A Leap Into Destiny
Disclaimer: Donald Bellisario and NBC own Quantum Leap.
Hostage Crisis
For as many years as he could remember, Sam Beckett had leaped about through time and space, setting right what once went wrong.
It all started that one fateful day when he made himself the experimental guinea pig in Project Quantum Leap, testing his theories on time travel, and more specifically, the String Theory. The project had turned out to be more of a success than he anticipated. His body was sent hurtling through time and with it, he experienced acute memory loss which was slowly restored to him thanks to the efforts of his best friend, Al.
He had journeyed through the landscape of America and a few other countries, engaging in countless missions to help those in need. Along the way, he had encountered mobsters, priests, single mothers, biker gangs, and Confederate generals. And he had, on occasion, even become some of those people during his leaps.
Three years had passed since one of the most important leaps he had ever made, the leap where he saved the marriage of his best friend, Al Calavicci. Now, however, he was in a situation he hadn't been in before. As the blue aura faded away, Sam Beckett stood before a museum in police uniform.
"Sir, what do we do now?" another police officer asked him.
"I, uh…" Sam was confused.
"This hostage crisis, it's gotta end somehow," the officer went on, thankfully providing more details and sparing Sam any potential embarrassment.
"Right," Sam tried to state authoritatively. "We have to get in there and get those people out."
"Good thing I caught up with you just in time," a voice behind Sam startled him.
"Al!" Sam turned around to the sight of the familiar and welcome sight of the holographic image.
"Al?" the fellow officer asked.
"I meant 'ow,'" Sam replied. "I think I tweaked a muscle earlier. It's gotten really sore."
"Your name is Officer Joe Cassidy," Al informed the Leaper. "And this is May 16, 1987 in Denver, Colorado. You're in the middle of a hostage crisis. The guy inside's got an entire class of children in there. What goes down eventually isn't going to be pretty."
"Then I gotta stop it somehow," Sam whispered.
"Hey Joe," another officer came up. "Frank wants to speak to you!"
"Frank?" Sam was confused.
"The one in there holding those kids hostages," the second officer looked at Sam with a funny look. "Are you feeling alright? You're not spacing out on us or anything, are you?"
"No, no," Sam shook his head. "It's just that it's been a long day and my head's a little woozy, that's all."
With that, Sam began walking away.
"Uh sir," the officer called after him, "the phone booth is to your left."
"Right… right," Sam turned around as quickly as he could.
"Frank Schaeffer," Al walked alongside Sam as he headed to the phone booth, "the man's a real nutjob. From the files we have on him, he's a real career criminal, always getting into trouble for robbery, theft, kidnapping, and assault. Unfortunately, this is the day he's going to add murder to that list."
"And with children no less," Sam said in disgust.
Walking into the phone booth, Sam picked up the phone.
"This is Officer Cassidy," he said.
"I was hoping you'd answer," the voice on the other side sent a chill down Sam's spine. "I was almost getting tired of waiting."
"What is it you want?" demanded Sam.
"The hostage money I wanted, is it coming or not?" Frank demanded.
"Hostage money isn't going to buy the freedom of those kids," Al informed Sam. "He'll take the money and leave behind a trail of bodies."
Sam held the phone away from his mouth and turned to Al in desperation.
"What do I say?" he asked frantically.
"Tell him the money is coming in ten minutes," Al replied.
"The money will arrive soon," Sam told Frank Schaeffer. "Give it ten minutes."
"Gee, I don't know if I can wait ten minutes," the man replied.
"Please," Sam beseeched. "You're getting what you want, aren't you?"
"Well, I suppose I am," Frank smiled on the other side of the line.
"Now if you don't mind, let's discuss the release of the hostages," Sam requested.
"Very well," Frank Schaffer acquiesced. "I'll tell you what. I'm going to release some of these kids."
"Some?" asked Sam.
"I'll be keeping a few others with me as bargaining chips," Schaeffer said calmly. "Now listen carefully, place the money at the front of the museum. Once it's there, I'll take the money and let some of those kids go."
"And then?" Sam demanded.
"Then I take off in my getaway car behind the museum with the remaining children," Frank was unphased by the edge in Sam's voice. "But don't worry, there's a gas station five blocks down. You are not to pursue me for the first five minutes. After that, you will find the rest of the children safe and sound at the station of Fish Street."
"Alright," promised Sam. "We'll do as you say."
"Good, don't disappoint me," Frank hung up.
"Al, what's going to happen exactly?" Sam turned to the holographic projection.
Al Calavicci dialed a few buttons on the handheld device he had before coming up with a correct projection.
"It ain't good, Sam," answered Al. "Unfortunately, along the way, those four kids don't make it out alive. Their bodies are dumped at the gas station where Frank said they would be."
"Then even if we give him what he wants, he'll still spill blood," Sam bit down on his teeth angrily.
"I'm going to go check the perimeters of the museum," Al promised. "Then I'll go inside to see the status of those kids. There may be a way inside. Ziggy is telling me there's an eighty nine percent chance that you're here to go inside that museum and rescue those kids. You hang tight and I'll be right back with the info."
"Thanks Al," Sam was somewhat relieved.
Al nodded and disappeared.
After Sam stepped outside, one of the officers under his charge came up to him.
"Sir, what will we do?" the officer asked. "How are we going to respond to his demands?"
"We'll give him what he wants," Sam replied. "But as soon as some of those children are released, I've got another solution."
"He's agreed to release the hostages?" the officer looked hopeful.
"Only some," Sam continued. "He told me he was going to drive off with the rest and release them at a gas station five blocks down Fish Street."
"Great, Schaeffer gets his money and gets away," the officer frowned.
"Hey, the important thing is that we save lives," Sam reminded his junior officer. "And right now, this is the only way to do it."
oooo
The police officer, who had been with Sam earlier, knocked on the tall doors of the museum and placed a suitcase directly in front of them. He then stepped away from the marble steps and took out his speaker phone.
"Frank Schaeffer," the officer announced. "We've brought you the money as promised. Now release the hostages as you promised."
Several moments of silence ensued before the door opened up. A young redhead boy around the age of twelve stepped out first.
The police looked on warily, wondering if he was going to release the other hostages or not.
The young boy quickly picked up the suitcase and took it back inside. Fortunately for Frank, he had been thorough enough to make sure he'd gotten what he wanted first before fulfilling his end of the bargain.
Slowly, the door opened up again as several children came out, running forward to the police who helped to shield them and reunite them with the parents and teachers who were there at the standoff.
"Where's Arthur?" a concerned mother looked on. "He isn't out. Is he alright?!"
"I'm sorry ma'am," the officer shook his head. "That psycho didn't release all the kids. He's still keeping some inside as bargaining chips."
Standing there ruefully, the cops could only wait and hope for the best.
"Hey wait a minute," one of the policemen looked around. "Where's Cassidy?"
oooo
"You know Al, when you told me there was a way in, I thought you meant there was an open door somewhere in the back," Sam gritted his teeth.
With his body tightly installed into the ventilation system, Sam made his way slowly through the air vents, hoping and praying that he wouldn't make enough noise to attract the madman's attention.
"This is the right way Sam," Al promised. "Ziggy told me there was a ninety eight percent chance that this would be your ticket in to stopping that guy cold."
After crawling for what seemed like several minutes, Sam stopped as he saw an open grill in front of him, leading to what appeared to be an office room.
"Down there is the curator's office," Al told Sam. "You'll want to drop off here."
"Okay then," Sam quickly got to work unfastening the grill from the air vent he was in.
Within moments, he had leaped down.
"Alright Al, what next?" asked Sam.
"Hang on, let me go see what Schaeffer is up to," Al told him. "Just to make sure the kids are alright."
Al quickly fixed his position to Schaffer's location and disappeared, leaving Sam waiting in the room.
Sam took a deep breath. The stakes were high now that children were involved. He shuddered to think what would happen if Al's three daughters were ever involved in a hostage situation such as this. It was exactly as the bartender named Al had said all those years ago. His leaps were getting tougher and tougher.
Incidentally, when he had changed history to make sure Al got back together with Beth, Al had never found out about it. The immediate change to the time-space continuum ensured that Al's only memories were that he had always been with Beth. The previous timeline where Beth had separated from Al was for all intents and purposes erased. And the only person who knew about it was Sam Beckett himself.
Looking around, Sam took notice of some papers lying there. Out of curiosity he picked them up.
"New artifact for the history exhibit," Sam read aloud. "A centuries old hourglass was discovered in Britain. It is believed to have been created sometime in the late 400s to 500s during the era known to posterity as the Dark Ages."
Sam put the papers down.
"Interesting," Sam mused. "Imagine if I could travel back to those times…"
His daydreaming was interrupted soon enough by the re-emergence of Al.
"Got good news and bad news," Al announced.
"Give it to me straight Al," requested Sam.
"The good news is, those kids are still safe for the moment," Al replied.
"And the bad news?"
"Those remaining kids with Schaeffer… they still lose their lives."
"What do I need to do?" asked Sam.
"Frank Schaeffer is with those kids at the history exhibit," Al answered. "If you go down the hall to your left and then make a right, Ziggy estimates there's a ninety six percent chance you'll get the drop on him."
"I'll take those odds," Sam agreed.
oooo
"When do we get to go?" demanded Elizabeth.
Frank Schaeffer took count. There were only four kids left. It wasn't quite a full classroom but it was still enough to give him bargaining power.
"I'll let you go soon enough," promised Frank, opening up his suitcase.
"You got what you wanted so why keep us waiting?" demanded Arthur, a young boy with brown hair and a Batman t-shirt.
"Don't push your luck kid," Schaeffer pointed a gun at him. "You don't want me to change my mind."
Furrowing his eyebrows, Frank Schaeffer continued to examine his money. In the hallways right before the room, Sam kneeled down as Al's hologram passed through after having entered the room.
"So what caused this guy to take their lives?" whispered Sam.
"I don't know," Al confessed. "I haven't found all the facts with Ziggy yet but this guy got what he wanted. What does he have to prove by committing cold-blooded murder?"
"What the Hell?" Frank Schaeffer screamed, causing Al and Sam to take notice.
"This is counterfeit money!" Schaeffer raged. "So this is how it's going to be, huh?"
"Uh oh, Sam," Al felt a chill down his spine. "I think we have our reason why this guy decided to show no mercy to the remaining hostages."
"All of you get up!" Frank ordered the remaining child hostages.
Left with no choice, all of them got up at his command.
"Alright kids, we're going for a ride just like I promised," Schaeffer smiled. "And we're going to teach the cops a lesson for trying to gyp me."
"Oh no Sam," Al looked at his handheld device. "He's gonna do it."
Sam got up but Al quickly motioned for him to stay still.
"You stay put where you are," Al said to his friend. "He can't see me. I'll let you know when's the right time to lay into him."
Standing in front of the history exhibit entrance, Al watched carefully as Schaeffer herded the kids together and walked towards the entrance.
"Wait for it Sam," Al told Sam who remained hidden. "He's coming out in five, four, three, two…"
Taking his first step outside, Schaeffer raised his gun with his right hand.
"Now Sam!" yelled Al.
From the side, Sam leaped into action, taking Schaeffer completely by surprise. He grabbed the man's arm and twisted it down across his own shoulder, forcing Frank to drop the gun.
"Agh!" screamed Frank as his arm was bent.
Sam Beckett slammed his elbow into Frank's stomach and then unloaded on the kidnapper by turning around and punching him hard enough to knock the man back.
As Sam closed in on him, Schaeffer got up and punched Sam across the jaw, making the physicist see stars. Frank grabbed Sam by the shoulders and kneed him in the gut, knocking the breath out of him. Not letting go, Frank then jerked Sam back and threw him into one of the artifacts, knocking over a glass display of a 18th century telescope. As Sam fell to the floor, Frank took out his knife.
"Ready for a gutting, pig?" Frank smiled sadistically.
Sam grabbed the telescope and readied himself. He hated to cause damage to such a priceless artifact but right now he needed some means of defending himself.
Frank slashed at him but Sam blocked the weapon with the telescope and punched Frank viciously across the jaw. He swung back the other way and clobbered Schaeffer across the head with the telescope, forcing the criminal to drop his knife.
With Frank now dazed, Sam swung around, catching the man across the face with a spin kick that sent him crashing into another display, this time knocking over what appeared to be an hourglass encased inside a glass case.
The hourglass fell to the floor, shattering as all of its sandy inward contents came pouring out across the floor.
Frank Schaeffer groaned before finally falling into unconsciousness.
"Attaboy, Sam!" Al congratulated his friend and colleague.
oooo
"What you did took guts," the police officer congratulated Sam. "You took down Frank Schaeffer and best of all, there were no casualties."
By now, the police had come inside to arrest the unconscious Schaeffer.
"I'm just glad we were able to save the lives of those kids," admitted Sam. "But I have to say, I'm a little disappointed some of these artifacts were damaged in our fight."
"Hey, what are a few old hunks of junk compared to human lives?" the officer patted Sam on the back. "The museum will understand."
One of the boys who had been held captive, Arthur, ran over to Sam.
"Thanks Officer Cassidy," Arthur told Sam. "You saved all our lives today!"
"Don't sweat it kid," Sam smiled warmly. "You just run along home and remember to stay in school."
Arthur gave Sam a hug before running back to his mother.
"See what I mean?" the officer chuckled.
As the officer walked away, Sam took the time to go over to the scene where the hourglass had been shattered. The magnificent object was now ruined. Its once hand-crafted beauty was now nothing more than broken glass and sand.
"Too bad this had to happen," Sam said ruefully.
"I know what you mean," Al appeared next to Sam. "I used to have this old Ming Dynasty vase at home… beautiful, just beautiful. Then in a fit of rage, my high school sweetheart shattered it when we were having our final breakup argument."
"Must've been rough," Sam looked at the hologram.
"It was," admitted Al. "Then it got better. Plus I met Beth later on so it wasn't really much of a loss."
In their previous adventures before Sam had changed Al's personal history, Al always made mention of his multiple wives. Now, however, all of that had been erased when Sam finally put Beth and Al back together. Rather than ex-wives and messy divorces, Sam now had to put up with Al talking about his old flames and high school breakups.
"Think this artifact can be put back together?" Sam knelt down to observe the broken hourglass.
"It'll take a few sleepless hours and a lot of patience," admitted Al, "but I think it can be done."
"I would love to put it back together myself," Sam sighed. "But something tells me I won't be sticking around long enough to do it."
Al watched as the blue aura surrounded Sam once more.
"Hey, not every wrong is yours to put right," Al told his friend.
"I know, but I guess I can't help myself sometimes," Sam smiled.
"Maybe not, but the curators have got this one," Al replied. "Good luck on your next leap, Sam."
As Sam leaped out, the woozy and shaken Officer Cassidy returned to spot where Sam was standing.
"Geez, the future really is a weird place," Officer Cassidy shook his head and walked off.
As soon as the police officer had left the room, the broken hourglass began to shake violently.
Soon, the grains of sand began to move together and coalesce, whipping into the air and lashing about violently. A dark aura surrounded the whole scene, darkening the entire history exhibit room. Finally, the sand within the hourglass formed into the shape of a man.
Standing in the exhibit was a dark hooded figure with a medieval staff in his hand. Silently, he tilted his hood and looked down upon the broken hourglass.
Raising his hand, he consumed the hourglass with a red aura, mending it and fixing it completely. With a mere gesture, he telekinetically lifted the hourglass into the air and then into his hands.
Placing the hourglass on top of his staff, the mysterious figure raised it up, summoning a portal out of thin air. Without a single word, the strange visitor vanished through it to parts unknown.