I've never written a cross-over before, but I had a plot bunny following me all day and was threatening to turn into the evil rabbit from Monty Python if I didn't heed its prompting. I know I'm probably breaking all kinds of rules of Project Quantum Leap, but I swear it was all for the sake of the story. That being said, enjoy Leap Butch!
Leap Butch!
Sam felt the leap overtaking him again, the familiar pull at his center, the tingle of electricity that shimmered through his body as he was taken from one point in time to another. As the post-leap haze started to clear from his eyes, he quickly took in his surroundings as quickly as he could, a habit he'd developed over the innumerable previous leaps he'd made. He found himself standing behind the counter of a small diner, rag in his hand. To his left sat an old school register that was worn with age, making it difficult to determine the era in which he had landed.
Hmm, I must work here, but where is here? He pondered continuing his perusal of the surroundings. He took in the mismatched chairs and tables, the window that looked into what seemed to be a malt shop, and then settled on the large picture windows at the front of the store where the word "Luke's" was painted in yellow cursive over a brown coffee cup. So this is Luke's, now to figure out who Luke is.
A woman striding across the park and past an old gazeebo, caught his attention, not only was she beautiful, but she had a determined look in her intensely blue eyes that was almost mesmerizing. Judging by her clothing, he was sometime after the turn of the century, logging the newly acquired information away in his eidetic memory, he returned his gaze to the woman who had just walked through the door, causing the bells to ring out.
She hesitated for the briefest of moments, "Hey, I need to talk to you." She said simply, blue eyes meeting his, causing him to shift uncomfortably. It was clear by the way she looked at him that they weren't strangers, if the ring on her hand were any indicator, he would assume that whomever he had leaped into was involved with this enchanting creature.
"Sure," He nodded, dropping the rag in his hand into the bucket under the counter.
"Not in here," The woman said simply, casting a concerned look around the diner, settling briefly on an older heavy set red head and an equally seasoned blonde woman who were both watching them carefully, "I doubt you want 'Hello Magazine' over there to hear this."
Sam simply nodded and followed the woman out the front door and onto the sidewalk; he could tell that whatever was on her mind was a serious matter. Al, you'd better hurry up! I think I'm going to be needing some background for this conversation. He thought, after a few long moments of the two of them standing and awkwardly waiting for the other to speak, he prompted her. "So, what's up?"
"What's up?" The woman huffed, a mix of frustration, defeat, sadness, and disappointment crossed her face, "That's exactly what's up." When Sam didn't respond, she continued, "For someone who is supposedly engaged, you are remarkably disconnected from your fiancée."
"I'm sorry…" Sam started, grasping at straws as to why whoever this man was would ever put distance between himself and the woman before him.
"I know," She cut him off, "I know I said I'd give you time to figure out the whole April situation, but jeez Luke, it's been six months since she came into your life. Six months!"
Oh boy, Sam thought, Was he having an affair? Who is April?
"I know it was a shock and all," The woman continued, "Finding out, all of a sudden that you have a 12 year old daughter," Sam sighed with relief as he tried to catch the rest of her rant, "But it still took you nearly half that time to even tell me about her, and you didn't even do that! I had to hear it from Patty and Babette!"
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Sam sighed, quietly cursing the man who had put the woman he must love in such a position. "I could have handled it better."
"I don't know why I'm still angry about this, and I know I should have said something sooner too." The woman let out a defeated breath, "Even after you told me about her, I still couldn't figure out why you would keep me away from her. It was so clear that we got along when you called me to bail you out at her birthday party. I love April, she's a great kid, reminds me a little of Rory. The moment I met her I started racking my brain to figure out who we could add on your side so that both our daughters could be in the wedding."
"I don't know what to say to you," Sam sighed, "I know that wasn't fair to you."
"I went to see Anna," The woman admitted quietly, her demeanor made it clear that the woman was somehow connected to the girl and himself.
"Why did you do that?" He asked, hoping to glean more information from her.
"I noticed that after her party, April wasn't coming around as often," The woman shrugged before raising her eyes to meet his, he could see the tears starting to shimmer in her blue pools, making the twinkle lights from the square reflect and sparkle in her eyes. "I don't know why, but it made me think back to when Chris started seeing Sherry, I remember feeling so jealous of the time Rory spent with her, even though I knew there was no reason to. With as involved in her life as Chris was back then, I knew she wasn't a real threat. Remembering that led me to realize that maybe, just maybe, Anna sees me the same way. So I drove over to Woodbridge and went to her shop. I just wanted to tell her that I had no intention of taking April away from her, but that her keeping April from you because of me wasn't fair to either you or your daughter."
"What did she say to that?"
"I believe her exact words were 'engaged isn't married.'" The woman sighed, "I'm afraid I may have messed that up for you."
"Don't worry about it, I'll talk to Anna later and try to straighten it out." He nodded resolutely, while in the back of his mind hoping that this man kept an address book somewhere, "I mean we are engaged right? We are going to get married."
"Exactly," the woman huffed.
They both heard the bells ring out behind them as the two older women stepped out into the late spring air, "I left the money on the table for you, Hunny." The red head smiled warmly at them, the look she sent was a mix of hope and apprehension. "You two kids play nice, don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"That doesn't leave much not to do," The blonde rasped, chuckling, "Good night Luke, good night Lorelai."
"Good night," Lorelai smiled at the woman.
What a pretty name, Sam thought, glad to finally have a name for the woman before him.
"So, what do you think about tonight?" She asked, returning her gaze to him, an expectant look on her face.
"What do I think about tonight for what?" He asked.
"To get married…" Lorelai led, "We are still going to get married, right?"
"Um…" Sam delayed, praying that Al would hurry up and get there. "I mean…"
"Jeez, Luke, do you want to elope or not?" She huffed.
"Well, since you asked so nicely," Sam countered sarcastically, taken aback by her frustrated tone, Man, this guy really must have done a number on her.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She demanded.
"It means we can't just go off and get married!" Sam shook his head at her, "What about the girls? Wouldn't Rory and April be disappointed to miss it?"
"Cut the crap, Luke," Lorelai sighed, "I just had the night from Hell, and I don't have time for it."
"What happened?" Sam asked, stepping toward her concerned.
"Nice side step," She rolled her eyes, "If you must know Chris was there. Mom and Dad invited him, can you believe it? At least this time their focus wasn't on me and him, I think they've finally given up on that. It took them 22 years to finally realize that I wasn't going to marry him just so Rory's biological parents could be together, besides you've always been more of a father to her than he ever was." She spoke quickly before ending her tangent and getting back to the story at hand, "They set him up with the woman who is a daughter of one of their friends. Chris didn't take too well to it, and the already excruciating event that is known as the Gilmore Friday Night Dinner suffered for it. Chris left early, apparently the nanny called saying Gigi was sick."
Sam simply nodded, filing away the information. He assumed that Gigi must have been from another relationship, perhaps the Sherry person she was referring to. He also made note of the fact that Lorelai must have been very young, perhaps even a teenager when Rory was born, she didn't look old enough to have a daughter in her 20's, mid-teens perhaps, but not anywhere near the 21 years he now assumed that Rory was.
"She's a shrink, you know?" Lorelai's voice cut through his thoughts, bringing him back to the present, "Anyway, after dinner we walked out to the cars together and started talking, before I knew it, I was laying across her back seat, revealing everything." She paused, an impish look flashed on her face before she shook her head, "I know that was a 'Dirty' but I really don't care. Anyway we started talking about relationships. I told her about growing up with the gender-swapped Adolph and Eva, and about Chris and me getting pregnant at 16 with Rory. I told her of the countless times my parents or his parents, or all of them at once tried to push us to marry after that, including Chris folding practically every time. I told her about the botched attempt that Chris and I made before Sookie's wedding that ended when Sherry found out she was pregnant with Gigi. We even talked about you. You and Rory, you and me, you and April… all of it." She shook her head sadly, "She said a few things that really made me think, you know? And I was thinking, we've been engaged for nearly a year now, I know we pushed the wedding back when Rory and I were fighting, but that was resolved a long time ago. Now with the April thing, we haven't talked about the wedding in months, it's made me wonder if you really want to marry me. I got to thinking on the way home about Martha's Vineyard. Remember when we went down there with Rory and Logan? Didn't you say that you liked the idea of getting married out there?"
Sam didn't know what to think aside from the fact that Luke was clearly one of the biggest idiots on the planet to put Lorelai in this position. "Lorelai, Martha's Vineyard is lovely but…"
"Let's elope," Lorelai suggested quickly.
"What?" Sam was confused as to how they had gotten there.
"Come on, Luke. Grab your keys; let's go." She insisted.
"Elope?" He asked.
"You said it would be fine at Martha's Vineyard." She continued, desperation clear in her voice, "Didn't you say it would be fine at Martha's Vineyard?"
"I guess, but…"
"Come on, then!" She pleaded, "Let's go! We can drive up to Maryland. What the hell, right? We can drive up there, get married, then come back here, and you can finally move your stuff into the house."
"Okay, hold on," Sam felt overwhelmed and tried to get the fast talking woman to calm down a bit.
"I mean we already have a plan right?" She asked, a desperate note to her voice, "We just have to put the plan in motion."
"Let's calm down," Sam insisted, "I mean what about the girls?"
"We'll pick them up on the way, Woodbridge is on the way to New Haven, and Rory is probably just sitting at home now that Logan is in London." Lorelai suggested, "I bet they would love to see Maryland, I know Rory didn't get to see much of it when she was in DC a few years ago."
"Lorelai, don't you think this is a little fast?" Sam asked panicked, "We don't have to do this right now do we? I mean shouldn't we figure this all out first?"
"Yes we do, because we've been waiting and putting it off, and I don't want to put it off anymore." Lorelai insisted, "Please, Luke."
"But right now?" He questioned her.
"Yes, now is the right time, the best time, because it's now!"
"Why don't you come inside and we can talk about this." Sam suggested.
"No, I'm done talking, I'm sick of talking! I want to do! I want to go!"
"We can't just take off and get married." Sam stated, he knew he was losing the argument, but he also knew that this wedding couldn't happen until he leaped and Luke returned.
"Why not, Luke? Don't you love me?"
"You know how I feel about you." Sam responded, weakly.
"That's just it! I don't know anymore. I love you, Luke. I love you so much, but I have waited and stayed away while you worked out this thing with April. I just feel like this had gotten so out of control. I asked you to marry me, Luke! You said yes!"
"I know," Sam nodded, "I'm just trying to think here." He was stalling for time, Damn it, Al, where are you? He thought desperately.
"We fixed the house right?" Lorelai kept going, "We have a bigger closet; I didn't get the purple wallpaper because you didn't like the purple wallpaper. And if it's between the purple wallpaper and you, I pick you!"
"What does wallpaper have to do with this?" Sam asked even more confused.
"Because you didn't like it!" Lorelai insisted, "I have bent over backwards to accommodate you for months now, I've given you time, I've given you space, all because you asked for it. I think I'm well within my rights to ask this of you. We were building a life together, Luke, and suddenly everything came to a screeching halt!" Lorelai was on the verge of tears, "All I want, all I'm asking of you, is to marry me! I thought we were on the same page, now it doesn't even fell we're in the same book, or even the same library! Don't you care about me?"
"Of course," Sam honestly had come to care for this woman in the short time he'd been talking to her, it may have been because he felt bad for her, but he did care.
"Well good, because I feel like I'm going crazy over here, like it'll never happen."
"It'll happen," Sam assured here, "I just have a lot to consider, we have a lot to consider here."
"But once we're married, everything with April will be fine. Anna said so." Lorelai gave him a said look.
"You and I both know that's not true." Sam insisted, "Just give me a little bit to figure this all out."
"You've had all this time to figure it out. April has to fit into our lives, not the other way around!"
"I'm trying…"
"Well, try married!" She demanded.
"Can't you just wait a minute?"
"No!" She exclaimed, "I'm not waiting! It's now or never!"
"I don't like ultimatums."
"I don't like Mondays, but unfortunately they come around eventually." She countered.
"I can't just jump like this!" Sam's panic was increasing.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that." Lorelai looked defeated as she wiped a tear from her eyes, trying to maintain her composure. "I'm going to go now. Goodbye, Luke." With that she walked away, leaving a dumfounded Sam behind.
He just stood there watching as she walked down the street and across the square, leaving her jeep parked in front of the diner. "Oh boy," He desperately hoped he hadn't done irreversible damage to the relationship between Luke and Lorelai. Sam sighed and leaned up against the side of the building as the unmistakable sound of the imaging chamber door whispered beside him. "Where were you?" He asked, not looking up at his friend and partner. "I was just blindsided."
"Sorry, it took longer than anticipated to calm down your counterpart in the waiting room enough to get his story." Al explained, punching a few buttons on his handheld device. "I suppose you're wondering what you're doing here."
Sam just arched his eyebrow at the obvious statement from the aging admiral. "Right," Al nodded, "Your name is Luke Danes, you live in Stars Hollow Connecticut; you own your own diner and live in the office above that you converted into a studio apartment after your father died. Your nephew came to live with you a few years back and you wound up buying the building next door and expanding the apartment into a two bedroom. What else? Oh, you are engaged to Lorelai Gilmore of the Hartford Gilmores; she ran away from home when she was 17 with her daughter Rory so she could raise her without the elder Gilmores' influence. Rory was only 6 months old at the time. You met 10 years later when she moved to town, apparently prior to that she had been living in a shed at the Inn she worked at back then. That inn had a fire a couple years back and she is now co-owner of a new inn that you helped fund. You also have a daughter, but only found out about her 6 months ago when she came into the diner and took a sample of your hair for a DNA test. She was doing a science fair experiment to figure out who her father was. It seems you went to the fair and found out that you're her father and she's been in your life ever since. Her name is April and she just turned 13, her mother is a woman named Anna who you had a short relationship with many years ago and had not heard from until you confronted her about April. You've been getting visitation with the girl ever since and even chaperoned a field trip not too long ago. Luke, the real Luke, is all up in arms ranting about having to get back to the diner. Apparently Lorelai goes to dinner every Friday night with her parents, a tradition started when her parents started paying for Rory's private high school education and continued even after the loan had been paid back. Her relationship with her parents is tumultuous at best, and she always comes to the diner afterwards to vent. It is May 5th 2006, and despite all of that information, Ziggy is still trying to figure out why you're here."
"I may have an idea as to why I came here." Sam suggested.
"What's that?" Al questioned, rolling his cigar between his fingers absentmindedly.
"What happened to Luke and Lorelai in the original history?"
Al popped the end of his cigar in his mouth and started punching buttons on the comlink. "Well, let's see here. Looks like they had a pretty big blow out one night, after which Lorelai stormed off and slept with an old ex from high school."
"Chris?"
"Christopher Hayden, yep, that'd be the one." All confirmed before continuing, "Their relationship, at least their romantic one didn't survive. Looks like Lorelai eloped with Christopher a few months later in Paris but they divorced a couple months after that when he found a letter she had written as a character reference for Luke and subsequently left. Apparently her father had a heart attack the next week and he refused to show up or even respond to her phone calls. However Luke caught wind of it and stepped up… seems like he does that a lot."
"I would have to agree," Sam nodded, "From what I could gather from the conversation I just had, Luke has been filling in for Christopher for most of Rory's life."
"Uh huh," Al nodded before continuing, "There's more, looks like Luke was able to win partial custody of his daughter, thanks to the letter that Lorelai wrote, and was even able to have April stay with him for a while when her mother flew out of state to deal with her ailing grandmother. While she was staying with her father, April developed appendicitis, Lorelai convinced Luke to take the girl to the hospital, saving her life. They slowly worked their way back to friendship, even tried dating again about a year after Lorelai's divorce went through, which is another couple years away, but they were never able to fully recover from Lorelai's indiscretion. They remained friends, but never married anyone else after that."
"So why am I here?" Sam asked again.
Al punched a few more buttons on the comlink, "Ah, here it is, Ziggy has a theory that Luke and Lorelai's failed relationship was an influencing factor on both their daughter's lives, and not in a good way. Rory apparently met this strattone in college – she's a student at Yale, by the way, got in by her own merit despite being a legacy due to her grandfather – who apparently doesn't treat her very well." Seeing Sam's back straightening, he quickly continued, "He doesn't beat her or anything, but treats her badly all the same, apparently she asked for some space a few months ago to sort out her feelings and he slept with his sister's entire bridal party. Some prize he is, I know I'm no saint, but even I would never do that to a dame."
Sam sighed and walked back into the diner, Al's hologram following him inside and up the stairs to the apartment in which he apparently lived. "What does Luke and Lorelai's relationship have to do with that?" He asked, taking a seat on the worn leather couch.
"Looks like after watching her mother's love life go down in flames, she was determined to not share the same fate. Around the same time as Luke and Lorelai's break up, she was considering ending things with Logan the loser. Apparently having a name like Huntzburger give the men in that family a predisposition of being a complete jackass. After witnessing the crash and burn that was not only Luke and Lorelai's relationship, but also the demise of her own parents' marriage, she became desperate to not end up alone. She wound up staying with the Logan character, because it was easier to stay and play the faithful girlfriend than to break up and leave. It looks like about a year from now, Logan proposed, she wasn't ready to get married, so he left her. She found moderate success following President Obama's initial campaign, but when the campaign stopped in San Francisco, they get back together; they married 6months later after Rory got pregnant. Logan never stopped his philandering ways, he constantly travels and has more girlfriends than a sailor on leave – I would know. She refuses to leave him for the sake of their child, but is miserable."
"Luke and Lorelai going their separate ways caused that?" Sam was surprised.
"Well, you're the one with the psych degree, what do you think?" Al challenged him.
"I suppose, if you look at it in the way that we all learn about how relationships work from our parents…"
"That would be it," Al nodded, "On some level Rory figured that there was no hope in ever being successful in love if Luke and Lorelai who desperately loved each other couldn't even work out. She chose what was comfortable, rather than following her heart to the man she truly loved. Ironically, that man never married, his heart belonged to Rory until the day he died."
"What about April?" Sam asked.
"April went to Yale and then MIT, she's just as brilliant in science as you and Sammy-Jo." Al smiled, referring to Sam's own daughter, "Unfortunately, she's not as brilliant at relationships. She always felt like she was the reason behind the breakup and that guilt translated into never having a serious relationship except for with her work as a bio-engineer."
"All that from one couple breaking up?" Sam was amazed.
"It wasn't so much that they went splitsville, more of a result of it happening in conjunction with several other major live events." Al shrugged, "According to Ziggy, there is an 89% chance you are here to keep Luke and Lorelai together and stop her from sleeping with Christopher."
"How am I supposed to do that?" Sam questioned.
"Stop her from walking away." Al shrugged, "Looks like their fight was over their impending –or not so impending- wedding. Just reassure her that you, or rather Luke, does want to get married."
"Oh boy," Sam gasped, standing up.
"What?"
"That argument already happened, right before you showed up!"
"Well, you'd better get going then." Al informed him. "She can't have gone far, her jeep is still parked out front. She's probably at home, she live at the end of Peach Street in a white Victorian. Go across the street and take a left on third, and a right on Peach. It shouldn't take you too long on foot, or better yet, your truck is parked out back. Go, before she comes back for the jeep!"
"Meet me over there." Sam directed his friend, "I might still need you to help me out. You might want to get Luke in on this, if you can. I don't want to mess this up any more than either of us already have."
"Alright," Al nodded, punching the button the handheld to open the imaging room door, "I'll see you over there." With a whisper and a thud the door closed behind him.