Sam leaps into an undercover cop and Al tells him that he is there to prevent a woman named Beth from falling in love with another man while her husband is missing-in-action in Vietnam. When Al tells him Beth is with the other man, Sam gets out of the stakeout he was supposed to be on and goes over to her house. He suggests driving south of the border to get some real Mexican food and Beth goes to her room to get ready.

Sam's POV

Waiting for Beth to change, I wandered across the living room. A book on the end table caught my eye so I picked it up and flipped through the pages. Beth came out of her room pulling up the strap of her dress.

"You're right. I can be too much of a romanticist sometimes. My husband always accused me of that."

Well, that came out of nowhere. I sighed and turned around. There on the mantelpiece was a picture of a very young Al. Oh God, Al! What have you done? This is wrong! I can't fix this for you, Al! I felt awful for Al, but this was against the rules. Al truly loved this woman. It broke my heart to think of what he was going through. I wished I could make him forget her, make all the pain go away. I could feel tears well up in my eyes. "Al," I whispered, "Oh, Al!" Just then Beth came back into the living room.

"One thing the Navy teaches you is how to get dressed in less th. . .," she stopped short. "Beth," I started, not sure how to explain. "What is it?" she asked. I wasn't sure how to tell her so I said, "I don't think I'm supposed to be here." She just stood there, confused, and I ran out. She followed me.

"Beth, um, listen, I-I-I'll call you, I-I'll call you later."

She gave me a worried look and went back inside. Oh God, I have to talk to Al. I stopped suddenly. There he was, across the street. He was leaving the imaging chamber! "Al, don't go!" I ran towards him.

"Al, if you close that door, don't ever open it again!" Why did I say that! He stopped, but the angry look he gave me was like a knife in my gut. He sighed and stepped toward me while completely avoiding eye contact. "You know the rules, Al." He continued to avoid looking me in the eye.

"We can't change our own lives."

"What are you talkin about?" he mumbled. "Why didn't you tell me?" He looked so sad and helpless. I wished I could give him a hug. "What?" he asked. "Al," I turned around as I said this. I couldn't bear to see the look on his face as his heart broke again. "As much as I'd like it to be, I don't think I'm here to keep you and Beth together."

"Oh yes you are, Sam,"yeah," I could hear the panic rising in his voice. I shook my head. "Uh, Ziggy says the uh, the odds are. . ., they're real good." I turned to face him. There were tears shining in his eyes. "Real good?" I asked. "Yeah." I pressed further, "How good?" Al was nervous now. He knew I could always tell when he was lying. "Oh, they're. . .you know, they're way up there."

"Show me." He was crying now. "Aww, Sam." He shook his head. "God, I love her!" I could barely stand it. It was killing me to see him like this. Beth didn't deserve a great guy like Al.

"Beth is the only woman I ever really loved. She's the only woman I ever wanted to grow old with. That's why all my marriages never really worked after that." My heart went out to him. I wanted so bad to pull him into a hug and let him cry while I held him. It wasn't fair that I couldn't touch him.

"Sam, if you're lucky, life is gonna give you one shot at true love, and Beth was mine." Now I was crying again. "This is my second chance, Sam, please."

It was killing me to see him like this. Then it hit me! I was in love with Al!

"Al, you're right. This is your second chance, but it's not with Beth."

"What do you mean, Sam?" I stepped closer to him. God, I wish I could touch him! I reached my hand out to him, but instead of going through him, my hand rested on his shoulder. I can feel him! I can feel his shoulder! He's really there! Al gasped, "Sam?" I lifted my hand to caress his face. Al took a step towards me. I wrapped my arms around him.

"Al, I love you," I whispered softly. He looked up at me. "Really, Sam?" Instead of answering him with words, I kissed him. It took him a couple seconds to respond, but that kiss was mind-blowing! Once I regained the ability to think straight, I realized that one taste of Al would never be enough.

Then I heard him say, "I love you too, Sam." And I leaped.

Finis

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