Chapter 1: Rebirth Part II, April 15th, 1985
Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Doctor Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator - and vanished. More than two decades later, Ben Fuller steps into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanishes. He awakes to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that are not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Ben can see and hear. And so Ben Fuller finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time, that the next leap, will be the leap home.
Ben's vision faded in, as he saw an older woman sitting in front of him. One that he didn't recognize. In fact, he didn't recognize anything. He was in a classroom, the blackboard still having remnants of a lesson from earlier in the day. He felt like something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what. What he knew was that the woman in front of him was very angry with him.
"Mr. Tessaro! Are you paying attention to me?" the woman asked.
"Who?" Ben thought. "I'm not Mr. Tessaro, whoever that is. But who am I?"
"Mr. Tessaro?" the woman asked. Ben glanced at the placard on her desk. Mrs. McRichards.
"Uh, sorry Ma'am." Ben said.
"Ma'am? Looks like you can learn to be respectful." Mrs. McRichards said. "If you don't start to shape up soon, you'll be heading for a life of dereliction!"
"Oh boy." Ben sighed.
"Oh boy is right. I've called your parents and they're on their way to pick you up." Mrs. McRichards said.
"Okay." Ben said.
A few moments later, a woman walked into the room. Ben could tell she was Italian. Probably in her early forties.
"Daniel Tessaro!" the woman shouted.
"Must be my mom..." Ben thought.
"You are in deep trouble!" Daniel's mother shouted.
"I'm sorry?" Ben asked.
"Sorry doesn't cut it, mister!" Daniel's mother shouted. "You are coming home this instant!"
"Okay, mom." Ben said.
He was led to a car, a blue 1983 Honda Accord. He got into the passenger seat and pulled on his seat belt. Daniel's mother started to drive the car. Ben started to look around and absentmindedly looked in the side view mirror. He jumped back.
"What's wrong?" Daniel's mother asked.
"Uh... The mirror." Ben said.
"What's wrong with it?" she asked.
"It looks weird." Ben said.
"Oh, I know what you're doing! You're trying to distract me so that I won't punish you the moment we get home! Well it won't work, mister!"
"Is that me?" Ben asked himself, looking in the mirror again. The boy in the mirror was younger than him, by a few years at least. "I'm... nineteen. He's seventeen, and still in high school. I remember graduating."
Al stood over Ziggy's console. Gooshie was putting in parameters and Dr. Fuller was pacing in corridor.
"Where is he?" Al asked.
"Well, Ziggy can't get a lock on him." Gooshie replied.
"You checked his entire lifetime?" Al asked.
"Yes, Admiral. From his birth in 1995, until today." Gooshie replied.
"Ziggy, any hypothesis?" Al asked.
"Well, Admiral Calavicci, since you so graciously asked, you are aware that Ben Fuller contains similar brain-waves to those of Dr. Beckett, correct?" Ziggy replied.
"Yeah?" Al said. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, if he contains similar brain-waves, isn't it possible that he can leap within Dr. Beckett's lifetime?" Ziggy said.
"Put in Dr. Beckett's lifetime in the parameters, Gooshie!" Dr. Fuller shouted.
"Got it, Dr. Fuller." Gooshie said. "We've got a lock! 1985!"
"1985..." Al said. "Not the worst year for the poor kid. Fire up the Imaging Chamber!"
The car stopped and Daniel's mother got out of the car, as did Ben, following her into the house.
"Would you like me to tell your father what you did, or will you?" Daniel's mother asked when they got into the house, stopping in front of a rather angry older Italian man.
"You can tell him." Ben said.
"He got into another fight! And he was the one that started it!" Daniel's mother said.
"You're in deep trouble, son." Daniel's father said.
Suddenly, Ben looked behind Daniel's parents and saw a man in a white suit with a multi-colored flashing gadget in his hand. He recognized the man, but didn't know from where. The man pointed at Ben, then himself, then to the ceiling.
"Can... Can I just go to my room?" Ben asked.
"You can go there until dinner, we'll have a punishment decided by then." Daniel's mother replied.
Ben ran upstairs and found "his" room. He walked inside and closed the door behind him.
"Where are you?" Ben whispered.
The man in the white suit walked out from the closet, walking through the wall. Ben jumped.
"Who are you?" Ben asked.
"A better question is, do you know me?" the man replied.
"I recognize you, but I don't have a name to the face." Ben said.
"My name, is Al." the man said.
Ben's memory flashed, he saw this man, Al, dressed in a US Navy dress uniform, holding a cigar very similar to the one he was holding now.
"Admiral Calavicci!" Ben shouted.
"You know me! Do you know your name?" Al asked.
"No. But it's definitely not Daniel Tessaro." Ben replied.
"Your name is Ben. Ben Fuller." Al said.
"Yeah, that sounds right. Ben Fuller." Ben said, as his memory flashed to a woman, his actual mother, not Daniel's. "My mom is Dr. Samantha Jo Fuller!" Ben said. "She works at Project..."
"Project Quantum Leap." Al finished.
"Run by Dr..." Ben started. "Samuel Beckett. He's the short guy with bad breath!"
"No. That's Gooshie. Dr. Beckett disappeared over a decade ago." Al said. "He was in the Accelerator Chamber like you were."
"And he time traveled?" Ben asked. "Did I time travel?"
"Yeah. It's 1985, April the 15th. You are Daniel Tessaro. A problem child who's about to go down the road leading to a life of crime and end up in prison at age seventeen." Al replied. "That's what you're here to change."
"Change?" Ben asked.
"Quantum Leaping forces the leaper, you, to change events and put right what once went wrong." Al replied. "We think it's God, Fate, Time or someone else."
"I just got another memory flash!" Ben said. "Quantum Leap can only leap you to within your own lifetime. I wasn't born for another decade!"
"You share similar brain-waves to Sam. You're leaping within your lifetime, and his." Al said.
"Oh my god." Ben said. "That's sixty two years!"
"Anyway, in two days, Daniel Tessaro and his cronies rob a convenience store, one of them kills the cashier, not Daniel, but the group are tried as adults and are put away and it ruins Daniel's life, sending him on a slippery slope that culminates in his death in a police shootout ten years later." Al said.
"So, I'm here to stop that robbery." Ben said.
"Yeah, and then you leap out of here." Al said.
"And go home?" Ben asked.
"Maybe. It never worked for Sam, but maybe it'll work for you." Al replied.
"What does Ziggy say?" Ben asked.
"You remember Ziggy?"Al replied.
"No. Just the name." Ben said.
"Ah. Ziggy's the computer in charge of the project. Ziggy says that there is a 98.7 probability that you're here to change that robbery." Al said.
"How do I do that?" Ben asked.
"Don't rob a store. Seems easy enough." Al replied.
"I'll try." Ben said.
"Anyway, I've gotta get back to the Project. Good luck, we'll be in touch." Al said as he opened the door to the Imaging Chamber and walked out.
"Daniel! Dinner time!" Daniel's mother shouted.
Ben walked downstairs and sat at the table. He looked at Daniel's parents, as they were eating, and spoke up.
"So, I think I know a suitable punishment for myself." Ben said.
"Oh? Let's hear it." Daniel's father said.
"Ground me for a week? No friends, no television, no video games?" Ben asked.
"That's... not a bad punishment. I like it!" Daniel's father said.
"You've got it. You are grounded for the next week." Daniel's mother said.
"Thanks, mom!" Ben said.
"Thanks?" Daniel's mother asked.
"Uh, I'm going to clean up my act. Thanks for giving me a chance." Ben replied.
"Right. Eat your dinner." Daniel's mother said.
The next morning Ben woke up and left for school, remembering the way from the car ride. As he walked a group of three guys around his age came up behind him. They all had leather jackets and slicked back hair, almost like they were out of West Side Story.
"Where you going, Danny Boy?" one of them asked.
"I don't want any trouble." Ben said.
"Well you've found it." another boy sneered.
"That's what all the teachers call us, after all. Trouble." the third boy laughed.
"What's got you so spooked, Danny?" the first boy asked.
"Oh, it's nothing." Ben said, laughing nervously.
"You're acting like you've never seen us before!" the second boy said.
"Well, I'm only acting like this because my parents grounded me. Can't hang out with you." Ben said.
"That's not what you said last time!" the first boy said.
"Anyway, we still on for Wednesday night?" the third boy asked.
"Shut your trap, Vinny!" the first boy said.
"Gotta keep this on the down low." the second boy said.
"That's right, Johnny." the first boy said.
"Sorry, Alex." Vinny said.
"So let's get to school. But remember, Wednesday night, at the Quick Stop, I'll bring the equipment." Alex said.
"Got it." Vinny said.
Ben sat at his desk in Daniel's first class, looked at his notes and sighed.
"Where are you, Al?" Ben asked.
Al stood in front of Ziggy's console and groaned.
"What do you mean the odds of Tessaro being arrested for the robbery haven't gone down yet?" Al asked.
"I mean exactly that. The odds are still at 97.9% that Daniel Tessaro is still arrested in two days." Ziggy replied.
"Ben got the kid grounded. He can't rob a store if he can't leave the house!" Al said.
"Obviously he leaves the house." Ziggy said.
"Tell me you have good news, Gooshie." Al said. "How's the retrieval program coming?"
"Sorry, Admiral, but it's a lot to work with. We haven't touched that program since Dr. Beckett modified it when you simo-leaped with him." Gooshie said. "It's a fifteen year old program, and it's hard to upgrade it to compensate for Ben."
"Keep at it, Gooshie." Al said. "Ziggy! Where's Dr. Fuller?"
"In her office, Admiral." Ziggy said.
"Thanks." Al said, as he walked out of the control room and into the offices.
Dr. Samantha Fuller sat at her desk, staring blankly at the paperwork sitting before her.
"Samantha?" Al asked.
"Yes?" she replied.
"I'm so sorry." Al said. "Had I known that there was a chance he could leap, I'd have told you sooner."
"I can never see my son again." she said, her eyes tearing up.
"Not exactly." Al said. "If we don't get that retrieval program working, Ziggy may be able to patch you into the Imaging Chamber."
"What?" she asked.
"Well, remember when Sam leaped into that killer, and the killer escaped? Well, we hooked Gooshie through, but it didn't work very well, since the brain-waves weren't in sync. But Ben is your son, therefore your brain-waves may match enough that you could see him if you wanted to." Al said.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes really. You can't touch him, but you'd be able to have conversations. Which is good, since I can't be here all the time, with Beth and the family and all." Al replied. "We could tag team being the Project Observer."
"Thanks, Al." she said.
"Anyway, I've gotta get going." Al said.
Ben sat at his desk in school and listened as much as he could, as he worried about the impending events.
"Hey, ask to use the bathroom." Al said, walking through the wall.
"Al!" Ben whispered. He raised his hand.
"Yes?" Mrs. McRichards said.
"Can I use the bathroom?" Ben asked.
"I don't know, can you?" she replied.
"May I, use the bathroom?" Ben asked.
"Yes." she said, handing him a pass as he walked into the hallway.
"What's the situation? I got him grounded, shouldn't I have leaped?" Ben asked.
"According to Ziggy, he doesn't stay grounded. He sneaks out that night." Al replied.
"Why can't my first leap be easy?" Ben asked.
"Hey, Sam's first leap had him in the body of a test pilot, and had to fly a plane at Mach 3." Al replied. "And he didn't know how to fly the damn thing."
"I met his cronies. They seem like the type to kill a cashier." Ben said.
"We ran some research on them too, Alex is the one that pulls the trigger. Vinny and Johnny bring knives, and Daniel's on the sideline, holding the money bag." Al said.
"So, how do I change it?" Ben asked.
"Find some way to stop them. Ziggy's got no idea on what you could try to do, though." Al replied.
"Thanks." Ben said.
Later, Ben stood in the bathroom at Daniel's house. He sighed and looked in the mirror, he took a moment to really study Daniel's face. He had black, slicked back hair and a face that seemed perpetually scowling.
"Danny, you seem like a good kid. Why do you hang out with those guys?" Ben asked his reflection. His attention snapped away when someone banged on the window. Ben walked over and opened it, and Alex popped his head in.
"Taking this grounded stuff very seriously this time, Danny. Why?" Alex asked, climbing into the room.
"Because, my parents were ready to... tear me a new one." Ben said. "I have to make them think that I care about their stupid punishments."
"But you're still on for Wednesday, right?" Alex asked.
"I'm not too sure. They've been keeping a closer watch on me at night, I don't think I'd be able to sneak out." Ben replied.
"Don't pussy out on me, Tessaro. You're a part of this team, and we do things together." Alex said. "Wednesday night, don't forget. You need to bring the bag to hold the money."
"Got it..." Ben sighed.
Ben walked down the street on Wednesday night, following the three delinquent boys, shifting around uneasily.
"Okay, so we get there, then we go in, act normal, and catch the clerk off guard." Alex said.
"Good idea." Vinny said, flicking out his switchblade.
"Let's do this." Johnny said.
The boys came upon the storefront, and hid in the alleyway next to the store. Ben looked around, seeing Al come through the wall. He pointed toward a bathroom.
"Guys, my stomach isn't so good. Can we hold off for a little?" Ben asked.
"Danny, only cause it's you, I'll let you go. Be quick." Alex replied.
Ben walked into the bathroom behind the store and Al walked into the room.
"I couldn't get them to leave me at home." Ben said. "What do I do?"
"You have to find some way to change it. The odds are going up. They were at 97%, and now they're at 98%." Al said.
"How?" Ben asked.
"Is there any way to call the cops or anything, anonymous tip?" Al replied.
"No, they'd hear me do it. But..." Ben started.
"But what?" Al asked.
"What if I could trick them into getting themselves arrested without any physical violence?" Ben replied.
"How could you do that?" Al asked.
"All I have to do is..." Ben started.
Ben walked back to Johnny, Vinny and Alex. Alex handed him the bag and took out the gun.
"Wait!" Ben said. "I have an idea on how we can get the money, but not have to attack the clerk."
"Do tell, Danny boy." Alex said.
"If I go in, and ask the clerk to check the back for something, you guys can sneak in and take the money while he's distracted, then we run. Easy as pie." Ben said.
"That's... actually not a bad plan." Alex said. "Playing it safe, but we still get the money, and that's what we want."
"Good. I'll go in now. You guys come in when he goes to the back room." Ben said.
"Got it." Alex said.
Ben walked into the store and up to the clerk. He looked at the magazines sitting at the counter and leaned to talk to the clerk.
"There are three boys outside who are planning to rob you. One of them has a knife, and one has a gun. Does this place have a lock for the automatic doors?" Ben asked.
"Uh, yeah, it's in the back." the clerk said.
"Good. Listen, in a few seconds I want you to walk to the back, and then watch the cameras for when I walk out, then lock the doors." Ben said. "Lock the doors to the back and call the cops when you get back there."
"And what do I tell them?" the clerk asked.
"Anonymous tip that someone said that the store was gonna get robbed. No name." Ben said.
"Thank you... I think." the clerk said.
"Don't mention it. Go now." Ben said.
The clerk walked to the back and Alex, Vinny and Johnny walked into the store. Ben quickly ran out and booked it back to Daniel's house, sneaking into the window. Al walked out of the wall.
"You did it!" Al said. "Your first leap was a success!"
"What happens?" Ben asked.
"Well, those three are arrested on attempted robbery, go away for a few years, and become decent members of society." Al replied.
"And Daniel?" Ben asked.
"He buckles down and fixes his life up. Unfortunately he doesn't get his grades up, and he becomes a local mechanic. But he has a wife and kids and he's happy." Al replied.
"And that's what matters." Ben said.
"Ready to leap? We're going to test the retrieval program." Al said.
"Let's do it." Ben said as his vision faded and he returned to the void.
He felt a surge of energy and his vision faded back in. He looked around and hoped to see the accelerator chamber. He saw bright lights, and he squinted. He looked to his left and saw a girl standing next to him.
"I said, O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet." the girl said. "Romeo?"
"O boy..." Ben said, as he stared at her blankly.
To Be Continued...