Written for Sentinel Thursday challenge #204 - when shows collide. I also thought it would be fun to try and write a story entirely in dialogue. And, yes, it's slash.

Crossover with Quantum Leap

Disclaimer: Jim and Blair and Sam and Al don't belong to me, I'm just having fun.

"Al? Al? Thank God! It's about time you showed up!"

"Shhh! Keep your voice down, Sam. You're in a church, for God's sake. Actually, you wouldn't be in a church for anyone else's sake, would you? Although I guess you could be in church praying for someone, that'd be for someone else's sake…"

"AL!"

"Sam, be quiet! There are people sleeping here!"

"What's the story this time, Al?"

"Okay, let me see what Ziggy has to say…hmmm…okay, you're James Ellison, a detective from Cascade, Washington…"

"This doesn't feel much like Washington."

"That's because it's not, smart ass. It's Mexico. So, as I was saying, you're a police officer from Cascade, and you've apparently come down here with your boss…"

"My boss?"

"Yeah…according to Ziggy, that's Simon Banks, Captain of the Major Crimes division at the Cascade PD. Oh, here's a picture…ah, yeah, right. That guy right there."

"The big black guy sleeping on the pew?"

"Yeah, that's him. Ziggy says the two of you came down here to apprehend one Alex Barnes, AKA Alicia Bannister, who stole…holy shit!"

"Al? Al, what is it?"

"This Alex Barnes, Sam, she is one dangerous broad! Jesus! According to Ziggy, she's got a rap sheet like you wouldn't believe! Grand theft, industrial espionage, did three years in Corona, most of it in solitary for fighting…"

"So why am I after her?"

"Well, it looks like she stole…Christ on a handcart! TWO canisters of VX nerve gas!"

"Okay, okay…so I gotta help this guy Banks stop her, is that it?"

"Well…uh…"

"Al?"

"Ziggy's not sure yet, Sam…he's having to go pretty deep for this one, access some really classified shit…c'mon, you bastard…cough it up, give us the goods, huh?"

"So…what am I supposed to do, then?"

"Well, according to Ziggy, there's a 99 percent chance that you're here to…no, that can't be right…oh, come ON, Ziggy, you've gotta be shitting me!"

"Al, what is it?"

"Ziggy says you've got to kiss someone named Blair Sandburg. On the beach."

"Really?"

"Really."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Nothing about the nerve gas, or catching Barnes?"

"Nope. Just kiss Blair Sandburg, on the beach."

"Ziggy's sure?"

"He's sure."

"Okay, then. So…this would be Blair Sandburg, here?"

"Uh, no…Ziggy says there's a 73 percent chance that that woman there is a hooker…what?...no, I didn't see that you had rearranged the output parameters…oh, for Christ's sake…sorry, Sam, Ziggy had that wrong…well, you DID…there's a 73 percent chance that that woman there is Megan Connor, an inspector with the New South Wales, Australia police force, on loan to the Cascade PD as part of an officer exchange program."

"So where's this Blair Sandburg?"

"Uh…that would be…this guy, here."

"Blair Sandburg is a GUY?"

"Uh…yeah."

"I gotta kiss a guy? That's the wrong I'm righting?"

"Apparently."

"Oh boy."

"Hey, I don't make the rules…well, I guess, technically, we don't know who's making the rules…"

"Okay. Okay. No problem. So…I just wake him up and kiss him?"

"Naw, like I told you, it's gotta be on the beach."

"Oh, right…"

"The good news is that the beach is just a few blocks away."

"Well, let's head over there, then. And, presumably, Sandburg will come on over there and get kissed when he's ready."

"Sounds like a plan. Lead on, MacDuff."

"So, what does Ziggy say about this Blair Sandburg?"

"Well, let's see…he's a graduate student in anthropology at Rainier University, working on his doctorate. Sounds like somewhat of a genius…okay, not as much of a genius as you, Sam – he's only got the one master's degree – but he started undergrad at Rainier when he was 16. Been on a bunch of expeditions…now, that sounds interesting…."

"What is it?"

"Says here his dissertation topic is on something called Sentinels."

"Sentinels? What are they?"

"People with all five senses enhanced."

"What, enhanced, like, more powerful?"

"Yeah. The kid says that people like that, in primitive-"

"The correct term is 'pre-industrialized', Al."

"Sorry – pre-industrialized – societies acted like watchmen, you know, tracking game, staying on top of the weather, the movement of enemy tribes, things like that. Seems he's had a theory about whether someone like that might exist in the modern – I mean industrialized - world."

"God, I can't imagine that they could. I mean, it'd be horrible for them - the noise level, the smells, the amount of chemical contaminants in food and drink – it'd drive someone with enhanced senses insane, unless they had some way to help them control it."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Now, here's something odd."

"What?"

"According to Ziggy, the kid lives with Ellison. And he's been following him around for the last three years as a civilian observer."

"Observer? Observing what?"

"Ziggy says the official line is that the kid is doing a study on how the quality of evidence gathering at the scene of a crime affects the capture and conviction of the perpetrator."

"That doesn't have anything to do with enhanced senses…"

"Yeah, you're right…oh, wow! Damn!"

"What is it?"

"The kid just got out of the hospital…I mean, JUST, like, days ago."

"What was he in the hospital for?"

"Oh, man…this is so weird…"

"Al, what? Come on, talk to me!"

"Well, apparently…apparently the kid died a few days ago, Sam."

"What?"

"Yeah. According to the EMT report, they got a call; a drowning in the fountain at Rainier. When they got there, Ellison and Banks were doing CPR, but the kid was dead, clinically dead. No heartbeat, no breathing, nothing. Nada. The EMTs were packing up when Ellison kneels beside the kid…and the next thing they know, Ellison's shouting that he hears a heartbeat, and, sure enough, the kid's alive. Dealing with a little lung damage from inhaling so much water, but alive."

"And his doctor let him travel?"

"Well, it doesn't look like he had much choice. The kid checked out of the hospital AMA. It looks like he followed Ellison and Banks down here. He and the Australian chick – Connor – they were on a later plane."

"Weird. Say, you don't think…"

"What?"

"You don't think this Ellison guy could have…could be a Sentinel, do you? And Sandburg is helping him out with his senses?"

"I dunno. Maybe. You think that explains the kissing?"

"I don't know. Something about Ellison drove this Sandburg guy to leave the hospital, ignoring medical advice, and fly over 1200 miles to find him."

"Gooshie says Ellison's just sitting there in the waiting room, muttering about "fucking blue jungle dreams" and refusing to answer any questions – oh, wait…"

"What?"

"Gooshie says Ellison says you should tell Sandburg that you're sorry you've been such a fucking uptight repressed asshole, but you're ready to take that trip with him now, and you love him."

"I'm sorry I've been such a fucking uptight repressed asshole, but I'm ready to take that trip with him now, and I love him?"

"Yeah."

"What does that mean?"

"You're asking me? Oh, and he says call Sandburg 'Chief'."

"'Chief'."

"Yeah."

"And these guys get along with each other?"

"Apparently. Apparently a little more than get along, if you catch my drift. Hey, here comes Sandburg now."

"Jim, what's up? Are you okay? Did you have another vision?"

"Chief, I'm sorry I've been such a fucking uptight repressed – "

"Ellison!"

"Oh, shit, Sam, that's her, that's Barnes!"

"What the hell is going on, Ellison? This wasn't how it happened in my dream…"

"Alex Barnes, AKA Alicia Bannister, you're under arrest for grand larceny and possession of weapons of mass destruction. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?"

"Fuck you, Ellison! I wanted to share this with you! The visions, the Temple, the Eye of God…everything! I wanted us to be one!"

"No can do, lady. Take her away and book her, fellas."

"Uh…Jim? What just happened?"

"Oh, right…sorry, Sandburg. Chief, I'm sorry I've been such a fucking uptight repressed asshole, but I'm ready to take that trip with you now, and I love you."

"Jim, wha-mmmmph…"

"…mmmm…"

"…oh boy…"

"…you can say that again, Chief…"