Date: Sat, 20 Jul 1996 03:04:22 -1000 From: Kevin Matsumoto Author's Notes: Hi! I'm back again :=) This stories isn't part of the FK/HL arc that I've been writing, but I'm hoping you like it. WARNING: SPOILERS FOR LAST KNIGHT, ASHES TO ASHES and maybe FRANCESCA The background for Quantum Leap should be sufficient filler. For some background: parts of which are taken verbatim from the show. No copy right infringement intended. Quantum Leap is about a time traveler named Sam Beckett, who came up with a theoretical device for time travel. Forced to prove his device would work or lose his funding, Sam stepped into the Quantum Accelerator and vanished. Now he travels from time period to time period, changing places with other people and assuming their outward appearance. His experiment has been taken over by an outside force (Fate, God, whatever) that is using Sam to correct mistakes in the time stream. Once the point where the change must be made is past, Sam leaps again, from life to life, always hoping the next leap will be last. The only way Sam can communicate with his time is through Al. Admiral Al Calavicchi, an observer assigned to project Quantum Leap. Al appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see or hear. Al uses a link to a hybrid super-computer named Ziggy to tell Sam the most probable reason he has leaped into a certain situation. Sam (who probably has more degrees than a thermometer) has had his memory partial erased (swisscheesed) by the leaping process and often needs Al to tell him what's going on. For those of you who have seen Last Knight and hated it. The series finale of QL was even worse. Absolutely no closure at all, it ended with a small piece of text saying "Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home." If you've read the Last Knight story "Two Birds With One Stone." then yes this story is partially based on his. I thought it was original and fun. The rest of this is because Rebecca Tanner and I were discussing Quantum Leap and started tossing a few lines back and forth about Sam leaping into a Forever Knight character. I'm using her lines and mine, mostly without her permission but I don't think she'll mind. (I hope) And now for the usual. Disclaimer: Forever Knight, Nick Knight, Natalie Lambert, LaCroix and Co. belong to Jim Parriot and Sony/Tristar. Quantum Leap, Sam Beckett, Al Calavicci. Et Al belong to Don Bellasario and Columbia Pictures. No copyright infringement intended. Last Leap. A Forever Knight/Quantum Leap Crossover. by Kevin Matsumoto Kevinm@Pixi.com Part 1/? Sam looked around in shock as the disorientation that followed a leap faded away. He sat in a club decorated in a dark gothic motif. Across from him, holding his hand, a beautiful dark haired woman was seated. Everything about her spoke of a regal bearing and she was saying something. "LaCroix, Make sure there is always a place for strays like us to stay." She kiss his finger and started to get up. For just a moment she turned towards him and frowned. Then with a shake of her head she walked away. Sam picked up the papers in front of him and began reading. According to the papers, his name was Lucien LaCroix and he was now the owner of a club called the Raven. Looking around the club he decided he needed someplace quite to think. Walking over to the bartender he said. "You know that I'm the new owner?" "Janette told me." The bartender replied. "Good," Sam paused for a moment then asked. "Where's the office?" "Same place it's always been." The Bartender gave Sam an odd look. "Through there, he indicated a hallway." "Thanks." Sam headed for the hall. Sam sat down in the office and wondered where Al was. He was usually here by now. Picking up a bottle he twirled it. The liquid inside was a dark color, the green glass made it impossible to tell what color the liquid itself was. "Sam." Al's voice came from behind him. "Al!" Sam whirled around. "Where the hell..." Sam's voice trailed off as he looked at Al. Al's clothes were rumpled and his hair was almost sticking straight up. He had a wild-eyed look that made Sam nervous. "What happened to you?" Sam asked. "Sam," Al began in a breathless voice. "Whatever you're here to do. You need to hurry!" "Al, start making sense." Sam replied. "Sam, you're not going to believe this but you leaped into a vampire!" Sam stood stock still for a moment, then he looked exasperated. "Al, I vaguely remember having this conversation with you before." "I know, Sam, I remember that. But you don't understand. This guy is really a vampire. He demanded blood, and when I told him we couldn't provide any he almost killed me." Al indicated his current state of dress. "Look at me, what do you think happened?" "I thought maybe you got lucky with Tina." Sam replied. Al suddenly looked very grim. "Sam, I'm a happily married man." "Must be my swiss cheese memory." Sam apologized. "But I do remember that I proved to you there was no such thing as a vampire." "Have you looked in a mirror?" Al said as he began straightening his clothes. "No why." Sam looked into the nearest window pane and stopped dead. The face looking back at him was pale, stern, patrician almost grim. "OK, I see why you think he's a vampire." "Sam," Al sighed. "His eyes went gold and he grew fangs. Not fake fangs, these appeared, in his mouth." "Al." Sam was fed up. "Enough, no more vampire nonsense. What am I here for?" Al dug out the comp link. "Lesse, according to Ziggy... You're here to turn this place into a strip joint. Hey this might not be so bad after all." Al brightened. "Al, be serious." "I am serious." Al looked at the comp. "According to Ziggy, there's a 86 percent probability that you're here to avert a string of personal disasters that lead to a multiple homicide." "What." Sam looked around. "What does a multiple homicide have to do with a strip joint?" "I dunno Sam." Al kept reading. "But Ziggy says that if you don't turn this place into a strip joint. A Detective Knight and a Detective Vetter are going to die, as well as a Dr. Natalie Lambert. And because Knight and Vetter aren't there, a Captain Joe Reese and a good part of Metro Night watch die by an unknown assailant." "How could Ziggy come up with that kind of connection?" "Beats me." Al whacked the side of the link. "Ziggy's 90% sure that this point is the beginning of a major series of disasters for these people." "OK, OK" Sam gave up. "Where do I start." It was easier than Sam expected. Within a week, with Al's guidance, he had gotten the necessary permits and had the modifications done to the bar. Now all he had to do was hire the dancers. "Sam, you'd better hurry." Al appeared next to him. "LaCroix's gone through all the whole blood in the medical bay and we've had to hold an impromptu blood drive to satisfy him." "Al...." "Alright, Alright. I know, you don't believe in vampires. But this guy really believes he's one and if you don't finish soon he's liable to start snacking on the staff." "So what's left?" Al looked at the link. "According to Ziggy, you need to hire some dancers and set up a amateur night." "Excuse me, but are you LaCroix?" A voice suddenly came from behind him. Sam whirled around to see a young, blonde woman standing behind him. "Yes, yes I am." He replied. "I understand you're gonna be hiring exotic dancers." "That's right." "Then could I audition?" "And your name is?" "Urs." the young woman replied. "Well, uh Urs." Sam was still a little embarrassed at the idea of hiring strippers. "I'm sure you'll be just fine. We open in a week." "Sam! That was it." Al looked excited. "Ziggy says you should be..." Sam never heard the final part of the statement as the now familiar feeling ran over him and he leaped. Sam again shook off the weird feeling that the leap caused as he looked around. He was still inside the Raven, only now he was standing behind the bar opening a box. As he opened the box he saw a severed human head staring back at him. "Oh boy..." Was all he could say. Dracula: Renfield, look into my eyes. Renfield: Zzzzzzz Dracula: Renfield, you went to sleep to soon. Dracula, Dead and Loving it. Kevinm@pixi.com A N&Npacker with Cousinly tendencies. Last Leap. A Forever Knight/Quantum Leap Crossover. by Kevin Matsumoto Kevinm@Pixi.com Part 2/? Before Sam could do anything a man and a woman followed by several uniformed police officers entered the bar. "Put your hands on the bar now..." The blonde haired man said in a curt voice, then he lowered it to an almost pleading tone. "please." Sam went along with the man. "I think you'll find what you want in there." He indicated the box. "There's a body in here!" One of the officers shouted as he checked the cooler behind the bar. "I think you'd better come with us." The blonde haired man said. Sam sighed and allowed himself to be cuffed and taken out of the Raven. At that very moment Al was dealing with a problem of his own. Mainly a very irate Lucien LaCroix, who was holding him up by his coat lapels. "What am I doing back here again?" LaCroix's voice never rose above a whisper but it echoed in Al's mind louder than any shout. "How do you remember that?" Al's curiosity overrode the fear for a moment. "How could I forget?" LaCroix replied. "Now you will tell me why I am back here." "I don't know." Al admitted. "Ziggy's being cagey about the reason. All I know is it has something to do with a Javier Vachon. If I don't go and tell Sam what to do, this Vachon guy is going to wind up dead." "Indeed?" LaCroix lowered Al to the floor. "And what happens to him?" "I don't know, all Ziggy is saying is that he winds up dead." "Then I had best let you go to your associate." LaCroix released Al and watched him run through the door. By the time they had centered on Sam, he was already in the interrogation room. Al walked in and held his finger to his lips in the classic shush motion. Leaning through the one way glass he peered into the witness room. "All clear." Al said as stood across from Sam. "Al, what's going on? I thought I fixed things already." "Ziggy says that a whole series of things have to be fixed before you completely leap free." "How many things?" Sam asked. "Lemme see." Al whacked the side of the link. "Something's really whacky. Ziggy doesn't have an answer." "So what am I doing here?" Sam gave up trying to get a straight answer from Ziggy. "Lessee, You're supposed to make sure that Tracy Vetter doesn't let some guy name Javier Vachon out of her sight till morning." Al continued reading the link. "Because if you don't he's going to wind up dead by tomorrow night." "And how am I supposed to do that?" Sam couldn't understand where Ziggy was getting all this information. "Ziggy says that the best way is just to tell her out right." Al replied. "Ziggy also says that you're supposed get Detective Knight to tell Detective Vetter what he really is." "Al, you're not starting with that again." Sam was in no mood to hear about vampires. "Sam, I'm not the one telling this, Ziggy is." "And how does Ziggy know all this?" Sam asked. "I don't know," Al asked. "Hold on, let me look up more information on the Detectives." Al began punching buttons on the link. After several seconds he started whacking the link even harder. "Something's really weird, Sam. Ziggy just went totally Caca." "What?" Sam couldn't believe this. "How could Ziggy go down?" "I don't know, Sam. Look just get the two Detectives in here alone and tell them what they need to know. I'll have Gushi run a systems diagnostic." Al opened the imaging chamber door and walked through the rectangle of light that appeared. Sam called the officer outside and requested to speak to Detectives Knight and Vetter alone. "What do you think?" Joe Reese asked Nick. "I think we might get more cooperation if we humor him." "It's your call." Captain Reese headed for his office. "You wanted to talk to us?" Nick asked as he walked into the interrogation room. "Yes," Nick suddenly looked at the one way glass. "No ones there." Nick reassured him. Something bothered him about the way LaCroix was acting. He was never that diffident before. Nick suddenly realized that he was hearing a regular heartbeat from LaCroix. "Good," Sam relaxed a little. "Detective Vetter, do you know a Javier Vachon?" Tracy placed her hand on her chest and looked stunned. "Me? I don't know what you're talking about." "It's important." Sam insisted. "Yes, I do." Tracy finally replied. "You can't let him out of your sight till morning." "Why not?" Nick asked. "What kind of game are you playing, LaCroix?" Suddenly Nick leaned back, a look of astonishment crossed his face. "You're not LaCroix are you?" "No I'm not." Sam admitted. "My name is Sam Beckett, and I'm a time traveler." "Who just happens to look like Lucien LaCroix." Nick said sarcastically. "I exchange places with someone from whichever time I visit." Sam replied. "I don't have any control over it. And I'm here to help. When I'm finished, LaCroix will be back and I'll have traveled to another time." "What are you here to help with?" Tracy asked. "If you don't stay with Vachon till morning, he's going to be dead by tomorrow night." "What?" Tracy couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Who could do that?" "I don't know. All I know is you can't let Vachon out of your sight till morning." "Anything else you have to tell us?" Nick asked. "Yes," Sam looked embarrassed, "You have to tell Detective Vetter what you really are." "What?" Tracy felt like a broken record. At least this time Nick had said it at the same time she did. Then she made a few connections. "Nick, you son of a bitch." She turned to her partner to glare at him. Sam felt like switch had been thrown and the world disappeared for a moment as he leapt again. As the world reappeared, Sam almost wanted to cry. He was back in the Raven again. Only this time there was a large crowd there. Al appeared a few seconds later, he looked even more shaken up than the last two times. "Sam, you gotta stop leaping into this guy. He's talking about using me for a midnight snack." End part 2. For those of you who have seen Ashes to Ashes, Yes I changed some of the words. Sam leapt in at a odd moment and I decided to go with the changes, so don't bug me about the different dialogue. I didn't make a mistake, it was deliberate. Comments can be made to kevinm@pixi.com, All comments welcome, constructive criticisms will be accepted with gratitude, Compliments with stunned silence and Flames Grudgingly ignored.:> Last Leap. A Forever Knight/Quantum Leap Crossover. by Kevin Matsumoto Kevinm@Pixi.com Part 3/? Sam almost shouted at Al to stop him from talking about vampires. But he just managed to keep his cool. "Al, what now?" Al looked at the link. "You're supposed to deliver a book from LaCroix's private library to Doctor Natalie Lambert." "What book?" Sam asked. "Something called the Abarrat. You can't miss it. It'll be the oldest book in the library." "Why?" Sam asked. "Because according to Ziggy, the Abarrat has a cure for..." Al's voice trailed off. "vmprsm..." He mumbled "What was that?" Sam thought he knew what Al had muttered but he wasn't sure. "I. said. vampirism." Al drew each word out. "Al...." Sam looked tired. "Look Sam, You don't believe in vampires but apparently Ziggy does." Before Sam could say anything a young man with long black hair stopped in front of him. Staring at Sam for several seconds he said. "You look like LaCroix but you can't be him." "Al?" Sam looked confused. "Actually, the name is Javier Vachon." The young man held out his hand. Sam took the offered hand automatically. "Sam, according to Ziggy, this guy doesn't exist." Al was totally confused by Ziggy's output. "What?" "Javier Vachon." Vachon replied assuming that Sam was speaking to him. "Ziggy says he can't find any reference to a Javier Vachon anywhere in the Toronto records. Although someone matching his description was filmed for some talk show in Toronto." Al told Sam at the same time. "This is crazy." Sam completely forgot about Vachon. "Ziggy just told us about Vachon." "I know Sam but now Ziggy says that no data exists for Javier Vachon." "Hello?" A hand waved in front of his face. "Remember me?" Sam thought as he turned to face Vachon. "How did you know I wasn't LaCroix?" "Your heartbeat." The look Vachon gave Sam made it clear he wasn't sure about Sam's sanity. "I can hear your heart beating from here." "I TOLD YOU SAM!" Al shouted. "Al, cut it out." Sam whispered sharply. "I told you my name isn't Al." Vachon began. "I wasn't talking to you." Sam cut him off and headed for LaCroix's office. "Weird." Vachon decided to follow Sam. Sam spent several minutes going through the books on LaCroix's shelves, while Al filled him in on what happened. "Before Ziggy decided that Javier Vachon didn't exist, I got a pretty detailed readout on what happened. It seems that LaCroix's daughter, a Divia?, tried to kill everyone close to him. When she failed to ambush Vachon, she went after Detective Knight." "Why him?" Sam asked as he picked up a copy of Machiavelli's the Prince. As far as Sam could tell it was a first edition. "Because Detective Knight is LaCroix's son." "What?" Sam turned to stare at Al. "Hey don't look at me." Al held his hands up to protest his innocence. "Ziggy said it." "Then what?" "Uh, oh! Well, LaCroix found out and rushed over to help. Ziggy report gets a little fuzzy but somehow he and Vachon managed to save the Detective's life. Then they laid a trap for Divia. "A trap." Sam couldn't believe his ears. "For who?" Vachon's voice cut in from behind Sam. "Divia." Sam turned to look at Vachon. "Now there was one evil child." Vachon said. "She was all set to kill her daddy, when Detective Knight staked her from behind." "Not you too." Sam looked fed up. "What?" Vachon asked innocently. "Vampires again." Sam replied as he turned back to the bookshelf "You don't believe in vampires?" Vachon laughed as his eyes went gold. "Sam..." Al's voice caused Sam to turn around. "What now?" Sam asked just before he caught a glimpse of Vachon in vamp mode. To his credit, Sam didn't scream. Instead he simply said. "Oh boy!" "Now, what exactly are you looking for?" Vachon asked. "A book, it's called the Abarrat." Sam was surprised at how calm he was. "Sorry can't help you. Never laid eyes on it." Vachon said in an offhand manner. "What are you going to do with it?" "Give it to Doctor Lambert." "The real LaCroix's not going to like that." "What?" Sam was confused. "Al, if I leap as soon as I deliver the book." "Yeah, LaCroix is liable to just take it back." Al opened the Imaging chamber door. "Hold on, I'll be right back." LaCroix had been pacing inside the holding area since the leap. The only thing that kept him from tearing open the door and leaving was the statement of that gaudily dressed slob. "Look, LaCroix I need to ask you a quest...." Al managed to get out before LaCroix shoved him against the wall. "If you ever come into my presence wearing that ridiculous costume again." LaCroix looked at the red suit that Al was wearing. He had been forced to wear idiotic clothing during his long life. But this tasteless idiot actually seemed to like his clothes. Taking the wide brimmed hat from Al's head, LaCroix shredded to emphasize his point. "OK, OK," Al managed to get out. "Jeez, everyone's a fashion critic." He tried to figure out what type of suit LaCroix would consider appropriate, and finally decided that basic black had the best chance of approval. "Look, before I go change. What would you do if Sam were to give Doctor Lambert your copy of the Abarrat?" "Why would Sam do that?" LaCroix looked annoyed. "Because if Doctor Lambert doesn't bring Detective Knight back across? They're both going to wind up dead." "I thought that your doctor Beckett had fixed that." LaCroix was genuinely puzzled. When he had appeared here the first time and Al had explained the situation he had decided to _go easy_ on Nicholas for a time. But now it looked like nothing had changed. "This is one of the final pieces to fixing things." Al explained. "Apparently without the Abarrat, they both wind up dead." "Then I shall allow her to keep it, of course." "Great." Al smiled as he headed out the door. Al returned to find Sam at the city coroner's office looking for Doctor Lambert. "What's happening, Sam?" Sam looked around and made sure no one was nearby. Looking at Al's black suit he asked. "Who died?" "Me, nearly." Al looked a little ruffled. "Apparently my choice in apparel annoyed LaCroix." Sam laughed. "I found the book but I had to catch a cab. This LaCroix guy doesn't own a car." "Where's Doctor Lambert?" "She's out on a call, she'll be back in about an hour." Suddenly the glowing rectangle that marked the Imaging door slid open and Al turned. "Wow! Who are you?" "Al?" Sam voice was puzzled. "A drop dead brunette just walked into the chamber, Sam. Vavavoom." "Al, you're happily married remember?" "That doesn't mean I'm dead, Sam." Al looked at him for a moment then turned back to his unseen companion. "And I'd have to be dead not to notice her." All of a sudden, Al was lifted unceremoniously into the air. "Sam! I think she's one of them." He shouted as he was carried through the glowing doorway. "Oh boy." Sam said. End part 3. Author's notes: Well, this one ends on a cliffhanger. Sorta. This time I meant to do it :) I doubt anyone's going to need a hint as to who just carried Al off. Any guesses? Comments can be made to kevinm@pixi.com, All comments welcome, constructive criticisms will be accepted with gratitude, Compliments with stunned silence and Flames Grudgingly ignored.:> Last Leap. A Forever Knight/Quantum Leap Crossover. by Kevin Matsumoto Kevinm@Pixi.com Part 4/5 Sam spent the remaining time worrying about Al. Had the vampires taken over Quantum Leap or was it just a friend of LaCroix's? Sighing he sat down and waited. Fifteen minutes past with no sign of Al or Doctor Lambert. Sam was just starting to nod off when he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching. Standing up he saw a brown haired woman walking towards the morgue. She froze as Sam stepped into her line of sight. "LaCroix, What are you doing here?" Her voice had equal parts of fear and concern. "Has something happened to Nick?" "No," Sam reassured her. "As far as I know Nick is fine." "Then why are you here?" "I came to give you this." Sam held out the book. Natalie took the book from Sam's hands and opened it. "What is this?" "It's called the Abarrat." Sam explained. Natalie stared at Sam. "The book Nick's been looking for, for the last century?" "I suppose so, yes." Sam replied. Natalie frowned at the change in LaCroix attitude, he seemed less intense, almost humble. Then she finally understood. "You're Sam Beckett, aren't you?" "Nick told you?" Sam was stunned, usually no one figured out that he wasn't who he looked like. "Yes, but it wasn't just that." Natalie explained. "LaCroix is a very intimidating person. You just don't act like him." "When I leave, he'll be back. But I think, he'll allow you to keep the book." "Why?" Natalie asked. "I can't tell you that." Sam apologized. Sam watched as Natalie walked into her office. She was leafing through the book trying to figure out who could help her to decipher it. As the door to the office closed Sam's view faded away. As the world again returned to normal, Sam noticed two things. One that he was crouched behind a set of locker and two that he had a gun out. "Oh boy." "Sam, don't move." Al's voice came from behind him. "Al." Sam whispered. "What's going on?" "Well at least you didn't leap into LaCroix again." Al said with relief. "You've leapt into Dectective Vetter." "Why?" Sam asked in a hushed voice. "And why are you still wearing black?" "Because I wasn't sure if it was going to be LaCroix in the Chamber when I went in. And I didn't want a repeat of what happened last time." "What did happen? Who was it that carried you out?" "Her name is Janette DuCharme Aka Janette DeBrabant. Apparently she's a friend of Detective Knight." "How did she find out about the project?" Sam asked. "LaCroix told her. Apparently leaping doesn't swiss cheese a vampire's memories. But this is the kicker. All that info from Ziggy? It was all from some guy named Aristotle. Janette asked him to create a watchdog program so that if anyone tried to access data about Detective Knight, they'd be alerted." "Why?" Sam was really confused now. "Because everything till now hasn't changed anything. Detective Vetter still dies and Detective Knight and Dr. Lambert still disappear, presumed dead." "That still doesn't explain what's going on with Ziggy." "This Aristotle hacked into Ziggy and planted all the information we have. He also erased most of the stuff after we didn't need it. He's been keeping tabs ever since you Leaped into Detective Knight the first time." "So what I am here for?" Sam asked. "You're here to do absolutely nothing." "What?" "You heard me, Ziggy says that originally Tracy Vetter stepped out as Detective Knight was trying to talk a suspect into surrendering. She startled the suspect and he started shooting. Knight's a vampire so the bullets didn't bother him. But she wasn't so lucky. Several hours after being shot, she passed away." "So all I have to do is wait here and as soon as Detective Knight has the suspect in custody, I'll leap." "That's about the siz..." Sam never heard the rest as he again leapt. Sam looked around as disorientation of the leap cleared. No bodies, no surprises, a nice change of pace. Although he did wonder what he was doing standing next to a skylight. "There's still one cure we haven't tried." Natalie's voice came clearly through the Skylight. "I won't take that chance with your life." Nick's voice was next. Sam leaned over to get a better view and promptly lost his balance. "AAAAHHHHH!!" Sam's cry startled both of the people inside the loft. "LaCroix!" Nick moved to protect Natalie then realized that LaCroix was holding on to the concrete portion of the skylight as though his life depended on it. He flew up and grabbed him, then landed carefully next to the couch. "Sam Beckett, right?" "Yeah." Sam blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry I didn't mean to intrude but I don't have any control over when I leap." "That's OK." Nick replied. "We were finished talking anyway." "No, we weren't" Natalie disagreed. "I caught the end of that. Why didn't you use the Abarrat?" "It didn't work." Natalie looked depressed. "I had a friend translate it and we used the formula but it only made Nick sick." Al appeared slightly to one side of them, looking slightly rumbled. "Sam, I think you know who you leaped into right?" "Could I see the translation?" "Sure, Natalie walked over to one of Nick's bookcases and took down both the Original book and several sheets of paper." "Which page is the cure on?" "These." Natalie opened the book to nearly the end. "From here to here." "Al, scan the pages and have Ziggy do a translation will you?" "Right away." Al pointed the link at the pages and a bright blue light enveloped it. "Who were you talking to?" Nick asked. "Al, he's a holographic projection from my time. He's about the only link I have to my world." "That's sad." Natalie said softly. "You really are alone." "I've got hope." "Hope for what?" Nick was puzzled. "That next leap is the final one and I'll finally be home." "Sam, look it's going to take a few minutes for Ziggy to translate this stuff. Whatever you do, don't leave these two alone." "Right Al." Sam nodded. Almost a full hour went by before Al reappeared. "Here you go Sam." Al placed a small stand with some papers attached. "Dr. Lambert, could you hold your friends translation for me?" "Sure." Natalie picked up the papers and turned them as Sam read both of the papers side by side. The translations were nearly identical until almost the end. "That's it!" Sam nearly shouted, pointing to a spot on the papers that Natalie was holding. "According to your friends translation you're supposed to mix the final two compounds together then heat it." "And?" Nick was beginning to hope. "What you're supposed to do is heat the two compounds then mix them." "What's the difference?" Nick asked. "Certain compounds combine differently if heated together." Natalie smiled. "You might be right. That might be it." She dropped the papers and kissed Nick. "We just might have a cure after all." "Thank you." Nick whispered to Sam before he returned Natalie's kiss. "No problem." Sam managed to say as the world again faded out on him. End part 4. Comments can be made to kevinm@pixi.com, All comments welcome, constructive criticisms will be accepted with gratitude, Compliments with stunned silence and Flames Grudgingly ignored.:> Last Leap A Quantum Leap/Forever Knight Crossover By Kevin Matsumoto Part 5/5 Epilogue. Sam recognized the bar he had leapt into. Standing behind the counter stood a figure he had met once before. "Hi, Al." "Welcome back, Dr. Beckett." Al the bartender said. "Maybe you can explain something to me." "Such as?" "The last few leaps, my memories have been clearer, not as swiss cheesed as usual." "Maybe you're ready now?" "Yeah, I think I am." Sam held out his hand. "It was a pleasure seeing you." "Oh, we'll meet again." Al smiled. "You can count on that." Sam closed his eyes. This time he knew exactly where the leap would take him. "What do you mean you can't find him?" Al yelled to Gushi as the technician frantically punched buttons. "I mean, I can't find him. Dr. Beckett isn't in the time stream." "The last time this happened, he leapt to his birthday. The day he was born." Donna said as she move Gushi away. "Got him!" She smiled. Then the smile faded away. "No, he leapt again. Ziggy run full sweep." "Running." Ziggy responded. "Dr. Beckett's quantum trail has vanished." "NO!" Donna cried. "Try recalibrating and enhancing the quantum scanners." "I don't think that's going to help." A voice came from behind them. "It's got to Sam." Al said as he watched Donna going over the readouts from the last display. Three pairs of shocked eyes turned to stare at origin of the voice. "Sam?" Donna's voice trembled. "Is that you?" "How could I ever have forgotten you?" Sam took her in his arms. Muffled sobs came from Donna as she buried her face in his shoulder. "Al, what happened?" Sam asked over Donna's shoulder. "What? Oh, with Detective Knight!" Al looked at his link. "According to this, He and Dr. Lambert were married about a month after you left them. They're still in Toronto and have 3 kids." "And Tracy Vetter?" "Lessee, she has a new partner. Apparently Detective Knight was shot apprehending a suspect who was trying to plant a bomb in their precinct. After that he quit the force and became a teacher at a local university. Well, well." Al started grinning. "What?" Sam asked. "Her partner is one J.D. Vachon. I guess he cared more about her than he let on." Al whacked the side of the link. "This is weird. Sam this is a message from Aristotle. I don't know when he planted it. But it says, So long as you keep quiet about us, we'll keep quiet about you. Looks like... Ah skip it." Al said as he looked up from the comp to see Sam and Donna heading out the door hand in hand. They had plenty of time to catch up now. End part 5. I know this was short but if I kept Sam fixing things this story would never have ended. :) More background stuff: Donna is a charecter seen I believe twice on QL. The first time she was played by Teri Hatcher (I think someone correct me if I'm wrong.) But in both instances she was Sam's love interest. The Bartender Al is from Mirror Image the series finale for QL. In it Sam leaps to the day he was born and finds himself in a bar where his reflection is his own. He meets people who he has helped in the past. The bartender tells him that all Sam has to do to go home is accept that he(Sam) was the one responsible for him leaping through time. I figured it would be a appropriate place for Sam to go. All constructive comments welcome. kevinm@pixi.com