A Unique Point of View By: Christina Campbell Chapter 6 Today they were watching 'M.I.A.' Rachel hadn't told Al what to expect, but when the date and place came up on the screen during the Leap-in, he paled. "Beth." He turned to Rachel with stricken eyes as the opening music played. She nodded silently, sadness and understanding full in her eyes. "Do you want to watch the whole Leap, or skip to the end?" Al closed his eyes, and actually considered it. "No. I want to know how much you know." She nodded. "Al. We might not really understand, but we care." "And that's supposed to make me feel better?" He snapped. Rachel bit her lip, realizing that she'd just goofed, and turned her attention back to the show. The episode passed in silence as Al watched his soul being bared, not just to Sam, but to the world. Then came the final scene. Al watched as Beth listened to 'Unchained Melody,' feeling as much alone now as he did then. Beth got up and changed the music and they were dancing together. Rachel whispered. "The shadow-dance." Al didn't even look at her until the end of the episode when Sam Leaped out. He was startled to see the tears in her eyes. "You're crying," he said. She wiped her eyes. "It gets me every time. This was just about _the_ most depressing scene in the whole series. You and Beth, you belong together.." She tried to go on, but couldn't find the words. Looking at her, at that moment, he understood her. [The show, it isn't about Quantum Leap. It's about me and Sam. And the fans understand. That Leap was one of the hardest that I've ever done, but I only had to go through it once. They--they watch it again and again, trying to figure some way that I could have gotten her back. And they don't get callous about it. They still _feel_ the Leaps. Actually, all the episodes I've seen so far have been done extremely well, as if the producer and the actors understood as well. I might--might--be able to accept this.] ----- Seven days--and four episodes--later, Rachel and Al were watching 'A Leap for Lisa,' and Rachel carefully observed Al's reaction to the knowledge that he had actually been dead for about 12 hours--or 40 years, depending on your point of view. His face went white as Edward St. John the V read off the word '100.' He turned to face Rachel with wide eyes as the commercial break hit. As the situation continued, the humor in the situation lightened him up a bit, to the point where he laughed with Sam about Bingo and Tina. When Sam found the cigar and turned around, Al exhaled with a bit of wonder. "So that's why he reacted so strongly when I asked him that." Rachel nodded. "And now you know why I asked Ziggy if I could listen in on your conversation during that Leap. On this Leap, I got only Sam's point of view, and I wanted yours." ----- It was a couple weeks later, and Sam was playing a sheriff named Clayton Fuller. Rachel was glad that Sammy-Jo hadn't been there when Ziggy had told announced it to Rachel. Rachel wasn't sure if Al knew that Clayton Fuller was Sammy-Jo Roberts' grandfather, but she wasn't about to ask, and she wasn't about to tell. She was going to stay as far away from Al as she could during the next three Leaps, and she was going to quietly keep Sammy-Jo away from him too. That wasn't too hard, as they were both deep into programming the new retrieval program. It had been almost six months, and they had spent about three of those on mapping, then double-checking the mapping software took another month--debugging always takes longer than you think it will. Now they were getting into the hard stuff. Sammy-Jo didn't need the distractions of a Leap that affected her life. ----- Al walked into Rachel's lab. "You've been avoiding me." Rachel didn't look up from the computer terminal. "Rachel." She blinked a couple times, and turned her head towards him. "What?" Her eyes weren't really looking at him, but at least this was an improvement. "You've been avoiding me." She abruptly focused on him. "Yeah. If I stay away, you can't ask me my opinions on the Leaps." Her eyes abruptly got a hint of humor in them, as if she knew something that no one else in the world knew-- except, of course, the other QL fans. "You have a secret hidden in those eyes. Can you tell me about it? This _is_ the third Leap to save Abigail Fuller's life." "Third?" Her eyes abruptly narrowed, but still contained that glint of amusement. "Tell me what's happened so far." "Not much. Sam's a lawyer who is supposed to defend Abigail against murder charges. He's talking to Abigail now, relearning the stuff from the previous Leaps." She smiled. "Then I can tell you the secret you see in my eyes. Abigail has a daughter named Sammy-Jo." Al's jaw dropped. "As in our Sammy-Jo?" Her grin grew wider, and she nodded. "She's about 10 or 11 when Sam is right now. She gets her brains from her father." Al was puzzled for a second, and then realization hit. "Sam spent a night with Abigail last Leap. You have _got_ to be kidding." She shrugged. "Ask Ziggy. The number she'll give you is 91.9." Al looked back at Rachel. "I have got to tell this to Sam. He has a daughter." She flashed another grin at him. "That'll be his reaction too." She turned back to her computer screen and was immediately reabsorbed in the programming. ----- Rachel was at Al's door at the end of the third 'Trilogy' Leap. He raised an eyebrow at her, and they went inside. She did so, uncertain of how much he remembered about their earlier talk--after all, it had been on another time-line for him. "So, what do you remember?" "I remember two different conversations with you--from two different time-lines. In one, I'd never heard of Sammy-Jo, and in the other I recognized the name instantly. I definitely like this reality better." "Oh, I've no doubt of that. She does have this theory, after all. Are we going to tell her about the last Leaps?" "We won't bring the subject up. If she asks, be vague. A sheriff and a dead body, a lynching, and a lawyer. That ought to satisfy her. She's never been really curious about the Leaps." ----- One day, months later, Ziggy announced to them that Sam had Leaped in. Rachel acknowledged this with little consciousness, as she had almost figured out how to make a certain module of the retrieval program to work. She wasn't drawn out until hours later when Donna showed up to make her eat dinner. Rachel had skipped lunch. She noticed that Donna looked extremely unhappy, and wasn't eating much. Thinking it had something to do with current Leap, she asked "So, where is Sam?" Donna looked startled. "Didn't Ziggy tell you? We can't find him. There's no one in the Waiting Room." "What!?" Rachel left a startled Donna alone in the cafeteria. When she showed up in the Control Room, a very sick-looking Al was stepping out of the Imaging Chamber. Gooshie was looking hesitant. "I was about to suggest a break anyway, Admiral." Rachel broke in. "Al, it's his birth day." "I know that, Rachel!" Rachel sighed, and clarified what she had just said. "Al. It's the day of his birth." Al's eyes widened. "August 8th, 1953. We started with 1954. How stupid can you get?" He obviously felt like banging himself on the head. "Where? Where, Rachel?" Rachel smiled crookedly. "At Al's Place." Al wasn't in the mood for that, and gave her a look. "It's a bar in some little mining town." She closed her eyes, concentrating. "I can't remember the name on such short notice, but I think it's in Pennsylvania." Al was looking at her with hope. "Ziggy! Is that sufficient?" "I have Dr. Beckett located in Cokeburgh, Pennsylvania on August 8, 1953." Gooshie's mouth fell open, as he stared at Rachel in surprise. Al raised an eyebrow. "Why?" "Donna needs to eat. Sam needs to talk to you. You need to see some things to believe him. Go." Al nodded, and entered the IC. Rachel smiled enigmatically at Gooshie, then left the room before he could ask her anything. She rejoined Donna at dinner, telling her that they had located Sam. Donna immediately perked up, and started eating a little more. Rachel smiled. ----- "Rachel, he was spouting off some kind of crazy nonsense. Says that there's someone named Gooshie with bad breath and someone named Ziggy whom we met on another Leap--but not under that name. He also tells me that the bartender is that GTFW we've been looking for for years." "The bartender denies it, you know." Rachel had an amused grin on her face. "Dr. Beckett has Leaped." Ziggy's calm voice announced. "What!?" Al was incredulous. "How could he Leap, he hasn't changed anything!" Ziggy just huffed and Rachel shook her head. "Al, while I'm thinking of it, I'm sorry." "For what?" "I got so absorbed in the retrieval module that I forgot to monitor the Leaps. I could have told you when he was hours ago, but I wasn't paying attention. I wouldn't have gotten there when I did if Donna hadn't told me that there was no one in the Waiting Room. You went through that whole dizzying image-swirl thing for hours, and I could have given you the lock." He thought about that, then dismissed it. "If I had been thinking clearly, I might have asked. We both missed that one." "Thank you." Then a thought struck her. "Maybe GTFW wanted to have Sam be alone and discover some things by himself on that Leap. I guess I really did make a good decision, leaving here for Killin' Time. GTFW wouldn't have let me change anything." "Rachel, this has got to be one of the weirdest Leaps he's ever done. _He was in his own body._ He cast his own reflection for the first time in five years--except for the simo-Leap. He told me that he had seen another Leaper, who happens to have had my uncle's name. I don't understand it." "Neither did I, the first time through that episode. I'm not sure I understand it now." "Can I watch it, see it from his side?" Rachel shook her head. "Not yet. The episode isn't over." "What? He Leaped!" She nodded. "Yes, I know. Some episodes covered more than one Leap." She closed her eyes to hide the joyful tears hiding in them. ----- Two days later, Ziggy announced to Rachel that Sam had Leaped back in. "Ziggy, don't let Al into the IC yet." Rachel dropped the paper she was holding and flew up to the Control Room, leaving a startled Sammy- Jo behind. In the Control Room, Al was pacing back and forth, yelling at Tina and Gooshie as Rachel came in. "This is getting out of hand. _Two Leaps_ with no one in the Waiting Room." Rachel didn't bother to respond. "Al, the shadow-dance. That's when, and where, he is." Tina broke in. "Shadow dance? What are you talking about?" Al ignored Tina, his eyes widening with sudden hope. "Got it, Ziggy?" Ziggy, of course, knew what they were talking about from the multiple discussions they had had about that episode. "Yes, Admiral. The night of April 2, 1969, San Diego." Al headed to the IC, but Rachel's voice stopped him. "Al, on this one Leap I ask you to hold your silence. He knows why he's there this time. And I'm coming too." Al took a second to look her in the eyes, then went into the IC with her. Tina and Gooshie traded glances, "Shadow dance? What was that time and place, Gooshie?" Gooshie thought. "Three years ago, Dr. Beckett Leaped into April 1, 1969. The Admiral didn't talk much to me about that Leap, but he looked awful during the whole thing. That Leap lasted until the night of April 2. But I don't know what she meant by shadow-dance." ----- Rachel and Al watched in silence as Sam talked to Beth. He looked up, saw them, smiled, and Leaped. Rachel was smiling as the image of Beth's house faded from the IC. A voice spoke next to her. "I wonder why Samuel went of his way to inform her about her husband, and how he knew to do that. I certainly didn't tell him." Rachel slowly turned to face the man next to her. "No," she breathed. "Nononono." She shook her head and started backing up. Edward St. John the V watched in astonishment as Rachel backed into the wall and sank to the floor, a look of horror in her eyes. ***************** Feedback requested! What do you think of my story? Christina C. christina.l.campbell@vanderbilt.edu