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Chapter 1:
Sam lept in to find himself leant over what looked liked areoplane controls. Looking to his left he could see trees out of a window and the plane was coming towards them fast. The sky was dark and i the distance he could see flashes of lightening. Sam was alone and it looked like he was the pilot. "Help, I can't fly!" he yelled, not bothering to see whether there were any passengers who could hear him. He knew a man who could, though.
"Allllllllll!!" he yelled. He really didn't want to die.
"Relax, Sam," came his best friend's voice, for once just in time.
"Press that buttom there and steady the joystick into a level position. Pull that lever slowly and slow the plane." Sam did so with shaking hands.
"Ok, great. Now, you're gonna have to make a crash landing, which is the hard part, especially in these weather conditions. You're too low to make it up again, and it will probably be too dangerous anyway with that storm. At least you're level and more steady now."
Sam gulped, and looked at Al gratefully. "OK, what do I do?" he asked.
"Pull that lever, grip the joystick tightly and pull it up towards you and hold tight. Oh, and tell your passengers to brace themselves."
"Passengers. Oh, boy!" But Sam did so, glad that Al was there to calm him. He trusted Al impecably and knew his friend would get him out of this safely.
With a bump that wasn't quite as bad as Sam expected they landed, skidded and knocked into a tree. Sam's head flew forwards and he was knocked unconsciousness by hitting the control panel.
"Sam, Sam, you OK?" shouted Al. He hadn't just got him down for him to go injure himself now. Leaning over to inspect the damage, Al breathed a sigh of relief. He could see that Sam wasn't badly hurt, probably just knocked cold for a few minutes. There was no blood, but he'd probably have a hell of a headaches when he came round. He was lucky. What a situation to leap into! He wondered what the guy who Sam had leapt into had been thinking going out in this weather. He hadn't had a chance to meet the leepee yet as as soon as they're got a lock - which had been very easy for a nice change, Ziggy had informed Al that Sam was in danger. Luckily it was one he had easily managed to help Sam out of. He was interupted from his thought by a moan from Sam. He was coming around.
"Al. What happened?"
"Take it easy Sam. Everything's fine. The plane's down. You just hit your head." Al went over to Sam, peering out the window. The weather had gotten worse, and the lightening closer.
"Will you look at that weather Sam" Al remarked. Just then a flash of lightening seemed to be coming stright towards them. Al's image flicked, and the handlink sqeaked.
"What do you mean, interference?" Al barked. There was a flash and Sam saw Al's image waver even more. He felt lightheaded and distant from his surroundings. It was like a leap, yet somewhat different. He blacked out again.
Stumbling forward, he fell against a door, which suddenly opened.
Stumbling out through it, he looked around and tried to get his bearings. Had he leaped? Everything was so hazy.
"Are you alright, Al?" he heard a woman's voice say.
"Huh?" He looked up.
"What happened in there? Is Dr.Beckett safe?" another voice added. This time from a nerverous looking man.
"What?" Sam asked in a very small voice.
"Al! What happened? You're scaring us!"
"Verbena?" Sam questioned, quietly. He looked around. Could it really be? Was he home?
"Yeah?" She sounded very worried. "Did something just happen to Sam?" she asked.
"Oh boy" Sam whispered.
Al woke to find himself seated at the controls of a plane. By the looks of things they had just crash landed; and no surprise, just look at that weather, he thought. For some reason though, he couldn't remember landing the plane. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember flying the plane at all. He couldn't even remember his name! The plane seemed right, though, familiar. He looked down at himelf. He was wearing a naval uniform - a lueitenant. That seemed to fit. The plane appeared civilan, though, and there were moans from passengers in the back of the plane. 'Must of been ferrying them somewhere', he thought. He couldn't remember where though.
Sam took a deep breath and prepared to act like Al. If he'd leapt into Al this leap, the last thing they wanted was to let their past selves know what was going on.
"Uh, everything's fine, Verbena. I think the, er, stress is just catching up to me. I'll be fine in a minute." At least knowing Al so well, he'd be able to act like him easily. He hoped the holographic Al would appear soon and tell him what leap his past self was working on. If anyone would be able to work out he wasn't Al it was himself and the others at PQL. He thought to the last leap. It had seemed very short. He assumed he'd been there to make sure the plane landed safely. The leap out had been strange, though, and had come on very suddenly, without warning and without Al getting a chance to give him any odds whatsoever.
"Ziggy, what's the odds on what Sam has to do?" he asked, hoping he could get some kind of reference to when he was.
"There's an 87% chance that he is there to stop the plane passengers from dying of starvation before they are rescued," Ziggy replied.
Plane passengers. Sam gasped. That was his last leap. But there hadn't been anything about rescue and starvation. That meant... Sam sunk to his knees in disbelief. He hadn't simply leapt into Al.
Somehow, he and Al had swapped places, again. Only this wasn't like the last time. This time, he still retained his friend's aura. But, if he was here, that meant Al was stranded in the crashed plane, he realised with a start.
"Al!" Verbena once again interupted his thoughts.
"I'm OK", he replied, still in shock. He was home, at last. He just hoped that this time it would be for longer than for 24 hours. But, first things, first...
"I have to get back to A..Sam. He needs my help", he said, grabbing the handlink that had fallen to the floor. He rushed back into the imaging chamber, leaving Verbena and Goosie staring after him in disbelief.
In the chamber he could see Al wandering around talking to the passengers, checking they were OK. Everything looked so real. Now he knew how Al felt. Seeing Al had recovered and had the situation under control, Sam wandered over to him and decided to wait until he had finished with the latest passenger before he spoke with him. Looking up, Al saw a passenger he hadn't seen before coming towards him.
"Sir, please, stay in your seat for now", he told him. The last thing he wanted was people getting in the way whilst he worked out what was going on. He just wanted to make sure everyone was alright for now.
The man seemed to ignore him and moved closer, looking over at the woman who's arm Al was bandaging.
"Sir, please." Al grabbed the man's arm to lead him back into a seat, but passed through empty air instead!
"What the..?!"
"Are you a ghost?!" Al asked Sam.
"What? No. It's me, Sam. Something weird happened, and we've swapped again. I can see you as you. You must be able to see me as me. It's the link."
"What are you talking about?" Al asked quietly, wondering if the man had a delusional fever, or whether he himself was seeing things. Surely his hand had just gone through thin air!
"Oh, boy. Please don't say your mind's swiss-chessed!"
"Um. I'll have to talk to you in a minute. I have to finish this", he relied.
"OK. Then follow me back to the cockpit."
Sam walked down the corridor of the plane, with Al wondering why no-one else seemed to be paying this strange man any attention. Perhaps he was the delusional one, he thought to himself.
Sam sank against a chair that wasn't really there, and fell to the floor of the imaging chamber with a bumb. He never thought he'd have to do this. Not being a scientist at heart, there was even less chance that Al would believe him than he believed Al when he had first leaped. At least Al seemed to be on the right track of helping the passengers.
Al came up to Sam, and put his hand right through him.
"You are a ghost! What do you want?!"
"I told you, I'm not a ghost. Besides, I thought you didn't believe in ghosts."
"I don't..?" Al looked puzzled.
"You can't remember, can you?"
"Yeah, sure I can".
"No, you can't." Sam really knew how Al felt now.
"Ok, I can't. So what?"
"Can you remember your name? Your age? Your job?"
"Er...?"
"No, then."
"It's probably just concussion from the crash. I, I'm in the navy. I know that..."
"Yeah, you are."
"...A lueitenant. I have the stripes on my uniform."
"Oh, boy. Listen. Uh, you may want to sit down for this. I have to tell you everything, I really need your help on this one. For once you're there, not me."
Al didn't understand but sat down anyway, finding something strangely familar and trusting in this character.
"Your name is Al Calavicci. You're involved in an experiment that went, well in your words, a little ca-ca..."
"Experiment? That can't be right. I'm not a scientist. I fly planes for the navy. Tell you what, that's about the only thing that seems real about this whole thing."
"Yeah, Al, you did fly planes for the Navy. Not anymore. Now you're a military observer for a top-secret government project."
"A military observer, at luietenant?" Sam smiled.
"You're not a luitenenant anymore, either. You're an Admiral."
"Nah, not me. Anyone over the rank of luietenant is a horse's ass."
Al gasped as soon as the words left his mouth. "I said that?!"
"Yeah, several times. I think some of your memory may be returning Al."
"The name's familiar. So's another one. Sam? Sam Bec..Bec something. You're right, my memory's really going. Is that anything to do with this experiment you mentioned."
"So you believe me now?"
"Well, for now at least I'll humour you. Maybe it's just a delusion anyway, and I'll wake up soon. Something strange is definately going on. And you seem to know more about me than I do."
"Well, it is the experiment. By the way, I'm Sam."
"Sam Bec whatever it is?"
"Beckett, yeah."
"Beckett? Like the playwright? Oh, very funny."
Sam grimaced. "Yeah, well, blame my parents."
"Your parents. Tom and...Beth..."Al hazered.
Sam frowned, deeply saddened. Of all the things for Al to remember, but of course Beth was always close to Al's heart. Just like him and Donna. Donna. He blinked in surprise. He had only just remembered Donna. He had a wife! He guessed Al wasn't the only one feeling like swiss-cheese. Sam's memories of Donna came flooding back, along with many other things he hadn't remembered except for 24 hours since he'd leapt 5 years ago. He supposed it was being at the project again, and being in Al. They were so closely linked. He shook his head. He had to get Al to remember.
"Tom is my brother. Beth...was your first wife."
"My first? God, how many have I had?" Al joked. But, suddenly he doubled over as if in pain.
"Oh, God. Sam, I remember Beth. God, it's like loosing her all over again. And, I remember you, a bit at least. Genius with 6 doctorates and lots of morals. We're very close aren't we?"
"Oh Al. I'm so, so sorry. We are very close, best friends. You've saved my life more times than I can count, and I couldn't have got through the last 5 years without you."
"Huh? Well, if you say so. I still don't remember. What the hell happened? If you're not a ghost, I'm not a pilot, anymore at least, and there's a project, what are we doing here?"
"As I said, or rather as you once said, the experiment at the project went a little ca-ca. It's a time-travel experiment, using my string-theory of time and traveling within one's own lifetime. I built a quantum accerator and one day, 5 years ago, to prove my theories right before the government could stop funding, I 'quantum leaped' and ended up back in 1956."
"You traveled in time?!" asked Al.
"Yep, and now, so have you. If it's any consolation, my brain was even worse than yours first of all. When you showed up, I thought I was dead and didn't believe you for days."
"When I... whoa, slow down and get back to the beginning. I'm still very, very hazy."
"OK. I leapt. You contacted me as a neurological hologram only I could see and hear. Unfortunately the programming on the accelerator wasn't finished and tested properly, and I got stuck. I've been bouncing around in time for the last 5 years, with only you as a lifeline, 'putting right what once went wrong'"
"What are you, some kind of overgrown boy scout?"
Sam had to smile at that one. "So, some might say, yeah," he replied.
"Ok, so I kept in touch with you and helped you. And you never got back, for 5 years!"
"No."
"God, that must be even worse than 'Nam'. At least when I was a POW I knew I'd be resuced sooner or later. I always had others to remind me and give me hope, however hard it was, and it was the hardest time of my life, I can tell you".
"Yeah, Al I know. And, I always had hope as well..."
"Right" Al replied, forcing a mask over his pain of Beth and Vietnam. "So, now you're here. So, what, you have to right a wrong here. And why can't I remember this so-called project. I don't know, it all seems a little far-fetched Sam. How come my hand goes through you?"
"Well, I'm a hologram".
"You're a hologram now. I thought you just said I was the hologram. Get your story straight, Pal".
"You are, usually. But we've changed places. Your mind's been swiss-cheesed full of holes. Please believe me. We worked together on Project Quantum Leap. We built Ziggy".
"Ziggy?"
"Yeah. My computer. A hybrid parallel computer."
"A hy... what?!"
"A computer, with cells from you and cells from me, and an ego as big as a room." Sam tried desparately.
"That egotistical pile of nuts and bolts." Al said.
"Why did I say that?" he asked.
"Don't worry Al, it'll come. But you must trust me. I need your help."
"Well, if this is a dream, at least it's interesting. Time travel, holograms, computers with egos. Sounds like a Star Trek episode."
"Well you always said I read too much Issac Assimov!"
"You really believe what you're telling me, don't you?"
"It's the truth - Scout's honour!"
Al smiled. "Well, kid. I still dunno about a project, but I seem to know you from somewhere and I trust you."
"Great Al. Thanks. That last leap. Something went wrong. We've simo-leaped again, but it's not the same. We've somehow swapped places again, but I'm in your aura and you're in mine."
"Huh?"
"I mean, now you're the leaper, I'm the hologram, and we look like each other. Well, actually that's not quite right. You look like the guy I leapt into - the pilot, and I look like you. Only I can see you as you and you see me as me because of the neuro link between us. It's how you usually contact me as a hologram."
"If you say so."
"We have to get you out of here Al. You didn't ask to leap. Ziggy's given it an 87% probablity you're here to make sure none of those passengers die before you're rescued. It looks like you made a pretty good start on that already."
"Alright. That's something I can understand."
"Good. Look I'm going to go back to the project now. I'll have to tell the others what happened. I'll be back soon."
Sam exited the imaging chamber with a sigh of relief. Al seemed to have some of his memory back and at least he trusted him. The Admiral was never one to just trust people at face value. That trust had to be earned, but it was one that Sam and Al had earnt in each other's eyes many times over, even if this time Sam was the one who remembered it.
It felt good to have his holes plugged, all of them, not just some. He was home!
"Al, is everything all right now?" Verbena and Gooshie came running over to him as soon as he entered the control room.
"Yeah, Verbena, everything's great. I, er, have something to tell you. You too Ziggy."
"Yes, Admiral. What is the problem? You do not seem yourself at this present moment."
Sam laughed. "Actally, Ziggy, Verbena, Gooshie...I'm not. I'm not Al, it's me, Sam!"
"What, oh come on, Al. Stop messing around. Now's not the time for childish games. I know you and Sam leapt changed places once before but we could see Sam..."
"Verbena, really, it's me. Al and I have changed places again. It must have been the lightening during this leap.", he suddenly realised.
"There is a 99.7% chance that a simo-leap could have occured in that situation. There was some electrical interference," Ziggy said, somewhat subdued.
"Sam?"
"Yeah. You thought I was acting different, well I am different. I've leapt into Al and he's leapt into me!"
Just then Tina came running into the room. "Al, are you OK? Verbena told me you were acting, like, werid"
"Tina, hi. I'm fine, I..." Before he could stop her, Tina leaned over to try to kiss him.
"Tina, please, I..." Sam protested, backing away.
"Al?", Tina questioned in a sad, little voice.
Verbena and Gooshie just stared in amazement. Admiral Albert Calavicci had bever acted like that towards any woman in his life, especially Tina. Dr. Sam Beckett, however...
"Father....?! Is it really you?" Ziggy queried, sounding just like a child who couldn't quite dare to hope her birthday wish had come true.
Now it was Tina turn to look astonished. "What?!"
"Tina, it's ok, it's me, Sam. Al and I swapped places again."
"Oh my God. You're, like, home. Wow!" Tina hugged him and Sam blushed, something which looked very strange indeed on Al Calavicci.
"Sam. It really is you, isn't it?! Oh my God. I'm so sorry I didn't believe you."
"Don't worry Verbena. I'm not sure I would have believed me either."
"How's Al? Is he alright?"
"He's fine. He's a little swiss-cheesed still, but is helping the passengers. I decided it would be best to tell you straight away". Just then the control room door opened and a woman with sad eyes and auben hair entered the room.
"I heard comotion, I..."
"Donna", Sam said, with love in his voice, turning towards her, love shinning in his eyes that had never been in Al Calavicci's, at least not for his best friend's wife.
"Sam?" she whispered. He just nodded.
"Oh God, Sam!" Suddenly she was in his arms, and they were kissing. Holding each other and kissing like their lives depended on it, tears in the eyes of each of them.