AUTHOR'S NOTE: Set at the end of M.I.A and the beginning of The Leap Home. Contains spoilers for both episodes. Please enjoy, and review!
He and Sam had always been aware of the dangers of leaping, but the temptations had only recently been revealed to them.
Beth. Oh, God, he hadn't realized how much he had missed her until Sam could have changed history for him, making sure that Beth was waiting when he came home from Vietnam. Al would never forget the look on Sam's face when he came running out of Beth's house. The pain in his eyes. The urgency. The unspoken apology.
Sam's words sliced his heart apart.
"You know the rules, Al. We can't change our own lives. As much as I'd like to be, I don't think I'm here to keep you and Beth together."
Sam convinced him to go and see Beth, one last time. It was the hardest thing he'd ever done, because he was so close, yet so far away. Like the first time he appeared to Sam as a hologram, and he had to convince his best friend who didn't remember him that he was real, without touching him. He could have sworn that he was able to touch Beth, if only for a second. The last, precious second.
Sam would say that God, Time, Fate, or Whatever had allowed him that second, because He was watching out for Al. Haha, very funny Sam.
After Sam leaped out, Al was back in the imaging chamber, arms still outstretched, grasping at the memory of Beth with tears in his eyes. Al looked up, his heartache and longing fading into pure exhaustion. He hadn't slept all leap- he'd been too busy drinking it all away and running endless scenarios and probabilities through Ziggy.
"Why did ya have to do that? Why did you have to make him go so close to her-" his voice broke. "Just send him home, please. He's all I've got, and Donna-" he paused and then began again. "Sam needs to go home. He's done so much good, helped so many people, the least you could do is let him see his own reflection in the mirror. If you've got any shred of decency, you'll send him home."
GTFW was cruel. Sam didn't believe Al when he said it, but Al knew. Sam saw his own reflection in the mirror, sure. But it was the reflection of his 16-year-old self.
And Sam, so trusting, so happy.
"Al, I think I'm being rewarded!" He would exclaim.
And then the temptations came. He wanted to try to save his father, sister, and brother.
But Al had a feeling. GTFW had complex plans, and he doubted He would let Sam save his family.
The real dangers of leaping were just now becoming evident.
