Revelation

by LovelyStardust29

Quantum Leap is on the brink of being shut down, and Sammi Jo Fuller, Al, and the rest of the Project staff are willing to go to great lengths to save it and Sam's chances of returning home. But are they all prepared for the journey it takes them on, and the revelations that it will bring to light? Rated T for adult themes, some violence, and occasional coarse language.

1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! I've been working on this one for a while, and debated about posting the first chapter since the rest of the chapters aren't entirely done, but decided to go ahead anyway. I recently fell back in love with "Quantum Leap, " and it got my imagination to going, and this story is the result. This first chapter is short, but I hope to post more chapters soon. I hope you enjoy!

April 16, 2012 - New Mexico

Sammi awoke with a start, her eyes jerking open to a room bathed in black. She fought the urge to bolt upright in bed, and instead sucked in a long, deep breath, forcing herself to let it out slow. A hot flash of blood radiated down her torso, her body following it with a cooling sweat that quickly glued her nightgown to her like a second skin. Her eyes struggled to adjust to the dark, and she inhaled again, letting the knots of tension unbind in her shoulders on her exhale. The dry desert air had collected and congealed in her mouth, and she swallowed against its thickness. The thud of her heartbeat in her ears gradually began to slow as she moved her hands in a self soothing motion over the bedclothes, letting the feel of the material under her palms help her senses regain the reality they'd lost in her dreams.

She turned onto her side, feeling thin trickles of sweat threading over her ribcage and between her shoulder blades. They were dreams - just dreams, she told herself, even as the faint after pulse of adrenaline continued to course over her muscles. The blackness of the room began to relent as her eyes adjusted, and Sammi focused on the faint shapes and outlines of the room now visible through the veil of darkness around her. Her heart gave a quick staccato beat against her ribs at her thoughts even as the shadows abated, and she blinked hard, willing her fears to lessen. There was nothing and no one hiding in the shadows of this room or this house to harm her. They - he - held no power over her anymore, and hadn't for a long time.

A sudden shock of phantom pain coursed over her ribs and back, momentarily stealing her breath. Sammi stiffened her body and went still, waiting for the pain to fade before she sat up and pushed back the covers. She carefully swung her legs over the side of the bed and tentatively ran her fingers over her lower ribcage, exhaling with a shaky and relieved sigh when her fingers were only met with thin but solid lines of curved bone. What she experienced tonight may have been just a dream, but the images in them were sharper and more vivid than they had been in years, as if someone or something had suddenly rattled the cage of her memories, waking them like some slumbering and ravenous caged wild animal prepared to leave nothing but havoc in its wake. The palpable nature of her dreams had triggered her body's primal self protect instinct to flee from that beast, lacing her limbs with adrenaline to escape being harmed again. Sammi gnawed at her lower lip, a sense of unease coiling in her gut. She'd thought the passage of time and the relative peace in her life had helped put those days to rest, but the jarring, haunting nature of her dreams tonight seemed to suggest otherwise.

What had dredged those memories back up now? She eased herself off the bed, tentatively touching her toes to the floor and letting the cool, smooth feel of the hard wood seep through the soles of her feet. A light breeze from the open window curled under her chin, sending an appreciative shiver down her spine as it cooled her sweat dampened skin. She stepped lightly across the floor and pushed aside the fluttering curtains, her eyes rising to the moon and bright scatter of stars illuminating the sky above her. A faint smile touched her lips at the sight. She'd always found nighttime in the desert to be peaceful and calm, blessedly void of the sprawling maze of manmade lights that populated most big city nights. The clear and unending expanse of open sky had always seemed to her like a starlit blanket Mother Nature had created to protect the empty, barren land. Sammi exhaled again, letting that feeling of protection envelop her as well. She was safe here, she reminded herself again. She'd always been safe here. As if to contradict her self assurances, the images of her dreams rolled over her again, and Sammi felt her stomach clench at the phantom slices of pain stinging over her back. She folded her arms around her waist and closed her eyes again, silently reminding herself to breathe as the pain radiated down her torso before finally ebbing away. She straightened and rubbed her fingers over her arms, her eyes going to the familiar, sleek lines of the building at the base of the hill. Perhaps she'd been too safe, or at least felt too safe for too long. It seemed that caged beast of her memories had not liked slumbering for as long as it had.