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Chapter Text

Rock Creek Park

Officer John Morrow of the Metro Washington Police Department was the first law enforcement officer to arrive at the crime scene, and the first to corridon it off from the growing crowd of gawkers and onlookers.

It's not every morning you see a male and a female, he thought, garbed in Navy and Marine dress uniforms, interwined in each other's arms lying on the grass in plain view of the most public area of the park...

...both very much dead.

Officer Morrow was here only to make sure no one contaminated the crime scene nor the bodies.

NCIS would handle the case. Once he saw its people arrive and spoke with the lead agent, he was free to go.

A half-hour after he called the crime in, the officer saw two vehicles pull along the side of the nearest road, 60 feet away, both with large NCIS lettering on the side. Having met FBI and NSA agents in the past, Morrow knew whom he expected to meet; staid, no-nonsense types in suits and ties.

This bunch, he later decided, broke the mold.

It started with the very animated man, and his initially bemused female partner, who stepped out of one of the trucks.

"How many times have we been here, Zee-Vah? A hundred? A thousand? A hundred thousand?"

Special Agent Tony DiNozzo had no real idea how many times he had worked a crime scene at Rock Creek Park in his 13 years with NCIS. He didn't really care anyway, and especially now.

What Tony cared about was that his partner, Special Agent Ziva David, was back.

"I do not know, Tony," she said, as they casually walked towards the scene. "I am sure it is in our records, somewhere. Perhaps if you ask McGee."

"Tim's not gonna know and probably cares about as much as I do," Tony replied. "It doesn't matter anyway, Zee-Vah. What matters is...you're back."

"I am only back for a period of time," she said, "as I agreed upon with Director Vance."

Tony stopped - causing Ziva to stop herself - and turned to face her, holding his right hand up and out.

"What does matter is you're back in the game, back in the groove, back on Team Gibbs! High five for Special Agent David!"

He held his hand up, grinning; she smiled and cocked her head.

"I wish I had the camera to take a picture of you," Ziva said. "What I see is the quizzical Tony."

Tony scrunched his eyebrows, then said, "you mean quintessential, Ziva."

She giggled. "If you say so, Tony."

Both walked to the bodies.

"Looks like they were quite, ah, busy when they met their demise," Tony observed. "Hey. Speaking of the cameras. Where are our probies with the gear?"

Ziva looked towards the van she and Tony rode in. "They appear to be in the van, still."

"Which surprises me greatly," heard Tony and Ziva from behind; they turned and saw - and heard - Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, followed by his much younger assistant, James Palmer.

Neither were the men Tony and Ziva had known for years; these men were roughly nine years younger - and were a very small part of a bigger event right out of science fiction.

They were refugees from a parallel universe; they weren't the Ducky and Palmer Tony and Ziva had known, and yet they were.

And along with the 'other' Ducky and Palmer came another Tony, Ziva, Tim McGee, Abby Sciuto, and Leroy Jethro Gibbs...and a host of other doppelgangers, not the least being one for the late Kate Todd, another of Dr. Jeanne Benoit.

Now the doppelgangers, at Director Vance's behest, were working with Tony and Ziva, their teammates, and their boss.

And that meant mixing up the teams to get the "newcomers" up to speed.

Today, Tony and Ziva would work with the younger Ducky and Palmer, work under the younger version of Gibbs, and boss around what Tony called "our Very Special Probies."

As the alternate Ducky and Palmer prepared to position the bodies for a better examination, Tony saw Officer Morrow standing alongside.

"Hold up Ducky, until we get photos and sketches. Officer," Tony said. "Thank you for keeping the scene for us, you can go."

"Are you the ranking agent?" According to Vance, altGibbs was the lead agent on this case, but Tony technically was the ranking agent.

"Yeah," Tony replied, holding up his badge and ID.

"Thanks," the officer said. "I'd like to see the report later, if you don't mind. How Romeo and Juliet got that way."

"Gimme a day, then call my work number," Tony said, handing him a business card.

The officer walked back to his patrol car, deciding to hang back and look on a bit longer.

Ziva looked at Tony quizzically.

"You do realize the director made Gibbs - the other Gibbs - lead on this case," she said.

"Well, yes, Ziva, but I don't see him here and there's no need to keep the officer standing around all day," Tony said. "Besides. What's he gonna do? Head slap me?...where are our Probies?"

"Jethro must be stuck in traffic," Ducky interjected, as he looked over the female. "He decided to give the younger Abigail a ride to the crime scene. She said she wanted to lose her crime scene virginity and he agreed."

"Abby's coming here?" Ziva asked.

"The younger, Nancy Wilson-slash-Joan Jett-slash-Chrissie Hynde-esque Abby, not our favorite pigtailed gothic scientist," Tony said. "She told me she was looking forward to this, that 'other Gibbs' finally felt comfortable enough to go along with it. He didn't feel that way where they were from."

"Not with Russians shooting at us," Palmer interjected. "Or potentially shooting at us. Usually they didn't shoot at us. Usually they weren't around. When they were they usually looked--"

"Mister Palmer!" Ducky said, firmly. "Please. We can discuss past unpleasant experiences another day...Tony, I don't see any exit wounds so far, no blood. I will be able to tell you much more once Mr. Palmer and I get these unfortunate people to the morgue...if our friends back there stop bickering."

"I'll take care of that; I don't want to be here all day either," Tony said. "But...I can't do this without the help of Very Special Agent Ziva David."

"Do what without my help, Agent DiNozzo?" Ziva asked, as Palmer looked on and began to grin.

"You know what I mean, Ziva."

"Tony, I will go over there and bring them here myself--"

"Ah, Ziva, but it's more fun my way...see? Even Autopsy Gremlin Jr. here agrees with me. Just like I told you Tim and I did with Bishop...on three. One, two, three--"

"PROBIES!!!!" yelled Tony and Ziva in unison - though Tony by far was the louder and more enthusiastic of the two.

Finally, the last two members of their team appeared out of the back of the truck.

Tony's younger counterpart had a box in one arm and holding a bag in the other.

The 'alternate' Kate Todd walked alongside him, carrying a box.

Both were a little grumpy, and completely silent, which encouraged the older Tony to prod.

"I heard you both bickering like cats and dogs from the Navy Yard until we pulled into the park, and all the way from here," older Tony said. "The tape should've been set up, DiNozzo you should've taken pictures, Kate you should've sketched, and we all should be back at work by now."

Older Tony, smiling, walked to his younger counterpart and got in his face, then started to do the same with Kate - and, seeing her expression, thought better of it.

"What do you Probies have to say for yourselves? Huh?"

A few moments later, Kate and younger Tony talked over one another.

Ziva threw up her hands and shouted at both of them--

"STOP! STOP! You. Caitlin. You first."

"Tony hid the boxes--"

"I didn't hide anything, Kate. They were in the wrong place--"

"The camera was in the wrong place, DiNozzo. I found it where my sketch pads were supposed to be."

"Because they're not your sketch pads, Kate. They're Bishop's."

"And the gloves were in the wrong drawer. Nothing is where I organized it--"

"Because it's not our truck, Kate, it's theirs."

Tony and Ziva saw a rental car - not Gibbs' pickup - pull up behind the NCIS vehicles. While Kate and young Tony bickered, the other Gibbs and Abby got out and were followed by a man and woman who looked vaguely familiar.

"I organized it last night, DiNozzo. Me and McGee. Where were you?"

"Cold cases, Kate. Picking up the slack for you and for Probie."

"Excuse me?!? You're accusing me of slacking off?"

"No. I'm accusing you of forgetting you organized the wrong truck--"

SLAP! SLAP!

"Sorry Boss." "Sorry Gibbs."

"Ouch," older Tony whispered to Ziva; "Ooh," she whispered back.

Gibbs started towards Ducky and the bodies, then stopped when she saw Abby's repeated head nods towards their guests.

"Director Vance's idea," he said. "Found out about it before I left. SecNav's idea. Guy's doing research on a book...Kate. DiNozzo. What'ya standin' around for? Duck. What we got?"

"Yes, Gibbs." "Right Boss." "Well, Jethro..."

Tony and Ziva looked at the couple, curiously and sympathetically, introducing themselves.

"Well, I'm Kate Beckett, Detective, New York Police Department," said the woman. "And this is my fiance, Mr. Richard Castle."

Tony and Ziva looked at them, then at Gibbs, then at each other.

"This oughta be fun," Tony deadpanned.

"My thoughts exactly," Castle interjected, full of enthusiasm. "Navy cops? Doppelgangers? Alternate universes like Fringe? Totally unbelievable, and yet all too real. I have so, so many questions."

I bet you do, Tony thought.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

Rock Creek Park

While the alternate Gibbs and his team worked the crime scene, the “Prime” Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David pulled Richard Castle and Det. Kate Beckett aside.

“Mr. Castle, Detective Beckett,” Tony said. “Sorry I can’t allow you into the scene—“

“It isn’t a problem, Agent DiNozzo,” Beckett replied. “Mr. Castle and I are well aware of the necessity of maintaining the integrity of a crime scene and not allowing unauthorized persons inside it. And, Director Vance made it very clear to us that, today, we were both here to observe from a distance.”

“I’m sure the director has no problem with us getting to know the two of you a little more,” Prime Tony said. “You, sir, look familiar to me, like an actor…I’ve watched more than my share of movies, but you remind me of someone from television…sci-fi, perhaps. A sci-fi show about fireflies…Ziva, you getting that vibe?”

“The only vibe, Tony, that I am getting is you rambling in circles,” Ziva said in jest.

“That’s ‘going in circles’, Zee-vah, and I’m guessing Mr. Castle here is not the space cowboy I’m thinking of,” Tony retorted.

“I get confused with the actor I believe you’re referring to – in fact I saw him at New York ComicCon, when I appeared with the artist and writer of my Derrick Storm graphic novel – but you’re right, I’m not him, and he isn’t me,” Castle said. “I’m guessing you’re more of a film aficionado than a reader?”

“I am indeed,” Tony replied. “Whereas Ziva here, and my longtime partner Tim McGee are more literary—“

“Mr. Castle, I in fact do recognize you, and you as well Detective Beckett,” Ziva replied. “I am surprised you didn’t recognize him from the Nikki Heat movie.”

“Nikki Heat movie—whoa…oh, ho ho. Nikki Heat. You’re the author of the book the movie was based on, and you’re the inspiration!” Tony said, pointing to Castle, then to Beckett; both nodded affirmatively.

"AHA!" Tony yelled, drawing the attention of others around them - including altGibbs, who fixed his trademark glare on DiNozzo for just an instant, before turning his attention back to the Metro officer he was interviewing.

"I, Mr. DiNozzo, am the writer of Nikki Heat and, if I may say so, an author of some renown," Castle said, trying to appear modest.

"You're too modest, Rick...way too modest," Beckett interjected. "You're dying to tell Agent DiNozzo all about yourself."

"Which I've been known to do, in the past," Castle replied. "I can see, however, that Agent Day-vid--"

"Dah-VEED," Ziva corrected him.

"--Dah-VEED is eager to satisfy Agent DiNozzo's curiosity," Castle said. "In fact, it seems you, Agent David, are a fan of my work - which I very much appreciate."

"Oh, very much so, Mr. Castle," Ziva said.

Nearby, the alternate Tony and alternate Agent Kate Todd were photographing and sketching the bodies of a female Naval Petty Officer and male Marine Corps Lieutenant, while the alternate versions of Ducky and Palmer were looking over the victims.

"Do NCIS agents in this world stop at crime scenes to talk with celebrities?" altKate said. "Tony, if we did that, Gibbs would kill us."

"No, he’d headslap us, then finish showing his disapproval by staring us down with his glare," altTony said. " Although, I did notice my doppelganger got a brief taste of Leroy Jethro Gibbs's trademark stare of disapproval--"

"That so, DiNozzo?" said altGibbs, standing behind altTony for the last ten seconds, and without anyone else noticing.

Except for Ducky, who kept silent on the exchange.

"Sorry Boss," altTony answered. "Back to snapping photos, Boss."

"Go over there with Abby" - he said, pointing to the alternate Abby Sciuto nearby - "and take some photos of those drag marks on the grass."

"What drag marks?" altTony asked.

"She'll tell ya," altGibbs said, glaring at him as he stood in place.

"Going, Boss!...ABS!" altTony jogged over to altAbby, to see what she had found.

"Ya done, Kate?" altGibbs asked her.

"I've taken all the photos I need," altKate replied, looking over towards 'Prime' Tony and Ziva talking animatedly with Castle, while Beckett looked on. "You want me to go over there and see what's up with—“

"—Abby and DiNozzo?" altGibbs said. "Yeah. Make sure you check that brush out, too." altGibbs stared at altKate, who quietly turned and made her way towards her teammates. "Duck, you have an idea how the Lieutenant and Petty Officer died?"

"Jethro, I can tell you I don't see any exit wounds, nor - as you can see - is there any blood," Ducky told him. "Based on the beginning stages of rigor mortis just now setting in, I estimate the time of death to be three hours."

altGibbs looked at the Petty Officer's neck, where he noticed a needle mark, then pointed to it. "Mark looks rough, like someone jammed it in," altGibbs mused.

altPalmer - following Gibbs' lead - looked at the Lieutenant's neck. He found a similar mark on the neck.

"Mark on the lieutenant's neck also is consistent with a needle," he said. "Maybe they were poisoned?"

While Gibbs and Ducky discussed the manner of death, Prime Tony and Ziva were in deep discussion with Castle and Beckett.

"I LOVE the Nikki Heat series," Ziva said. "If even half of what Mr. Castle writes about you is true, Detective, I am impressed."

"Thanks," Beckett said, half-embarassed, then noticed Castle's wide grin. "The half that is true is the police work. The rest of it is the author's overeager imagination."

Off in the distance, Tony and Abby discussed the drag marks going back to some shrubbery 60 yards away, and Kate began photographing a set of foot prints that didn't match the Lieutenant's dress shoes nor the Petty Officer's heels.

"Some portions of my novels, I'll admit, are, ah, embellished," Castle replied, winking at Beckett - who good-naturedly rolled her eyes in response - "However, the cases and methods of solving those cases are based in reality. It's why I've spent so much time with Detective Beckett and the others at the 12th. I want to get it right."

"And is that why you're here, today?" Tony asked him. "You want to write a novel about NCIS federal agents, but not without getting your facts straight." Castle nodded. "Does this mean you've run out of stories about Nikki Heat?"

Castle shook his head. "Oh no. I have plenty of stories left to tell about you," he replied, winking again at Beckett.

"Only the ones I let him tell," she replied.

"Author's privilege - informed, of course, by the inspiration of the series, who happens to be my fiancée," Castle retorted. "However, I suppose you two are wondering why we are here."

"Well now that you bring it up," Tony replied, "something tells me you're not here on vacation looking for a somewhat risque, and staged, crime scene."

Beckett shook her head. "I'm on vacation, while Castle researches you for his next novel."

"Ah hah," Tony and Ziva said in unison.

"And what might you be researching, Mr. Castle," Ziva asked. "The daily grind of being an NCIS agent?"

"The excitement that comes with being part of NCIS." Tony.

"The mundane aspects of investigations?" Ziva.

"Or the danger that comes with being a federal agent, chasing down terrorists and other dirtbags," Tony continued. "And, of course, our parallel doppelgangers, appearing out of nowhere, their existence a mystery you can't wait to solve."

They looked at Castle, waiting for his answer.

"Yes," he said. "Especially the last part. As I said--"

"You have so many questions," Ziva retorted.

"And I have one: how'd you get Vance to sign off on this?" Tony followed.

"Well," Castle said, "this goes back before Nikki Heat, even before my Derrick Storm series. I heard stories about Leroy Jethro Gibbs - your Gibbs, not the gentleman over there - and approached the then-director, an interestingly named Tom Morrow, about shadowing him. I was shot down on the spot, and again a few years later by his successor, Jennifer Shepard."

Tony and Ziva glanced at one another at the mention of Jenny's name, sharing a look of sadness.

"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" Castle asked.

"Oh no," Ziva replied. "You are fine...so you were rejected?"

"Yes, and I forgot about it, concentrating on Derrick Storm and later on Nikki Heat," Castle continued. "When the news broke about your unfortunate abduction, and everyone found out about the other universe--"

"Castle was looking for someone to talk to after we saw the interview Diane Sawyer did with the President from the other world," Beckett said.

"And I heard through my publisher the NCIS director was putting out feelers about a secret project, that involved you," Castle finished. "The Washington Post article let the world know about the doppelgangers."

"And the Indianapolis Star article," Tony said, glancing at altKate, slowly making her way towards them, taking photos of the ground. "Guess Vance gave his okay?"

"Yep," Castle said.

"She's headed our way," Beckett observed.

"We're standing on the crime scene?" Castle asked.

altGibbs, having left Ducky and Palmer, made his own way towards the quartet. altKate noticed them as well, and pointed to a shoe print a couple of feet from where Tony and Castle were standing.

"Unless she's taken a sudden interest in urban lawn care, I'd say our former Secret Service agent's found something," Prime Tony said, seeing altTony and altAbby follow Kate.

"As you said, Tony, I have found something," atlKate replied. "Our suspect's footprints."

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.

To say that a lot of people were annoyed, aggravated, perturbed, frustrated, or angry that a baseball game got postponed wouldn't be much of an understatement.

The Nationals were a half-game behind the Braves in the race to win the National League's East Division, and the two clubs were supposed to face off in the first of a three-game series here in Washington. The series was sold out; fans unable to get tickets through the official venues paid up to three times face value for all three games.

With two Marines eviscerated, their bodies left near first base, there wouldn't be any baseball played at what had now become a gigantic crime scene.

Once the grisly photos went public, most people understood there wouldn't be a game.

It was the older Leroy Jethro Gibbs' job to find out what exactly had happened, and why. Aiding him would be two Tim McGees - the one he'd known for nearly a decade, the other his younger counterpart from the devastated alternate Earth - and his own team's probationary agent, Ellie Bishop.

Two medical examiners were on the scene - the recently promoted-to-senior-M.E. Jimmy Palmer, and his assistant, Jeanne Benoit (yet another refugee from the alternate world, and engaged to the alternate Tony DiNozzo).

While everyone else were examining the scene, Bishop stood in the NCIS van, trying to remember which drawer the sketch pads were kept, and she was THIS close to losing her mind.

She argued with her husband for going back to NCIS, telling him that she was determined not to let her ordeal prevent her from living her life and doing her job. She told him the "maniacs" who abducted her - and her teammates - would not get the best of her. She vowed living would be the best revenge.

She talked a far better game than anyone gave her credit for and it was enough to get her back on Gibbs' team.

And it was only a matter of time before he, or Tony, Vance, McGee, Ziva, one of the doppelgangers found her out, Bishop was sure of it.

Everything work-related was a trigger for Bishop. The nightmares had finally gone away and now the daymares - as Bishop put them - were gradually taking their place, all brought on by the triggers.

The Navy Yard. The squadroom. Autopsy. Abby's lab. Tony's incessant banter. Gibbs coming around the corner without warning. The smell of coffee.

Even smells, now, were triggers for Bishop. Kerosene bought on the god-awful memory of the basement she and others were captured in; rainwater the memory of the torture Janvier did on the LA team; even in a supermarket, Bishop was having to pick which aisles to avoid.

Bishop could no longer eat - nor smell - cheese puffs. She was eating a bag when Haswari kidnapped her from Rock Creek Park. She told the other Ducky there was no way she'd eat a single one anytime soon, and joked that the ordeal would result in something good after all:

She'd finally get around to snacking on healthy foods.

The other Ducky chuckled, and suggested Bishop get with the other Kate on healthy snacking options.

Kate hadn't yet had the time to catch up with Bishop about anything, but Bishop was certain she wasn't the person who left that Cheez Puff bag on the floor.

"Bishop? Bishop?"

It was a cool, partly cloudy day. The sun was obscured behind clouds, but part of the sky was a lovely blue. The winds were light, enough for a soft breeze, which Bishop had found that day to be invigorating. Push the temperature into the 70s, get rid of the clouds, and turn the calendar to a time where the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and the Washington weather would be perfect for the probationary agent.

She remembered grabbing a bag of Cheez Puffs from her desk, thinking Gibbs surely would call her in for a case if she went to lunch; at least she could take the bag with her. She'd go for a walk, get some exercise, and think through the lead she had just gotten on Parsa.

"Bishop! You OK?"

The white van pulled up, abruptly, and the driver was someone Tony had only told her about in passing...and who was supposed to be very, very dead.

Oh, the man Tony was talking about was indeed dead. This man was very much alive, and about to put her through an ordeal she still had not completely moved on from.

"BISHOP!"

She had a mouthful of Cheez Puffs when the man grabbed her and threw her into the van.

The Cheez Puffs bag fell onto the ground, and laid there, as the van drove away...

"BISHOP! You with me? Come on! Bishop!!!"

She felt herself shaken, not harshly but firmly and rapidly, and quickly recognized the man yelling at her as Tim McGee...

His doppelganger.

"Bishop!" he said, finally getting her full attention. "Bishop! You with me?"

"McGee?"

"Bishop, I saw you up here, looking like you were going into a trance," the younger McGee explained. "Then I saw that bag."

He lowered his voice. "Thought that might be a trigger."

She glanced at it, then back at him. "I'm...I'm fine," she said, breaking his light grip on her shoulders. "Let me get my sketch pads and find my pencils--"

The older "Prime" McGee, having come back to the van after not seeing either person at the crime scene, noticed Bishop and the younger McGee. He saw her posture, then saw the snack bag on the floor, and quickly put things together.

After verifying that she was okay, the older McGee stepped into the van.

"You guys better get in the stadium; Gibbs is getting impatient and Jimmy's starting to tell long-winded stories like Ducky, which is making Gibbs even more annoyed," older McGee joked, breaking the tension just a bit.

Bishop grabbed her sketch pad and pencils and headed into the stadium. Younger McGee began to follow, camera around his neck, when the Prime McGee grabbed him by the arm to stop him.

"What went on in there?" he asked, and younger McGee explained what he saw.

"Her episodes aren't getting any better," older McGee observed. "Night before last, when we brought that guy from the bar into interrogation?"

"The one who smelled?" younger McGee said. "Kate was in rare form. Both Tonys double teamed on him, then talked about the scent--"

"That guy's 'stink' sparked a trigger for Bishop," older McGee replied. "Kate said Bishop told her and both Abbys Janvier smelled as bad."

"I missed that episode," said his younger doppelganger. "What I didn't miss was being in here and the other van with Kate and Bishop, organizing things. So both teams would be consistent. I don't remember that bag being on the floor, or anywhere in the garage."

"None of us would've even brought it in," older McGee said, as both men stepped out of the van and he locked it up. "Everyone's out in the field, so we'll have to see who was in the garage with the vans between last night and today."

"Goth Abby's not in the field," younger McGee told him. "She could check."

"Call her," older McGee said, as both crossed the street and headed towards the side entrance nearest the crime scene.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Washington, D.C., Nationals Park

The McGees walked onto the field, and saw a plethora of Metro DC officers and detectives surrounding Gibbs, Bishop, the older Jimmy and Jeanne.

The younger McGee kept pace with his counterpart, and was all business, a fact not lost on the older man.

"When I was...your age, I was still intimidated by Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, even Kate," said the older McGee. "And a little timid, too. You're not. You push back at Tony and Kate, you roll with the younger Gibbs - who's really intense, by the way - you even stand up to both Abbys."

"Thanks, I think," said the younger McGee. "Sometimes Gibbs, my Gibbs, can be a little too intense, though I get along with Tony, Kate, Ziva. I've always gotten along with Abby. Wasn't that the case for you?"

"Abby was the first person I got along with," younger McGee said. "Then Kate. Tony pushed hard, pulled jokes on me--"

"Including the super glue?"

"He did that to you too?...yeah. Twice. Then I got back at him. Switched keyboards while he was down in the morgue, hid the remover. And went down to accounting, told the girls there he had come out of the closet. One of their best friends came up and started hitting on him...at least until Gibbs got back upstairs."

Older McGee's mouth flew open. "Seriously?"

"Scout's honor," younger McGee replied. "Caught some hell from Gibbs over it, and got his respect. Next time Tony tried something was when he and Kate broke into my apartment. They met my lady friend--"

"Lady friend?" older McGee asked, as he began taking photos.

"Well, she was there to play an online game...my sister was supposed to be there but my dad had called her back, so I brought over this girl, 22 I think? I met her at a group of MRPG--"

"Excuse me? MRPG what?" said the older McGee, while Bishop finished sketching the bodies.

"Multiplayer Role Playing Games...what we called them where I'm from," said the younger McGee. “MRPG gamer groups. That’s where we met.”

"Oh ok…we call them MRPGs, too," older McGee continued. "And?"

"We...slept together. Between rounds."

"Really?"

"Yeah...she came into the living room after Tony and Kate told me we caught a case, I introduced her, and them, and she said this was our first date," said the younger McGee. "Normally Tony's full of questions, but after that I don't think Tony said a word from there to the crime scene. Kate asked questions for him."

"So how did it work out?"

The younger McGee turned sad. "I called her, told her we caught a case, she let herself out...and I never saw her again--"

"You two done playing catch-up?" said the older Gibbs, standing behind both McGees and catching them completely off guard.

"Sorry boss!" said both, in unison.

"Palmer," Gibbs said to his acting M.E., turning from the McGees to the bodies. "What do we got?"

"The cause of death for both of these men was disembowlment, also known as evisceration," Palmer said. "As you see with both bodies, there's an incision, going left to right horizontally over the abdomen, and the bowels were removed--and you can see them lying in front of the dugout. Actual death would have been caused through the bleed out. I'm guessing based on rigor, this happened between six and eight hours ago--"

"So someone would have had to have access to the stadium, then lead these guys here, then kill them," said the older McGee.

"I also examined the head, chest, and as much of the remainder of the body I could with them fully clothed," said Jeanne Benoit. "I looked for some kind of bullet wound, or a needle mark--"

"Because no one is going to just lay there and let someone cut them open," the younger McGee followed. "The killer had to immobilize both men. And these are Marines, who are going to put up a greater fight than a civilian."

"Find anything, Jeanne?" Gibbs said.

"Here, and here," she said, pulling both bodies on the side, pulling back their shirt collars, and showing Gibbs, Palmer and the McGees needle marks on the necks. "I would conjecture someone injected both men with a needle, possibly jammed it in."

Older Gibbs smiled and nodded his approval. "Good work." Bishop excused herself, and rushed off.

"Once we get them stripped and on the table, and get samples up to one of the Abbys, we should have a better idea of what immobilized them, and get confirmation on the time and cause of death," Palmer replied, as Gibbs nodded, and looked down the first base line.

Bishop was by herself, holding a large cup, puking into it.

"Boss...you want me--" said the older McGee.

"I'll go down and check on her," Jeanne offered.

"Tim, Jeanne, you both check on Bishop," Gibbs said, "and bring her back here. You McGee - talk to the stadium security manager. Find out if he knows these guys, if any of his people missed a shift or left early, and get the security footage."

"Right boss." As the younger McGee made his way towards the Nationals Park offices, Gibbs briefly looked on, impressed by how more confident the younger agent was than he expected him to be.

Then he looked at his probationary agent, saw her puking again, onto the ground, and wondered if he made a mistake by allowing her to come back this soon.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

Rock Creek Park

altGibbs traced the footprints altKate had found, as altTony followed behind him.

"The footprints are consistent with what you would expect from someone dragging bodies from the shrubbery to where they were left," altKate said. "I'd say he made two trips."

"Drag one over there, come back and drag the other," altTony followed. "You're sure this is a guy?"

"Well, Tony, unless she had feet as large as a man's, then yes, I'd say it was a guy," Kate said, snarkily, while altGibbs looked over the footprints.

"Gibbs!" yelled Ziva from the road. Castle and Beckett were standing next to one of the Metro officers, while Tony looked over the sidewalk.

"Abby. Process the shubbery, look for any sign of the killer," altGibbs said to altAbby, before jogging over to Ziva. altTony stayed behind, as both figured out the spot where the couple likely were killed.

altKate followed altGibbs to the sidewalk.

"The footprints decrease, from where the victims lay, to a spot on the road," Ziva said. "And there is dirt on the road and on the sidewalk."

"He ran," altKate said. "That accounts for the space between the footprints from the victims to the road. Question is where did he go?"

"I have an idea," Prime Tony said, motioning to the three to come over; when they did, he pointed to the ground. "Skid marks. Short, but the footprints stop in the middle--"

"Killer dumped the bodies, ran, jumped in the vehicle," altGibbs finished. "Kate. Mark the trail of the footprints, get Abs to help you, tell that DiNozzo to shoot. I want to know what kind of boot he was wearing. Ziva. Photos of the footprints on the road. You DiNozzo, photos of the skid marks. I want to know the tread, the tires it comes from, and what kind of vehicles those tires can be found on."

"Yes boss!" "Yes Gibbs!"

Kate gave them a curious look for a moment before scurrying back towards the trail of the footprints. Tony and Ziva Prime both glanced at each other.

"I thought for sure I was immune," mused Tony Prime. "He's a Gibbs, but not my, our Gibbs. I thought I could resist when he barked out an order. But I jumped like Pavlov's dog. You did, too."

Ziva looked back at altGibbs talking to the alternate Ducky and Palmer, who were finishing their examination, then to the alternate Kate, Tony and Abby, then to Castle and Beckett.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Tony asked her. "Before Gibbs the younger comes back to glare us both into submission?"

"I am wondering where my doppelganger is," Ziva mused, as altPalmer came their way, heading towards the medical examiners' truck to get the gurney. "Jimmy. A moment."

"Yes Agent David, Agent DiNozzo."

"Where is my counterpart?"

"Ziva?...the younger Ziva?"

"No, Palmer, she meant the older Abby," Tony cracked. "Do you see--"

"Tony," Ziva said with a glare, intended to make him shut up, at least for a moment. "Jimmy. Is she with the other team?"

"You know, they asked me the same thing. The McGees before they left," Palmer said. "They said she wasn't on their team going to the stadium...and Dr. Mallard says when you're done taking photos of the tire tread, to help me with the bodies."

Tony looked at Ziva, whose mood abruptly turned sullen. "Vance won't just let him--"

"It may not matter what Director Vance wants, what we want, what she wants," Ziva said. "If he wants something - or someone - her - he will not stop until he gets what, or who, he wants."

Washington

Navy Yard

NCIS Director Leon Vance's office

"My journey to this new world, as it were, I am certain is not nearly as fascinating as your own. And I would love to hear it, Ziva."

The alternate Ziva David wanted to be anywhere else than with one of the two men sitting in Vance's office.

Vance himself wasn't her problem - she liked the man personally, and working for him, and looked forward to working for this version of NCIS. If the other man in the room would allow it.

Ziva thought Eli David, her father, whom she last knew to be the interim director of Mossad on their world, died in the nuclear holocaust that consumed their planet. Obviously, that wasn't the case.

"I am happy, that you are alive, and found your way here," altZiva said, carefully. "I...am grateful for that."

"Then come back with me, Ziva," Eli David said. "To Israel. Our land of refuge. A chance to begin again."

Ziva paused, looking at Vance; he blinked. She pondered her response, carefully.

"I have found that 'land of refuge' here, with the people I consider to be as much of my family as Tali, as my mother, as I once considered you and Ari," altZiva said to her father. "This is my home, now. I will become a citizen of the United States. I have moved on. I am moving on--"

"Ziva! You are Israeli!" Eli shot back. "You are my daughter!"

"I am your daughter," she retorted. "I am also my own woman. Capable of finding my own way. I cannot turn my back on my friends and family--"

"I AM YOUR FAMILY!"

"Family," Ziva said, calmly, "does not order you to stand by while your brother makes plans to murder innocent people. Family does not condone murder of allies to protect its own interest--"

"Speak carefully, Director," interjected Vance. "You have immunity. But you are sitting in the office of the director of an American federal agency."

"I have committed no crime here," Eli David said. "Except, apparently, in the eyes of my daughter. Only to ask her to return home with me."

"My home is with my friends," Ziva shot back. "The friends he tried to kill. The friends you were willing to allow him to kill, willing to deceive the American agencies on the other side into condoning their deaths under the pretense he was a double spy."

"Ziva," Eli said. "Ari is your brother. My son. You love him--"

"You confuse me with my doppelganger," altZiva said. "Not just for affection for Ari; I have none for him nor for his counterpart. You confuse me with her in regards to affection for our fathers. She could make peace with her past and forgive him; you, on the other hand. You are dead to me."

Colonial Way Hospice Care

Fairfax, Virginia

There were two Donald Mallards in the world. The younger was filling his elder counterpart's shoes quite nicely. The elder was fighting his way back to health, despite his doctor's pessimism that he would do more than walk by himself and live out his days being watched over by friends, family or hospice.

His primary care physician, in fact, thought Mike Franks was his next of kin.

"Ducky has a British accent," Franks said. "Do I sound British to you?"

The remark didn't help Franks' case as far as being allowed to stay with the elder Mallard, but phone calls from both Leroy Jethro Gibbses did.

Ducky fell asleep in the middle of a story he was telling Franks about the inventor of the crossword puzzle, and Mike wondered if the older man would, even briefly, be himself once again.

"What in hell did those bastards do to you," Mike whispered, right before the nurse came in to check on Ducky.

Huntington Beach, California

Surfer's Cafe

"I'm looking for Kyle Flannery," said the bald man in the business suit, flashing a card to the waitress. "Charles Kane. Empire Media."

The waitress nodded for him to follow her, to a back table. The cafe was half-crowded, and no one else was seated close by. "Can I get you something to eat? Or drink?" asked the waitress.

"Coffee is fine. Black," he said, sitting down opposite the younger man in the Dodgers hoodie. When satisfied the waitress was out of earshot, he leaned forward.

"You picked a hell of a place to meet, Agent Callen," said 'Kane', a.k.a. NCIS Assistant Director Owen Granger. "Strand has Beale and Jones combing through surveillance cameras in town. We shouldn't be meeting here."

"The place you're thinking of is the places she's having them look," said 'Flannery', a.k.a. NCIS Special Agent G Callen, until recently the special agent in charge of NCIS's Special Operations team. "Kyle Flannery comes here every so often when he needs to conduct business. Hetty knows about this place. You know about this place. Lillian doesn't and neither do her favorites."

"You're under her authority, Callen," Granger warned. "You're walking a very thin line right now."

"Then arrest me," Callen said.

The waitress came back with Granger's coffee. "Kyle, whatever you're up to, honey, I don't wanna know," she said. "But if you want, I can have Reuben make your sandwich to go."

"That sounds great, sweetie," 'Kyle' said with a wink. After she left, Callen leaned in. "Sofia looks out for me, well, 'Kyle'. Their cameras aren't linked to the internet, so Eric and Nell can't get a live shot of us. But Strand could get a hold of the computers the video is recorded on."

"When she offers to make your sandwich to go, that means it's time to leave," Granger said. "Callen...officially. You're under orders to come in and report to your superior, operations manager Lillian Strand. Your teammates see you - including your S.A.C. Gabriel Vaughn - you are to come with them to the boathouse. If I see you, you're to come with me to the boathouse."

"Like I said. If you're serious about that, arrest me now," Callen said.

"But I won't, because I'm Charles Kane, a manager for a newspaper chain looking to hire for something called a 'web designer'," Granger said, sipping his coffee. "And you're Kyle Flannery, a former newspaper designer looking for a job. And God knows what else Kyle Flannery is into."

"Allegedly, Mr. Kane," Callen said, smiling, before looking around. "Unofficially. Sam and I are working on the down low with some of Deeks' contacts in LAPD."

"Again, if I don't have to know, I don't want to know who these people are," Granger said. "Strand's got Beale and Jones on a tight leash so you can't count on their help."

"Don't worry. Guy's a computer whiz, and the other guy can do the surveillance thing almost as good as Eric," Callen replied. "Sam, Deeks and I are doing background now. We just have to tie this to the outside Agency--"

"Be careful, Callen," Granger said. "Right now, Strand's doing an excellent job, officially. Vance has his hands full in Washington, so I can't go to him unless she goes off the rails."

"Which she won't," Callen followed. "She's way too smart. Vaughn, Neal, Reese, Lynch are too."

"She picked her people well," Granger said. "Question isn't what she's going to do with them. It's what her ultimate play is."

"We'll find out," Callen said, "tie it to the agency, and give director Vance the evidence he needs to make his move."

"Better work fast, then," Granger warned. "She's already making plans to send her people to Washington. I don't know if two Gibbses can withstand her and the Agency."