A Unique Point of View
By: Christina Campbell

Epilogue

Beth watched with utter surprise as the title scenes of Quantum Leap 
came on. The expression on her face reminded Rachel of Sam's when he 
had watched it at her house 10 years ago--from her point of view.

Beth just held her peace as the guy she assumed was playing Sam was 
cornered in the men's bathroom by a young girl.  The theme music 
started playing and she turned to Rachel.  "Explanation, please."

Rachel was grinning broadly at her.  "This is one of my favorite 
television shows and has been for years."  She pointed at the screen.  
"That's Scott Bakula, and he plays Sam.  That's Dean Stockwell and he's 
Al.  Don't ask me how it came about, but from everything I've seen in 
the last two or three years, it's accurate.  By the way, Al, it still 
reflects time-line A, which is slightly confusing.  I would think that 
it would reflect the current time-line."

Al shrugged.  "I stopped worrying about time-line changes when Sam 
started Leaping.  It's coming back on."

Beth turned to Al partway through the show.  "Twins?"

Al actually blushed.  "I wasn't married, you know!"

She just nodded and turned back to the show.  A little later, she 
turned back to him again.  "Banging on a vending machine with a 
hammer?"

Al looked a little sheepish.  "Not the best way to handle things, I 
know.  Sam straightened me out, helped me kick the drinking habit."

They watched the episode all the way through to the Leap-out, then 
Rachel took out the tape.  "Beth, that was just to give you a feel for 
the show.  Now we get into the heavy stuff.  You really need to see 
this, so you can understand where Al is coming from until he gets the 
new memories."  Beth nodded and watched as Rachel put in a new tape and 
pressed play.  They watched as Al tried to convince Sam to save their 
marriage.

She shivered.  "Jake Rawlings.  I knew that meeting was weird."

Al nodded.  By the end of the episode, she was crying and holding on to 
Al, who held her back.

Then came the dance scene.  She pulled in a deep breath as she watched 
Al shadow-dance with her, then leave as Sam Leaped.  "How could I have 
known?" she breathed.

Al shook his head.  "I don't know.  We'll have to ask Sam when he gets 
back."

Rachel just smiled sadly and Beth was surprised to see tears in her 
eyes.  "You're crying."

"Beth, I've seen this episode a hundred times--and I cry each time.  
Sometimes, just listening to Unchained Melody or Georgia on My Mind can 
make me cry.  And I hope that I continue to cry when I see this 
episode.  It's one of the most poignant scenes that I've ever seen 
anywhere."

Beth looked at Rachel with new respect, then nodded.  Rachel let the 
tape play, and they watched The Leap Home, and The Leap Home: Vietnam.  
Beth and Rachel were in tears again by the end of those two.

"There's one more I want you two to see.  Beth, Al hasn't seen this one 
either for reasons that will shortly become obvious.  This is the last 
episode of the whole series."

Al watched this one with more concentration, as he had never seen it 
before.  By the end, he still wasn't convinced that that bartender was 
God, but he could see Sam's point of view.  The three of them watched 
the last scene with tears of joy this time, and then the last three 
lines hit:

      Beth never remarried.

      She and Al have four daughters, and will celebrate their 39th
      anniversary in June.

      Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home.

Beth gaped in shock, then yelled "What!?"  Al's remark was a little 
more extreme than hers.

Rachel grimaced.  "That was my reaction when I first saw it."

"You've known this for five years!?"  Al stood up, looking outraged.

Rachel gave him a look that was full of determination.  "To quote 
something a found on the 'net, 'Never is a very transient thing when it 
comes to time-travel.' "

Al blinked at her in surprise and then sat back down, unconsciously 
putting an arm around Beth.  "I'm sorry.  It's just that...was kind of a 
shock."

"Al, he knew what he was getting into.  He made the same choice for you 
that you made for him in The Leap Home II. Your happiness for his 
freedom."

"But I knew for a _fact_ that I was gonna come home anyway, just 
later."

She nodded.  "Al, if we had a working retrieval program, we'd run it 
right now.  The fact that we don't have one is not due to my lack of 
trying--and as a matter of fact I think we're getting close, just a few 
more modules and a lot of debugging.  We can't guarantee anything, and 
maybe he won't Leap home until GTFW has no more use for him.  Maybe Al 
the bartender was right and he has to truly _want_ to Leap home in 
order to get back.  All we can do is try."

Al nodded, but Beth looked confused.  "You have a retrieval program?"

Al and Rachel looked at each other quizzically. Al turned to his wife.  
"I must not have told you about it.  I don't why I wouldn't have, 
though.  But it's late.  I can fill you in later."  He gave Beth his 
best 'Bedtime?' look.  She grinned at him and they left together.

Rachel just smiled at their rather abrupt departure.

-----

Sam looked up as he heard the IC door open.  "Hello, Rachel."

She stepped through and left it open behind her.  "Sam.  I told you I'd 
be here, Observer or not.  I can't, however, stay.  My job is on the 
retrieval program, and we're approaching a new solution.  I'm sure 
you'd rather have me there than here."

Sam smiled crookedly at her. "Not necessarily."

"Yes necessarily."  Al said as he stepped through the still-open IC 
door.

Sam gaped at him a moment, then turned to Rachel with an questioning 
look. Al spoke before he could say anything. "Sam, she told you the 
truth.  The last Leap brought me back to the Project, apparently."  
Then Al broke out in a smile.  "Thanks, kid.  Beth's here too."

Sam looked back at him and noticed how happy Al truly was.  It wasn't 
just his normal flashy cover but an actual deep joy.  "You're welcome, 
Al.  The least I could do after five years of this."  He waved a hand 
at his surroundings.

Rachel smiled at them both, handed Al the handlink, and stepped out 
through the Imaging Chamber door.


The End

______
I was going to have more to this story, but it kept going, so I decided to 
write a sequel instead of continuing with this story.  See you when it's done!


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Feedback requested!  What do you think of my story?

Christina C.
christina.l.campbell@vanderbilt.edu