Chapter Text
It all started with a fight.
Not one of those life or death fights with a terrorist or an enemy agent. Not a fight with his wife either (of course not! Loid Forger strives to be the perfect husband). Not even a fight with his 6-year-old daughter, who refuses to study.
None of those. This was a fight with someone he knew before he even became a spy, someone who knew how to press all his buttons and annoy him to no end: his associate, Franky Franklin.
Franky and him always bickered. Unless other people were present, neither of them needed to pretend and be polite. They clearly disliked each other, but Twilight worked with Franky at times because he was useful.
Franky not only provided occasional valuable information but also served as a reliable babysitter during his current mission. Twilight couldn’t have a stranger (and possible enemy) roaming free in Loid Forger’s home. Thanks to Franky, he didn’t have to worry about that, and he could still take his wife out on a date every once in a while…for the mission, of course.
That night, Yor and Loid Forger went out on a date to the theater to see a new play. Lately, they had been going out a lot. At the beginning of their marriage, they would rarely go out together, only when there was a pressing issue Twilight needed to address. Now…well, now they went out at least once a week and, even though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, he truly enjoyed their dates.
How could he not? Yor was such pleasant company, her voice was sweet, and her eyes so sparkly. Plus, it was normal and very much expected for them to spend time alone as a couple. So, he was doing this to strengthen his cover and nothing more.
For this particular date, after the play was over, instead of going home right away, they decided to go eat an ice cream. It was Yor’s idea. Twilight had the feeling she didn’t want the date to end, and he wanted to please her, of course. They ended up getting home a couple of hours later than they had planned. Anya was already asleep when they arrived.
“Sorry for the delay,” he said to Franky as he paid him an extra fee for his time.
“No problem, man,” the informant responded with a smile. He certainly didn’t mind that extra cash, for sure.
Franky left and Twilight thought that was the end of it. He was wrong.
The next day, when he went to Franky's usual workplace so he could get some information, he found his associate showing a big black eye.
“What happened to you?” the spy asked without even greeting him.
“Thanks to you, I walked back home too late and I got robbed.”
“Are you serious? he asked. “And how is that my fault?”
Franky scoffed.
“Don’t play dumb with me,” the informant said. “You were out late romancing Yor, probably trying to get into her pants.”
“I was not!” he defended. “You know very well that going out on dates with my wife is part of my cover.”
“Sure, Loverboy,” he mocked him. “I wonder…if I had played the role of your wife, would you have taken me on dates every week and stayed out late making out?”
“We were not making out!” he snapped. “And you were compensated more than fairly for your services!”
“Well, I was left with nothing.”
“That’s your own fault,” Twilight said. “Don’t you know how to defend yourself? Why didn’t you fight the robbers?”
Franky seemed to get nervous after hearing these questions.
“Because there were too many of them!” he yelled. “There were five…no eight of them!”
Something was off. Twilight somehow got the feeling Franky was hiding something.
“Besides, I’m not a trained spy who can fight everyone!”
“Shut up!” Twilight tried to covering Franky's mouth and when he did this, the informant bit him. “What the fuck is your problem?!”
“I hate you! That is my fucking problem.” he yelled at him. “You have everything I don’t: a gorgeous wife, money, good looks, a cool job.”
Twilight rolled his eyes.
“You have no idea what this job entails and the sacrifices…”
It was Franky’s turn to roll his eyes.
“Of course; I know about the great sacrifices you had to make while fucking a ton of women ‘for the mission’,” he completed. “I bet sleeping with Yor will be just another one of your great sacrifices, right?”
Yes, he had slept with a lot of women to attain information, but hearing him mention Yor’s name, had infuriated him. Before he could stop himself, Twilight had grabbed Franky by the collar of his shirt. Suddenly, he had the urge to give him a black eye so both of his eyes would match.
Instead, he just let him go and walked away.
What did he know about his life and this job he actually hated? Nothing.
Sure, movies showed spies as cool, handsome fellows that did nothing but bed gorgeous women, but reality was very different. Twilight risked his life every day. Additionally, he abhorred deceiving innocent civilians like Yor and Anya. But he had to. He had to work tirelessly for peace.
Franky may not have the looks, but he was also free. Couldn’t he see that? He could pack up any day and disappear without any consequences. He could start a new life, have a family, live happily ever after. Those things Twilight could never do. He had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Couldn’t Franky see that?
***
No, Franky hadn’t been mugged. He’d been stupid.
After getting so much extra cash, instead of going straight home, he’d gone to an underground cockfight and…lost everything.
At some point, he thought he could get everything back with a single fight, so he borrowed money from a not-so-generous man. He was wrong, of course, and that’s how he’d gotten that black eye.
But he was not going to tell Twilight all that.
Stupid, fucking spy―always so smug, with his perfect hair, expensive suit, and perfect manners. Franky hated him. Today, he hated him more than usual.
After a long day, it was time to close up and go home. Franky was hungry; he hadn’t eaten all day but he didn’t have a single pent and payday wasn’t until tomorrow.
After closing his tobacco stand, without much energy, he walked home. He didn’t want to feel hungry but there was nothing much he could do except sleep, so that’s what he would do as soon as he got home.
It was a beautiful Spring day, so he decided to walk across a nearby park. His mom used to take him to this park when he was a kid, before the war, before he became a street rat. In the middle of this park there was a fountain. Franky and his mom used to throw coins and make wishes. When he remembered that, he smiled sadly.
Franky felt so ashamed of himself. He shouldn’t have spent his hard-earned money on a stupid cockfight. It wasn’t even the first time he’d lost all his money gambling. Why did he do that? If his mom saw him, she would be so disappointed. She considered an intelligent boy who would become a great inventor and do wonderful things with his life.
Look at me now, mom…
He wasn’t the brilliant inventor his mom had dreamed about. Franky was over thirty and worked odd jobs to earn very little money. He was short, uninteresting, poor, and got nervous around women; that’s why he’d never been in a relationship.
If only he was someone like Twilight, his life would be much better. Franky wished he was tall and handsome, with a cool job and an agency that took care of all his expenses. On top of it, he had a gorgeous wife and a cute daughter waiting for him at home. That fucking spy had the perfect life!
Suddenly, he saw something shiny next to his shoe―a coin.
It was a single pent and he could buy absolutely nothing with it. But he could throw it into the fountain and make a wish.
“I wish I was someone else.”
He threw the coin and saw it sink. Then he let out a big sigh and walked away.
***
The next morning, Franky woke up with a headache and stomachache. Somehow his body felt extra tired even though he had slept for more than 10 hours.
When he opened his eyes, he noticed two weird things. First, his eyesight wasn’t blurry at all. Had he forgotten to take his glasses off? He touched his face, but his glasses weren’t there.
Had some miracle corrected his eyesight?
Second, the ceiling of his bedroom looked very different. He sat up and looked around. This wasn’t his place. At least he knew where he was: The Forgers’ apartment.
Weird. He didn’t remember babysitting Anya and even if he did, he never stayed the night.
Outside, he could hear Anya playing and Bond barking. He got up and got out of the room.
“Good morning,” Franky greeted Yor who was attempting to cook breakfast in the kitchen.
“Good morning,” she smiled and looked at him as if he was the most wonderful person in the world.
That spy was so damn lucky; Yor was absolutely gorgeous. He blushed.
“I guess I just fell asleep here, huh,” he smiled.
“You mean you overslept?” Yor asked. Perhaps she hadn’t understood his statement. “It’s quite alright. You wake up so early every day. I’m glad you slept in today.”
Franky chuckled. He didn’t wake up that early every day. In fact, he tended to oversleep most of the time.
“I guess you’re right,” he said and sat down, ready to eat a hearty breakfast. “I do work hard every day.”
“But you may want to hurry if you want to avoid traffic on your way to school,” she commented.
“School?”
“Yeah, it’s Friday,” she said. “You are taking Anya to school, right?”
“Who me?” he felt a bit lost. “What about Loid?”
Yor giggled. “Yes, you, Loid.”
“Huh?”
Just then, the front door opened and Franky saw someone he never expected to see face to face: a exact replica of himself.
“What the fuck?!” he yelled when he saw his doppelgänger.
The fake Franky seemed completely out of sorts―his hair crazier than ever, his shirt untucked and undone, wearing a different shoe in each foot. But the most unsettling thing was his crazy face.
The doppelgänger walked in and approached him:
“You and I need to talk.”