Note: Sorry for the delay, everyone, and thank you so much for all the nice reviews! I'm sorry I made you wait for so long... at first I had real life interfer with my writing, then I completely forgot the password for my account and... yes, I only remembered today that there was a "forgotten password" feature here... *sighs* What can I say, I'm getting old ^___^; Really sorry about that.

I can't reply to everyone individually but some of you raised some interesting points. I just want to clarify some things : first, the woman on the photos is not someone from Stargate SG1, she is actually someone McGee nearly dated in episode 06 of season 4 (episode "Witch Hunt"). They were supposed to go to a costume party for Hallowe'en, but an investigation came up and McGee had to cancel. Remember? :-)

Also, since this is going to come up in the story quite soon : the phenomenon that affects Carter's double in Stargate SG1's episode Point of View was due to a decrease in Entropy. Not going to give a lesson in Thermodynamics here, but basically, the idea is that Entropy is a measure of "disorder". One of the fundamental laws of Thermodynamics (called the second principle) is that Entropy is spontaneously increasing in a system. So the fact that there are two Carters in the same universe means that there is "too much order", thus a decrease in Entropy... which has the dangerous consequences we observed in Point of View on the Carter from the other universe. This explanation is really really lacking precision and would probably make any Physics teacher jump... but I just need the basic concept for the story. We're going to see something like that happen soon so... that was the annoying scientific note :P

Now to Chapter 3, finally! This is a transition chapter, not much here but I hope to be back on track soon!

Hope you enjoy, if anyone is still reading this story that is :)

Small Variations

Chapter 3

"I must say, this is the first time that I have someone be an assistant to their own autopsy," said Ducky pensively as he took his scalpel and started making an incision on the torso of McGee's lookalike.

Truth be told, Tim was not, technically, assisting much; he was not doing anything except staring at the body lying on the autopsy table. His body. He found himself hardly able to listen as Ducky continued his meandering.

"I did, though, know a Professor in Glasgow who had insisted on conducting himself the Autopsy of his own twin brother, who had been found dead in rather tragic circumstances. It is a rather interesting story, in fact. It appears that the murder had been perpetrated by the twin's own daughter, who -"

"Did you get anything from the preliminary examination, Duck?" cut Gibbs, shaking his head in disbelief at the sight of the body. He seemed to be as confused as McGee... and that was a rare sight.

"Well, there is not much I can say for now, beyond the fact that I can confirm the report provided by the hospital in Colorado Springs. This young man died after a cardiac arrest which was, indeed, caused by internal bleeding in multiple places, which, in turn, were cause by gunwounds. What is interesting, though, is the gunwound itself." He removed part of the white sheet that was covering the lower part of the torso, revealing a large, round-shaped wound in the middle of the stomach. Several rings of burnt skin could be seen around the wound. The sight made Tim slightly uncomfortable.

"Have you ever seen something like that, Jethro ?" asked Ducky.

Gibbs bent over the dead man's chest to examine the wound and frowned. "No... The wound looks more like a contact burn... but at the same time, it looks like it was fired from a weapon. Do you have an idea of what caused this, Duck?"

"Unfortunately, none, Jethro. We will have to wait for Abigail's analyses..."

At the mention of Abby, Tim started, as if he had just realized something important. "Does Abby know about my d- about this?" he asked Gibbs.

Gibbs did not have the time to reply, for Tony and Ziva arrived at that moment. They both stopped in their tracks when they caught a glimpse of the body lying on the table.

"Oh wow," exclaimed Tony, shaking his head as though it would help him back to reality. "This is really true, then. Attack of the Clones, McGee version. It's-"

"What do you have, DiNozzo?" cut Gibbs. He sounded slightly tired - but not as much as one should be after travelling from Washington to Colorado and back in one day.

"The Redskins Cheerleader McGee nearly dated a couple of years ago goes by the name of Sharon Francez; and I'll have you know, Probie, that she is now following a brilliant career at KFC, over on the campus of Georgetown. I got her address, and - "

"-and?"

Tony gave him a slightly nervous smile. "and I'm on my way to her place right now to talk to her."

"Too right you are, DiNozzo. Ziva, what did you find?" Gibbs asked as Tony left.

"The house where McG- where the victim was found belonged to a former Marine Colonel, Colonel Robert Makepeace," she announced, giving the file of the man to Gibbs.

"former?" asked McGee.

Ziva nodded. "Yes, it appears that he was recently charged with high treason against the United States. The exact details for the treason are -"

"- top secret," read Gibbs from the file. "He was working with the Air Force at Cheyenne Mountain until he was arrested in March."

"Yes," confirmed Ziva. "And since then, his files mentions that he is in prison, but apparently, we do not have clearance to know where or why."

Gibbs looked at the file for another minute, then he handed it back to Ziva. "Continue looking into this guy's file. A guy looking exactly like McGee, and carrying an NCIS badge, is found dying at a former Marine's house... you know how I feel about coincidences. I'll talk to the Director about the clearance..."

"On it," said Ziva, and she headed for the elevator.

Once she had left, Gibbs turned towards McGee. "To answer your previous question, McGee, no, Abby doesn't know about this yet, I told her to wait for us in her lab. I think it's probably better if you go and explain the situation to her directly and-"

He stopped mid-sentence, as something very strange started to happen to the body on the table. Ducky and McGee were both staring too. It was something so strange that it was hardly describable, something that none of them had ever seen before. It looked as if waves were emanating from the body and as though another body was going to emerge from those waves. Whatever it was, it was not a pleasant sight, and the three men witnessing the phenomenon all winced accordingly.

Gibbs was, unsurprisingly, the first to recover from his shock. "Duck, what in the name of God was that about?" he asked.

Ducky just shook his head. For once, he was completely speechless.

Gibbs looked at McGee, who seemed to be stuck in a gaping mode himself.

"Alright. This thing is getting stranger and stranger every second." he said. He placed a hand on McGee's arm, which had the effect of shaking the younger agent from his temporary semi-stupor. "Come on McGee, let's go to Abby's lab."

"Wait, Jethro," called Ducky before they both left Autopsy. "If you are going to visit Abigail, why don't you bring her these samples I took from the body of - of our young friend there," he said, handing them a box labeled "evidence". Gibbs signed the forms and took a look at the box.

"There are samples of skin and hair, as well as the photographs Mister Palmer took of the mysterious wound. " explained Ducky, who, Gibbs noted, had recovered his speech quite quickly, "It is not much, but maybe she can start with this. We will get the autopsy done as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Duck," said Gibbs as he led a still very pale McGee to the elevator.