Title: Tiptoe Through Torchwood
Author: Grayswandir
Fandom: Torchwood, Quantum Leap

~ JantoLeap ~

Al stood stationary. He and Sam stared at the mysterious man. "Cute trick. But I'm not buying your psychic fever." Renewing his efforts at opening the imaging chamber door, Al nearly cursed as he continued to receive error messages. "Gooshie! Open the door!"

"When I said sit down, I meant both of you." The still unidentified man growled out, tension mounting in his shoulder muscles. Al ignored the renewed command, still tapping furiously, angered by Gooshie's failure to comply. The unknown man sighed, standing and rounding the table, pulling a chair out next to Al. "Stop what you're doing and sit down!" He snapped.

Al laughed. "I'd love to see you make me." He smirked, before a pair of strong hands wrapped about his shoulders directing him into the pulled out chair. In shock, Al and Sam stared at the still unknown man. Al's mouth opened and shut several times before he finally struck together a few carefully constructed words. "How did you—? I—. You shouldn't have been able to touch me at all. I'm a—."

The man, smirking as he passed around the table to sit at his previously abandoned seat, interrupted him. "—a neurological hologram centered on the brainwave activity of the imposter?" Twin guppy faces greeted the mystery man. Propping his elbows on the table and resting his chin on the back of his folded hands, he quirked a brow. "Oh, and by the way, Ianto isn't gay."

"Then why did you kiss me?" Sam wanted to know. This leap had already hit the most confusing mark and he had only interacted with someone for the last five minutes.

"We dabble." The expression on the man's face revealed to Sam that it was not that simple, but it was a partial truth and allowing him the safety of that lie would offer no harm. At least all this leaping has given me some insight into the human condition. "But I'm not the one answering questions. You are."

Silence permeated the atmosphere. Al refused to answer any questions, his confusion over the events that had occurred during this still fresh leap had him reeling to no end. Sam was concerned about the consequences of the letting this stranger know any more than he already did, that and his rather spotty memory processes were ill equipped to respond properly at the best of times.

Growling, the stranger sundered the air with his angered voice. "Silent tongues? English not your preferred language? Parlez-vous français? Spreekt u Nederlands? ¿Hablas español? Ĉu vi parolas Esperanton? Loquerisne Latine?" A sarcastic intonation colored his questions. "You both seemed comfortable with the English language, but if there is another we can go to that one, yeah? Here's the new deal: I'll tell you what I already understand of your story, and you fill in the blanks." Weary nods lead to the mystery man focusing on Sam's features, looking as though he were searching for some tell that would show that Ianto was still present.

He must not have located his quarry for he plowed fiercely into his own observations. "The person who inhabits Ianto's body is named Sam. He doesn't seem to know why he is here and jumps to some not entirely off-base conclusions, which means that he has been doing whatever this is for some time; likely at least two years, but no more than four." Those piercing blue eyes shifted from inspecting Sam to Al. "The fashion challenged hologram is named Al. Based on the technology in his hands and the travel method, I'd venture that the two of you are time travelers, short term, perhaps a year, two, ahead of the current date; assuming that the technology is cutting edge, research release only. How am I doing so far?" He smirked at the two gob-smacked faces.

"Surprisingly well." Al mused, setting his link to Ziggy onto the table. He could get use to the idea of interacting in the same environment as Sam. Taking a hard puff from his stogie, Al rubbed his brow, feeling a headache coming. "You have a name? Or should we call you 'jackass'?"

The stranger huffed out a short laugh. "Captain Jack Harkness." A demonic light entered Al's eyes as he starting jabbing away at the handheld. Jack snorted, falling back in his chair and closing his eyes. "Won't work until I release the lock." The damning sound of yet another error tone dinged from the device.

Al groaned, thrusting the device at the table. "Sam, I can't even send a search subroutine through. Whatever he did is overriding all access protocols."

Jack sighed. "Y'know, I regularly get accused of not following social norms, but last I checked when someone offers a name, protocol mandates it be reciprocated."

Al smirked at the Captain. "Admiral Albert Calavicci. I outrank you, kid." Jack just shrugged.

Sam frowned, certain that whoever this Jack person was, baiting him like Al had done, was not a good idea. "Dr. Samuel Beckett. Tell me, Mr. Harkness—."

Jack interrupted. "Jack, please."

"Jack," Sam restarted. "How," he swallowed. "How are you keeping Al here, and blocking his connection to Ziggy?"

Jack laughed. "Odd. I thought the first question was going to be 'What gave me away?' but no matter. To answer: you are using early 21st Century, Earth-based technology. Overriding that level of tech is child's play with this gorgeous piece of equipment, even in its current state." He patted a heavy leather banded item strapped to his left wrist. Clearing his throat, Jack continued. "That's one, now for an answer from you: Where is Ianto?"

"The Waiting Room, Project Headquarters." Al answered, eager to get his question in. "How can you see me, touch me? Sam, children, animals, they're the only ones who can see me, so why you?"

Jack frowned at the odd question. "Seeing you is not that hard. All it takes is basic psychic training. In all of your planning, you've never encountered such a possibility?" Both shook their heads. "How odd. And touch: cheap trick. When I blocked your access I boosted the output signal at this end. My turn: Why are you here?"

Sam grimaced, afraid of Jack's reaction. "We're not sure." A harsh look had Sam jumping into further explanation. "We're still looking into it, gathering information."

Jack groaned, slapping a hand against his forehead. "Wonderful. Amateurs. Let me guess: your endeavors are purely altruistic and you're trying to 'set right what once went wrong'."

Sam beamed. "Exactly! You see I theorized that someone could travel within their own timeline, but they threatened to cut my funding when it was nearing its—."

"Stop!" Jack threw his hands up, his face taking on a ghostly pallor. Taking a deep breath, he nearly whispered out his next statement. "Project Quantum Leap?"

TBC

A/N: I swear this was never suppose to take over my muses, honest!