Jack and Jamies, backdated to 27/08/2013

[om_multiple]

Jack's new room-mate moves in and it's rather interesting to say the least.



Jamie had knocked on the door when first arriving, but since he'd received no answer and found it empty anyway he'd just headed on in. It was his room too now, right?

It was seriously weird to see this place as a school though. He'd only visited a handful of times in his childhood but enough to vividly remember him and his dupes playing in the house and grounds, and now he was back. And, weirdly, he was the new kid.

He dumped his backpack at the foot of the bare bed and flopped to lie back on it, the impact instantly creating a twin beside him.

Jack was surprised to find the door to his room already open. A deeply ingrained paranoia went into effect, which he tried his best to put aside because, seriously, no way anyone made it this far into the school without getting noticed. No, much more likely the door had been opened by someone affiliated with the school. Still, he was wary as he pushed the door the rest of the way open and scanned the room.

Whatever Jack had been expecting, really hot, freaky-identical twins laying on the unused other bed had really not been on the list. Twins he didn't recognize, which meant they must be new. A roommate was a distinct possibility.

Angling his head to the side a bit, Jack gave the pair a bemused look. "Funny, I don't remember ordering twins."

In unison the two boys propped themselves up at surveyed the newcomer with interest.

"Special delivery." The one on the left said.

"Jamie." The other explained "Looks like we're roomies then?"

Jack had the distinct feeling that he'd missed something. "Jack Harkness," he said, charming even when confused. "And it's Jamie and...?"

"Jamie. James. Madrox. Whatever." The left dupe grinned, the right being Jamie Prime. They both stood in unison and added "We're Jamie. We the same."

Jack blinked, but no, nothing got much clearer. At best, he was getting something like psychically-conjoined twins, two bodies, one mind, but that seemed... flawed.

Less charming this time (though not unfriendly): "You wanna run that by me again, but with more explanation?"

Seeing he wasn't being understood, Jamie Prime moved forward. "Sorry, I guess we're not good at this. Never had to explain it before. Just push me and see what happens. Shove me a little and it'll all make sense."

Jack raised an eyebrow at the strange assurance, hesitated to reprocess the words, then stepped forward to put his hands on Jamie's shoulders. "For the record, I usually start with a handshake," he said with a puzzled grin. Then he gave the guy a small shove, just enough to make him take a step back.

Two more Jamie's appeared beside the Prime, all grinning excitedly at Jack. It had been a long time since he'd been able to show off to someone who didn't know his power.

"See? We're all Jamie."

Jack still had his hands resting on Jamie Prime's shoulders where he'd almost steadied the other boy when things got weird. And even in Jack's book, things had just reached a whole new level of weird. He reached one hand over to lightly touch one of the new dupes to make sure the body was solid (it was, and Jack now had a hand on his chest and was too bewildered to realize). So far he was caught on the first major problem he could see with this mutation. He looked around at all four Jamies with a confused kind of alarm. "What do you do with all of... you?"

Jack's brain was of course providing some really creative options, but seriously, self-multiplication when pushed? How many of him were there running around? How did you hide that?

"What do we do with each other? That's a personal question, isn't it?" One of the many dupes grinned with a touch of leering.

Jamie Prime quickly took control by adding "I can get rid of them too if that's what you mean." He grabbed the hand of the leering dupe reabsorbed him instantly. "I fall apart and can put myself together again basically."

Jack had smirked at the dupe's comment, but that was before that one vanished. He looked at Jamie (Prime) again, taking in a sharp breath and raising one hand as his brain tried to process again. "So let me get this straight: your mutation translates physical force into solid, sentient, flesh-and-blood replicas of your body - and you can reclaim that mass and energy through touch?"

One of the Jamie's nodded "That's the basic idea, yeah."

"Except Charlie and Moira use bigger words for it."

"It's not gonna be a problem." One of the other's added firmly before asking less certainly "Will it?"

Jack wasn't really prone to headaches, but he was pretty sure he could feel one coming on. He was glad to have company, because too much time alone meant too much time to think; but he hadn't spent all his time alone either, and since his usual company was Pietro in some state of undress, the roommate thing was completely unappreciated. But getting a roommate meant the headmasters trusted him to share a space with another student, which was... actually, Jack didn't know how he felt about that. And how many guys he was about to share a bathroom with...
But on the other hand, "Well, I've never been known to complain about having too many attractive young men running around." He gave a sexy, playful smirk for good measure - okay, really he was just testing his/their fluster-ability. ...mostly. "And it seems like you've got a lifetime of experience with sharing a room, so you should be pretty good at it by now."

"We'll be little angels." One Jamie promised.

"Well, sometimes." Another smirked.

"We'll do our best."

"Unless you don't want us to."

"Are you guys done?" Prime asked, rolling his eyes at his dupes. Sometimes he didn't understand his own sense of humour. "Anyway, we'll try to keep the numbers to a sensible amount in here.."

"I think that one's my favorite so far," Jack said, winking at the unless you don't want us to Jamie. So many questions, and no idea where to start...
Said dupe visibly perked up, clearly pleased with himself as he grinned back.

"Before you start making too many plans, I can't control which dupes turn up." Jamie warned with a smirk. His dupes at times flirted with people and did things he totally didn't understand, he was learning to just roll with it and not read into things too much.

"That's okay, I'm more of an in-the-moment kinda guy," Jack replied, still smiling and eye-flirting with the dupe (only a small step down from eyefucking, and only because there were still so many variables in play). Oh, but that raised a good question, right. Jack shook off the flirt to give Jamie Prime his attention again. "Wait, they're not all randomly generated? You have recurring duplicates with different personalities?"

"Yeah there's some that show up more than others, or they're more distinctively different because of like nicknames and shit for some of them. Others are randomly generated though. Bit of a pick 'n mix, really." Jamie nodded a little "Overly religious, obsessed with working out, the shameless flirt," At the last comment he sent a pointed look. "Different personalities and stuff, but yeah they don't vanish into oblivion it's all aspects of me in the end."

Jack's brow furrowed a bit. "And these aspects come out, have some fun, then disappear - what happens when you all become one again?" He glanced around the small crowd. He wasn't exactly sure what the protocol was for this kind of conversation, but talking about the other Jamies and ignoring their presence just seemed rude. ...also that one was still grinning at him, and this was the stage to keep encouraging that.

"We still exist. We are him and he is us." One dupe tried to explain.

"It's like playing as a team vs going solo." The grinning one added.

"We're the voices in his head. Our head. Or something." Another frowned.

"Some dupes have refused to go back, some have run away but mostly we're a team. We stick together." Jamie Prime admitted before adding "Dude, I know this is weird by most people's standards but it's basically just different sides of my one personality. It's just sometimes those sides have their own bodies."

"Most people can't literally run away from themselves," Jack pointed out, mildly alarmed that there were dupes missing. "But then your way might actually be healthier," he mused, suddenly thoughtful. "And I'll certainly get to know you thoroughly."
Yeah, that headache? Definitely a thing.

"Looking forward to it." And Prime didn't even need to look to see which of the other Jamie's had said that. Jesus, he'd need to keep that dupe on a leash apparently.

"And, well, I do get to literally beat myself when it's needed. Then I move on, so yeah that's kind of cool."

Jack's eyebrows shot up, but he managed to keep his comments contained. Or at least limited to: "Psychologists are gonna have a field day with you."

"Hopefully it won't come to needing one but fair point." Jamie nodded before looking to his dupes "Some of you wanna start moving in?" There was some huffing and groaning but eventually some dupes left. Leaving Jamie Prime and the dupe that had been making eyes at Jack because, of course, he wasn't done yet. Prime rolled his eyes a little but was fairly amused.

Stepping out of the way for the dupes, Jack started to correct himself. "I meant..." He meant that researchers would be thrilled to study the different personality aspects. He meant there were people out there who would love to study Jamie. Memories of labs and "studies" flashed through his head and he dropped the thought, momentarily stunned by his own words. He redirected, falling into his easygoing demeanor to cover. "So, whereabouts are you boys from?"

"Mostly Kansas, middle of nowhere. And you?" Jamie asked, he'd noticed the pause but chose not
to think much of if as he and the remaining dupe moved to perch on their new desk.

"All sorts of places," Jack said smoothly, used to glossing over the details. "Your family move a lot?"

"Nah just the once, to a big farm for all us Jamies to roam."

Lots to be read about Jamie's family in that statement, but Jack was more hung up on the whole Jamie-the-farmboys thing that had just started in his head. He moved toward his side of the room with an almost dopey grin on his face. "I always liked a farming town. Something delightfully rustic in the air, sweet people with good manners, and all that repression just looking for an outlet."

"Well, I wouldn't call us repressed but it's not my place to kill your little fantasy." The dupe grinned a little. Prime chuckled as he wondered if he should just absorb the dupe before he caused real trouble. Then again did he really want that voice in his head making pervey comments about his new room-mate? No thank you.

"Plenty more where that came from," Jack assured the dupe with that signature grin of his, then flopped back on his bed with a considering glance at his stack of books. Not having a computer, reading was his primary in-room entertainment (...when Pietro wasn't around). In the interest of not overwhelming the new guy with extended introductions, Jack was tempted to read and leave him/them to it... but then, there was another big thing he should fish for first. "Guess you don't need my help with the actual moving. Can I help with any mutant boarding school questions or concerns?"

"Don't think so, given a day or two I reckon we'll have remembered the layout of this place and learnt all the new additions." Prime told him honestly, looking out the window. When he used to stay as a kid, his bedroom had been in a different part of the house but still, pretty much same old view.

"We've been coming here for years, maybe we could help you out." The dupe added with a grin his focus still mostly focused on Jack.

So Jack was right, "Charlie and Moira" meant Jamie had a real history with this place and the people running it. Suddenly this roommate selection didn't feel very random. But no need to clue Jamie in on his unease, so Jack maintained a pleasantly curious attitude. "You've got a history with the headmasters then?"

"Friends of my parents. I was always being prodded and poked by my 'Aunt' and 'Uncle', taught how to use and hide my mutation. Hell with my special situation Moira's basically always been my GP. Came to stay here a few times as a kid. I guess to give my parents a break. Haven't heard much beyond Christmas and birthday cards the last few years though. Life moves on and all that crap." Jamie explained with a shrug, utterly unaware of the effect he'd had on his new room-mate.

"They did a lot of testing then?" Jack's nonchalance had just a touch of tension to it.

"They were just curious, I guess. My parents are scientists with a mutant child. The research helped dad make clothes that can contain the multiplying so I can go out in the normal world. They did as many tests as they needed to help me understand what I am. Not like that place that's hurt some of the kids here." Of course Jamie had been told, though not in a lot of details. He'd been told that Jack had been involved in some way but nothing more.

Jack worked hard to suppress the violent gut response he had to the idea of parents experimenting on their children. Everyone had to learn about their powers somehow, and it was possible Jamie had been that lucky. It was also possible he'd been raised as an experiment and just didn't know any better.

Jack's attempts to keep his face neutral resulted in a stony effect as he asked, "What'd they tell you about that?"

Jamie shrugged slightly "Just the quick summary that I guess they give all the new kids? This place exists, it's bad and it's taken kiddies. They got the kids back and acquired you. That's the gist, right?" He wasn't trivialising it, he just felt a bit awkward in discussing it.

Cursing under his breath, Jack closed his eyes and tried to get himself under better control before responding. Damn Xavier anyway. Was this some kind of statement, sending Jamie in here without the full explanation? A demonstration of trust? Bullshit, Jamie deserved to know who he was being roomed with. He deserved a choice. Or... they did? Whatever.

"Dude, don't sweat it ok? I'm not gonna ask you about it." The weird reaction to Jamie's parents being scientists had told him enough, he reckoned.

"No, you need to know," Jack said, sitting up and putting his feet on the floor. "Xavier had no business putting you here without telling you." He caught Jamie's - one of them anyways - eyes, but found he didn't have words to just explain in an angry outburst. His jaw seemed to lock. He'd been relying on the other students to fill in new students about his past, and letting them decide when to approach him, just like everyone else. But he hadn't had to actually explain it to anyone since his first week...

He closed his eyes to pull everything together, then met Prime's eyes seriously. "I used to work for them, recruiting mutants. They were doing experiments on us - voluntary, I thought, for medical research. It was uglier than just taking kids."

Jamie considered that quietly before asking slowly "You thought it was by choice though? Like how my parents helped me. I'm assuming things turned at some point? It was, it was implied some pretty bad stuff happened to you but no details. Didn't think it was my place to ask anyway. You don't owe my anything, seriously."

"I found out what happens when you stop volunteering, yeah," Jack replied brashly. "But the two girls they kidnapped from here and experimented on for a month? They never had a choice." It was harsh, but Jamie needed to know the truth, not whatever sugar-coated version Xavier had given him. "And I didn't ask questions until it was too late."

Jamie nodded, absorbing the information as his duplicate summed up. "Collaborator turned victim, sounds like you've been punished enough to me then." And Jack's regret and embarrassment over it was very obvious, if it wasn't then Jamie probably wouldn't have been ok with it.

At least he hadn't said something about second chances. But it wasn't about punishment, it was about being the monster who couldn't be trusted. Jack stood.

"I don't think you get it. They turned one girl into a mindless weapon and sent her to kill her friends. They took a thirteen year old and cut into her brain. We're talking white rooms, tables with straps, drugs in your food accommodations and sociopath scientists in a hidden mountain research facility. That's who I was working for."

He crossed the room, pausing at the door. "So I'm gonna let you discuss this amongst your selves for a bit. No hard feelings if you decide to move in with someone else."

The twin Jamies watched him leave with matching expressions of alarm and concern.