pinned between the wall and Galen, Neil was having a hard time concentrating. Up close, he noticed that his clone wasn't quite the mirror image he seemed to be. Slightly longer hair, an inch or two extra in height, coupled with the charm and inherent beauty that was copied from Neil, the hero found himself feeling curiously warm.

Galen smiled. "I'm glad you approve," he said softly, leaning in and placing a gentle kiss on Neil's cheek.

For the second time, common sense rudely reasserted itself. Neil shoved Galen off of him and staggered a few paces forward, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He still felt warm and now oddly tingly but he disregarded it. "I don't know what you want, but I'm having none of it." Neil turned and raced toward the janitor's closet.

--

"All right guys, great job. I think we can use this maneuver against Chronus with great success," Jay said, tossing a couple of towels to Archie and Atlanta. "Odie, did you get everything?" He looked over to Odysseus' descendant and blinked. "Where's Neil?"

Odie shrugged, tossing a disc over to Jay. "He left just after you guys got started saying something about his talents not being appreciated." He smiled slightly. "You know Neil, always making a big deal out of the little things."

Jay frowned and sighed, "He's lucky and this wasn't a matter of luck. Sometimes you just have to know when to step back and let other people take the spotlight."

"Yeah but when has Neil ever willingly shared a spotlight?" Herry joked. The group shared a laugh, picturing the model on the runway shoving people offstage so that he could be the center of attention.

"Guys!" the panicked shout of Neil cut their laughter short. Skidding into the room, hair on the verge of being out of place, the blonde hero waved his arms dramatically. "There's some kind of robot or something in the school that looks like me!" He bent double, catching his breath and restoring his image to perfection.

The others stared at him. Sharing a glance with Jay, Theresa asked carefully, "Are you sure?" Neil was prone to hysterics, so it was standard procedure to make sure he hadn't simply overacted.

"Seriously, there is. Come on, I'll show you." Neil turned and headed back toward the entrance to the school. He pointed down a hallway, one hand on his him. "See? Crazy robot imposter."

"There's nothing there, Neil. Just lockers and a guy's washroom." Atlanta jogged to the end of the hall and checked around the corner, shrugging when she found nothing. "You didn't wander into the bathroom and see yourself in the mirror or anything?" she asked, pushing at the bathroom door.

"What? No! No, he was standing over there," the blond said, indicating a bank of lockers, "and then he, uh, had me up against the wall there." Neil ducked his head and walked to the spot he pointed, hoping the sudden blush he felt on his cheeks would go unnoticed.

Jay, oblivious, considered. "Did he threaten you or try to kidnap you?"

"Well, no, but who wouldn't want to kidnap me?"

Archie laughed. "You have been a target more often than not. The gorgon sisters, Echo, the Stymphalian birds" he said, ticking off fingers. "But nothing looks out of the ordinary. Maybe they've finally figured out you don't make a good hostage?"

Neil stiffened and turned on the warrior. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, naturally we'd be at a disadvantage for leadership if Jay was captured, for strategy if Odie was gone, and the experts at battle if Theresa, Atlanta, Herry or myself were gone. You've got some moves, Neil, but you spend too much time checking your hair." Archie shrugged as if it made perfect sense.

Several retorts about the importance of good hair care filled Neil's mind but for once he didn't voice any of them. Instead, he turned and walked away without a word, choosing to ignore the shouts from Jay that followed him this time. He kept walking until he reached the dorm. Only then did he let his shoulders slump slightly and a quiet sigh escape him. He stepped inside and instantly froze.

"Hello, good looking," Galen said in greeting, looking over from a chair by a window. "I figured you would be a while with your friends, so I came here. I hope you don't mind."

"How did you get in?" Neil looked at the keys in his hand, certain that they had never been out of his pocket or away from him. His designer pants were quite important to him, after all.

Waving a hand nonchalantly, Galen stood. "I told your RA that I lost my keys and he gave me a spare, thinking I was you. I guess he doesn't know you well enough to tell the difference?"

"This is too much," Neil said, dumping his things carelessly by the door and heading straight to the bathroom. He ran some water in the sink and splashed some on his face, hissing from the cold. "I'm hallucinating," he told his image in the mirror. "I've been working too hard in Ms. Erato's art class and I'm seeing things."

Galen's head loomed in the mirror behind his own image. "If you've had a tough day, you can tell me about it." He smiled a dazzling smile and Neil had to quickly bury his face in a fluffy white towel to hide another blush.

"Okay," Neil said as soon as he had restored his image to perfection. "If you want to hear it, then sit down." He himself sank into his own chair and tried not to notice as Galen moved his chair closer.

"I'm all ears."

I'm crazy to be doing this, he thought to himself as he tried to put words together. I should slip away, radio the others, and prove to them that some crazy robot clone is out to get me with his charming smiles and excellent grooming.

Neil stood up suddenly, nearly knocking over his chair. He stood over Galen, hands in fists to keep them from shaking. "Why are you here?" he demanded. "Why are you being nice, acting like you... like you know me?"

"But I do know you, in a way," the double said. "You're in magazines, on buses, and talked about all over New Olympia. Of course, there are things no one can really know. Everyone has secrets." He held Neil's gaze as he stood, stepping around the table until he had the titan up against the door. "What do you keep in your heart of hearts, Neil?" he asked softly before closing what little space lay between them, kissing the blonde firmly on the mouth.

Stunned, Neil was speechless as Galen pulled away, their eyes still locked. Slowly, however, words began to drop from him, tumbling free as if the kiss had removed a dam. "I'm afraid I'm not a hero," he said in a soft monotone. "What good is Narcissus in the face of Odysseus or Hercules?"

Galen smiled, about to probe for further secrets when a chorus of voices outside the door caused him to look away. He sighed. "I'll see you later," he said, capturing Neil's lips again briefly. "And you're my hero, good looking."

Wits thrown for a loop, Neil mumbled something incoherent, reaching a shaky hand up to touch his lips as Galen disappeared further into the house and out of sight. The door behind him clicked open and sent him stumbling, snapping him from his muddled thoughts. "Hey," he complained loudly, "watch it."

"Oh, Neil, didn't see you there." Jay tossed his jacket into the closet and kicked off his shoes. "Did you just get in?"

The blonde stared at him blankly. "What?" he asked, running a hand absently through his hair. He crossed his arms as he noticed who he was talking to. "Oh, it's you. Are you here to reassure me that next time you'll bother to make use of the full team?" Neil turned and stalked to his room, shutting the door sharply behind him.

Almost immediately there was a knock. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier," Jay said from the other side of the door.

"Whatever, Jay. I'm busy. Can we talk later?" Neil flopped onto his bed, looking up at the ceiling with a frown. He didn't want to be patronized and he was feeling drained from everything that had happened.

"Sure thing," the answer came hesitantly. "Uh, the others and I were planning to go out for some dinner. You in?"

Neil rolled his eyes. "I'm not hungry," he called and listened as Jay's footsteps retreated from the door. When he was sure the appointed leader of the heroes wasn't going to make reappearance, he stretched and settled down to relax. His eyes drifted shut on their own and he yawned. Thoughts of the following day danced lightly through his mind as he fell quickly into a deep sleep.