A Leap in the Knight

Part 3

By Kali

"Wow! He's back!" Al exclaimed happily. "Call off the search party!" Al told a man dressed in a white uniform.

"Yes, sir."

"Government?" Batman said as he watched the exchange. It was more a statement than a question.

"Yeah, more or less," Al nodded. He was relieved that Batman had returned of his own violation. It made things so much simpler, and less dangerous, for all involved.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Batman, sir!" Guchi exclaimed, holding out his hand in greeting. Bruce ignored it, and headed towards the main computer console.

"Is this the patient?" Bruce asked plainly.

"Yes, how did you?!" Al wondered in amazement.

"It's a computer."

"Uh huh. Her name is Ziggy."

"A computer with a name, of course."

"And a personality. You wouldn't believe some of the stunts she has pulled. Why she has......."

"I'd like to get on with this, if you don't mind," Batman stated. It wasn't a request.

"Sure. Guchi, over there, can help you with whatever information you need."

"And where will you be?"

"I'll be........ I'll be in the imaging room. Remember the room I showed you earlier?"

"Yes."

"That's how we keep in contact with Dr. Beckett."

"Who right now is going around in my body?"

"No. Actually, you're bodies switched during the leap.

"..........."

"Yes, well, can you help her?"

"I'll try."

"Great! I'll let Sam know!"

"You know, for a complete stranger, you sure know a lot about what is going on. Mind telling us why?" Samantha asked warily eyeing him with suspicion.

"Aw, don't worry about it, kid. He's helping us," Al commented cheerily.

"Maybe. But with Ziggy in her current condition, we're in a very vulnerable spot. I don't think it would be a mistake to err on the side of caution, do you?"

"True," Al nodded in agreement. "But..."

"If you think that I intend on telling you anything...." Bruce growled coldly at Samantha.

"What? Mr. Way...," Al began then noticed Bruce's harsh glare. "Batman, everyone in this room wants the same thing."

"Are you sure about that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Al asked as his eyes narrowed in fear. He had his suspicions, but surely those couldn't be right. It couldn't be them, could it? "Are you saying, what I think you're saying?" Al asked as he looked warily back and forth between Samantha and Bruce.

"Yes, she's not who she says she is."

"What?! How?! You just walk in here, and ten minutes later you figure out that I'm a leaper?"

"A "leaper"," Bruce mused grimly to himself, then added, "The surveillance tapes of the building. I looked through them a bit before meeting you and everyone else."

"How?!"

"The way "you" walk, talk, your demeanor and mannerisms all suddenly changed two days ago according to the tapes. I thought at first that it might be due to the stress of the situation. But, upon observing "you" firsthand, I realized else wise."

"I'll have to remember that, in the future."

"Get the hell out of Sam's daughter!" Al yelled.

"Sam's daughter, huh? That shouldn't be possible." Zoe commented with faux amazement.

"Oh, please. You knew. That's why you picked her to leap into. Now leave, or else I'll..."

"What? Yell at me until you choke? You can't do a thing to hurt this body. You won't. And I seriously doubt that Batman would throttle an innocent to get to me. On the other hand, I can do all sorts of "fun" things to her. Regardless, I'm not leaving just yet. The job isn't finished."

"Oh, I'd disagree. You'll be leaving very shortly," Emily hissed.

"What?" Zoe turned to see a teleportational haze of sand falling to the floor, as a woman walked out of it.

"You keep working on that. I'll keep her busy."

Batman nodded and turned his focus back to the computer.

"Oh, fancy meeting you here. I heard you were "retired" by proxy?"

"Yeah, it's just funny how things work out, sometimes. Isnt it?"

"Yes, but treaty breaking? Shame, shame," Zoe scolded with a fake frown. Then, with a smile she added, "Its almost like you did it intentionally."

"......."

"Oh, right. You were Shaw's favorite plaything, after all. Both genetically and... in other ways. Weren't you?"

"Shut up!"

"Why? Does it embarrass you?"

"I was a child!"

"Yeah. So now you're obsessed with "saving" other children."

"I'm not obsessed!"

"Oh, really? You got on him about not dating," Zoe said as she pointed towards Batman, as he flinched slightly. "Yet, you, yourself, have not dated ever since you "escaped" from Shaw. Hypocritical much?"

"That's different!"

"Oh, Bats, I wouldn't pay much heed to her. No. She's a major hypocrite in addition to having committed some pretty heinous acts in the past."

"Coming from a character witness, such as yourself, that mean a lot," Al commented snidely.

"You just love twisting things around, don't you?"

"It's a living," Zoe shrugged.

"Why? What's in your past that shaped you that way?"

"Nothing," Zoe shrugged again. "Unlike you, I don't blame others for my problems."

"Really, huh? Well let's just see about that, shall we?"

"What?!" Zoe exclaimed with a stricken look.

"Oh, I'm a telepath. Didn't you know? One of Shaw's little "gifts." And since I'm so ruthless and all... Well, let's just take a look-see inside your little ol' noggin and see what's what. You don't mind, do you?"

Zoe gurgled.

"Nah, didn't think so."

"Keep her busy. I think I have an idea how to fix the virus," Batman said.

"Great! I'll let Sam know," Al beamed.

****************************************************************************************

"Sam? Sam?"

"Shhhh!"

"What?! Uh, Sam, no one else can see, or hear me, remember?"

"Except of course for little kids, the mentally disabled, and animals."

"Yeah. Wait! Are you saying that one of them is in the vicinity."

"The way my lucks been going.... Unfortunately, some guy named Harvey Dent..."

"Two-face?!"

"Yeah. Well, he decided to pay his old friend Bruce Wayne a visit. Only, of course, he didn't see "Bruce Wayne," he saw me. And now... now the whole Justice League is after me."

"Oh, no. That's bad," Al grimly commented. While trying to come up with a possible solution to the problem, a thought occurred to him, "No wait, that's good!"

"Huh?!"

"Sam, one of the Justice League members is a telepath," Al began, then murmured, "At least he was in the comics. The point being is, he'll know that you're telling the truth!"

"Murphy's law."

"What?"

"Right after Harvey Dent popped by and declared that I wasn't Bruce Wayne, Dick asked me to go down to the cave and summoned this green Martian Gumby-look-alike to read me. Only, he couldn't read me."

"What?!"

"Some by-product of leaping."

"Interesting. Did you try explaining the situation to them?"

"For some inexplicable reason, no. I'm not sure why," Sam commented nervously.

"Some residual host influence?"

"Perhaps. Anyhow, I headed for the first bat-vehicle I could find, and got out of there."

"And they didn't try to stop you?"

"No, they didn't know. The telepath shape-shifted and he and Dick went upstairs to question Dent about me. I did hear them put out an APB on me. It was on the boat's radio. Right after they tried to remote control the vehicle back to the cave. Fortunately, it was programmed to obey Batman's voice command above all others."

"Maybe, your overreacting, Sam," Al said as he watched Sam warily look around at their surroundings. They were in a brightly lit room decorated with fanciful antiques and abstract paintings. "Is this one of Bruce's "summer" homes?"

"Yeah," Sam said with a shrug, "Didn't know where else to go. Most motels these days require a credit card, and I'm sure that they'll be keeping an eye out for any charges made using his card."

"True."

"So, how are things at home? Any progress with Ziggy and Batman?"

"Oh, that's what I came to tell you. He's back," Al beamed.

"Great!" Sam exclaimed, then noticed Al's brief worried frown, "What?"

"'Well....."

"'Well?' What's wrong, Al?"

"It's nothing. It's just..... Well, he keeps muttering something about 'Booster and Beetle', but other than that, he's agreed to help us," Al covered.

***********************************************************************************

"Charges for a plane ticket and motel reservations for Stallion Springs, New Mexico. Do you think its significant?" Wally asked a pacing Dick Grayson.

"It's probably a ruse," Dick commented simply. His eyes narrowed in worry, "But why is he trying to mislead us? What's he hiding? And, most importantly, what happened to Bruce?!"

"When will the DNA testing be done?" Diana asked.

"Leslie said that it'll be done in a few hours. That'll let us know if we're dealing with a simple imposter or a more complicated imposter. Though, judging by what Two Face saw, Id lean more towards the latter than the former," Oracle responded over the computer link. "As it is, I haven't had any luck with identifying the man that J'onn saw in Two Face's mind. All of the databases have come up empty, so far."

"So, no criminal record. Could be military, government agent," Dick said as he rubbed his forehead in exhaustion.

"You think that Lex sent him?" Wally asked his friend with fearful apprehension. "Because if he did..."

"Then he could know *all* of our secret identities," Dick finished somberly. "I knew something was off about him. I should have done something about it!"

"Short pants, you are doing something about it!" Barbara chided. "Beating yourself up about it, won't help Bruce any."

"Yeah, Dick, for all we know, this guy could be from an alternate reality or something," Wally began, then added, "Like that old doppelganger of you, that used to give us grief."

"Yeah, true. Just hope that he isn't as dangerous as "evil" me was."

"I'm not dangerous."

The various heroes turned abruptly to stare in astonishment at the all-to-familiar voice that had uttered those words.

"Um, so hi, guys," Sam said shyly as he gave a slight wave in greeting.

"Oooooooookkkkkkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy. That is so definitely not Bruce," Wally murmured in amazement.

"Unless of course, Bruce's been inhabited by a pod person," Ollie commented as he stared at "Bruce".

"It's friendly. That's a good sign, right?" Plastic Man asked.

"Look, I'm going to tell you something. It's going to sound a little crazy, but I want you to hear me out," Sam began, then whispered to Al, "I really hope this wasn't mistake."

"Trust me, Sam. They're the good guys. They'll listen."

"Al, this isn't a comic book, things aren't so black and white in the real world."

"Sam, this sort of thing happens to them all the time and this **is** the "real" world. And.... Is that Wonder Woman?! Oh boy!"

"Al?!"

"Whom are you talking to?" Dick asked with concern as he wondered if the Bruce imposter was right in the head.

"You don't see him?" J'onn asked. "Here, let me show you," J'onn commented as he created a psychic link between himself and other heroes in attendance.

"Wow, you can actually see me. That is so... unbelievable! Wait till I tell Guchi and the others!"

"I think it is safe to say that he's harmless," Diana said as she eyed the both of them. Relief showing slightly on her face.

"Where's Superman?" Al asked..

"Out looking for him," Dick answered, pointing towards Sam. "Now, can we get to the explaining part? I'd like to know where Bruce is."

"He's where I originally came from."

"Originally?"

"Yeah, it's complicated."

"So you've said."

"I was a quantum physicist working on a project in New Mexico, when I discovered the key to Quantum leaping. Normally, I leap into different time periods and locations within my lifetime in order to help people. But things got a little screwy. This is the first time that I've leaped into a different reality."

"And this leaping is done by essentially possessing the bodies of other people?"

"No, not exactly The people I leap into switch physically with me, we just end up superficially looking like the other," Sam corrected.

"So, Bruce is running around looking like you, but in his own body, on your world?" Oracle asked thoughtfully, as she pondered the complications of the situation.

"Yeah."

"How do you know this?" Dick asked.

"Uh, well, it's complicated," Sam blushed.

"He fathered a daughter while on one of his leaps," Al answered.

"Wouldn't something like that create a paradox?" Diana asked.

Al grinned flirtatiously back at her, "One would think that, but, it seemed to be destined. Sam kept on having to leap in and save her mother."

"And you are?" Dick asked Al.

"His guide," Al said with a smile. As he noticed the continued concern in Grayson's voice, he added, "Don't worry, I've talked to him, just recently. He's fine. He's helping us fight a computer virus. Our projects AI computer is experiencing an unusual computer virus caused by a hacker. When he's done with that, Sam should be able to leap out of here."

"A computer virus? Really?" Barbara asked intrigued. "Maybe I can help."

"Maybe you can," Al replied with a grin. "That's part of the reason why I asked Sam to come back here."

*****************************************************************************

"I had the chance, the opportunity to change things for the better. But I...I" Barbara began despondently.

"There was nothing that you could have done. The repercussions would have been wide spread. It was a no win situation," Sam reassured patting her on the shoulder.

"Says the man who alters the past as his way of life." she said tightly.

"Look, it's not that simple."

"Isn't it? Now every time I see Bruce,...... I feel guilty."

"Some things can't be changed. No matter how hard you try. Call it fate, if you will. But sometimes the best laid plans just never work out the way you want them too."

"You've had failed leaps?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Though that really depends on what I was sent to accomplish in the first place. But...... I've leapt into Lee Harvey Oswald."

"My God!"

"There was nothing I could do to change the fate of President Kennedy. It was beyond my power. Just like it was beyond your power to alter Bruce's life."

"Maybe. But, if you weren't there to save the president, then who?"

"As it turned out, I was there to save Jackie Kennedy."

"Any luck, you two," Al asked as he re-entered the room.

"Not yet. You?" Sam asked.

"Bruce is still working on it. He thinks that we can use me as a go-between. With J'onn "seeing" what is going on with Ziggy through my eyes, and relaying it to Oracle.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll go get J'onn," Sam responded as he headed up towards the cave entrance.

"He'll be in the kitchen," Oracle informed him.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Alfred mentioned Oreos just before J'onn disappeared. Doesn't take a detective to figure out where he went."

"Ah, okay."

Disclaimer: DC characters belong to DC, Quantum Leap characters belong to their respective creators. This little fan fic is meant as pure, harmless fun, and as such, no profit is being made from it.