diandrahollman | Quantum Leap - The "Lost" Episode

AUTHOR'S NOTE: A while back my muse was kicking around an idea for a scene to end this story. I wasn't sure I liked it. I felt the ending I had originally planned was stronger. It was also a more fitting ending if this story was to be treated like an episode of "Quantum Leap". Then this last season of "Lost" happened and I thought about where Jack and Sawyer might end up if Daniel's plan didn't work like it was supposed to. And after the finale, I decided I *had* to write that other ending.

So here's the deal: this is the original ending. If you are satisfied with this ending, you can stop here. Since the other ending takes place after this scene, it will be treated as an epilogue, which will be posted when I finish writing it. :)

E-Mail: diandrahollman@yahoo.com
Website: http://diandrahollman.tripod.com
Date Finished: The file says 1/7/10. Obviously I've been tweaking it ever since.
Rating: PG-13 overall.
Keywords: crossover, indirect Jack/Sawyer, inadvertent Sam/Sawyer (hey, Sam *is* Jack), slash
Spoilers: For Lost: “The Variable” through “The Incident”.
Disclaimer: Sam and Al belong(ed) to Donald Bellisario. The first couple paragraphs of the story are directly transcribed from the introduction to each episode of “Quantum Leap”. Everyone else belongs to Darlton and JJ Abrams, as do any events or dialogue that mirror “Lost” cannon. I’m just having some harmless, nonprofit fun playing with them.
Archive: Just ask.
Summary: Sam Becket leaps into Jack Shephard in 1970s Dharmaville. It proves to be his most confusing leap yet.
Dedication: To the creators – and fans – of two of the best damn sci-fi shows on television.

Previous Chapters

*********

“Sam...Sam!”

Sam groaned softly as he tried to force his eyes open. He blinked at the odd shadows in front of him, trying to remember where he was and what had happened.

“You did it,” Al continued, his voice thick. “Ziggy says if you hadn’t done what you did, Juliet would be down here. She thinks in the original history Juliet died instantly, the bomb never went off, and everything else Daniel said...”

Sam’s eyes flew open wide as he came fully awake, the events of the past few hours flooding back to him. Pain screamed through every inch of his body. He cried out, his hands clenching into fists. A tiny splash and a general feeling of wetness told him he was lying in a shallow pool. He blinked at the small circle of light far above him and wondered how he could possibly be alive. As the shadows just above him came into focus he realized he had only been temporarily spared. Twisted metal criss-crossed the tunnel over his head, suspended somehow a couple feet over him. If...when it gave way, it would crush him.

He gasped and choked, fighting to breathe through the nearly overwhelming pain. “Al!”

“I’m right here, Sam.”

One of the shadows in the small space shifted and Al’s face came into focus, hovering over Sam.

Sam barely registered the gut-wrenching sadness clouding Al’s eyes before his own blurred with pained tears. “Don’t leave me, Al,” he pleaded. His attempt at speech made him cough and the resulting pain nearly forced him back into unconsciousness. He felt blood well up into his mouth and gagged on the coppery taste, twisting his head agonizingly to one side to spit it out.

The warble of emotion was unmistakable in Al’s voice now. He had always known he may have to face seeing his dear friend die in the course of a dangerous mission. The reality of it was just as awful as he’d feared. “I’m not going to leave you, buddy. Just stay with me a little longer. There’s just one more thing you have to do.”

Sam groaned weakly and spat another mouthful of blood, crying out as fire erupted in his chest and abdomen. ‘Internal bleeding...possible collapsed lung,’ a voice in the back of his head diagnosed grimly. “No more,” he moaned.

“Listen to me, Sam.” Al’s voice took on a note of urgency. “You don’t have much time. You have to set off the bomb.”

“I can’t...”

“Yes, you can, Sam,” Al interrupted in his best Admiral’s voice, broaching any further argument. “You have to do it or you’re gonna die down here.”

Sam moaned brokenly.

Al took a deep breath and steeled himself for his next order. “Now...the bomb is right in front of you. Can you see it?”

Sam blinked blearily at the shape Al indicated and coughed. “Yeah...”

“There’s a rock right next to your hand, Sam. I need you to pick it up and give the bomb a couple good whacks right here.” He pointed to a spot near one end of the hydrogen core.

Sam felt blindly along the water-logged ground until he found the rock. His fingers closed over it and he took as deep a breath as his battered body would allow, rallying whatever strength he had left.

“Hey,” Al called.

Sam blinked up at him blearily and wondered if it was a trick of the light or if the Admiral’s eyes were really filling with tears.

“I’ll see you on the other side, kid.”

Sam smiled – pain making the gesture look more like a grimace - and nodded. Then he hefted the rock into the air and brought it down on the hydrogen core, letting out an incoherent yell as his entire body screamed in protest of the sudden movement.

Nothing happened. Sam gritted his teeth and brought the rock down on the core again and again.

After the third blow, he felt a familiar tingle start up in his fingers, spreading down his arms. And as his arm arced toward the bomb for the fourth – and final – time, Dr. Sam Beckett leaped.

THE END