Here are some things you might need to know, or maybe you just forgot: Dr. Sam Beckett leaped into Stephen Bartowski, a.k.a. Orion, the inventor of the Intersect, father of Chuck and Ellie, and for reasons unknown, Sam's doppelganger. Ziggy predicted that Sam's mission is to save Orion, who died in the original timeline. The details of how Orion died were classified, so Ziggy couldn't access them. Orion and Al drove to Chuck's in 2011 to find out what happened in the original history, and retrieve Orion's Governor, since Orion had leaped with the Intersect, but not the Governor. Back in 2010, Sam called Chuck and convinced him and Sarah to return from Paris.

Casey, who was spying on Sam, heard him speaking with Al, and became suspicious. He brought Sam into Castle for questioning, but Morgan wound up doing the interrogation. Sam had a little help from Al and a memory that Orion had left behind during the leap and Morgan was satisfied that Sam was who he said he was and that Al is his handler. This was little comfort to Casey, especially later on when Sam accidentally let slip to Alex that Casey is her long-lost, supposedly dead, father.

Aside from Sam, the only one in the past who can see Al is Jeff.

After Chuck and Sarah returned from Paris, Sam convinced Team Bartowski that Shaw is still alive, and warned Chuck that he would need a Governor. Unfortunately, Ziggy said that, instead of saving Orion, Sam's intervention sped up the timetable.

Awesome accidentally let slip to Ellie that Chuck's a spy (this revelation was soon followed by another when Morgan blurted out that Orion is a spy, too). After talking with Sam and Chuck, Ellie decided she wouldn't ask Chuck to quit being a spy, but only if she was satisfied that he was being properly protected. Hence, she learned that Sarah is one of Chuck's handlers. She also learned the real reason Awesome wanted to join Doctors Without Borders.

Ellie convinced Sarah to tell Chuck that she loves him and the two decided not to quit the spy-world and run away, after all. In fact, Chuck asked Sarah to move in with him. She avoided the question.

At Sam's insistence, Awesome, Ellie, Morgan, and Alex went into hiding in Orion's cabin until the Shaw fiasco is concluded.

Worrying that all might not go according to plan, Sam unsuccessfully attempted to build a Governor for Chuck by tapping into the few neurons and mesons that Orion left behind.

Disclaimer: Not only do I not own "Chuck" or "Project Quantum Leap," but I also do not own the song by "The Calling."

Chapter Fourteen: The Moment of Truth

April 16, 2010

"You know, this has to be the first time I've ever seen you disappointed that your mind didn't merge more with your host's," Al said. Sam's head snapped up. There was one time that his dear friends at the project had inadvertently sent more of his host's neural energy into the Acceleration Chamber and…

"Al, wait—maybe—remember that time that you—" Sam paused as he heard Casey clear his throat.

"Bartowski, it's time."

SBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSB

"You understand what you have to do?"

Justin nodded. Agent Shaw's instructions were clear. Justin was to head out to the Democratic Republic of Congo and prepare for the Woodcombs' arrival. He was going undercover as a member of Doctors Without Borders. Shaw had given him all the intel he would need to be able to manipulate Eleanor Woodcomb.

Shaw had learned Chuck's vulnerabilities, alright. Leaving his civilian sister in the dark was a huge miscalculation. When all goes according to plan, Ellie will lead us straight to Orion…and that would resolve another miscalculation. He frowned, looking at the half-finished Intersect in the center of the room. It was hard to believe that Orion, for all of his brilliance, had left such a fatal flaw in his designs. It was possible that at this rate, the Ring's Intersect would be ready before he could get his hands on a Governor. He knew, though, that that wouldn't stop him from downloading the Intersect as soon as it was operational. That might sound reckless, but it wasn't, not really, he told himself. He would definitely have his hands on a Governor long before he would start manifesting symptoms; too bad for Chuck that the same couldn't be said for him.

Damn Chuck! If it wasn't for him, he'd have avenged his wife's death by now. He'd been so close!

Alarms interrupted his thoughts.

"What's going on?" Shaw demanded.

"We've got company," Justin said. As the alarms were silenced, he heard a couple of thuds from nearby…The sounds came from where a couple of agents were standing guard. They were still standing guard, weren't they? Just before the doors burst open, Justin distinctly heard a voice say, "I told you to let me disable the alarms first, Casey!"

Casey ignored Chuck's whining and threw open the doors. He quickly sized up the room and was disappointed. There were less than a dozen Ring agents there, including Shaw. Four against eight—where was the fun in that? Oh well, the real fun would come afterwards, he mused. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Chuck flash. As Casey tackled the first agent he came to, he wondered, for the tenth time that day, why they agreed to let Chuck bring his numchucks.

SBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSB

There was no way that Sam would have been able to keep track of everything that happened once the battle started. Casey and Chuck were the first ones into the room, and he and Sarah had been close behind. He'd been too busy engaged in hand-to-hand combat to be able to marvel at the way Chuck went to work after he flashed, or to slow down as he started to feel winded. Part of his mind whispered that—just maybe—he was getting too old for this. He clenched his fist and punched his opponent in the nose, breaking it. Then again…

"SAM!" Al shouted. A hush settled over the room. Sarah was holding a knife to one agent's throat, keeping him pinned against a wall. Chuck, having abandoned his numchucks at some point, had flashed again and had just knocked another agent unconscious. That left the agent Sam had just fought, clutching his bloody nose, four more agents out cold and…

Daniel Shaw's gun was pointed directly at Sam, but his words were directed at Chuck.

"You know, I ought to thank you, Chuck. Your unannounced visit made me realize something. Who needs the Intersect? All it takes is a little emotion to incapacitate it." His finger went to the trigger…A gunshot split the air…

Shaw hissed in pain as he collapsed to the ground, his left leg bleeding. Sam saw Casey approach Shaw, his gun still pointed at him.

"That was for betraying our country, and our team," Casey said. Sam breathed a sigh of relief.

"Al?" The observer consulted the hand-link.

"You did it. Orion's going to be fine, Sam, but you can't leap, yet."

"I know."

SBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSB

Castle

Since 'Orion' wasn't supposed to have medical training, Sam had stayed out of the way as Sarah tended to Shaw's leg and stopped the bleeding. Well, to be more precise, he and Casey were both there to keep an eye on Shaw and make sure he didn't find a way to attack Sarah. No matter all they had been through, all Shaw saw when he looked at Sarah was the woman that had killed his wife. Finally, Sarah announced that she was done, and they left the room, leaving Shaw strapped to his chair.

"We need to get him to talk," Sam said. They had to get Shaw to tell them the names of the Ring leaders.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Sarah asked. This was Shaw they were talking about.

"I have a plan," Casey replied. "Follow my lead." Returning to the room, along with a hologram, Casey produced a needle, and held it up for Shaw to see. "Sodium pentothal," Casey said, in answer to Shaw's unspoken question. Sam's eyes widened. Casey was going to use—

"Truth serum?" Al exclaimed. Shaw's eyes narrowed.

"I don't believe you," Shaw said. Casey's face was unreadable. Then, before anyone could react, he drove the needle into Sam's arm, emptying the syringe of its contents.

"Oh, God, not again," Al swore. "This can't be happening again!"

"Casey, what are you doing?" Sarah shouted.

"Getting some answers." He turned to face the drugged scientist. "Are you a member of the Ring?"

"No," Sam answered robotically.

"Who is Al?" Casey pressed.

"Sam, NO!"

"Admiral—Calavicci."

"He's your handler?"

"He's—the—Project—Observer," Sam replied, the words coming out haltingly as he felt the drug course through his system. Al winced.

"Casey, that's enough! Stop," Sarah demanded. Casey glared at her, picked up another needle, and injected Shaw this time. As Casey maneuvered the scientist towards the door, he curtly told Sarah to take care of interrogating Shaw. Al's heart sped up as he noticed that Sarah wasn't following Casey, but rather was doing exactly as the colonel had directed. What could he do? If only Chuck were here, he wouldn't let Casey treat his 'father' like this. But Chuck wasn't here; he was on his way to meet with his sister…If only Al could get a message to him. He started pressing buttons on the hand-link and disappeared.

Casey led Sam into another room, sat Sam down on a chair, and continued firing questions at him.

"Where is Al now?"

"At…the project…Stallion's Gate…New Mexico," Sam said. Casey filed this information away before continuing.

"Who is Ziggy?"

"The…parallel-hybrid…computer…I invented." Casey raised an eyebrow. Just how many computers did this guy invent?

SBSBSBSBSBSBSBSB

Al appeared in the Buy More and, to his relief, spotted Jeff.

"Jeff, I need you to get a message to Chuck."

SBSBSBSBSBSBSBSB

Al reappeared in Castle shortly afterwards.

"Sam!"

"Al?" Sam slowly turned his head to face his friend.

"Sam, you're not going to believe what I just found out!"

"What is your real name?" Casey asked.

"Sam, that wasn't truth serum!" Al shouted. Sam blinked.

"What?"

"I just spoke with Jeff—that Nerd Herder that can see me, remember? Turns out, he just loaned Casey some of his stash of psychoactive drugs earlier. Casey's bluffing. He didn't give you truth serum, he gave you a placebo!"

"What is your real name?" Casey repeated.

"Stephen J. Bartowski," Sam answered. He closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair. Whatever was in that syringe, it was making him feel groggy. "Why?"

Casey hesitated. "I'm sorry for doubting you, sir."

"I think he figured there was a better chance that the nozzle in the other room would be fooled if he saw you being forced to tell the truth," Al replied.

"Had me fooled. Guess that makes me pretty gullible," Sam said. Casey pursed his lips.

"What do you mean?" the colonel asked, wondering when did he figure it out? Al winced.

"I wish you hadn't said that, Sam. Casey didn't know that you know that that wasn't truth serum." Casey took a step closer to Sam.

"I mean, you saved my life earlier," Sam said. "I thought that maybe that meant you finally trusted me." Casey's expression softened—somewhat, before he recovered himself and grunted.

"Trust had nothing to do with it. Shaw was right. Killing you would've incapacitated the Intersect. Couldn't let that happen, could I?" Sam looked at Casey. He knew that wasn't the whole truth.

"Sam—what did you tell him, besides my name?"

"Uh, not much, just about Ziggy and…oh…" Sam put a hand over his face.

"And what?"

"I told him where the Project is located," Sam mumbled. He put his hand down and looked at Al to see if the observer had heard him. He had.

"Did you tell him what the Project is, what it does?" Al asked. Sam shook his head. "Well, that doesn't do us much good, though, does it? All Casey has to do is say my name in front of Chuck and the jig is up." Sam hung his head. Why did this happen? Wait—

"Did it work?"

"Did what work?" Casey and Al asked simultaneously.

"Did Shaw tell Sarah the names of the senior Ring agents?" Al blinked. In all the excitement, he'd forgotten to check.

"I'll go check," Casey said. As he left the room, Al punched a few buttons on the hand-link.

"Well, what do you know? It did. Ziggy says Shaw fell for it and is currently spilling his guts to Sarah." Sam smiled as Al continued reading from the hand-link. "Most of the other Ring agents get picked up by the end of the day, and the organization collapses. Shaw is serving time in a maximum security prison, not exactly eligible for parole."

"What about the others?" Sam asked.

"Chuck and Sarah get engaged right on schedule in a little over a year. Ellie and Awesome never go to the Congo. They stay in Burbank and—hey—look at this! Orion becomes a grandpa. Ellie gives birth to a baby girl named Clara just before Uncle Chuck gets engaged. Get ready to leap, Sam." Sam waited for the familiar energy to engulf him as Al looked at him expectantly. Finally, Sam spoke.

"Why am I still here?" Good question. Al started punching buttons on the hand-link, and then started hitting it, causing the thing to start bleeping.

"Well, what does Ziggy say?" Finally, Al shook his head.

"Ain't that a kick in the butt?"

"What?"

"Ziggy says you're here to perform with Jeffster at Ellie and Awesome's going away party."

"But you just said that Ellie and Awesome aren't going away."

April 17, 2010

As it turned out, Lester didn't care when Chuck told him that Ellie and Awesome weren't going to the Congo, after all. He and Jeff were ready to perform at the going away party. Why should they cancel the party just because the guests of honor had decided not to go away? If anything, Lester figured that meant they could move up the date. After awhile, Chuck decided it wasn't worth it to argue with Lester. Besides, as Morgan pointed out, they did have reason to celebrate. They had captured Shaw and destroyed the Ring, he didn't have to lie to Ellie anymore, and—Sarah loved him. Chuck grinned, remembering General Beckman's reaction when, at the end of the briefing about the Ring's demise, he'd announced that he and Sarah were dating. He certainly hadn't expected her to say, "It's about time," before ending the transmission. Maybe a party wasn't such a bad idea, after all.

Chuck glanced around the party. Ellie and Awesome were dancing, having patched things up while they were at the cabin. There was Casey, telling Alex that no, she was not to dance with Morgan. And there…Chuck smiled as he saw his dad get onstage with Jeffster.

"What's he going to sing?" Sarah asked. Chuck shrugged.

"Guess we'll find out."

Jeff and Lester played their instruments as Sam began to sing.

"So lately
been wondering
who will be there to
take my place
when I'm gone… "

"Chuck, I've been thinking," Sarah said. "Remember when you asked me to move in with you?" He nodded. "Well, my answer is yes. I'd love to move in with you, Chuck."

"If I could
then I would
I'll go wherever you will go.
Way up high
or down low
I'll go wherever you will go…"

Chuck's exhiliaration was dampened as he listened to his father sing. He really misses Mom, doesn't he? If only there was a way we could find her…

"And maybe
I'll find out
the way to make it
back someday
to watch you
to guide you
through the
darkest of your day.

If a great wave shall fall
it would fall upon us all.
Then I hope there's
someone out there
who can bring me back to you …"

Al's heart clenched as he heard Sam sing. He had positioned himself in a corner, so that people wouldn't walk through him too frequently. Listening to his best friend, Al wondered, briefly, whether Sam was remembering Donna. "We will bring you back someday," he murmured. "I promise."

"If I could
then I would
I'll go wherever you will go.
Way up high
or down low
I'll go wherever you will go …"

Casey frowned. The nagging feeling that there was something that man was hiding from him wouldn't go away. Why all the secrecy about Calavicci's name? What Project were they working on?

"If I could turn back time,
I'll go wherever you will go.
If I could make you mine
I'll go wherever you will go.
I'll go wherever you will go."

Author's Note: The story is not quite complete. After all, we still have to see who Sam will leap into next. (Is he ready to leap now? Feel free to weigh in.)

There will be an epilogue. Thank you for sticking with me so far.

By now, I have finished watching "Quantum Leap." Believe it or not, I did come up with the idea of Casey using "truth serum" on Sam before I watched "Star Light, Star Bright." And then I started to work out how I wanted Casey to elicit different information from Sam. After all, Casey doesn't need to know Sam's name, rank, and serial number, right?

Thank you for reviewing, asearcher, Patty1965, and Just Chuck! And, as always, thanks to those who have added this story to their list of alerts or favorites.