What have you really done, Sam Beckett?
Beckett knew the voice. It sounded a little deeper than usual.
Lying on a bed with restraints in place, Doctor Sam Beckett writhed and twitched as sweat poured out of his forehead. Out of every pore of his being, it felt like.
As Beckett struggled, the voice reverberated inside his head.
What good are you?
You're nothing!
NOTHING!
In response, Beckett groaned softly.
As he lay there, he imagined another voice.
The voice of James Earl Jones.
Mr. Jones explained the situation through narration.
Beckett also imagined the words in gold letters scrolling up. Like at the beginning of a "Star Wars" movie.
This is what the deep voice and the gold words conveyed: .
It is a time of civil war. A mental civil war for Doctor Sam Beckett.
But there are much bigger things going on.
This is a very unusual situation.
Thanks to the rogue Q, the multiple universes are in great danger.
Powerful beings from the Q continuum have given incredible power to...the Joker.
Yes. That Joker.
The Clown Prince of Crime now has the ability to alter reality throughout the Multiverse.
In response to this threat, other members of the Q, along with the advanced beings known as the Ancients, have recruited Clark Kent of Smallville, Prime Earth, to work as part of a time-traveling team.
This team includes members of the Stargate Command team SG-1: Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson, and the former Jaffa known as Teal'c.
The team also includes quantum-leaper Sam Beckett.
When the Joker sent the team members to separate alternate realities, this is what happened to Beckett.
Then the gold letters printed:
"Sam Beckett In Belle Reve"
"Did somebody put something in the Smallville water supply? 'Cause everyone's acting real strange today."
The voice of Lana Lana came out of the mouth of Doctor Sam Beckett, inventor of the time travel method known as the "quantum leap."
He spoke again in the voice of Lana.
"He hates the Talon, hates the Luthors, compared me to the Nazis and told me never to return again."
As Beckett's mind swam, he struggled to recall the situation.
Let's see. Lana had just met with her biological father Henry Small. That meeting did not go well.
Obviously. Duh.
Beckett then struggled to recall his own situation.
Currently (if such can be measured when engaged in time travel), Dr. Beckett was enjoying an involuntary stay in the intensive care unit of the mental institution "Belle Reve."
Which was in fact a Belle Reve in an alternate reality created by the Joker, who was enjoying a brief reign as the master manipulator of multiple universes.
With power on loan from rogue Q and one rogue Ancient, the Joker acted on behalf of an alliance of rogue super-beings. Who were not to be confused with the Super-Friends. A group Sam had worked with. Some he had even leaped into. Including their little monkey.
All this swam through Beckett's muddled mind.
"Thanks, Chloe," Beckett said in the voice of Clark Kent. "But standing around holding hands and singing 'kum-by-yah' with a bunch of strangers isn't my idea of self-help."
"Whoa," Beckett said in the voice of Chloe Sullivan. "What's with the 'tude?"
Yes, Clark and Chloe. Best friends in Smallville.
Beckett then pretended he was talking to an imaginary audience.
As you can see, I am having quite the major mental breakdown.
You would be, too, if you were part of a time travel team called "SG-1."
(Why was the team named after the four of them? Seems kind of discriminatory. Don't the rest of us count?)
Imagine you're working with Clark and Jack and Sam (the other Sam) and Daniel and Teal'c.
And as you visited numerous alternate realities, you leaped into certain individuals. And each time you you did you retained something of that individual..
You know, Beckett thought, it's a lot like when "Sam"- Major Carter-retained a little of a Goa'uld who had been inside her once.
Jolinar, I think the name was,.
Beckett struggled to focus his shattered mind.
The quantum-leap doctor realized he felt sweaty and exhausted.
And to be honest, he felt a little discouraged after hearing the Joker's voice earlier.
Is this how Clark felt when he hung from that scarecrow pole?
He'd not only heard the stories from Clark's life. He had experienced parts of his life.
In part because he'd leaped into some Clarks from other worlds.
Think, Sam, think. Try to focus, concentrate.
Okay. Right. Back to his team members.
What happened after SG-1 got together with Clark?
Let's see. After that, someone or something called the Guardian of Forever gathered them all together.. The first to be summoned, Beckett waited at the entrance to the talking time-travel portal. Or what Colonel O'Neill called "the talking time machine from 'Star Trek.'" When Clark and SG-1 arrived, Beckett was already there.
And the time machine talked to all of them.
The Guardian told them they were going to fix altered timelines and altered universes.
Colonel O'Neill said, "Thanks for the offer. Think we'll pass."
Apparently ignoring the colonel, the Guardian sent them on their way.
And when they saw visions of the billions of lives they would save, they knew they had to go on these missions.
But working for the Guardian had its problems. Besides spending years from home, I mean.
When you worked for the Guardian, you had this Guardian thing talking inside your head.
Well, no wonder, Beckett thought in his fever-mind. No wonder I'm unstable. .
No wonder this breakdown was happening.
As he bowed his head, Beckett was bombarded with visions. He saw John Jones in a tube of fire and then Amanda Waller screaming to get out. He saw Teal'c laughing uproariously and Tess Mercer laughing hysterically. He saw Clark on multiple rescue missions: pulling Lex out of his Porsche at the bottom of a river, protecting Lana from a tornado, catching Chloe as she fell, pushing Darkseid's planet away from Earth.
Wow, I am so gone. Totally, as Penny might say. (Penny was a friend to the "Big Bang" guys, four scientists the team sometimes encountered throughout their adventures.)
"Totally," Beckett said in the voice of Penny.
Wow, yeah. My mind has gone bye-bye.
Down the hall, Doctor Daniel Jackson was talking in the voice of someone called "Victor."
"It was good playing with you, sport."
Then he reverted to his own voice.
"It was also good working with you, Spock."
Just as quickly, he adopted the gruff voice of Carter Hall. Hawkman.
"Let me get my mace. I'll make you ble-e-e-eed."
"Hey," someone said. "I'm here to help you snap out of it."
"Okay, great," Daniel said weakly.
"And then we have to go inside the mind of Sam Beckett."
"Okay," Daniel said in a slightly confused voice with an uncertain look on his face. "How exactly?"
"I have a way to do it. I'll take you with me."
"Okay, great," Daniel groaned.
"And after our little mental adventure, Michael Westen and Hawkman will physically guide you to the rendezvous point with Colonel O-Neill and your friends."
"Uh-huh."
"But first, we gotta help Doctor Beckett. And I gotta warn you:. he's pretty messed up."
Beckett now spoke in the voice of Oscar, a grouchy resident of Dog River and one-time bus driver in Smallville. Whether in Dog River or Smallville, Oscar often argued with his wife.
"You stabbed me in the back. Right to my face!"
"Let me ask you a question with a question: SHUT UP!"
Rapidly, Beckett turned his head left and right as he spoke in the voice of Oscar.
"Oh, no! All the kids on the school bus have gone nuts! It's like 'Lord of the Dance.'"
"What kind of stupid book is this? They gonna kill a mockingbird or not?"
As his facial expression changed, to one of almost serene calm, Beckett spoke in the voice of Lex Luthor.
"Atticus Finch. Small town hero. Believes in the truth."
Next, the voice of Chloe came out of Beckett.
"I have plans this weekend. So if we could protect Smallville from the wrath of Krypton's deadliest villain, that'd be great."
"Sam," someone said gently-urgently. "Doctor Beckett."
"WHO'S THERE?" Beckett shouted frantically. "Who's there?" he whispered.
Slowly, Beckett realized someone was shaking him. Or at least it felt that way.
Beckett blinked his eyes as he took in the new surroundings. Looked like...the Talon. Which Earth he wasn't sure. Prime Earth, probably.
He searched his mental database for something simple.
The Talon. Coffee shop in Smallville. Co-owned by Lex Luthor and Lana Lang.
"Who...are...YOU?" Beckett asked in the voice of Captain Kirk, punching the last word as he hunched his shoulders and spread out his hands.
"Duncan Allenmeyer. I brought some friends."
"Duncan Allenmeyer?" Beckett said as he rubbed his chin. Friend of Lex Luthor while the two attended Excelsior. Things did not end well.
"I think I leaped into you once," Beckett said in a groggy voice.
"More than once, actually," Duncan said with a grin. "The mental fog afterwards is not that great, by the way."
As he examined the Talon, Beckett rapidly switched thoughts. Lana Lang, part-time student manager of the Talon. Wait. Hadn't he already covered that?
Whatevs, he thought in the voice of Dr. Emil Hamilton.
"How do you do it all, Lana?" Beckett asked in the voice of Martha Kent.
"Oh, my gosh. I just knocked out Martha Kent," Beckett cried in the voice of Chloe.
"Doctor Beckett. Focus!"
"Yes, Sam, focus."
"Sam?" Beckett muttered. "It's so rare people call me 'Sam.' Most people call me 'Beckett.' Like Colonel O-Neill over there. So as not to confuse me with Major Samantha 'Sam' Carter." Beckett made the quotation marks gesture.
At the top of the stairs in the Talon, Colonel Jack O'Neill kept one hand on his weapon as he used the other hand to offer a two finger salute.
"Hey, Beckett," O'Neill said casually.
"Bigger things, Sam."
It took Beckett a moment to make out who was speaking. Wait. Looked like Daniel. Daniel Jackson.
"You're in Belle Reve," Daniel said.
"And having a nervous breakdown. A big one."
"I'm here with Michael Westen and Hawkman. We're trying to get you out. But to do that, you've got to get out of this mental trap you're in."
"Mental trap," Beckett said in the nasal voice of Ma'chello. "It's a mental trap. I am Ma'chello. I used my inventions to fight the Goa'uld."
"Oh, great," Daniel said.
"Inventions to fight the Goa-uld!" Beckett shouted, holding high one finger.
Duncan made a face. "Ma'chello. Isn't that the old guy you traded bodies with once?"
"Not by choice," Daniel said. "Sam, you need to fight this. You need to be yourself."
"Hey, didn't Lex invent stuff?" Beckett asked in the voice of Agent J of the Men In Black. "Along with Tony Stark? And, I think, Peter Parker."
"Sure did, slick," Beckett said in the gruff voice of Agent K.
A wide-eyed Beckett pictured Peter Parker in a suit and tie hanging upside down from a web. The image appeared in the center of the Talon while Beckett looked glassy-eyed, his head shaking slightly as his mouth hung open..
Duncan lightly slapped him on the cheek. "Doctor Beckett. Focus. Please."
"Yes, focus, Sam," Daniel said.
"I remember," Beckett said weakly. "We were on...I was on Vulcan. The Guardian had gathered all these Heroes together. The 'Big Bang' guys got to meet Peter Parker. Only this Peter was a successful inventor with a public identity." Smiling, Beckett waved. "'Hey, Peter!'"
"Right," Duncan said. "Your friends, the 'Big Bang' guys. They're called that because on Earth Prime they're on a T-V show called 'The Big Bang Theory.' It was you and the 'Big Bang' guys and S-G-One and Clark. From what Daniel tells me anyway."
"'This is so cool, dude!'" Beckett said with a great big smile.
"And now you're doing the voice of Raj," Daniel murmured. "Okay, good, Sam. You're finding your way back. Sort of."
Daniel and Duncan took Beckett by the arms and began guiding him through the Talon. Almost like they were leading around someone who was blind or drunk. Or a blind drunk.
Beckett was now dressed in a Stargate Command jacket.
"What's the gist, physicist?" he said, reverting to the voice of Penny. .
"Oh, just the usual, doc. The Joker's got you in a mental illusion," Duncan said. Beckett cackled in the Joker's high-pitched screeching laugh.
"Okay, that's not good," Daniel murmured.
"That's really not good. And it's kind of creepy," Duncan said as he shook his head. "Don't do that, please, Doctor Beckett."
"He may not have a choice, Duncan. If the Joker's influencing him," Daniel said.
"TAKEN ME OVER!" Beckett shrieked.
"Easy, Sam," Daniel murmured. "Let's review the basic situation. The rogue Q have given power to the Joker. He's altering timelines and altering universes."
Beckett hiccuped.
"You're part of a time travel team. You help fix altered timelines. You can leap into people, take over their bodies."
"Which comes in handy, I guess," Duncan said. "Better than manipulating objects with your mind. That's what I do."
Beckett made a face. "You sound insane. Sure you're not a hallucination?"
"No, Sam. We're real," Daniel said.
"Hallucinations always say that," Beckett mumbled as his head drooped.
Daniel spoke in a firm tone. "To get you out of here, the first thing we have to do is go up against a Borg-Replicator alliance. So what you're seeing now in the Talon is a bunch of Borg, a bunch of Replicators. And our good friend from Smallville, Clark Kent."
"Hey, Sam," Clark said with a cheerful smile as he nodded his head. "Hey, guys."
"Well, it's not actually Clark," Daniel said. "More like a mental representation of the part of you that's fighting all this."
"Clark fighting the Borg and the Replicators represent the mental battle inside you," Duncan explained, suddenly sporting the outfit of a Disneyland tour guide. "You can see Clark in action now," Duncan said, pointing to a corner of the Talon.
Sure enough, right next to the counter, Clark was stomping on Replicators and knocking out Borg.
Next to him was Colonel Jack O'Neill.
"Hey, Clark? Don't mean to sound like Daniel here. But remember there's people inside those Borg."
"Right," Clark said and began gently peeling off implants.
"Clark Kent." Beckett sounded like he was drunk. "Is that like...Superman?" He squinted at the guy on his left. "Who are you again?"
"Duncan. This is Daniel Jackson. Remember?"
"Have we met?"
"Try to focus, Sam," Daniel said.
Borg implants and smashed Replicators flew past Beckett's head.
"Oh, my! Borg and Replicators! That doesn't sound fun," Beckett said in the high-pitched voice of Sheldon Cooper, tallest of the "Big Bang" guys.
"Try to be yourself, Sam," Daniel urged.
"Fight it," Duncan said.
"The odds would seem overwhelmingly against us," Beckett said in the stoic voice of Spock. Standing up straight, the doctor assumed a Very Serious Spock Look. That look was even more serious than the look worn by Doctor Rajesh Koothrappali as he expounded on a Very Serious Topic. Like medical exams for Wolverine and the Hulk. .
"Let's move out," O'Neill said, giving the "move" hand signal.
"You want to know the weirdest thing I've ever seen?" Beckett mumbled.
"Uh oh," from Duncan.
"No, wait, Duncan. It's good if Sam taps into his own memories," Daniel said.
"It was when Sheldon was sick," Beckett went on in that voice that sounded like he was drunk. "Whenever Sheldon is sick, he wants someone to sing a song to him."
"Yeah. 'Soft Kitty.'"
"'Soft Kitty?'" from Duncan.
"It's a song Sheldon's mother would sing to him whenever he was sick. I think I remember this," Daniel said.
"I don't want to remember," O'Neill said. He held his ears and began reciting. "La-la-la-la-la-la-la."
"I'm okay with hearing it," Clark said even as he peeled off Borg implants.
Seemingly oblivious to the commotion, Beckett went on. "Teal'c sang 'Soft Kitty' to Sheldon.".
"Teal'c?" Duncan said. "The big guy with the gold medallion on his forehead?"
"Right. Big guy. Goa'uld in his stomach. You can't miss him," Beckett said in the voice of Daniel. "Well, Teal'c didn't so much sing it as he sort of just talked it out. Very serious-like. You know the way Teal'c talks."
"I don't actually," Duncan said.
"This is good, Sam. Kind of," Daniel said. "But be yourself."
"'I will now sing 'Soft Kitty' to you, Sheldon Cooper," Beckett solemnly intoned in the deep voice of Teal'c. With another Very Serious Look on his face (this time the Very Serious Grim Look Of Teal'c, a look that says "I'm a mighty warrior so be cautious"), Beckett began to sing-talk:
"Soft kitty, warm kitty
Little ball of fur
Happy kitty, sleepy kitty
Purr purr purr"
"Wouldn't this be better if Captain Picard sang it?" Duncan said. "That guy's got a voice."
"Shh," from Daniel.
"'Thank you, Teal'c'" Beckett said in the voice of Sheldon. Then he reverted to his own voice. "Then Teal'c did that thing with his eyebrow."
"Good, Sam," Daniel said. "You're being yourself."
"Even if just for a moment. Keep being yourself," Duncan said.
"On the planet we were on, Earth Twenty-Four, I think," Beckett said quietly, "Tess Mercer was there. And she also sang 'Soft Kitty' to Sheldon. And then she and Teal'c sang it together."
"I'd like to hear that," Duncan said.
"You can. It's right over there," Daniel said, pointing to another part of the mental landscape.
Teal'c and Tess stood together at the top of the stairs in the Talon, both singing—Teal'c really more talking—with Tess kind of yodeling at times as she went along. Afterwards, she began singing "How Do We Do?"
"I don't like that song," Beckett said in the voice of Sheldon as he held his ears.
"Uh oh. Is this a good sign or not?" Duncan said.
"Sam, you all right?" Daniel asked.
"There was also the time Sheldon and Teal'c traded bodies," Beckett mumbled in his own voice. "And Clark and Leonard traded bodies."
"Good, Sam, good," Daniel said. "You're back to being yourself."
"I like it when you get mad," Beckett said in the voice of Rick Castle. "At other people, I mean. Besides me."
"Oh, Castle, you're such an easy mark," Now he was Kate Beckett.
"Who were they?" Duncan asked.
"Kate Beckett is a police detective for the N-Y-P-D and Rick Castle is a mystery writer who helps her out on her cases," Daniel said.
"Interesting," Duncan said.
"Kate Beckett. No relation," Beckett mumbled.
"Good, Sam," Daniel said. "For just a second, you were yourself there."
"Keep it up, buddy." Duncan tapped him on the back.
"My name is Michael Westen," Beckett intoned. "I used to be a spy, until-"
"You're blacklisted. We've got a burn notice on you."
After doing the deep voice, Beckett smiled. "If you ever come back to Miami, I'll kill you myself. Okay? Have a nice trip."
Daniel explained the voices as they went along. "That's Michael. Ex-spy. Helps people out with his spy skills."
Though he grinned, Beckett looked slightly crazed. "Can you be good? If you can be good, you can ride up front."
"Michael again."
Now a kind of sultry female voice. "Slowly lifting the rock over your head, you repeatedly bash Jack's head."
"Sounds like Fiona. Michael's trigger-happy ex-girlfriend."
Abruptly: "Smoking is bad for you, Madeleine."
"Fiona again."
Now an older female voice. "I don't think hanging around waiting for a burned ex-spy is good for my health either."
"And that would be Michael Westen's mom."
Beckett fell silent.
"Hopefully he's recuperating," Daniel said quietly.
"Hopefully," Duncan said.
The group traipsed through the Talon, through the apartment above the Talon (where Norman Bates was residing), through the loft of Clark's barn (also known as Clark's Fortress of Solitude), through Fordman's Department Store and the Luthor mansion.
And then a series of strange and unusual worlds.
As they traversed many worlds in the mental landscape, Beckett spoke in the voices of people from Smallville then people from the other worlds. Neverland, Oz, Narnia, Hogwarts, Middle-Earth.
Even smaller places like Storybooke, the Tardis and Wayne Manor.
"Ow!" Beckett said with the deep rough voice of Bruce Wayne.
"Hold still, sir," Beckett said in the voice of Alfred.
"Oh, look! There's Clark. He's still battling the Borg and the Replicators!" Beckett exclaimed in the high-pitched voice of a drunk Chloe. "Oh, goody! Ya-a-a-a-ay! Wheeeee!" Beckett jumped up and down clapping his hands then did the gasping laugh of Sheldon.
"Two steps forward, one step back," Duncan sighed.
"Yes," Daniel said. "But I think the more voices we hear, the more Sam is purging these other people and getting closer to being his true self."
"Thank you, Yoda," Duncan said.
Beckett then spoke in the voice of Sheldon.
"This is so much fun!"
Beckett resumed jumping up and down and clapping as he emitted the distinctive gasping laugh.
Then he stopped and stood perfectly still.
"Bazinga," he said solemnly..
In the cornfield where Clark and O'Neill were battling the Borg and the Replicators, four other figures stood.
"The 'Big Bang' guys," Beckett muttered.
"Yep, we're all here," Leonard Hofstadter said with a big cheerful smile. He and the other guys all wore eyepatches. Raj Koothrappali lifted up his and smiled.
"Hey, Doctor Beckett," he said. His right eye was a red Terminator eye. "I look like Deadshot, do I not?"
"Um," Beckett said.
"Come on, Sam. Focus," Daniel said through gritted teeth.
Beckett suddenly stood up straight. "Doctor Koothrappali," he said in a formal voice. "Doctor Jackson. Mister Wolowitz."
"I have a master's from M-I-T," Howard murmured.
"Who doesn't?" Beckett said haughtily.
"That's good, Howard," Daniel said, adjusting his glasses.
"Mister multiple P-h-D's here," Howard muttered, gesturing to Beckett.
"And you speak how many languages?" Duncan whispered to Daniel.
Tilting his head slightly, Beckett then began talking in the voice of Leonard.
"That's how we roll in the Shire!"
"MY PHYSICS BOWL TROPHY!"
"Man, you guys are whack," Beckett said in the voice of Pete Ross. "Clark and Pete have been friends since they were in the sandbox," he explained in the voice of Jonathan Kent. A slight Jonathan chuckle followed.
"Keep fighting it, Sam," Daniel said.
Instead, Beckett did the voice of someone obviously quite large. "How the heck did you guys get in here?"
"We're scientists," Beckett said in the slightly high-pitched voice of Leonard.
"We better not make him unhappy," Beckett said in the voice of Howard. "He might climb to the top of the Empire State Building and start swatting airplanes."
As Clark tore off Borg implants and stomped on Replicators, Sheldon shouted in his distinctive East Texas accent.
"Phasers work a lot better, you know!" .
"Can't argue with you on that one, Sheldon," O'Neill said.
"No one should argue with me, Colonel O-Neill," Sheldon said. "I'm always right."
"Heat vision works good, too," Clark said. His eyes turned bright glowing red and Replicators turned to slag.
"Can't argue with that, either," O'Neill said.
"Here, let me try." Howard lifted his eyepatch and fired red beams from his Terminator eye.
"Nice work, Wolowitz," O'Neill said.
Howard smiled. "Gee, thanks, colonel."
The other guys started shooting beams from their eyes. As they did, the Hulk and Chloe and a super-powered Lana worked beside Clark Chloe used a Lex invention—something that looked a lot like a phaser- to short-circuit the Borg, who began talking nonsense. The "Big Bang" guys would then remove the Borg implants. The people who were left would then be sent to other realms.
Clark spent a lot of time stepping on Replicators.
"Way to go, guys," Chloe said, standing over the "Big Bang" guys as they did their work.
"Thanks, Chloe," Leonard said.
"Wish I could go back to normal," Beckett murmured.
"You can, Sam," Daniel said. "Just focus on your life. The things you've done."
"Even what's happened recently," Duncan said.
"The Joker says I'm nothing, I haven't done anything," Beckett murmured.
"He's wrong, Sam," Daniel said. "Think of the difference you've made to so many people on so many worlds."
"Think of just a few of the good things you've done," Duncan urged.
"There's been a lot more, believe me," Daniel said.
As Beckett blinked his eyes, he saw all the former Borg as part of a support group along with people who had once been hosts of the Goa'uld. They were there with meteor freaks, and they were all standing around holding hands singing "kumbaya." Chloe and a smiling Clark were at the center of the circle.
"Um," Beckett said.
"Focus," Duncan said firmly as he used his hands to turn Beckett's neck.
"Don't let the Joker distract you, Sam," Daniel said.
Beckett looked thoughtful. "Who would win in a fight: the Borg or the Jaffa?" Beckett asked as Sheldon. Then he shouted: "Get back here, you stupid bird, so I can love you!"
"Come on, Sam," Daniel urged gently.
As this went on, Beckett retreated into memories of altering events on other worlds.
Just before the station wagon hit him, Duncan was pulled out of the way by Lex. Beckett-inside-Lex.
"It's all right," Beckett/Lex stammered. "It's all right. You're safe now."
"Wha-? Whoa," a wide-eyed Duncan said. "I could have-"
"Lex wants you to know." Beckett/Lex looked tearful. "I want you to know how sorry I am about this. About everything."
Duncan frowned, gave him a look of concern. "What about Oliver and those guys? Do you still want to be friends with them?"
Lex grinned. "You're my only real true friend. The only friend I need."
Duncan grinned. "Then I think we'll be all right, Lex." He wiped blood from his face. "Even though you just, you know, pounded me pretty good. Psycho much?"
Lex put his arm around him for support. "Let's get you to a doctor."
It was about the time Davis charged with his long sharp pointed pole, Chloe pushed Jimmy out of the way..
It was actually Beckett-inside-Chloe. Which gave her added strength.
As Beckett/Chloe pushed Jimmy to safety, she/they were able (just barely) to evade Davis and the sharp end of that weapon. When Davis collided with a wall, Chloe took the makeshift weapon and thrust it through him.
Self-defense, Beckett insisted. .
Beckett-as-Lex deactivated the kryptonite bomb atop the Daily Planet building.
"I've changed my mind," he told Clark and Lana over a broadcast loudspeaker. "This isn't the way to go."
"Glad to hear it, Lex," a relieved Clark said.
"Good, Lex," Lana said.
"Funny," Beckett muttered. "I've leaped into more than one Lex."
"This is it, Sam," Daniel said. "This is the thing to do. This will free you."
"Yeah, keep going, Sam," Duncan said.
"Little help here," O'Neill shouted as he fired his phaser. A small army of Terminators converged on him.
"Yeah, some help," Clark said.
"See? Even Clark needs help," O'Neill said.
"I'm on it," Lana said. She turned into a black blur and Terminators flew through the air.
Chloe continued firing her phaser-like device. The guys continued to disassemble Borg.
Beckett barely noticed. In his mind, he traveled to multiple worlds. And he recalled events on those worlds. The things he had done.
How he saved Alicia Baker. By leaping into her and tugging at the rope around her neck just long enough to allow Clark to arrive to save her.
How he leaped into Whitney Fordman and saved him from an explosion in Indonesia.
In fact, Beckett thought as his mind became less hazy, he (that is, Whitney)and Helen Bryce became part of a secret squad that went on secret missions. Whitney because he was brave and resourceful even without powers. (And willing to put himself in harm's way even if his bones weren't unbreakable, as Clark once noted.) Helen because she was cunning and devious. They were part of the Back-From-The-Dead Squad. (Yeah, they all agreed, the name was kind of stupid.)
As part of their missions, the Squad-With-A-Stupid-Name acted behind-the-scenes in Smallville to help Clark on several occasions.
They also helped Tess once or twice on her way to her destiny. A destiny that involved being part of Checkmate. Running Luthorcorp. Helping Clark and his super-friends as she played the role of Watchtower.
In wiping out Lex's memory, she gave her life to help Clark.
And Beckett was a part of that. And much more.
On another world, Beckett once leaped into a Tess Mercer to prevent her death at the hands of Lex. She went on to become part of another secret squad.
Speaking of secret squads, Beckett was once part of a secret supernatural squad.
He visited that moment.
"Who are you?" Wesley Wyndam-Price asked.
To say that Wesley worked for an evil law firm would not be quite accurate. He and his business associates, which included vampire private detective Angel, simply used the law firm as a front for their detective agency. One where they worked to help people with problems of a mystical nature.
The law firm, Wolfram and Hart, represented other-worldly clients. Demons and such. Wesley and his friends worked to fight that evil. But sometimes evil threatened to take them.
(Beckett was, once again, hearing all this narrated by James Earl Jones.)
"It's all right," Beckett-inside-Clark said. This version of Clark not only had physical powers but was able to use Kryptonian science to do things that looked like magic.
Next to him was a friend and team member who also employed magic-like Kryptonian science. Lana was able to use the powers of a witch named Isobel while still remaining herself. Most of the time..
"It's all right," Beckett-inside-Clark said again, holding up reassuring hands.
"We found a way to save Fred," Lana said.
Lana's voice sounded very soft and sweet. Until she cackled lightly.
"How?" Wesley asked.
"We can travel into other realms," Duncan said.
"Zatanna helps us," Sam Winchester said. "We found this mystical object. It counteracts harmful magic." He shrugged. "Kind of hard to explain. "
"Daniel Jackson could explain it a lot better," a very cheerful Chloe said. "He's the expert on magic and the supernatural."
"Daniel isn't in right now," Lana said with a haunted look on her face. "Can I take a message?" Again, she cackled, this time a little more loudly.
Across his face, Wesley wore a slightly concerned look. "Angel said the only way to save Fred was if thousands of people around the world died."
"Luckily we found a way around that," Chloe said.
"Long story short, we found some doodad in another dimension," Dean Winchester said. "And once we did, we just did a little bippity-boppity-boo-yah."
"Fred is no longer host to Ilyria," Chloe said.
"What's that like?" Lana asked with eyes wide open.
"We were able to free her while we prevented all those people from dying," Clark/Beckett said.
"Yeah, once again we saved people all over the world," Dean said with a smile. "That was us."
Fred-formal name Winnifred Burkle—lay asleep on her side, looking perfectly normal. No blue hair.
Beckett-as-Clark thought she looked...perfect.
Flawless. Lovely. With the most serene look on her face
"Abitively," Fred whispered.
"Cherish her," Lana said. "The way Clark and I do each other."
"When Isobel's personality isn't getting in the way," Dean said.
"I've got her under control," Lana insisted. Yet just for a moment, there was sharpness and hostility in her face. Which was accented by mascara that was way too black and thick.
"Even when we're fighting beings from other dimensions, Lana and I are there for each other," Clark said. As he put his arm around her, Lana scowled slightly.
Chloe coughed suggestively. "The whole team is there for each other."
"We're kind of like a supernatural Justice League," Dean said, lifting his chin slightly as he grinned.
"Will you stop with the Justice League?" his brother muttered. "We're not going to be called the Justice League."
"I like Justice League," Dean said.
"It's not happening," Sam said.
Beckett-as-Clark waved to Wesley and Fred. "Take care of each other."
"We will. Thank you," Wesley whispered.
"Tell Angel I said 'hi.'" Lana had a weird almost demented look on her face.
I know that look, Beckett thought. That's the look of Isobel.
"Sam," someone said.
Beckett blinked his eyes as he looked around at the now familiar surroundings. Was everything a little higher than before? Was he standing a little taller?
"Sam, you're back," Daniel said. "Well, I mean, back in this part of the mental illusion."
"Back in the Talon," Duncan said. "The Joker's fake Talon."
"And now this," Daniel muttered.
Beckett realized he was hanging from a scarecrow pole. From his lofty position, he looked down on Daniel and Duncan.
"The Prime Universe," he whispered. "Home to so many tragic events. They got changed on other worlds." His head bobbed slightly as he spoke, and he shivered a little. "Case in point: Did Clark really have to go through this?"
"Helped form him into a hero, Sam," Daniel said.
"This is good, Sam, um, Doctor Beckett," Duncan said as he helped him down from the scarecrow pole.
As he stepped down, Beckett saw a bald white-suited figure skulk away into a cornfield. The figure's face was shrouded by intense sunlight. In response to the light, Beckett blinked.
Glancing up, Beckett saw the Borg and the Replicators being sucked up by what looked like a giant tornado.
As Beckett peered into the vortex, he saw...stuff. Things.
"Is that Dorothy's house? And the Wicked Witch? And Lana's red pickup?"
"And Miss Gulch. On her bicycle," Daniel muttered.
"And Storm," Duncan said. "You know. From the X-Men."
"I know the X-Men. I helped them stop Captain Picard from being turned into a Borg." Beckett looked away from the scene. "The Joker was wrong. When he said I was nothing. I've made a difference."
"Of course you have, Sam," Daniel said, light hand on his back.
"That's good. That's very good, " Duncan said.
"Way to go, Beckett," O'Neill said.
"You're almost there," Daniel said.
"Friends like you help," Beckett said quietly.
"Good work, buddy," Clark said.
At that point, Beckett exploded with quantum energy, swallowing up the scene around him.
He sat up in his hospital bed, his restraints gone. He was free.
Leaning over him were Daniel, Michael Westen and Carter Hall. Also known as Hawkman.
"Sam, you're awake," Daniel said. "Let's get out of here."
"Let's go," Beckett said. "I'm ready."