A bar
With a flash of golden lightning, Elsa appeared in a bar. As she looked around, it wasn't just any bar. It was the bar in her hometown, the one that her father used to love frequenting in his younger years. Dark wood paneling straight from the 1970s, mirrors everywhere, and a shuffleboard table along the side that had seen better days. Little Keno pads and pencils sat at each table with a TV in the corner showing that hour's winning numbers. The slightest hint of cigarette smoke wafted in the air, and the bar's jukebox played Steve Miller Band endlessly.
Elsa looked around and saw a face she'd not seen in decades. She instinctively reached down to cover her body, only to find she was still fully clothed.
"Pabbie?" she asked, startled at the bartender.
The gruff, portly gentleman with wild, disheveled hair stood behind the bar in his white bartender's outfit, drying some glass beer mugs as he regarded his newest arrival. "Ah, Elsa. Fancy seeing you again. It's been a while, hasn't it? What'll you have?"
She took a seat at the bar, confusion reflected on her face. "Uh… Rolling Rock, I guess."
Pabbie poured her a 12 ounce glass of beer and set it in front of her along with some peanuts that had probably seen better days. "You look a little lost, Elsa. Are you okay?"
"Not… I'm not really sure. Where- what's the date?" She looked around, seeing some sitcom playing on the ancient TV hanging in the corner of the bar.
Pabbie laughed, a deep, resonant sound like an echo in a canyon. "Time works a little differently here, I suppose. In terms you'd understand, for the moment it's December 21, 1980."
Elsa frowned, even more confused. "That- that's my birthday. The day I- I was born today."
The bartender chuckled, his belly shaking with the motion. "Indeed it is. In fact, it was just about 17 minutes ago," he said, looking at the watch on his wrist.
"But this… this isn't where I'm supposed to be! I'm supposed to be saving Anna!" She paused, the gravity of the situation hitting her. "Wait… how do you know who I am? I've just been born? We don't meet for another… 21 years!" She reflected momentarily on the memory. Agnar had taken her to the bar on her 21st birthday to celebrate, but she'd refused anything to drink, blaming alcohol on Anna's continued decline.
She'd come back a few years later, on the night of the first anniversary of Anna's death, and had tried to blot out the pain for an evening unsuccessfully, just making herself sick in the process. She'd gotten more comfortable with alcohol after her time in Oslo, but it was still something she reserved mostly for special occasions.
Pabbie nodded. "I do know who you are, Elsa. I also know why you're here." He polished another glass as he regarded her, the only patron in the bar at the moment.
She took a sip of the beer in front of her, noting that despite the name, it tasted nothing like the Rolling Rock she remembered. This beer actually had something resembling a beer-like flavor to it. "All right, I'll bite. Why am I here, Pabbie? Why am I in a bar on the day of my birth instead of the worst day-" she paused, correcting herself and concealing her emotions, "a very important day in time?"
Pabbie put down the beer glass and picked up a shot glass, cleaning it with the towel draped over his shoulder. He took a deep breath before his jet black eyes met hers. "I hope you're prepared for what you have done, Elsa," he said solemnly. "Trying to change time is not for the faint of heart. Everything you have done up until now has been mostly harmless. Time has proceeded as it always has, for the most part."
Elsa acknowledged the truth of his statement. Her efforts had led to qualitative changes in her past life and Anna's life, but the major events - a difficult childbirth, loneliness, trouble in school, a fight at prom - were all fundamentally the same. The only significant departure from the original timeline was Hans dying on her last leap.
"Time is not so easily changed, Elsa. What you are about to do, what you want to do… is not without consequences. You hope to be saving a life, yes?" he asked, turning the glass over in his rough hands.
"Anna's life, yes," she said earnestly.
"Then you must also be prepared to take a life, Elsa. The universe must stay in balance, in motion, and events must happen mostly as they did. When the time comes, you will need to make a difficult choice. Choose well, and you will save your sister. Choose poorly, and you may make things worse than they were in the past," he intoned with gravity.
Elsa swallowed, the lump in her throat feeling like a boulder. "So for Anna to live… someone else has to die. I was wondering about that. The younger version of me might have to die?"
Pabbie shook his head. "Of course not. That would create a paradox - THE paradox, if you will. No, you will know when the time comes, Elsa, and it is at that point that you must weigh all your choices carefully and make an irreversible decision. Time must remain in balance. Life must remain in balance. Remember what happened in the original accident, and know that the books must be balanced at the end of the day. But be warned: that which has made your journey possible so far will not be your ally at that critical moment."
Elsa wrinkled her nose in confusion, trying to commit the nearly non-sensical words to memory. "A- all right. Thank you, I suppose, for the guidance. I should get going, I guess?"
"You may as well finish your drink, Elsa," Pabbie chuckled.
She smiled weakly and took another sip. "All right. While I do that… where am I? This isn't actually your place, the one in Eagle Valley, is it?"
Pabbie picked up a Pilsner glass and cleaned it off. "No, no it's not. This is a place… in between. Perhaps even outside of what you consider time. It's a resting place, a place for the weary traveler to have a beer, put their feet up, and catch their breath."
"Where is everyone?" She looked around. The tables and booths could easily accommodate dozens of people, yet she was the only person in the place.
"It's a bit early for drinking, Elsa," Pabbie chuckled, nodding at the clock that read 6 AM.
"But you're here?"
He looked squarely at her, his obsidian eyes boring into her soul momentarily. "I have always been here," he pronounced, his voice booming throughout the empty bar. Another glass cleaned, he picked up a pair of thick-handled dimple mugs.
Elsa looked around more carefully. Memorabilia covered the walls from all over the world, from Norway to Cambridge to Eagle Valley. She quirked an eyebrow. Despite Pabbie's insistence it was December of 1980, the memorabilia was from different periods in the future - her future. With a start, she realized everything was from her own life, from each time period in her life. The Cambridge memorabilia was all university stuff from MIT. The Norwegian decor was from her time in Oslo.
She shook off the shock of her realization and turned back to the portly bartender. "I never asked you- the real you, I suppose. Why do they call you Pabbie?"
Pabbie laughed again and pointed at a lit sign above the bar. "I used to be the best regional salesman in all of Indiana for Pabst Blue Ribbon, so much so that the Midwest Vice President nicknamed me Pabbie. After I retired, the name just kind of stuck."
"I only ever knew you as Pabbie. Papa called you that when he came here. What's your real name?" She took another sip, almost emptying the glass.
"Al. Didn't you ever wonder why the bar was named Al's Place even though you knew me as Pabbie?" he chuckled. "For a genius, sometimes you're not terribly observant, Elsa. Be careful with that in your travels."
Elsa finished the last mouthful of Rolling Rock and pushed her glass forward on the bar. "The lightning… it was yellow when I leaped this most recent time. Is that because… because I came here instead?"
Pabbie nodded. "Yup. As I said, this place is… in between. When you leave here, you'll get to where you were going." He inclined his head towards the door. "Good luck, Elsa."
She grinned and waved. "Thank you for the advice, Pabbie. I- will I see you again?"
"That all depends on the choices you make, Elsa," he smiled, picking up a stout glass. "Make good choices, choices from your heart, choices from love, not guilt."
Elsa turned and opened the door to the bar, vanishing in a flash of blue lightning.
Author's Notes
For those who are Quantum Leap fans, this should feel very familiar. This is the bar Sam leaps into in the series finale, with Al the Bartender - who we're led to believe has some serious insights about how Quantum Leap works - guiding Sam. Instead of Bruce McGill as the portly bartender, we get Pabbie and a retcon about how Pabbie got his name.
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