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January 12th, 2001, Project Quantum Leap, Stallion's Gate, New Mexico:
"Admiral Calavicci", Ziggy said, waking Al from a very nice dream about Tina, who was on vacation at the moment.
"What now, Ziggy? Can't you ever let me sleep in?" he replied grumpily.
"Not when Dr. Beckett has landed and we have a lock on him, no, admiral, I can't", Ziggy replied in a wounded voice.
"OK, Zig. I'll be in the waiting room in five minutes. Now, can I at least get dressed in some privacy?".
"Of course Admiral".
In the waiting room, Al came face to face with a very familiar looking person. Well, admittedly it was Sam's body, but he could still see the faint aura of the person he had leaped into; and in this case it was...
"Donna?"
September 3rd, 1977:
Sam leaped in to find himself in the passenger seat of a car, speeding down a highway. Well at least I'm not driving, he thought to himself, he had no idea where they were going. He loked down to see what he was wearing: a short blue demin skirt and a long sleeved striped t-shirt. Oh, no, not a women again, he thought. He hated being a women. He felt that he would never be able to walk in high heels or put on stockings without ripping them!
Realising he would learn no more about his host at the moment, at least not until Al showed up, Sam turned his attention to his travel companion. This was a young man, early '20's, with fairly short brown hair, wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt in a similiar stlye to his. Feeling Sam's eyes on him, the man turned to look at him. 'Are you alright Donna?' he asked.
Sam looked up at the man, and found himself staring into the face of a much younger Sam Beckett.
'Oh, boy!' he exclaimed.
Jan 12th, 2001, Project Quantum Leap:
"Do I know you?", asked Donna, in response to Al's exclaimation of her name.
"You seem to know me. I...", she looked around her. "Where am I? What is this place? Where's my boyfriend? Where's Sam?"
"I can't tell you. I'm sorry. I have to go. Don't worry, Sam's safe."
"At least I hope he is" thought Al, as he left the waiting room.
"Ziggy, quick, tell me where and when Sam is', shouted Al.
"He is currently in the year 1977, in..."
"Damn!" Al exclaimed interupting the computer. "Prepare the imaging chamber Gushie. Now!"
He ran towards the comtrol room, like there was a ghost behind him. Which, in a way, there was. The ghost of Sam Beckett's past. And his best friend didn't even know how much he remembered of it, or whether he could save him before he damaged his own future, and possibly Al's as well. After all what would what Al be without Sam? It would be like Laural without Hardy, Fred Astire without Ginger Rogers, Batman without Robin! All of this flashed through Al's mind as raced down the corridor towards the imaging chamber. Soon he was in Sam's world.
September 3rd, 1977:
Al arrived in the past to find his friend in a state of shock. He was not surprised. He had had the same thing when Sam had leaped into a younger version of him, and he had to look at himself in the waiting room. But that was through Sam's body. Sam had to face his younger version face-to-face; and considering he had leapt into Donna, he was going to be spending lot's of time with himself!
Soon they pulled into a gas station, and young Sam got out.
"Tell him you're going to the bathroom", suggested Al to Sam. Where else?
"Al. How long have you been here? I didn't even hear you arrive".
"About ten nimutes. You had enough on your mind, so I just stuck along for the ride for a bit".
Sam got out of the car, told his younger self he was going to the bathroom, and headed towards the men's.
"Uh, Sam, wrong one".
"Oh, yeah", replied Sam and made his way to the ladies. Luckily, it was empty.
"Al, that's me out there! I can't do this! Every time we come into contact with our past selves, we get into major trouble. And, don't you think that we're getting rather a lot of leaps involving our own lives. It doesn't make it easy not to deliberately change something for us."
"Yeah. Guess we made a lot mistakes we gotta put right?", Al said jokeily.
"Al, this is no time for jokes! Just give me the details."
"Ok. You've leaped into Donna".
He waited for the penny to drop.
"Donna Ellisee? The one... I guess that would explain... Oh, my God!" Sam's memories of Donna slowly returned.
"Yep, that Donna", Al agreed.
"She left me. At the alter? I think I can remember. In September 1977? I still don't know why she didn't marry me. Al, what's the date?"
"Uh, September 3rd, 1977", Al replied quietly.
"I can make her change her mind! I can be with her! If I'm Donna, all I have to do is turn up at the church!"
Al sadly shook his head. "You know you can't, Sam. I couldn't get you to change me and Beth when you were Jake Rawlings(?), and I can't let you change this. Some things just weren't meant to be. Besides, if you'd been married to Donna, do you reckon you would have put so much effort into Project Star Bright and Quantum Leap, and into helping me?"
"No, probably not. I'd be spending time with Donna," Sam agreed sadly.
"If you didn't build Quantum Leap, we wouldn't be here now. And that would really screw things up!"
"Well if I'm not here for me and Donna, why am I here?"
Al tried to swallow a sigh of relief. How could he tell tell Sam that, in one leap, he had actually managed to change Donna's mind? Sometimes she was at the Project, sometimes she wasn't. Sometimes she was there waiting for Sam, and sometimes she had already left him, the waiting having become too hard. It was one of the most unstable aspects poflife at QL. When he had stepped into the imaging chamber this morning, she had not been there, except as a visitor of course. When he returned, who knew. Somehow, though, QL still existed, with or withour her. However, Al couldn't risk any other possible changing of the time-lines if Sam used this leap to change Donna's mind. If he, as Donna, turned up, what was to stop Donna running out as soon as she returned. he also couldn't risk Donna learning too muchabout the Project and remembering any of it to tell Sam when she returned.
"Ziggy says there's a 90.4% chance that you're here to help Katie."
"Katie? My sister Katie?"
"Yeah, September '77 was also when she married that jerk Ralph, remember?".
"Yeah. He beat her. I always wished I could've stopped their marriage."
"Yeah, well now you can! You're on your way home, to go to their wedding. It's in 3 days time!".
Jan 13th, 2001, Project Quantum Leap:
Meanwhile, back in the future, Sammy-Jo Fuller (or Fuller-Beckett) was having a very strange dream. It was about her past, and her mother and father. She had never known her father. He'd been engaged to her mother, but she'd been concieved out of wedlock. Strangely, though, a few days after they'd slept together (and she'd been the result), her mother had split up with her father and never even spoken to him again. Sammy-Jo thought it was because he had been cheating on her, but she didn't know the full details.
In her dream she was six years old, and it was when her mother had been on trail for the murder of that nasty old Letisha. She was dreaming of the man who had represented her mother. He was standing talking to a man, dressed in a very shiny suit, and they were talking about her mother and the case, and about her and her father. She saw herself listening in at the doorway. They couldn't see her. It was a great game. She suddenly sneezed, though, and the two men turned round and saw her. She stared at the man in the shiny suit, he was very strange. She didn't pay much attention to the lawyer. She thought he was boring. His friend looked much more fun. The man smiled at her, realising she was looking at him. He looked a lot like...
"Al!" she shouted, awaking up suddenly.
Her heart was in her mouth as her tried to remember exactly what she had dreamt. She knew some dreams were repressed memories, but... Could it really be? She had to talk to Al as soon as possible.
Later, satisfied that Sam could cope with keeping himself company down to the Beckett farm, Al returned to the Project. He was just about to go and grab something to eat when Sammy-Jo came up to him.
"Al, you're back! I really need to talk to you. You see, I had this really strange dream last night. I, I can't remember much, but I think it's means something. You were in it, and Dr. Beckett." She paused.
"Al, I need to know what you know about my parents!"
"Oh, boy", said Al.