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[teambatgirl]

There's a girl on the island wearing her face.

She's heard about this. People from two different places, two different times, who aren't related but look identical. Not clones, that would be manageable, but different people from other universes who just happen to be identical twins. One of the people she met on the first night has a twin she's already seen, someone with completely different mannerisms. It's a little weird, but, hey, tropical pocket reality split off from the multiverse: the standard for what's considered weird here is pretty high.

But now there's a girl who looks like her, who looks just like her. Not just a good costume, not just a trick of make up and disguse. She's her. It's goes beyond weird and lands right in fucking uncanny. If Stephanie wasn't still wearing her own skin, she'd think it was Jane Doe.

Stephanie saw her for the first time leaving the Compound, spotted her just out of the corner of her eye. When faced with an unknown problem, the first thing you do is do your homework, so, abandoning her laundry, she'd taken off after her not-clone. Her red t-shirt didn't make skulking ideal, even in the deepening twilight, but she managed. It'd been easier to sneak after her once they'd got under the canopy cover, Steph had climbed up into the trees and stepped from branch to branch a few feet behind this strange, possibly evil version of herself.

Hey, she's a Bat, she comes by her stalking tendencies honestly. And, anyway, it's just to make sure anti-Stephanie isn't out to murder someone and make her take the blame. Maybe this isn't Gotham City, but crazy things could still happen here.

But jungle recon is a whole different world from the urban stuff she's used to. Out of easy branches within reach, Steph chanced a leap and grabbed at a thick bough on the next tree over. Wincing at the louder-than-she'd-like landing, she kicks out for a foothold and chances a glance down at her identical quarry. Hopefully her fumbling landing wouldn't attract any notice.

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[sugarandbite]

Caroline had every right to be suspicious. The island was nice and everything. Full of friendly people, even if they were dressed in tacky clothes and a lots of surf and sun. Plus there was that whole 'no longer a vampire' thing that she found to be very nice. But people mentioned that there were doubles. People who looked alike, but weren't alike and there was no reason to explain it other than it was something that just happened.

The whole thing unnerved her. It made her wonder if something seriously bad was going to happen. Through in the fact that her predator instincts haven't yet fully quit on her and she was pretty certain she was close to snapping.

The sound of something falling caused her to stop dead in her tracks, senses suddenly alert. It was no use; she was human now. But that didn't mean that she didn't have to watch her back.

Spinning around, eyes narrowed she caught a flash of red and blonde. "Who's there?"

[teambatgirl.livejournal.com]

Damn. She's been made. So much for creeper jungle stalking. This is clearly an area she needs work on; if only there were a class for surreptitious jungle reconnaissance.

Stephanie could, she supposes, just climb up higher into the trees to avoid detection or do the patented fade into the gloom Bat technique, but her (evil) twin clearly knows someone is following her. And they'll have to face each other eventually.

After taking a deep breath, Steph drops from her tree and lands lightly on the boardwalk. After she straightens up, she raises her hands in as non-threatening manner as she can manage.

"Don't freak out."

[sugarandbite]

This was bad, like really really bad. A frown crossed onto her features, every muscle in her body preparing for a fight. She might not have her special vampire powers anymore, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to fight back. There was no way that this could be good. Not at all.

"Don't freak out?" she echoed staring at the girl like she was crazy. "Oh yeah, cause not freaking out is going to stop you from killing me. I'm not an idiot you know. I'll take you down."

It might just involve a lot more hair-pulling and less throat ripping than normal.

[teambatgirl.livejournal.com]

"I'm not going to kill you." Stephanie's using her most soothing voice, her 'don't startle the wild animals' voice. She keeps her hands up to emphasize how totally non-threatening she is. Not that she really had an idea of how this could go well, but she definitely doesn't want it to go awry.

It's incredibly reassuring that her doppleganger has a few inches on her. Not wholly identical.

"This happens here sometimes. It's happened to other people. And it's weird but I'm definitely not going to kill you."

[sugarandbite]

Caroline was pretty certain that's what they all said. Except Katherine who had actually killed her and frequently threatened to do it again. This doppleganger was shorter than she was by a few inches, something that she was fairly certain wasn't included in the normal package. None of this calmed her down. It just made her worry a bit more.

"Yeah, so someone's mentioned, but that doesn't mean that I have to believe it," Caroline pointed out. Sure, she's seen a few doubles here and there, but none of them had done anything to assuage her fears. If anything they just made it worse. "That's what doubles do. They kill you or ruin your life and a whole host of other terrible things. So why should I believe you?"

[teambatgirl.livejournal.com]

"Because..." Stephanie starts and then hesitates, which surely does wonderful for her credibility. This wasn't the first time she'd faced her double. Clayface in the bank, he'd got her down to the wave in her hair and the seams of her suit. Which had been weird, absolutely, but it had also been different- she'd had to prove she was herself. Luckily she got out of it without getting shot thanks to Detective Gage's awesome and completely earned trust in her, but it's still a far cry from proving she's not some sort of menacing doppleganger.

At least she doesn't have an evil goatee. That has to count for something.

"Because whatever rules are from home don't apply here. There's no magic, there's no superpowers. So maybe evil twins aren't actually evil and are instead just girls trying to get by?"

[sugarandbite]

Having a goatee probably would have made this whole thing easier. It also would not have led to Caroline to worrying so much about what would happen to her if she trusted this girl and then had her point proven.

Things got really complicated in a hurry when your life wasn't normal. It had the tendency to give her headaches.

Pursing her lips and folding her arms against her chest, she considered this argument. Part of her was inclined to agree, given that she no longer suffered from things like the desire to nibble on her neighbors. "Okay. Maybe. But I don't even know your name and how do I know that you're not going to wander around and ruin my life because people can be oblivious when you put on a pair of heels."

[teambatgirl.livejournal.com]

"Well." Stephanie smiles slightly at her and gives it a shot. "I'm Stephanie, first of all. Stephanie Brown. I'm eighteen and I'm from Gotham City. I don't wear high heels except for special occasions, and I promise I'm not out to kill you or ruin your life."

This would probably sound more convincing if she hadn't been essentially stalking this girl through the jungle like some sort of doppleganger jaguar. Lesson learned. "And, hey, if you don't believe me, that's cool. If there were evil twins around and suddenly my body double showed up, I'd be pretty weirded out too."

[sugarandbite]

This would have been a bit more easily sold if the girl had not been stalking her through the trees. But keeping a grudge was kind of exhausting, especially without any basis like mass murder and all of that. Caroline was willing to play nice provided that this Stephanie didn't get too weird on her.

Okay, that might not be possible. Arching an eyebrow, she stared at the shorter girl. "Seriously? Gotham? Like are you running around with Heath Ledger in some seriously gross make-up and Christian Bale?" That was something that Caroline would be both a little impressed by and definitely disappointed.

Shaking her head head, she smiled tightly. "Caroline Forbes, from Mystic Falls and you should think about the heels. They might pinch, but they are designed to give a girl a little extra oompf."

[teambatgirl.livejournal.com]

"Seriously Gotham." She finds herself getting this reaction more and more. Yeah, sure, okay maybe the city doesn't have the greatest reaction in the world, but come on. Stephanie shakes her head. "I don't know them, but I follow the general rule to not get overly friendly with those in face make up. Masks, sure, make-up not so much."

Steph smiles. "Nice to meet you, Caroline Forbes. And, yeah, I have to say, I am jealous of those extra few inches you have on me. But heels cut down on my ability to kick ass. Where's Mystic Falls?"

[sugarandbite]

It was really just good luck for Stephanie that Caroline had already gotten the briefing about how there were people from movies and that sort of thing and that saying as much was kind of frowned upon. Otherwise she would have prodded for details and then asked why she hadn't made it to the big screen or if she was from that crazy version with George Clooney. Though that one hadn't been bad either, but George Clooney had a way of elevating things to a whole new level.

"Oh, right, yeah, forget I said that. They're actors." She resisted the urge to make some crack that this shorter double might want to pick up a copy of People every now and then. It would come up soon enough. "I can imagine. It has taken me years of practice to not break a leg when I run in them." There was a casualness in the way that she said that, because it was true. The vampy-healing just happened to make it easier. "It's in Virginia. It can be kind of overly small, but it's home so you get how it is."

[teambatgirl.livejournal.com]

"Um, okay," Steph frowns but then lets the matter go with a shrug. Maybe she just hadn't heard of them, because it's not like she gets out to the movies super often, though she'd probably know if they were filming a big flick in Gotham. Whatever, though, not really important. "Yeah, I definitely know what you mean. Not that Gotham's like a town in Virginia but none of them really have that tropical island commune vibe. You're new too, right? I would have noticed you before."

[sugarandbite]

Pushing that topic was just going to make things super awkward in a hurry and Caroline really didn't want to break it to this girl that she was the product of some nerd's mind. That fanboys probably oggled her and all of that stuff. That would just be gross.

"Yeah. We have actual history and roads and can go somewhere else." That last part was important because while there had been people on this island for a few years, that hardly counted when compared to stretching back to the Civil War and then some. "Yeah. I am. Which I think makes the appearance of us both even stranger. Like special strange."

[teambatgirl.livejournal.com]

"Well, there's...some really nice waterfalls here? And mangoes galore, which are pretty expensive in the city." She grins. "Clearly an equal trade off."

Stephanie hesitates and really thinks that over. She hadn't considered the possibility of more clones showing up, alternate versions from various times and places. "Well...on the plus side it would be two against one if our evil version does show up. We could totally take her."

[sugarandbite]

"Clearly. Why didn't I think of that? No more having to worry about what to wear for the season change, since that apparently that's no longer an issue."

That was kind of a bummer because fall clothes could be so cute. Caroline had never had to deal with a serious winter, with the freezing and cold and the snow. It snowed in Mystic Falls, but always in bunches and never for very long.

Nodding confidently, she was going to go with that. "We definitely could. A couple of badass girls like us. She'd be toast."