A Crossed Leap - A PSL for a real Quantum Tangle

[quantum_entangled]

Warning for spoilers for all things Quantum Leap

CW: for death mentions, angst, and history.

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[quantum_entangled]

Addy appeared, eyes locked on her handlink, scowling at it. Not that it mattered much, though. Wherever this leap had started, it was pitch black. Addy, focused on the handlink, hand't yet noticed that. "Alright, so good news and bad news. Bad news, Ziggy's running slow, and we have no clue what you're here to do. Good news is... we finally found you. And it wasn't easy. Some sort of anomaly something something, I don't know, I tuned out as soon as they said they found you. How are you holding up?"

[whatoncewentwrong]

Sam was grateful to hear the telltale sound of the imaging chamber door. This leap had landed him in the body of someone who was apparently some celebrity, and in a rush to escape from a bunch of overenthusiastic teenage fans, he'd ducked into the first available door he'd come across. Unfortunately, the room beyond that door proved to be pitch dark. He'd just started feeling around trying to find a light switch when the chamber door opened.

Only the voice that accompanied it wasn't that of his long time friend. Instead it was the rather business-like voice of a woman. That he didn't recognize who she was was no great surprise given the state of his memory, but what she said and indeed her very presence made it immediately clear that she was someone who worked on the project at the very least, so he didn't see any immediate cause for alarm. "Well judging by the pack of over-excited teenage girls I was running from before I ducked in here, I think it's a safe bet that I've leaped into some sort of celebrity," he said. "Who are you though? And where's Al?"

[quantum_entangled]

Her head shot up at the male voice that was not Ben's. Not that it did her much good in the darkness. "Who am I? I think the better question is just who are you mist..... Did you say Al? Tell me you did not jut say Al. Al who?" She was tense waiting for the answer.

[whatoncewentwrong]

OK maybe there was a bit of alarm now. "What do you mean 'Al who'?", Sam said. "Al Calavicci, the man who's usually in the imaging chamber. If you work at Quantum Leap you must know him; he's pretty hard to miss. Smokes cigars, has terrible fashion sense, has a hard time remembering which of his daughters did what sometimes... ring any bells?"

[quantum_entangled]

"Oh that's ringing all the bells, I assure you. And my not laving the chamber right now has nothing to do with not wanting to be anywhere near the control room right now and everything to do with not losing this signal, this connection to you, however it occurred. You are Sam, right?" A tone that made it clear there was only one acceptable answer.

[whatoncewentwrong]

...And now he was definitely alarmed. "Of course I'm Sam," he said. "Doctor Sam Beckett. Leapees aside, who else would I be? And you still haven't told me who you are."

Sam took a step in the general direction of her voice only to stumble over something. Addison would hear a clatter, followed by Sam cursing under his breath. He sighed. "Hold on... let me find the light switch." A moment of feeling around the wall near the door later, an overhead fluorescent light of the type one might find in the average office building came on, revealing them to be inside a janitor's closet, and the thing Sam stumbled over to be a rolling bucket, the mop that had been in it now lying on the floor.

And the light would erase any doubts about who she was talking to, because while the face looking back at her was not Ben's, to anyone working at Quantum Leap, it would be very familiar....

[quantum_entangled]

"Captain Addison Allison Augustine, Military Intelligence currently assigned to project Quantum Leap. And... Well let's just say you're not the only Leaper. Not any more." A deep breath as she ran a hand through her hair. "And if I am with you, then my guess as to where Al is? Yah, let's just say I suspect Magic has his hands full right about now." She shook her head. "Or h's watching with his jaw open. In which case, Jenn owes me ten bucks."

[whatoncewentwrong]

Well... That explained a lot while at the same time presenting about a million more questions and concerns. Sam ran a hand through his own hair. "...Oh boy," he said. He took a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts. One thing stood out to him though, and proved far easier to verbalize than any of the other questions currently racing through his mind. "Magic... Is that the same Magic who was part of my brother's unit in Vietnam? The soldier I leaped into?"

[quantum_entangled]

"You remember him?" she asked, surprised but pleased. "Yes, the same magic. He's determined to bring you home, Sam. We all are."

[whatoncewentwrong]

"Hard to forget that leap," Sam said, "even with my memory the way it is." He'd never forget the chance he got to save his brother's life. Or the cost that chance had come at.

And speaking of costs, this case of quantum cross wiring had presented him with an opportunity to address one sort of cost in particular that he doubted he would get again. "Has Magic... well has he ever mentioned whether or not he was OK with what I did?", he said. "Not in terms of saving people, but in terms of leaping into him in the first place? I mean I know I'm there to help, but the fact is that I'm still taking over the lives of the people I leap into for however long I'm there, and I can't exactly ask their permission first."

[quantum_entangled]

"No you can't, but Sam? Magic is on the project now. Actively working to make it so another Leaper could come back and find you to bring you home. Pretty sure he's okay with it. But tell you what, let's get you home, then you can talk to him yourself."

[whatoncewentwrong]

"Deal," he said with a brief smile. He didn't know if this mishap actually increased his chances of getting home or not, but was willing to go with it for now. He always had been something of an optimist. "Though that brings up another question; if everyone back home is still working on a way for someone to come back and find me, why did your friend already leap? That seems more likely to just wind up with two people lost in time instead of one."

[quantum_entangled]

"Yeah... we're still working on that one. For one thing we were nowhere near ready. For another... I was supposed to be the Leaper, and believe me, he'll be getting an earful when he gets home." When, not if. She refuses to even consider an if.