Quantum Leap: A Leap on Jump Street Series
A Leap for Judy and Tom
By Heather Samantha Beckett
Disclaimer: I do not own the concept of Quantum Leap or 21 Jump Street or their characters, those solely belong to Don Belisario (Quantum Leap) and Stephen J Cannell and Patrick Hasburgh (21 Jump Street)
Chapter 3: A Good Analysis
On the way to Jackson High Hoffs went over the assignment again with "Hanson," much to Sam's relief.
"Ok how are we going to do this? Are you still sticking with Prescott?"
"Uh Prescott?" Sam asked like he hadn't a clue what Hoffs was talking about.
"Oh Sam Clayton Prescott is a kid you are pretending to be friends with so you could investigate him, he's kind of the preppy leader," Al said reading off the info from Ziggy to Sam.
"Oh Clayton Prescocott yea," Sam said to answer Judy's question.
"Well you said that you have seen him hanging around the girls bathroom a lot lately," said Judy.
"Well I don't know anything yet he's tight lipped but I'm still sticking to him like glue," said Sam trying to think of a way to explain to Judy that he did know what he was doing on the case.
"OK we are still going to hold hands right?" Judy ask turning her head too look at Sam.
"OH boy holding hands first base wonder if you'll reach home plate with her," Al said looking down Judy's shirt.
Sam shot Al a dirty look, "Al will you stop looking down her shirt?"
"Looking down my shirt Hanson? Wow and I thought Penhall was the only pervert on Jump Street."
"OH no I wasn't talking about you," Sam said shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "I was just uh I don't know what I was thinking."
"oh real good save Sam," Al said sarcastically.
"Well whatever. Tom, at lunch we really need to get in an argument over the themes of The Lord of The Rings since we are both in the same English class and the Fellowship of the Rings is the book we are currently reading."
Sam chuckled to himself, the last time he remembered reading The Hobbit and the Lord of The Rings Trilogy he was at MIT. Even with being a gifted quantum physicist and holding 6 PhDs literature just wasn't one of them. He remembered the time he leapt into an English Lit Professor, now that leap was uncomfortable, even though he did help his future wife patch up a broken relationship with her father and they wouldn't even meet until 6 years later! For some reason though, Sam remembered being a big fan of Tolkein.
"Anyway ," Judy continued, "I'm hoping the preps will see us arguing over literature and invite us into their little club. I figure they'll talk more when they are all together and maybe let something slip on the attacks."
"Sounds good to me I just hope I don't get beat up today," said Sam.
"Why do you say that?" Judy asked.
"Well last time I was in high school for real the smart guys got beat up. Trust me I should know I was a science geek, and you don't breeze through 4 years of MIT in just 2 and not get beat up," Sam was obviously talking about his own days at high school, but by seeing the look on Judy's face he knew he hadn't said the right thing. Guess Tom wasn't as geeky as Sam was in high school and how could be unless he had a perfect IQ of 200, a photographic memory, and gotten a prefect score of 1600 on his SATS.
"Sam you said too much," said Al.
"Well," said Sam thinking fast, "I meant my cousin did that he was a real geek and I used to be the one who beat him up."
"Really?" Judy sounded impressed,. "Hanson the rebel, well I don't think you will have to worry about that here." Judy shook her head. "Beating your smart cousin up really."
"Why wouldn't I have to worry about getting beat up here?" Sam asked.
"Oh well because the preps are the popular ones for some odd reason. This isn't our normal hoodlum infested school which makes this a tough case because right now everyone's a suspect."
"She's sort of right Sam," said Al popping his head between the front seat and when Sam turned to look at Al he was startled because when he did turn to talk to Al, Al's face went right through his head.
Al laughed he loved teasing Sam like this.
Sam had almost jumped out of his skin needless to say he was not amused by Al's antics.
"I hate it when you do that," Sam nearly screamed at Al.
"Do what?" Judy asked.
"Ah smack your lips like that," Sam thought quickly.
"Smack my 'you' lips?" Judy and Al said at the same time.
Sam shot Al a look of well could you think of something better to say?
"Well you do smack your lips you may not realize it but you do but sometimes its kinda sexy."
Judy flashed Sam a beautiful smile. "Really Hanson? That's the nicest thing you ever said to me."
"Oh isn't this sweet, a Kodak moment, wait let me get my camera," said Al pretending to take a snapshot of Sam and Judy with his hands.
Sam turned his head and put his hand over his mouth and talked out of the side of it so Judy couldn't see his lips moving when he was talking to Al.
"Al you got anything on Judy's attacker yet?"
Al took out his multicolored hand link and punched in some buttons and hit it on the side a few times. "Ziggy says it's definitely someone from this case, someone from Jackson High, but we don't have any names yet. Judy's right anyone could be a suspect since….." Al's voice trailed off.
Sam followed his gaze. The car had stopped and Sam noticed a flood of preppies walking across a big lawn to the front steps of the school.
"Good golly Miss Molly, I haven't seen this many preppies since going to the catholic school when my sister and I were at the orphanage and of course when I myself went to MIT," Al said still looking at all the kids at Jackson High make their way to the front of the school. "I'm going to go check back with Ziggy when I find out anything you will be the first to know," having said that Al pressed a few buttons on his hand link and a door appeared out of thin air and Al disappeared behind it.
"Al I can't protect her the whole day. I can't follow her to every class. Tom's got his own schedule," Sam said turning to face Al when he noticed that for the first time since he started leaping, he knew what it must have looked like to other people when he talked to Al, like talking to thin air.
"Well that's very sweet of you Hanson." Judy said thinking Sam was talking to her. "It's good to know that chivalry isn't a thing of the past, but you know I am a tough girl and I can take care of myself."
Sam smiled at Judy. How could you not admire this woman? Sam thought to himself. "Yes you're right but I still worry about you thought."
"Well for now you can be my knight in shining armor. Shall we?" Judy linked her arm at Sam's elbow and they walked together to the front of the school looking like a cozy couple.
Sam had more fun going back to school then he expected. He tended to show off in his calculus and physics classes, after all he was a gifted Nobel Prize winning scientist and a doctor to boot. He especially liked his advanced German class. The class was called advanced German because there wasn't any English spoken in the class whatsoever and since he was fluent in many languages, Sam had no problem at all keeping up with what the teacher was saying and answering all her questions in fluent German.
Sam caught the attention of a tall skinny guy who always sat in the front of the class, he was wearing kakis, a blue polo shirt, and had a white long sleeve sweater draped over his shoulders and the sleeves tied around his neck. He reminded Sam of someone one who belonged at a country club.
Whoever the guy was he seemed to have know Sam, well Tom, because he kept giving him thumbs up all through Sam's classes.
The skinny guy approached Sam after German class who was walking down the hall to meet Hoffs so she could show him where their English classroom was.
"Hey Hamilton, you are on a roll today," The skinny guy licked his finger and touched Sam's arm and made a sizzling sound, "oh the man is hot."
"Well you know I am MIT bound," Sam said laughing nervously and looking down the hall for Hoffs. He was about to blow Tom's cover by asking the skinny guy why he called him Hamilton when Tom's last name was Hanson. Then he remembered that Tom was undercover at the high school and more than likely he wouldn't be using Tom's real name. "And you are?" Sam asked turning to face the skinny guy.
"Well you have only been hanging with me for the last month since you transferred in and you forgot my name?"
"AH UH," Sam stammered, but he was rescued by his approaching partner.
'Hey Clayton hey Tom," Judy said grabbing Sam's hand. "Are you ready for English class sweetie?"
"Ah yea let's go cookielips," Cookielips? Sam couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. He grabbed Judy's hand and quickly walked down the hall so he wouldn't have to explain to Clayton why he forgot his name.To sooth things over and to help get a move on the case, Sam said over his shoulder, "Hey Clayton how about we meet and talk at lunch about MIT?"
"That is if you keep on the same roll," Clayton said back.
Sam laughed. Judy gave him a quizzical look, "what was that all about?"
"Oh nothing I just showed off in a few classes and let's just say that Clayton was quite impressed with me and I wouldn't be surprised if we had VIP passes to his lunch table."
"Well I wouldn't be so sure of that yet. We got to impress his girlfriend too. She's also in our English class. Maybe you will have better luck with her because I sure as hell couldn't get anything out of her. She like never has to go to the bathroom, she's got a bladder of steel that one, so she probably hasn't heard much about the attacks if she never goes to the bathroom. Girls do tell a lot of secretes in there," said Judy.
"So how many girls have been found attacked in the bathrooms?" Sam asked Judy.
"Tom," Judy sighed, "weren't you paying any attention to Fuller when he prepped you on the assignment? I expect that kind of thing from Penhall but not from you Mr. I'm a real cop let's play everything by the books."
Before Sam could answer, Judy continued, "5 girls in the past 5 weeks have been found beaten up in the girls bathroom. 2 of them are still in the hospital and one of them is in a coma because she suffered a big blow to the head when her head was bashed against the sink. That is one girl a week. So far no girls have been attacked this week but it's only Monday."
Sam and Judy approached their English classroom and when they entered they took their seats. Sam sat in the back just in case Al appeared suddenly to give him news then he could try to talk to him without anyone noticing. Judy decided to sit up front next to a girl with long curly red hair.
It happened to be a lecture day, meaning that the teacher was going to spend the whole time lecturing on the latest reading segment of The Fellowship of the Ring. Sam was looking forward to the lecture but he didn't get to hear the beginning of it because her heard that familiar swooshing sound and the electronic beeps that followed. Sam looked up and saw the door appear out of thin air and Al walked out of it dressed in purple slacks, a lime green shirt, a purple vest, and a purple blazer. He was wearing his usual fedora this time it was purple to match his suit. He had on a purple and green stripped tie.
Al stood next to Sam since he was a hologram and he couldn't sit in the empty seat next to Sam because he would have fallen right through it.
Sam cupped his hand over his mouth and turned his head slightly to talk to Al.
"Ok what have you got for me Al?"
Al pressed some buttons on his hand link. "Ziggy says two days from now a Michelle Carpenter is found dead in the teachers lounge bathroom."
"What? Sam said shaking his head. "No Al. The captain said that all the girls that have been attacked have been found in the girls bathroom and there have not been any casualties."
"I don't know Sam. All I know is that Ziggy says Michelle Carpenter is found strangled to death on Wed Mar 4, 1990 in the teacher lounges bathroom. Ziggy says a teacher found her at noon and she had been dead for some time so it happened sometime in the morning."
"Excuse me Mr. Hamilton is there is something you want to share with the class?" the teacher asked looking Sam straight in the eye.
"Huh?"
The teacher continued, "there must be something else more important on your mind then Tolkein." The teacher was walking up and down the classroom isles as she continued her rebuke, "please refresh our memories and tell me what you think Gandalf meant when he said Gollum may have yet some part to play for good or ill. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many."
"Boy that's a lot to swallow," Al said to Sam.
The students all around Sam snickered they loved it when the teacher put one of them in the hot seat.
"Well let me see where should I start," said Sam standing up. "Let's start with Tolkein's first work the Hobbit. In the Hobbit Bilbo could have easily killed Gollum because he had the ring in his pocket, the ring he found in Gollum's cave, and since the ring made Bilbo invisible he could have snuck up on Gollum and killed him and he would have been right in doing so, because Gollum had planned to kill him not let him go as he had promised if he had lost the riddle game. Gollum had planned to take his ring and sneak up on Bilbo and kill him but he couldn't find his ring becauseBilbo had taken it. Bilbo had pity and mercy on Gollum and just left him alone instead of killing him when he had the chance. Flash forward 61 years later to the Fellowship of the Ring. Frodo had told Gandalf it was a pity Bilbo didn't kill Gollum when he had the chance and Gandalf had rebuked him saying don't be so quick to pass death and judgment because we have no right so do so because before this was all over, Gandalf felt that Gollum may have yet a part to play for good or ill in the fate of the ring."
"And what do you think Gandalf meant when he said that? It is easy to tell me what you read in the book over the weekend, it is another to make a good analysis and you were too busy talking to yourself or whatever you were doing to pay attention to my lecture on this very subject," The teacher said challenging Sam.
Sam looked the teacher definetly in the eye. "Flash Forward to a year later in Return of the King. Sam and Frodo reach Mount Doom Frodo is about to cast the ring in the very cracks of Mount Doom but the ring has corrupted him and he refuses to destroy the ring. He wants to keep it for himself but that would be a disaster because too many good lives are at stake if he doesn't destroy the ring, but Gollum attacks him and chews his finger off and finally gets it. He is too busy jumping for joy he just simply trips and falls into the cracks of Mount Doom along with the ring. So the point is if Bilbo had killed Gollum 62 years before then Gollum would not have been around to chew the ring off Frodo's finger and fall into Mount Doom with the ring. Frodo would have still had the ring and Middle Earth would have been destroyed and Frodo's mission would have been a failure. Now for the real life analysis." Sam took a deep breath. He could tell he had the teacher's full attention and all the students were staring at him wide eyed. The girl with the long curly red hair sitting next to Judy gave Sam a thumbs up and there was a look of amused shock on Judy's face.
Sam continued, "Well it seems like at times there is no justice when bad things happen to us like let's say for example a crime is committed against you and the criminal gets away. It isn't up to us to take justice in our own hands by committing a crime then we are no better then the criminal who victimized us. If you let time have it's way justice will usually prevail."
A long silence filled the room. Then the class errupted with applause. Sam sat down smiling he was quite proud of himself. He done Tom good.
"Well it looks like you done a lot more than your homework," said the teacher breaking the silence. "I did not know you read the entire Trilogy and the Hobbit. I am impressed Mr. Hamilton."
A modestly wide grin spread across Sam's face. "Well I have been reading them once a year for the last 20 years."
"SAM!" Al said warningly.
Judy, the teacher, and all the students stared at Sam.
"Oh did I say 20?" Sam chuckled. "No that would be my dad," Sam said correcting himself. Of course to these kids and the teacher Tom Hanson was just 16 or 17 and 21 in real life, "Well my dad read them to me when I was 7 and then for the last 5 years I read them myself once a year."
The teacher looked at Sam with obvious impression. "Well that was a very good analysis and I am sorry if I underestimated you," the teacher apologized to Sam.
"No problemo," said Sam.
"Too bad you had to ruined the whole series for those of us who have not read it," The teacher said in a snotty tone.
"Oh pooh that was just brilliant no matter what that old bity says," The girl with the red hair said to Sam after class had ended. "I'm Michelle," The girl said extending her hand to Sam, "Clayton tells me you are quite the genius and that you are MIT bound I like think that's like just totally awesome you know?"
"Well thank you," said Sam shaking Michelle's hand. He hadn't heard a girl talk with the valley accent for ages. "I am Tom and like that girl you know like over there is my girlfriend Judy like you know," Sam said pointing to Judy.
Michelle laughed like a heyena. "Oh I know her," said Michelle looking over her shoulder at Judy giving her a snotty look. She turned back to Sam, "Clayton tells me that he thinks you would be a great asset to out little lunch powwow sessions. I don't know that I am MIT bound I am more of a Harvard girl myself and Clayton got accepted into Yale. Well I'd say that you definitely earned the right to sit with us at lunch. We only invite people into out little clique who are really serious about higher education."
"Well Sam is definitely serious about higher education just ask him about his 6 PhDs," Al said floating behind Sam.
Sam rolled his eyes. "So can Judy sit with us too?"
"Only if she remains quiet. She doesn't strike me as the smart type," Michelle said turning her head to look Judy up and down.
Judy gave Michelle a very dirty look.
"Well I think I can arrange that," said Sam.
"Oh boy I can Smell a cat fight," said Al excitedly.
Sam stepped back to talk to Judy. He explained to her about his and Michelle's conversation and about lunch.
By the look on Judy's face, Sam could tell she was highly offended.
"AH," scoffed Judy, "I am the only one on Jump Street with a college degree and I am the only one who passed the detectives exam and made detective. Not smart my ass."
"Hey I am not the one who said it I was just playing along," Sam said defending himself.
"So when did you get so smart anyway," Judy said changing the subject and playfully punching Sam in the arm.
"Beats the hell out of me."
"MIT? Well you are aiming high don't you think Hanson?"
"Well I am just going above and beyond the call of duty. Fuller wanted me to be a prep so I'm being a prep."
"He said prep Hanson not nerd," laughed Judy.
"She's got a point there Sam," Al said still floating behind Sam.
"Don't you got to be somewhere?" he shot at Al.
"Hanson silly I am going to lunch with you remember honeybuns?" Judy said grabbing Sam's hand all of the suddenly.
"I don't know if I want to eat lunch with someone who calls me a nerd sweetie sugar pumpkin pie"
What the hell did I just say?