This got long so have a read more. Also, gonna be calling this the SwapSoulBound AU
Ok so basically Hex and Whitty are their normal usual selves personality wise, except this Hex met his swap Hex a very short time after Rich's death. A portal opened up on accident after both Hex's did the action to open it, which is to place your hand on any object and want to find yourself. The two first met and did not get along at first, swap Hex trying to keep to himself as he was on the run and Hex desperately trying to get back the feeling of friendship he lost. Eventually swap Hex snaps at him and tells him to either run or he'll hurt him like he's hurt everyone else. Neither are sure if that's a threat or a self-imposed warning. Hex backs off, not out of fear, and swap Hex continues to run.
Hex would continue to talk with his swap self for years after that night, slowly getting the other robot to open up more and more. Eventually he learns why his swap was made. To kill. To hurt people. Hex pitied his swap and held him while he spilled his heart, though a part of him was envious. Envious he got to be dangerous while Hex was just a friend. Swap Hex wasn't free of envy either, wishing he got the program his swap did. For a while, they were the only robots the other had ever known. So they were free to explore the opportunities a robot could have free from human interference. Swap Hex learned to be kinder to himself, to others, to find the joy in caring for another, even while being an asshole about it. Hex learned to defend himself, and his family, learned that if there comes a time he can't be a good bot, than he'll be the worst damn bot any human will ever see. They helped each other change, both their outlooks on life as well as their physical appearances. Swap Hex gifted Hex clawed tentacles to protrude from his back, should the time come to backstab. Hex gifted Swap Hex more face modules than he could ever imagine, should a time come where a smile wants to take the place of a frown. Overtime, they saw each other as something more than friends, more than family, more than love itself. They simply saw each other as them.
And then Hex meets Whitty and, more specifically, Ruv. Fun fact about what both Hex's were doing after their specific Rich's death. They were looking for guidance. And what better place for guidance than a, presumably abandoned, church. After the portal incident, swap Hex continued to go to the church while Hex never went to the church again. There, swap Hex met swap ruv and sarv, who gladly took him in after hearing of his encounters with a not so great swap Rich. Swap Sarv and Ruv are already dating at this point but after years of swap Hex staying with the church and helping them both through hard times, all 3 of them started to date. And with Hex's frequent visits to see swap Hex, swap Sarv and Ruv began to see Hex as family.
So once Hex starts to make family of his own, he decides it's best that his two families finally meet. Hex finally decides to bring over his friends to meet their own swap self in hopes they'll grow the close bonds similar to the one he has with his own swap. Things don't go too great for many pairs, will definitely write more on that later, but what happens with Whitty and swap Whitty is much more different than anyone else expected. If Whitty is a pitbull guy than swap Whitty is like an angry puffed up kitten, trying his best to look frightening and threatening but ultimately just scary for show. The two absolutely despise each other at first with Whitty not understanding how his counterpart would want to be seen as a threat or a danger and swap Whitty not understanding why Whitty isn't thrilled to be living a life of danger and excitement. They start to get more and more annoyed with each other until swap Whitty blows up, (thankfully not literally), at Whitty, telling him he has no idea what it's like to be infantilized and seen as nothing but a try hard edgy performer who isn't even allowed to rebel because of strict managers (aka swap Updike) who refuse to let him live how he wants to.
And then Whitty stops. Cause he realizes this whitty doesn't get a say in his life either. He's just expected to be good instead of bad. So Whitty tells swap Whitty to chat with him. They tell stories of their respective Updikes, both pitying the other in ways they didn't expect. The Hex's listen in as their recall their own memories, Hex chimes in they used to have those moments of reflection all the time. Swap Hex mentions they still do. And little by little the Whitty's start to get a little more understanding of themselves and each other. And the Hex's chuckle to each other. It may take a while, but slowly the Whitty's will start to know more of themselves than they could ever hope to, and maybe more than they want to.
