Disclaimer: Quantum Leap belongs to Bellasarius Productions; Dark Shadows belongs to Dan Curtis Productions. No copyright infringement of any kind is intended nor should be inferred.

Part One: Victoria Winters

"How many times will it be this way
With your arms around the future
And your back up against the past..."
-- THE MOODY BLUES (The Voice)

(1)

Blinding light...

A brilliant flare, blue-white on some inner spectrum. A psychic light, visible only to an attuned mind.

Like a small nova, the quantum field scorched over, around, through him -- searing away the old identity, dawning on the new. Then, seemingly in the same instant, it was gone. Dr. Sam Beckett merged mind and soul with his new body, his new identity.

A new Leap had begun.

Swallowing painfully, Sam opened his eyes. His first thought was that he (or rather his host) had been sick. He was lying on a bed surrounded by medical equipment, "his" body felt as if it had gone nine rounds with the heavyweight champ...And six pairs of concerned eye were staring intently at him.

He stared back, wondering what to do.

There were four women, two men. An awful lot of visitors for a sickroom. So this wasn't a hospital, even a private one. No hospital he'd ever been in, anyway. This many nonessential people weren't tolerated in a patient's room, certainly not one who merited the amount of monitors he could see clustered about the bed. So, what was going on?

All this flashed through his mind in an instant. Before he could do more than blink, one of the women -- older than the others, with graying hair-- rushed to gather him into her fierce embrace. "Victoria -- Thank God!" she cried, holding him tightly. "Thank God..."

Oh, boy.

"Where am I?" The question was out before he could consider the wisdom of it. Fortunately, no one seemed to find it strange.

"You're safe, you're home, " murmured the woman, cradling him even closer against her shoulder. Her arms tightened protectively around him.

A second woman, this one with dark hair pulled back severely in a plait, bent over him. "You're at Collinwood, back in your own time. "

Her words, obviously meant to reassure, froze his heart in his chest. His 'own time' ? What the heck did that mean? He bit back the question before it could slip past his lips. His eyes darted around the crowded room -- crowded with everyone, it seemed, but the one person he most wanted to see. Where was Al?

The sudden sting of a needle snapped his attention back to the dark-haired woman. She held a spent syringe in one latex-gloved hand. Meeting his accusing glare with cool green eyes, she said, "Just a mild sedative, Victoria. "

Mild? His eyelids were already drooping.

Gently, the older woman eased Sam back onto the pillows. Her hand trembled ever so slightly as she brushed his cheek. "Rest now, dear. We'll talk about...everything...in the morning."

"Come, Elizabeth. Victoria needs to rest." The darker woman -- doctor? -- laid a firm hand on Elizabeth's arm and urged her away from the bed.

"Yes, of course." Reluctantly, Elizabeth allowed herself to be led away by the older of the two men. The two younger women followed. One had a dazed air about her, as if she weren't entirely aware of where she was or what she was doing. Her companions helped her from the room.

Sam fought the effects of the sedative and tried to focus on the dark-haired woman and the remaining man, a tall gentleman whose ascetic face seemed drawn in...fear? Sam wondered what he was afraid of...and if Sam should be worried about it as well.

"Doctor -- " Tentatively, the man approached. His dark gaze slid from Sam to the woman still standing beside Sam's bed. "What have you given her?"

"Just what I said, Barnabas. A sedative." Her tone was reproachful. "She's been through quite an ordeal from the looks of her. Rest is the best thing for Victoria right now, so I've given her something that will allow her uninterrupted sleep."

She reached out and lightly brushed her fingertips across his sleeve. "Don't worry. She isn't going to say anything...dangerous. Not tonight. You have my word."

"She knows," he said with quiet despair. "I could see it in her eyes."

"We'll deal with that later." The doctor drew him from the room, leaving Sam to his losing battle with whatever drug the doctor had so thoughtfully administered. As their conversation receded into the distance, so did Sam's perceptions. Warm darkness rose up to envelop him in its cloying gray arms and he could do nothing but sink helplessly into oblivion's embrace.

His last clear thought as it claimed him was that Al had better be...there when he...woke...up.