Hello everyone! My apologies for not getting this out sooner – life has been busy! This is fairly short in comparison to last chapter, but it's meant to get things moving a bit. Since it's been a while, here's a refresher of where we left off: Congresswoman Diane McBride (from the "Honeymoon Express" episode) has agreed to give Sammi and the staff at Quantum Leap ninety days to find Sam and try and save the Project. We pick up the morning after with the whole QL crew at work, and Al begins to realize that timing just may be everything with certain revelations regarding Sammi….


The next day nearly everyone at Quantum Leap was up with the sun - except for Sammi, who, when Jack found her at her desk on his way to his own, appeared to have barely slept at all. He stepped inside her open office doorway unnoticed, watching her as she stared intently at her computer screen. Her long, dark curls were still damp from her morning shower and a cup of still steaming coffee sat at her elbow. He couldn't help his smile as he leaned against the doorframe. "Mornin', Chief."

Sammi finally looked up at his greeting, giving him a beaming smile, and Jack straightened and moved towards her desk. "So...what's on the docket for today, besides lots of caffeine to keep us all awake?"

Sammi nodded to her computer screen. "Research. I'm still sorting through Sam's previous leaps and trying to see if I can establish some sort of pattern." Her mouth twisted thoughtfully. "I was just going through his second leap into Jimmy LaMotta, the young kid with Down's Syndrome..."

Jack's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Second leap?"

She nodded. "Yeah - he never leaped into the same person twice like that, at least not up until that point." She looked at Jack in surprise, mild confusion furrowing her forehead. "You didn't know about that?"

Jack shrugged. "I haven't really had much reason to research too far beyond Sam's first few leaps for my purposes. I've been focusing more on the more technical aspects - power level fluctuations, trying to replicate the codes Ziggy cued up when he was shifting from his first leap to his second one, that kind of stuff."

Sammi nodded her understanding, then gave him a cautiously hopeful look. "Finding anything helpful?"

Jack gave her an apologetic smile. "I wish I could say yes. Replicating those codes is proving to be more difficult than I first thought. We were hoping that if we could replicate those codes and figure out the different sequences between his first and second leap, then we would be able to see the leap sequence in its earliest form and try and find out what causes the transitions, and then hopefully..."

"Find one of the missing links in the location and retrieval process," she finished for him. She shook her head, her eyes lighting with determination. "It's there, Jack. I know it is. We just haven't found the right sequence yet."

Jack gave her a half hearted smile. He was grateful for her determination. She had a way of keeping him and the rest of the staff going even when the progress towards finding Dr. Beckett seemed to be at a standstill. He nodded lightly and gave her a reassuring wink. "Hey, you know I like a challenge. I'm not giving up, even if Ziggy is deciding to be petulant."

Sammi bit back a smile. "I take that means she's making your job a little difficult today?"

Jack shook his head with a frustrated groan at the mention of the Project's supercomputer, and flopped down in the chair across from her before scrubbing a hand over his face. "I swear that old bucket of bolts hates me. Do you know that she threw a hissy fit yesterday morning when I was trying to do some rewiring? She shut down and wouldn't talk to me for an hour."

Sammi did her best to swallow back a laugh. "I guess the old girl didn't like having her wires crossed."

Jack rolled his eyes. "That may be, but she better get her prima donna impulses out now, especially when we only have a limited window of time to work with." He chewed thoughtfully at his lower lip before continuing. "About what you were saying before - are you thinking Sam could have leapt back into someone else, one of the people he leapt into before, after he leapt out of this Jimmy for the second time?"

Sammi nodded in contemplation, neither of them noticing Al pause just outside the doorway to listen to their conversation. "It's possible, but I'm not sure what happened to him after he leapt out of Jimmy."

Jack's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You mean Ziggy didn't record any data for any of his later leaps?"

Sammi shook her head. "There's data, but for some reason I've been having trouble accessing..."

"Good morning, you two!" Jack jumped slightly at Al's sudden and unexpected greeting. Al moved towards Sammi's desk, pausing for a moment before jerking his thumb back to the door. "I was just passing by, and wanted to get up to speed on where we were at."

Sammi blinked in mild confusion at Al's eager tone, giving him a hesitant smile before answering. "Well, I was just telling Jack that I was going through Sam's old leaps trying to look for a pattern that might help us locate him, but I've only gotten as far as his second leap into Jimmy LaMotta..."

"I remember Jimmy," Al interjected before she could finish. "He was a good kid, and Sam saved him from having to go back into the institution. Interesting how he leaped into him twice." He leaned a hip against Sammi's desk. "Speaking of the leap data, I've been thinking about you having to sort through all of it. Your talents could be used better elsewhere, like helping Jack here work with Ziggy on the retrieval process. One of the data technicians could go through the leaps for you and look for patterns, save you some time."

Sammi's brows knit together in confusion. "That's okay, Al. I want to do it. Besides, I think it would only help me to figure out what we're missing with the retrieval process..."

Al nodded resolutely. "And I agree with you on that. However, you've been the one who's been able to come up with the best workable theory on the retrieval process, and we're going to need you reworking Ziggy's codes to better concentrate the old girl's power to learn to control the leap process. And considering we only have a limited window of time to work with, don't you think it would be best to have you focus your attention there instead?"

Sammi looked at Jack, then back to Al hesitantly. "But the leap data..."

"Why don't I take it over? I could work with Sara on it. She's one of our best data analysts, and between her brains and my memories of the actual leaps, we'd could look for any patterns and report them back to you while you work with Ziggy and Jack on the technical aspects of the retrieval."

Jack shrugged when Al looked to him. "He does have a point, Sam. If you and I can work together on this, maybe you can see something I'm missing with Ziggy. Besides," he continued with a wink, "the old girl always did like you better than me. Maybe she'll be a little more cooperative if you're there."

Sammi gave Jack an answering smirk before throwing up her hands in resignation. "Okay, I know when I'm outvoted. I'll work with Jack on the retrieval process." She paused, giving a pointed look to Al. "But you need to promise me you'll keep me informed on anything you and Sara find, okay? No matter how big or small, any pattern in that data could be the key to us bringing Sam home."

Al nodded. "You've got my word, kiddo. I promise."

Though Al looked happy at the resolution of their debate, he could still see the hesitancy in Sam's eyes, and he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of uncertainty himself. Al did have a point about him helping to review the leap data, and Sara certainly was more than capable of distinguishing any useful information from it, especially with Al's help. However... His gaze shifted back to to the admiral. On second thought, happy didn't seem the right word to explain his expression. He looked...relieved. Had he expected more of a fight from Sammi, and was relieved that she'd given in so easily? Or was their something more to it?

Before Jack could think it through any further, Sammi stood and rounded her desk, and Jack quickly rose to his feet as well. She gave him a brief resigned shrug. "I suppose we should get to work, huh?" She glanced back to Al. "Remember, anything you find. No matter what..."

"I promise, anything we find, no matter what," Al reassured her, waving a dismissive hand at her and Jack. "Now go, you two. Work that magic of yours. I'll find you guys later to see how things are coming."

Jack nodded, leading the way out the doorway, and Sammi trailed after him. She paused in the doorway, giving Al one last smile before disappearing down the hallway to the control room. Al's answering smile slowly faded, and he tried to ignore the guilty twinge in his chest at the complete trust he'd seen in her eyes. "Forgive me, Sammi girl," he whispered to the empty room. "Please forgive me. But you can't know yet. Not just yet..."