Intro & Disclaimers: This is a Quantum Leap Crossover and not much of Mulder and Scully are seen, but the entire thing revolves around the X-files characters (731 and Nisei implications). The X-files characters belong to Chris Carter and 1013. Quantum Leap belongs to ?, but most definitely not to me. I searched the QL pages and stories and couldn't find any info other than it aired on NBC to begin with. Duh! (Rutgers' server was down and watch, I'll get plenty of e-mail telling me the info now.) All characters mentioned are used without permission and no profit was obtained. Full Circle (1/2) By Nicole Mason (mason@umr.edu) 8/10/96 Prologue Location: unknown Date: unknown He sat off in the corner, occasionally bringing the cigarette to his mouth. The drapes were pulled tight against the late afternoon sun and small lamps were lit sporadically throughout the large room. The illumination was just enough to distinguish where the bulky, antique furniture loomed in the shadows. He was alone. And he was waiting. Just as he moved to inhale once again, the room seemed to be flooded with a blue-white light. He narrowed his eyes and vaguely wondered what was going on. He didn't become alarmed until suddenly his body felt too small. At that point he closed his eyes completely. The sense of vertigo made him slightly nauseous and he shifted as he tried to regain his equilibrium. He opened his eyes and looked around. Instead of the dark "club room", he was now in a blindingly white room with no furniture and one door. For an instant, he wondered if he had gone too far with this last course of action and if the others had decided to eliminate him. That moment of panic was dispelled when a man stepped into the small area. He didn't recognize the man, who was dressed in what someone from the forties would have thought as futuristic fashion. But the man with the cigar, red, black and orange checkered shirt, orange tie and pants, and tennis shoes with orange shoelaces seemed to recognize him. "Who are you?" He didn't answer. "What is your name?" Silence. "What date is it?" Again nothing. The man's eyes narrowed and he started punching furiously at the keypad in his hand. After a moment, the man looked up with a grin that made him uneasy. "Your silence actually helped, pal. Thanks." He took the cigar out of his mouth. "Got it, Gooshie." The door opened into more whiteness and the man stepped through. He didn't know what was going on, who that man was, or even where he was. But for some reason, he knew he would live to find out. * * * * * Sacramento, CA 1957 Sam's smile included the three women from different generations and Al. He was getting to be an old-hat at this and knew he would leap in the next few seconds. He wasn't disappointed and the "downhill lunge of a rollercoaster" feeling came over him. Location: unknown Date: unknown He had to blink as his eyes adjusted to the dim interior. Sam then started to cough as the burning, acrid smell of the cigarette in his mouth hit his system. He quickly put it down and looked around the room. The only thing he could tell by the furnishings was that there was money involved. Tasteful, old- family and lots of it. A door at the other end of the room opened and the figure of a tall, slim man was outlined. Shadows effectively concealed his face, but something about the way the may moved sent a shiver of alarm through his system. "Sir, Dr. Nakae has completed his tests." /Dr. Nakae?/ /Tests?/ "And?" Sam was a little shocked by the aged, scratchy voice that was now his. "Sir, they're awaiting your orders on what to do with Agent Scully." Sam brought the cigarette to his mouth to stall as he thought frantically. /Agent Scully?/ /Awaiting orders?/ /Tests?/ He really didn't like the sound of that. "Make sure her condition is stable. There has been a new development." /HER!?/ The man nodded and turned to leave. Odds would have been in his favor if he had assumed Agent Scully was a man, but there hadn't been any indication whatsoever that Sam had made a mistake by thinking the person in question was a woman. /Do I know her?/ He was once again alone in the room when Al finally appeared. "Sam, you're not going to believe who you leaped into." "Why don't you tell me, Al, and we'll see." "It's that asshole that tried to shut us down." "What? The one that was responsible for the funding cuts? Did you get his name?" "No. That's how I knew it was him. He's just sitting in the Waiting Room. He's coherent, but he's not saying a thing." "So Ziggy doesn't have any ideas yet?" Al shook his head. "No. But she doesn't think you're here to stop him from trying to shut us down." "Al, I need you to check out what you can on an Agent Scully. The only thing I know is that she's female." Al grinned around the cigar. "OK, Sam. I'll be back in a flash." He stepped through the chamber door and left the room in gloomy shadows once again. Time seemed to pass slowly as he waited for Al to return. He had put the cigarette out and looked around the room to occupy himself. He checked to see if there was any ID on him and of course there wasn't. The nameless man looked like he was going to remain just that. Al returned, not looking happy. "Special Agent Dr. Dana K. Scully of the FBI. She was kidnaped by a former CIA operative, Duane Barry, from her home on August 18, 1994." Something in Al's voice was strained. "Al? What is it? Did we know her?" "No. But I knew her father." "What else? When was she returned?" "Her body showed up in George Washington University Hospital in D.C. on November tenth. The autopsy showed same strange factors in her blood that couldn't be explained." "Someone said something about testing. I'm here to stop her from being killed?" "Ziggy says there's an 87% chance. There's also a 61% chance you're here to save her partner as well." "Her partner?" "Special Agent Fox Mulder resigns the day after she's found." "I'm supposed to keep him from quitting?" "You're supposed to keep him from getting killed that night in his apartment. Execution style." "Execution?" He whispered the word as an aside because he and Al were no longer alone in the room. "Sir, we just received word that Assistant Director Skinner has reopened the X-files. Agent Mulder's on his way to Los Angeles to investigate vampire killings." "Vampires? Oh, boy." * * * * * Sam could see Al out of the corner of his eye. His friend mouthed the word "Vampire" and started punching on his link to Ziggy. Apparently the X-files were a big deal and weren't supposed to be open. At least that was the Cigarette Smoking Man's opinion. "Mr. Skinner approved this?" "Yes, sir. The bug we have in his office didn't pick up everything he and Mulder were saying, but it was enough to let us know the Assistant Director is no longer straddling the fence." "Hmm." Sam now knew why people smoked. It gave him a moment to think as he lit another cigarette. "I want someone watching Mulder. They are to report anything out of the ordinary directly to me." "Sir?" "What?" He tried to sound annoyed, but the man was too uneasy for Sam to really be annoyed with him. "By out of the ordinary, do you mean what normal people refer to, or do you mean what Agent Mulder considers normal?" Sam could see Al's confused look and he shared the sentiment. But in the hopes of appearing normal, he kept his features impassive. "Report anything Agent Mulder finds unusual." "Yes, sir. I'll put Cardenal on the job. He's proven himself but is still an unknown to Mulder." "Fine." He took a drag of the cigarette and managed not to gag. He then met the man's uneasy gaze and gave his best impersonation of anyone he had ever leaped into to date. "Bring me a copy of Dr. Nakae's findings." "Sir?" "I want to see the results of the tests run on Agent Scully." "Yes, sir. I'll have someone bring it to you as soon as Dr. Nakae has finished it." Sam nodded and the messenger left the room. He collapsed into one of the chairs and hastily put the cigarette in the ashtray. "Al?" "Most of the X-files are still classified. But what Ziggy could access is... weird, Sam. Hundred year old mutants, demonic possessions, pyrokenesis, space worms. And there are lots more. More than half of the files are high priority top- secret." Al shook his head in confusion. Their project wasn't exactly at the bottom of the pile and they usually had no trouble getting what information they needed. "What could you find on Agents Mulder and Scully?" "General background and plenty of details on both of them until they became partners. They had been working together for a little over a year when their section was shut down and they were both reassigned." "So they aren't partners?" "Not officially. But..." Al shrugged. It was difficult to put into words how two people could have that kind of closeness. "But Agent Scully was unofficially helping Agent Mulder on a case and that's how she became a target for this Duane Barry." "If this is classified, how did you find it out?" "Computer friends of Ziggy's. Some conspiracy buffs that have government coverups on the brain," Al said with a hint of impatience. "They might not be too far off the mark, Al. This guy," he said indicating the body he was in, "is not exactly aboveboard." "Yeah. Whatever. Ziggy says that when we get the files on Agent Scully we can probably find out what's going to kill her and stop it." "And until then, what do I do? Just sit here and smoke the guy's cigarettes?" Al grinned. "Easy one. But I must admit, that brand really sucks." "You're a wonderful help, Al," Sam said and turned toward one of the drape covered windows. "Hey, Sam, if we're lucky, maybe this group will have a meeting while you're here and..." his voice trailed off as the door opened and two men walked into the room. "Good afternoon. I'm glad you decided to stay for the meeting." "I had a small change in plans," Sam said arrogantly. Unconsciously, it helped to have seen the man in action. None of these very observant people were noticing a difference in his behavior. "The others will be here shortly and we can discuss the proposal a Dr. Samuel Beckett has submitted." Sam nodded and somehow kept himself from looking at Al in surprise. Al snarled. "Government funding, my ass. Sam, these guys are the ones that shut us down. Why did they change their minds?" Sam ignored him and returned to his original seat. "Oh, boy." He really needed another cigarette. * * * * * Sam sat in stunned silence as he listened to the old men make decisions for the whole world without consulting any of the "leaders." He looked around again for Al, but knew he wouldn't find him. Al had disappeared near the start of the meeting. Apparently the man in the Waiting Room had started causing a ruckus. And judging by what he was hearing, the stir he was making was an act meant to distract the people on Ziggy and Al's side from what was going on here. This group knew all about the Quantum Leap Project. And he would bet his leap home that they knew more about the project than even his 1994 self knew about it. When it came time for the vote, he laughed silently and bitterly, but he didn't abstain. He voted to go ahead with the project, knowing the Cigarette Smoking Man had done so in the other past as well. * * * * * After the meeting, Sam had no clue what he should do. There had been no ID and Sam didn't know where he should be, where the man's home was, nothing. About the time he decided to give up on Al and go for a walk, the same messenger from earlier appeared. "Sir, your car is ready to take you to the airport. Dr. Nakae's report should be waiting for you when you arrive in Washington." Sam bit his tongue before he said thank you. He nodded once and prayed he was headed in the right direction when he left the room. He was grateful that at least he knew where he was going to end up even if he didn't know where he was. On the way to the airport, he found out he was in New York and thanks to the paper he knew the date. November 4, 1994. He had one week before Dana Scully's body turned up in George Washington University Hospital. He wondered again where Al was and slowly exited from the private plane that had shuttled him to DC. There was another man, much like the messenger in New York, waiting for him on the tarmac. "Sir, here is the report you've been waiting for." He hand over a rather large packet and Sam waited until he was in the car before he opened it. He pulled out a manilla folder and a type written report. The label on the folder proclaimed the contents belonged to Dana Katherine Scully, born 2/23/64. Inside it was a detailed medical file with recent tissue samples. He knew he should understand what he was reading, but with the way his memory was affected by his leaping that's all he knew. Sam quietly read the report and tried to keep himself from throwing up all over the place. He knew what had been tested on Agent Scully, but he had no idea what it really was. Dr. Nakae kept referring to the compound as "Purity Control," but he never explained what made up the compound. And something, SOMETHING, about this whole thing was really making him uneasy. * * * * * For all the wealth and special privileges Sam had witnessed so far, the driver dropped him off at a rather moderate apartment building. Again, he didn't say thanks to the man, knowing the person he had leaped into would not have done so. In the foyer, he glanced at the mailboxes, hoping to find a clue as to which apartment the guy lived in. Luckily only two of them didn't have names listed. He went to the first one, but the keys in his pocket didn't work. They did in the second one, though. Once inside, Sam looked around and cringed. It looked more like the home of a young social outcast. There was very little furniture, absolutely no feeling of home, and a heavy pall hung over the entire place. He couldn't feel sorry for the man, though. If anything, he thought the man deserved the empty existence portrayed by the drabby surroundings. Al's reappearance was a definite welcome. "What happened?" Sam asked. Al glared at Sam as he took in the apartment. "He scared even Ziggy," he said simply. "Huh?" "It was like he was memorizing everything and everyone he could see from the Waiting Room. What happened at the meeting?" he asked, changing the subject. "Well, I voted to OK the Quantum Leap Project." Al's eyes bugged and the cigar almost fell from his fingers. "What?" "They were behind the initial go ahead." "But..." "I apparently leaped into someone that, along with his buddies, has enough power to manipulate any damn thing they want." He shook his head in disgust. "Anyway, it's November 4, 1994, if it helps, and I have the report on Agent Scully." "And what did it say?" he asked impatiently. "I don't know, Al. There's reference to Purity Control, but I don't know what that is." Al started punching the keypad. "I'll have Ziggy look into it. Was there anything else?" "Just tell Ziggy to be careful. I think they might have the files flagged." "You're probably right. I'll warn Ziggy," he said and stepped through the Imaging Chamber door. * * * * * Sam looked around the gloomy apartment one more time. In disgust he sat down to go through the file again. He knew he had several degrees. That much of his memory was intact, but he didn't know in what. Maybe if he understood the results a little better, he would be able to figure out what they had done in the first place. "It's useless," he muttered aloud. He then reached for the phone to order a cab. He didn't even know if the guy owned a car, nor did he have an idea where the nearest medical library was. * * * * * Al found him asleep in Georgetown's medical library almost twelve hours later. "Sam, wake up. Sam." Sam looked around and it took him a few minutes to realize where he was. "What did you find out, Al?" "Everything was blocked. Absolutely everything. And Ziggy went through every back door that exists. Even her conspiracy friends ran into roadblocks. But we did find out something about Agent Mulder." "What?" "He thought Duane Barry had been abducted by aliens." Sam thought he wasn't completely awake yet. "What?" "Agent Fox Mulder believed we were not alone. In fact most of the cases he worked on were considered to be in the realms of the paranormal." "I thought you said they were all classified." "Yeah, but it turns out Ziggy's computer friends were friends of Agent Mulder's. Anyway, Duane Barry thought that if he offered someone in his place, the aliens wouldn't take him again." "That's why he kidnaped Agent Scully?" "That or a elaborate shadow government conspiracy and cover-up," Al said with a sardonic twist of his lips. "What does this have to do with Purity Control?" "The guys said that Agents Mulder and Scully had tangled with it before." "And Agent Mulder thought it was of extra-terrestrial origin?" "Yeah." "Oh, that's going to help in the search." He stared through Al for a moment as he thought. "I'm just going to order her release." "Without a reason?" "This guy hasn't been explaining his actions before this. Why should he start now?" Al punched that scenario into the keypad. "Ziggy says there's a 14% change that will work." "What about we kidnap her from her kidnappers?" The holographic cigar came close to Sam's face. "You know where she's being held?" "No. But I'm sure that I can get them to take me to her." "And then let Agent Mulder know where she's at?" He excitedly punched that possibility for Ziggy to process. "Ziggy says there's a 38% probability that it will work. But we would have to get Mulder away from that case with the vampires." "Tell the guy to expose them to sunlight. That should do it." * * end part 1* * Intro & Disclaimers: This is a Quantum Leap Crossover and not much of Mulder and Scully are seen, but the entire thing revolves around the X-files characters (731 and Nisei implications). The X-files characters belong to Chris Carter and 1013. Quantum Leap belongs to ?, but most definitely not to me. I searched the QL pages and stories and couldn't find any info other than it aired on NBC to begin with. Duh! (Rutgers' server was down and watch, I'll get plenty of e-mail telling me the info now.) All characters mentioned are used without permission and no profit was obtained. Full Circle (2/2) By Nicole Mason (mason@umr.edu) 8/10/96 J.Edgar Hoover Building November 8, 1994 "Agent Mulder," Sam called clearly to the person walking slightly ahead of him. The tall, lanky individual turned and Sam flinched away from the hatred he saw in the other man's eyes. Mulder didn't say anything, he just let the hatred be felt. Sam could not find the right words to breach the subject. "It's not going to work, Sam. He won't believe you if you tell him. We're going to have to do this ourselves," Al said as he watched Agent Mulder walk away down the corridor towards Assistant Director Skinner's office. "He knows. He knows who is responsible and he can't do a thing about it." Sam ignored the people milling about him and continued to watch the tortured soul. "You're right. We'll have to do this ourselves. Come on, Al. I have a plan." "Well at least somebody does," he muttered and didn't bother to move when a wall of agents passed through him. * * * * * He didn't receive any weird looks when he asked to be taken to Agent Scully. The staff greeted him with familiarity and Sam had the uneasy feeling that his host had enjoyed what had happened to the small, pale woman that was indeed vaguely familiar. He had to really work at keeping his features impassive as he listened to the Japanese doctor give an update on Agent Scully's condition. While he was occupied doing that, Al was on a reconnaissance mission of the isolated compound. On the way in, he had been depressed by the extent of security and the distance the place was from the main highway. It was going to take some fancy maneuvering to get her out of there without setting any alarms or getting caught on camera. Sam had a vague thought about letting himself get caught, just to see what the group would do to one of their own that turned traitor. Ziggy and Al had both been vocal on the probability of failure, so he let the line of thought end. Al returned a few minutes later, looking excited. "They want to move her." "What?" he asked. Dr. Nakae answered, "Sir, we wish to move her. If you want another series of tests run, we can proceed here. But if you wish for her to remain in our care, she will have to be moved to another location." Al was nodding his head rapidly. "Move her. We can hijack the ambulance or whatever easier than breaking her out of here." "Go ahead and move her. I don't think she's strong enough for the next round of tests and I'm not ready to give up her company." Dr. Nakae nodded once and left the room to have someone make the arrangements. When he returned he said, "She will be moved tomorrow to the secondary location." "And the mode of transportation?" "The usual one, sir. The railcar should arrive at ten tomorrow night. We should have everything ready for transportation by 4:00 am." "Fine," he said and nodded once. "Let me know if there are any changes in her condition or the schedule." "Yes, sir." Sam slowly walked out of the building to the car waiting to return him to civilization. It was a good thing that someone had offered to drive him to the place because no one had mentioned a specific location at any time. He wasn't even sure what state he was in. The driver had turned in circles for hours. Sam had assumed it was to lose a possible tail versus confusing the man they thought was one of their own. It was difficult to concentrate on the ride back. Sam wanted at least a small clue as to their location and Al kept babbling, distracting him from the countryside. He couldn't tell Al to shut up without the driver hearing him, so he remained quiet and tried to block Al's running monologue. They were going to have to hijack a railcar. These people were using the railroad system to transport the test subjects without detection and keep suspicious medical personnel out of the public's eye. Maybe they would be able to disengage the car at one of the first few stops? If Al would be quiet for a moment, he would be able to think the idea through and plug the holes he knew he would find. * * * * * Al's voice penetrated his sleep. "Sam, that place doesn't exist. Dr. Nakae doesn't exist. The railroad tracks into the compound don't even exist." Sam had a wild thought about Al not existing but instead asked, "So we don't know where will be a good place to decouple the car." "I can home in on Agent Scully before they move her and then let you know where we are." "You'll have to, Al. As soon as they slow down in some town, you'll have to let me know. It may be in another time zone before I would be able to catch up with you and then it may be too late." Sam felt a heavy weight bearing down on him and he fought the depression. "Al have you been able to find out anything about these people at home?" "How can we check on something that doesn't exist? Ziggy's searching everything. No one is listed as living at this place, so we can't even find this guy's name out through old- fashioned paperwork." Sam just shook his head. He felt completely and utterly powerless to help any of these people. And the only numbers that Ziggy could come up with still left a lot up to chance. But they had to try. Not because of the consequences he might face by not leaping, but because these men really had no right to decide what was best for the entire world. "Al, stay by Agent Scully. I don't trust that they might change their plans." "Gotcha, Sam. I'll let you know if anything changes." Al hit the keypad and stepped through the white door. Sam felt a little better but he was still uneasy. Something about his plan wasn't sitting right with him. * * * * * Of all the mundane things to find, there was an oil change receipt being used as a bookmark in the book Sam was flipping through. So the guy did own a car and it was a '92 blue, Ford Taurus with 38,312 miles on it. Or at least close enough to it that Sam had no trouble spotting it in the garage under the apartment building. To save time, and help occupy it, Sam filled the car up and headed in the direction of the compound. Half way there, Al appeared in the seat next to him. "It's a good thing you're on your way. They are moving her. I heard one of the doctors mention something about there being an informant." "Any idea who, Al?" "I wouldn't put it past these guys to bug their own people. They may have heard you talking to me. Hey, did you steal this car?" "No, I didn't steal it. I found a receipt in the guy's apartment. This is his car." "What are the plates? I can have Ziggy run them." "Give it up, Al. The car is probably registered to a fake company or something." Sam could see Al look at him with a concerned expression. "OK, Sam. But you better step on it, it sounded like they wanted to move her in the next hour or so." Sam pressed harder on the accelerator and glared at Al. "You better go back to her and see which way the train goes." Al nodded and was gone. Sam stepped on the gas a little more and watched as the needle buried itself. Within minutes, Al was back. "Helicopter." "What?" "They're going to use a helicopter instead. Something about a breach in security regarding the railcars." "Al..." "I know. You can't decouple a helicopter. But you can fly one." "What?" "Well, I can fly one. Let's get there and then you can fly the thing to wherever we want." Somehow, he thought there was going to be a little more involved in the new plan than that. * * * * * There really wasn't much beyond that, though. Apparently, the guards hadn't been informed about the Cigarette- smoking Man's possible betrayal of the project yet and Sam was waved on through. He parked the car on the edge of the wooded area and waited for what seemed like an eternity. He could hear the helicopter as it approached and Sam watched as the pilot had got out of the cockpit. He seemed to be helping the others get Agent Scully into the back. That's when Sam acted. The two medical techs and the pilot were not expecting an old man to come charging out of the woods. Nor were they ready when Sam used an ingrained technique that always managed to take him by surprise when he did it. He spun on one foot while the heel of his other one connected with the pilot's jaw, rendering him unconscious. He grabbed the guy's gun at Al's urging and aimed it at the two other men. The two techs almost dropped the unconscious woman, but fear of something higher than him stopped them. They calmly finished securing her in the back and then moved away. Sam had a feeling that they knew something he didn't but ignored it. Following Al's directions, he started the engines and headed away from the compound. "So where to now, Al? Into DC to the hospital?" "No can do. No one would be happy about an unauthorized bird flying over the capital. We'll have to set it down outside of DC and drive in." Another voice could be heard under Al's. Sam picked up the headset and placed it near his ear so he could hear what was being said. "... I repeat. Turn the helicopter around and return to the compound." Sam looked at Al. "Do you think they'll send somebody after us?" Al looked back at the pale woman. "Wouldn't you if you had kidnaped a federal agent?" "Yeah, but we kidnaped her from her kidnapers. It's not the same thing." Al clenched his cigar between his teeth. "Just fly, Sam. There's an airfield a few miles west of DC we can land in. If we're lucky, the owner will drive out to investigate and we can use his vehicle to get into DC." "And if these guys catch up with us before we get a car?" "Let's hope that we took them enough by surprise that they didn't have backup air support in the area." Sam had visions of a movie he couldn't remember the name of. But it did have planes doing loops and a few explosions, not to mention a lot of bullets. "Oh, boy." * * * * * Sam stood back as the hospital staff started working on Agent Scully. He now knew why they hadn't been followed, why there hadn't been more security during the transportation. Dr. Nakae and the others at the facility had known that Agent Scully would die once she had been removed from their care. "Ziggy says she still dies and that Agent Mulder is still shot." "What am I supposed to do now, Al? Warn Agent Mulder not to be at home?" "If you knew who was behind your partner's kidnaping and death, would you trust anything the man said?" "What about we tell the Assistant Director to watch out for him?" "We can only try," Al said without a lot of conviction. "But you better make it sound more like a threat. I don't think he would believe you were doing this to save Mulder either." They watched as two women went into Agent Scully's room and without checking with Ziggy, they knew who the women must be. Mother and sister resembled the pale woman near death enough that even the doctors hadn't questioned their admittance into the room. Sam's heart ached for them as they were told Dana Scully was in a coma. But his heart nearly stopped beating as Agent Mulder came around the corner. "Who brought her here?" No one had an answer for him. She had just shown up in the room and no one had seen her brought in. Nor were they aware of how she had been identified or who had pulled her hospital records. Sam thought it was best to leave before Agent Mulder spotted him. Al wholeheartedly agreed as he got a good look at the man's wild eyes. * * * * * "Why haven't I leaped, Al? It's the twelfth. She's not dead, but she's in a coma. He's not dead, but he's not going to stay alive for much longer either. Am I supposed to babysit him until she does die?" "I don't know, Sam. Ziggy can't find any information on these two now." "Don't tell me they don't exist." "No. But there's no record of them after --" "But are they alive?" Sam interupted. "I don't know." Sam glared at the hologram and reached for a cigarette. He didn't even think about it as he lit it and pulled the air into his lungs. He sat in the cheap vinyl chair and stared at the muted TV. Of all the leaps to be stranded in, this was one of nightmare proportions. Was he going to be stuck here and end up being the one that would kill the funding for the project? "Al --" The feeling of gun nestled under his ear cut off all other thoughts. "Shit, Sam. He's going to kill you." Sam glared at the hologram but remained silent. "How does it feel, knowing you're going to die?" Mulder asked in a forced voice. Sam just shrugged. His emotional state during this leap had slowly declined into a large pool of apathy. He really couldn't care less at this point. "I've watched presidents die." And he had. For a brief instant, he saw himself looking down at Jackie and John through the scope of a rifle. "Sam, what are you doing? Tell him what's going on!" Al started circling the two in a frenzied fashion. Sam was just sitting there with the gun at his head and calmly smoking the damn cigarette. Mulder on the other hand was looking anything but calm. "I'm going to kill you. For what you did to her. You're going to die." Some of the real Sam worked its way through the nicotine haze. "I have more respect for you, Mulder." He wasn't here to kill because he wanted to. Mulder was in the apartment because his friend was in a coma and on the verge of death. She was like that because of what this man had done to her. >From somewhere the derisive words were said, "You're becoming a player." Sam wanted to scream, "Don't give in. Don't be like them. You are better than that," but the words were swallowed by another lungful of smoke. Sam felt the gun lower from his head, but he knew it was still pointed at him. He could feel Mulder's rage and pain. But he could also sense the man's indecision. Killing the smoking bastard would not change the fact that his partner was across town and dying. Killing the man would only make it more difficult to bring the people behind her kidnaping to justice. Sam's eyes closed in relief as he heard the door click softly shut behind him. "That was close. What the hell were you doing, egging him on like that? Sam! You could have been shot! There was a 95% chance that he would have killed you." "Al, what does Ziggy say about the outcome now?" "Agent Scully dies tomorrow when her family follows the conditions of her living will. Agent Mulder is found dead in his apartment a few hours later, a gunshot wound to the head." "Nothing's changed, Al. The only thing that may be different is that I am now considered a traitor, or at least a major risk, by the men in that room." "Not you, Sam. Him. And he has been enjoying his stay in the Waiting Room. He just sits there with a contented smirk on his face and I want to shoot him. Ziggy has even told Gooshie not to let me go back in there." "His friends are going to come and kill me, Al. They are going to tie up all the loose ends. Including me and Agent Mulder." "I don't need Ziggy to tell me the odds of that happening. We can't just sit here and wait for them to come, Sam. We have to get you out of ..." Al's eyes grew large as the Quantum Leap phenomenon started and men dressed all in black burst into the room. He wanted to stay and find out what happened to the Smoking Man, but he had to find where Sam went this time. The bastard would have to find a way out of this himself. Al's smile was vicious as he chomped down on his cigar and stepped through the Imaging Chamber door. * * * * * Location: unknown Date: unknown His hand shook as he raised the cigarette to his mouth. He looked around at the unfriendly faces in the room and for a moment he wished he was still in the blindingly bright room. "Have you listened to the tapes?" The voice had a European accent to it. Like the large, dark man had been educated abroad from his native land. He remained silent as the interrogation continued. "Do you have an explanation for your actions?" The voice was well cultured with British roots. He seemed more like a literature professor, rather than one of the most powerful men in the world. He could hear Mulder's voice in his head. /Would you believe alien abduction?/ But he remained silent. Even if the situation hadn't been so serious, he had never been one to crack jokes. He didn't want to answer them. They would see it as a weakness. But he wasn't about to die because of this. "I was being held somewhere. I heard the names Al, Sam, Gooshie and Ziggy." "You heard the names on the tapes." "Ziggy is an advanced computer. Al was wearing a Naval officer's uniform at one point, but I couldn't see the rank insignias. They used the word "leap" quite often. I seem to recall a project by that name that is getting underway." The British man spoke. "Project Quantum Leap. Led by Dr. Samuel Beckett. He theorizes that one can travel through time in one's own lifetime. We voted on the project last week." "Stop the project." The others in the room looked at each other, and the British man spoke again. "Why don't we wait and see if this is what was behind your actions these past few days." He hid his relief at the reprieve. "What about Agents Mulder and Scully?" "What about them?" "They could still jeopardize everything." "We will deal with them later. Right now there seems to be a problem in one of our test areas. Delta Glen, Wisconsin is experiencing what the local sheriff is calling abductions." "Mulder and Scully will investigate," he warned as he took in a lungful of smoke. "Agents Mulder and Scully are still in quarantine from the last case. By the time they are released, the area will be clean." For some reason, the Cigarette-Smoking Man didn't believe him. It was almost as if the British man was deliberately sabotaging some of the core projects. It was something to think about as the meeting continued. That and how to cut the funding for the Quantum Leap project. * * * * * Martha's Vineyard Nov 27, 1973 "Fox, change the channel." "No. I want to watch the Magician." "Change the channel." "No." "Then I'm not going to play your stupid game." The little girl stood up in a huff and sat down on the couch pouting. "Fine. Don't play. I was tired of it anyway." He started to stand up as well when the room was flooded with white light. "Fox?" She looked wildly around the room. "Fox!" she screamed as she felt her feet start to leave the floor. "Samantha!" He sounded worried and that scared her even more. "Fox! Help me, Fox!" Her feet were almost four feet above the ground and her hair was hanging straight down to the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her brother run to the hall closet. Their father's gun was in there, but they weren't supposed to know that. Fox was going to get in trouble. "Fox!" She was now being pulled to the window. She saw him get the box down and start to load the weapon. His hands were shaking and then he started screaming, too. "SAMANTHA!" The whole world was moving in slow motion and she saw him being engulfed by light, but it was different. Whiteness overcame him as he raised the gun and pointed it toward the weird glow behind her. Sam watched the little girl float out the window as his mouth moved in what he thought must be her name. Then he looked down at the weight he could feel in his hands. It was a gun. He stared at it for a second but then had to close his eyes. The light had consumed the girl and flared brightly before going completely dark. "Oh, boy." * * * * * Epilogue Location: Unknown Date: Unknown He smiled grimly as Admiral Albert Calavicci tried to justify the budget for Project: Quantum Leap. He ignored the others around him and brought the cigarette to his lips as the senate committee told the admiral that some form of results were needed if the project was to remain open. Dr. Samuel Beckett was also arguing in favor of more time. They weren't sure what the results would be if someone were to "leap" prematurely. He stood up as the committee again rejected extending the project and left the room in triumph. * * end * *