A Quantum Leap Fan Fiction, A Leap In Anger, by Rob Morris,
Rob4654@webtv.net , featuring characters created by Belisarius
Productions and Marvel Comics

Part 7-To Make Right

           Al Calavicci had been in many a battle. Engagements with the
VC, uprisings in the POW camps, even confronting a punk killer in a Vr
cathouse. It had never ceased to amaze him how long it all seemed and
yet how quickly it all went. Within 10 minutes, there could be a field
of dead soldiers-his buddies or the enemy-or both. Within 10 minutes,
they could have an arrogant guard begging for his life from men with
nothing left to lose.Within 10 minutes, mostly from the sight of Sam's
face imposed over his own, the punk was back in the waiting area. But
there was always aftermath. It would always replay in his mind, like the
Tyson 90-second blowout on pay-per-view. It was no different now, as 10
disastrous minutes replayed themselves in Al's mind as he stood among
the wreckage that was once Project:Quantum Leap.

         Sam-Hulk and Banner-Hulk busted out of the projection area like
bats out of hell. The projection area was a complete loss. Al saw what
looked like a Rubik's cube and realized his handlink was history, too.
Constantly ducking the wrestling creatures' movements, Al tried to get
to a trank gun, only to discover they'd unloaded their supplies during
Banner's first rampage. He also noticed that both Hulks looked like
Hulks, not distorted images. Sam's Hulk even looked something like Sam.
Thankfully, the main accelerator had been withdrawn into an underground
overload chamber as soon as the troubles began. For how important it
was, though, the most important piece of hardware, the one irreplaceable
part of Quantum Leap was still; "Ziggy! Protect yourself! DO NOT let the
non-musical team of Sam and Dave into your mainframe area!" Ziggy
responded "And you suggest I do this how, Admiral?" Al could barely hear
over the creatures' howls and the sound of endless crunching monitors
and cabinets. "Do the obvious, Ms. Machine! Leap these two out of here!"
"Admiral, if you'll recall, it was a failed attempt to leap Doctor
Banner that caused all this. The Gamma radiation"  Al was losing it, "I
know, I know, it throws you off. Wait? Why did this bring Sam back?"
Ziggy spoke matter-of-factly, despite the mortal danger they were all
in. "Well, since Doctor Eleise and the others have been locked down by
the emergency, I can only speculate on my own"  "Well!?"   "Well,
Admiral, I can only suspect that somehow the failed leap put Doctor
Banner in some kind of danger, and that Doctor Beckett leaped back with
him to save his life." Al shook his head, "Typical, Sam. We try for four
years to pull you back, and you do it yourself just to save a friend."
He looked around at the widening arc of wreckage. The creatures were in
a corner, with one-Banner's creature-rabbit-punching the other-Sam.
"This time, though, your merit badge comes with a high price tag, Boy
Scout." "Too bad we can't just leap the gamma-infected genes out of
them. Kill a whole skyful of birds with one stone"  Ziggy stirred;"Your
anti-avian attitudes aside, Admiral, I believe you are on to something."
Al had no patience left "So spill!"  "Alright, Admiral. I shall. They
have no gamma-infected genes. None at all." The growls were getting
louder, if possible. "Then why are they both big and green, Ziggy?
You're going Kaka on me." The movements were still away, but getting
closer. The wall between the monsters and the mainframe would soon be
down. Al shut the door and bolted it, hoping for even a second's delay
to the inevitable. "David-Doctor Banner has always assumed he gained a
genetic mutation that day he recieved the gamma overdose".  BAAANG!
"I'd say the Doc hit the nail pretty straight on that one". BAAAAAAANG!
"Wrong again, Admiral. Doctor Banner has always had a pre-existing
x-factor in his genes that enabled him to metabolize and store
gamma-type radiation like a battery. Through him, so does Doctor
Beckett". Al looked at the wall, then at Ziggy. "The extra mass they
gain as the Hulk! It's nothing more than solid radiation with attitude!
All Banner ever had to do was purge himself and then avoid getting
re-doused!"  "Almost precisely, Admiral. This would account for the
elasticity of the change, as well. It is one thing to become Mr. Hyde.
It is quite another to resume the normal form of Henry Jekyll".
BAAAAAANNNNNNNNGGGGG! They were almost through. "All well and good. But
what can we do with this info?" Ziggy raised the accelerator mechanism
in the next room, attracting the attention of the two Hulks. "Watch and
learn, Admiral. Or, in your case, watch, anyway."  Al rolled his eyes.
"Armageddon minus 5 seconds and I'm playing digital sap to a silicon
straightman!" "NOW!"  Ziggy's cry startled Al, as did the roar of the
accelerator. It seemed to pull at the Hulks, but not quite-energy poured
from both of them. Not just energy. Radiation. Gamma radiation. The
matter the Hulk was built from. Both creatures let out a cry- a cry of
joyful release from a vale of tears. "I am leaping the gamma energy into
the exosphere at our atmosphere's outer limit.", said Ziggy to anyone
conscious. "There it will cause no damage to the ozonosphere's
protective shell". Al saw the creatures begin to revert. "I thought you
couldn't lock on the gamma waves, Ziggy".  "Au contraire, Admiral. The
gamma waves were all I could lock onto. They prevented me from leaping
the Doctors. But locking on to the waves themselves was simplicity." Al
smiled broadly. "We saved the accelerator, we saved You,  everything
else is replaceable, and we got Sam back, once and for all!" One more
thing Al had forgotten. David Banner's form stirred, awoke, and looked
around. Suddenly, and at the top of his lungs, he shouted "I'M CURED!
I'M FREE! I'M FREE! THE CREATURE IS GONE! THE HULK IS GONE!" Though
startled, Al actually shook David Banner's hand. "Today the running
stops, pal. If this were December 25th, things'd be damn near perfect!"
"I hate to cast a shadow on such glad tidings, Admiral, David. But there
are two problems." Leave it to Ziggy to rain on the best parade  in a
lot of years. "What problems, Ziggy?" It was David who asked. "One,
dispersing the radiation safely came with a price-a high one. My
tracking program." Al pshawed the big machine. "So. Sam is back. He'll
just whip you up a new one. Lickety-split".  "That he might well, do,
Admiral, but for the other problem. Doctor Beckett is dying."  Both Al
and David looked ashen. Sam was convulsing, and they hadn't even
noticed. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHH! Nothing good without  some payback, right!" Al
was livid, cradling his dying friend in his arms. David, ironically,
remained calm. "What's wrong with him, Ziggy?"  "If I could quantify
this in scientific terms, I would, David. To the best of my considerable
knowledge, though-Time wants him back. Chronal Forces are pulling at him
in some fashion, almost as though there must be a leaper. He must go
back, or die". "NO!" Al wasn't having any of this. "We just got him
back! Besides, without a tracking program, we might lose him forever.
He's the only egghead who could even hope to make one from a cold start.
No one else could even try." David tried to speak "Al, calm down. This
isn't going to..." "To hell with you, Banner! You got your cure! You got
your life back! Only it cost Sam everything!" Al poked his finger into
David's chest , "You did it! YOU DESTROYED THE PROJECT AND YOU KILLED
SAM BECKETT IN THE PROCESS! Either we lose him one way or we lose him
the other".  Al walked away with Sam, as the lockdown ended and a
startled crew saw their true leader in agony. Donna kept herself
together at great cost. Putting Sam on a gurney, no one needed to tell
her this was her real husband-or that he was dying. David attempted to
help, but Donna pushed him back. "Stay back, David. Just stay back." He
did. 10 minutes. A complete wreck in 10 minutes. Sam's lifetime. Al
wandered off to take watch with his friends. They would have to decide
his fate, soon.     

                "Let me be there in your morning, let me be there in
your night. Let me change whatever's wrong-and make it right. Let me
take you to that wonderland that only two can share;All I ask you;is Let
Me Be There". David could not help but hear Donna singing that over
Sam's unconcious body  In college, for her and Sam, it had been more
than their song-it had almost been a prayer. Now, more than ever. He
called Phenom, and spoke to her little daughter, who squealed with
delight too speak to the fabulous Green Knight. He called Jennifer, and
he called his sister, and he ordered flowers for his parents' graves. He
even called Jack Mcgee to make sure things were all right. Both men
apologized for their actions, and both were told it was unneccesary.
More flowers, these to be placed on the graves of two wives and one who
should have been. Unnoticed in the frenzy to care for Sam, he planned
with Ziggy what would come next. "Are you certain you want to do this,
David? There may be no turning back." David smiled, and shook his head.
"There never was." A sound. A gun cocking. "If you're going to shoot me,
Al, please do it quickly-or not. I've got places to go". Al stepped out
from the shadows. "Don't be crazy, Banner. It's only a theory. You could
be lost".  "Ziggy said that Sam does not have to go back if someone else
does! That someone is me!" Al stood his ground. "Ziggy doesn't even know
why time is doing this to Sam! You could be doing this for nothing!
Throwing your life away!"  David continued preparing the controls. "Sam
gave me my life back, Al. It's only right".Frustrated, Al put the gun
away. "Damn you and your instant friend power! I can't keep angry at ya,
and I can't feel good about helping Sam!" Donna ran in. "Sam's condition
is improving!" She looked over; "Oh, David, no! I just said.."  "Time
senses me coming, Donna. I don't know how, but it does. Whatever guided
Sam now wants me, and is letting Sam get better as a result. Let me
complete the process." Had it not been her husband's life on the line,
Dr. Donna Eleise would have raised a thousand logical objections. She
raised none. The lightshow began anew. "Tell Sam to get that new
tracking program on-line soon! I have every intention of coming back
someday! Right after I displace a drunken chaffeur, that is!". Everyone
smiled. In his sickbed, Doctor Sam Beckett awoke, and said four words
before needed slumber reclaimed him:"Vaya Con Dios, David". Somehow, he
heard his friend. "And God Go with you, Sam." He turned to face his
assembled friends. "God Go with you All." He had discovered the hidden
strengths that all humans have: faith, courage, and love. With that,
Doctor David Banner, physician, scientist-stepped into the Quantum Leap
Accelerator-And Vanished.