Together Again

[Dbz77]

Summary: Four years. After four long years, Addison is back with Ben. Ben is there. Ben is real. But she is in the past with him. How will she and Ben fix right what once went wrong?

Chapter One​

Dr. Ben Song finds himself in another time, another place.

He looks around, the people wear old-fashioned clothes. It is night, and he sees brick buildings around him, but no towering glass skyscrapers.

He knows the drill for the past two years- subjectively, at least. He just as to go with the flow, roll with it, until Addison comes and tells him where, when, and what he is supposed to do.

And then he sees her.

She calls out his name.

And they touch.

She is here.

They hear explosions, and the other people start running in one direction. Ben takes Addision's heand and runs in that same direction.

“Cut! Cut!” they hear.

Ben looks in one direction and sees cameras and lights and some sort of equipment.

“A movie set,” he says.

“Yeah, by the looks of it,” replies Addison.

“It could be any year.”

“Back to one!” calls out someone else.

Ben knows the questions will have to wait.

“Looks like we're extras. You're new at this, I know. Well, I've never been an extra before, so I guess I'm new at this too.”

“I'd better.”

“And action!” yells the director.

And so Ben and Addison run along with the rest of the extras, playing people fleeing some sort of enemy attack.

And they do this again.

And again.

They both feel a bit tired from running, and can see the other extras are tried from running, when they hear the director yell,” New Deal!” The camera crew immediately start relocating the equipment, to film this same scene from a different angle.

Ben looks at Addison. She wears a heavy coat, old-fashioned. “All right,” he says. “We have time talk. What are you doing here, Addison?”
“I've come to take you back home,” she replies. “I've waited for this for so long, Ben. I'm here with you.” She holds his wrists. “You're here, you're real, you're in the flesh. Wait.”

“What?”

“What did you call me?”

“Addison.”

“Is that...my name?”

Ben glances at the production crew preparing for the next shot, and knows that this leap will be more complicated than he thought.

 

[Dbz77]

Chapter 2​

"Yes, your name is Addison," says Ben Song.

"Addison," she replies. "That's my name."

"What do you remember? I mean, you knew my name."

"I came looking for you." She holds his arms with her hands. "It's been so long, Ben. We haven't touched in years."

"Do you remember my last name?"

"How could I forget?" she asks, smiling widely. "I've been waiting to touch you for years! Your name's Augustine. Ben Augustine."

The quantum physicist widens his eyes a bit. "No, no, I'm Ben Song," he says. Augustine is your last name. Addison Augustine."

"Background to first position please."

Addison looks on as some people talk to a man and a woman who presumably were actors with speaking roles.

"We have to take you home, Ben."

"I'm sure you will," he replies. "But first, we have to play background here. Just go with the flow."

"Right."

Once again, Addison finds herself running along with the crowd.

Ooooo

"Background back to holding!" yells an assistant director.

"Okay, it seems we can take a breather now," says Addison. "Maybe I can bring you home now."

"We need to find out why we're here first," says Ben.

"We're extras here, Ben."

"I think there's more than that. Let's get to holding."

Holding is basically where the background hangs out when they are not in a scene. For this production, it is on another facsimile street. There are various carts and chairs and tables around, with enough space for an electric gold cart to pass, as indeed one is, carrying supplies vital to the filming.

"Hey guys!" someone calls.

Addison looks and sees a man with blond hair, wearing a light purple coat, looking very familiar.

"Ian!" exclaims Ben.

"I've been here for the past ten minutes," they reply. "It's interesting to get an inside peek on how movies are made. Any way, let me tell where you guys are. This is Universal Studious Hollywood..."

"We have a problem, Ian," says Ben. "Addison's lost her memory."

"Oh," replies the man. "Leaping can cause memory ls, especially the first time.

"You look familiar, Ian," says Addison.

"Let's start from the beginning," says Ian. "What year is it?"

"What?"

"What year is it?"

"Of course I know what year it is. It is 20-..Twenty-twenty-uh, something."

"For me, it is. For you and Ben, the year is 2002."

"So I'm a time traveler?" asks Addison. "I'm over twenty years in the past? Okay, take us home."

Ian moves their hand right through Addison, who reacts by widening her eyes. "I'm not really here in Universal Studios in 2002. I'm actually in the future, in a room called the Imaging Chamber, projecting me via brain wave transmissions so you and Ben can see me as a hologram."

And then, Ian turns translucent and starts frizzing, like a monitor with a bad connection, or a Nintendo Entertainment System game.

"Sorry," he says. "We're connecting with two leapers."

"So who are we?" asks Ben.

"You're Ben and I'm Addison," says Addison. "You told me that."

"There's a lot you don;t reme..," says Ian, who is flickering. "I..can."

Ian then appears solid.

"Okay, your'e not flickering," says Addison.

"Only you can see and hear me, now," they reply. "Ben can't see me."

"I can see Ian," says Addison.

"Figures," says Ben. "Get Addison to look at a mirror."

"A restroom," says Ian. "Ask for a ladies' restroom."

Addison asks one of the other extras where the ladies' room is, and one of them, a woman with dark hair, leads the lost leaper just a few meters from the extras' holding area. Addison can see the door with the familiar symbol for the women's room.

She walks inside. Her eyes adjusts to the brightness of the light in here, as opposed to the darkness of the outdoors.

She looks in the mirror and sees a reflection of a young woman with loosely-curled chestnut-brown hair.

"That's..not me," she says. "What's going on? That's not me."

"That's because you're in her body," says the substitute observer. "Our time travel involves possessing other people's bodies in the past."

"Okay, so just shut off whatever allows me and Ben to possess people in this year and we..it's more complicated than that, is it?"

"I'm afraid so, my friend. Only Ben and I see you as Addison Augustine."

Addison walks around on the white-tiled floor of the women's restroom. "So, who am I possessing? Whom did I leap into?"

A toiler flushes, and seconds later a fair-skinned woman with long blond hair steps out.

"You practicing your lines?" she asks.

"Uh, yeah," replies Addison.

"You leaped into Liliana Adamescu," says Ian, holding a circular electronic device. "Liliana immigrated from Romania to the United States last year, in 2001, just two months before 9/11."

"9/11?"

"In this time, she was trying to follow in the footsteps of all the immigrants from Romania and Ecuador and Nigeria and the Philippines, just making a living, hoping for something better. Aside from taking up space in TV shows and movies, Liliana works at a Starbucks in North Hollywood."

"So people in this time call me Liliana."

"Or Lily Or Lill."

"I'll meet you outside."

"I'll fill Ben in," says Ian. "You won't see me."

Minutes later, Ian appears in the extras' holding area and waves his hand. Ben walks towards him.

"Give me the lowdown," he says.

"You are Mikhail Covali, a Romanian immigrant to the U.S.. He recently immigrated here last year." Ian touches the circular device called a handlink, a remote terminal for the supercomputer called Ziggy. "He immigrated with his little sister Andrea, who lives with Liliana Adamescu in a women's hostel- that's whom Addison leaped into. Right now, you are working as background in some direct-to-video World War II period piece."

"All right," says Ben, sipping a cup of coffee. "You know, they have free coffee and snacks."

"is Ian here?" asks Addison, walking up towards Ben.

"Yeah, Ian's here," replies Ben. "How are you feeling?"

"Confused. I'm really Addison, but I look like..Lily"

"Best to follow my lead."

"I know you did this before."

"Addison tried to leap into..your leapee to bring you back to our time," says Ian. "But she just leaped into someone else at the same time."

"You tried to take my place here in 2002, but you just leaped into Lily," says Ben.

"Okay," says Addison. "I guess I've been following your lead since I stepped into the accelerator. Wait, an accelerator. That's the machine that allows people to leap to the past."

"Quantum Leap Accelerator."

"Quantum leap," whispers Addison.

"Okay, background!" yells an assistant director. "We need you back at set in ten!"

"Time for an inside peek at movie magic," says Ian. "Even if it's just direct-to-video."

Ben goes to the men's room, just next to the ladies' room, to take a look at Mikhail Covali in the mirror. He sees an ordinary man with light brown hair and a light-brown moustache, wearing 1940's period-piece clothing. After using the restroom, he walks out to join the other extras on set.

oooooo

"And that's a wrap!" yells the director, a bearded man with a beret.

The sky is dark purple and it is clear the sun will rise in an hour.

Ben and Addison figure out they have to get back to the street set used as holding. Addison picks up a bag and walks towards the tent used for the women's changing area.

She looks at Ian.

"Wait," she says. "Why did I pick this up?"

Ian touches the device. "Okay, Ziggy says that sometimes, your neurons and mesons connect with the leapee's- in this case, Lilly.

"Who's Ziggy?"

"He's the supercomputer AI used for Project Quantum Leap."

"Compiled back in the '90's." The new leaper looks through the belongings in the bag. She takes out a wallet. She removes a card, issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to one Liliana Adamescu, "Convenient," she says. "Otherwise we would not know the passwords for their phones or e-mail."

"You're remembering more."

Walking into a blue tent, she sees other women changing from their period-piece outfits to their modern clothing.

"Hey, Lily," says a young woman .

"Talking to me?' asks Addison, still trying to get used to her 2002 identity.

"I'm the one with the car, taking you and your boy home."

"My boy?" asks Addison.

"Mikhail, of course. Oh, dear, you were up until dawn. Your memory must not be working due to being up so late.."

"Yeah, so could you get me your name."

The brown-haired woman smiles as she removes her period-piece blouse. "Daria, of course. I drive you and Mikhail from Universal to North Hollywood."

"Thanks, Daria."

"We Romanians stick together, you know. You get home faster than bus, besides, you work at Starbucks later today."

"Do I get to sleep?"

Daria just laughs.

Minutes, later, Ben and Addison, along with the other background, line up before a large white truck. They all turn in their period piece costumes for their vouchers. Addison reaches the wardrobe people and turns in her costume. In return, they hand her a rectangular piece of paper. The new leaper reads it as a voucher from Sessions Payroll, with Liliana's name written on it.

"At least we learn something new," Ben says to her, just before he picks up Mikhail's voucher.

They then line up again, until an assistant director signs their vouchers.

It is half an hour later, in full daylight, that they are both inside a blue Toyota Tercel with some other people who are friends with Mikhail and Liliana, with Daria driving.

They reach an industrial area. The buildings all look plain.

"Is this home?" asks Ben.

"Home we can afford," says a young man sitting next to Ben in the backseat.

Ben yawns. So much has happened in the past twenty-four hours from his perspective. Addison, too, feels tired.

Ben walks into the hostel that was once a warehouse.

"Good morning," says a young man.

In Romanian.

"Just got to sleep," replies Ben in the same language.

He goes to a small bedroom. It sis simply furnished, with two beds. He looks at a small dresser. He sees a framed photo of a young man, the same man whose reflection he saw in the mirror back at a men's restroom in Universal Studios Hollywood.

He just gets some sleep.

Ooooooo

The Starbucks coffeeshop on Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood is not as busy as it was at 7 AM. Still, there are a few people here, all with some sort of beverage, one of them with an Apple Macintosh iBook on a varnished wooden circular table.

Addison is there, appearing as a young female immigrant trying to make a life in America, wearing a green apron over a white blouse.

"And here is your grande cappucino," she says, hading an elderly man a large paper cup.

And it is the end of her shift.

"I guess I can take over," says a crimson-haired coworker whose name is Emily.

"How is Starbucks's newest barista doing?" asks Ian.

"A third of my blood supply must be coffee now," answers the new leaper. "I just need to clock out and walk home."

"You definitely need to sleep," says Emily. "You're hallucinating."

Addison clocks out and walks out of the coffee shop. With Ian guided her, she walks along the sidewalks of North Hollywood, until she reaches the hostel where she would be living for this leap.

She says hi to one of Liliana's roommates, before she falls asleep, exhausted after everything she went through.

Ooooooo

Eight hours later, Addison still feels tired as she wakes up. She reflects on the jumble of images and sounds and other sensations she dreamed about, wondering if some of it is from her past.

She looks up and sees that man, Ian. She waves her hand through the holographic figure.

"Rise and shine," they say.

"Figured out how to get Ben and me back home?" she asks.

"Well, basically it works by you putting right what once went wrong."

"Like, change history?"

"In six days, there'll be a fire where Mikhail- where Ben's- staying. He and five others die."

 

[Dbz77]

Chapter 3​

Ben Song had just heard the news from Ian.

"Okay," he says, standing just outside the hostel in North Hollywood. The sky is purple as the sun sets. "Other people die, so it's not a simple matter of me not being there when the fire starts."

Ian holds a circular electronic device. "Yeah, the owner of the company actually was sentenced to seven years in prison for manslaughter. The building was a fire hazard."

"Yeah, I guess some people would cut corners to offer immigrants cheap rent," says Addison Augustine. "People like Liliana, priced out of decent apartments..."

"If it's a fire hazard, then stopping the original fire would simply allow another fire to occur," says Ben.

"Ziggy says there's a 78% chance that if you only prevent the original fire next week," says Ian, "there'll be another fire there in the next twenty years that will kill at least one person."

"I can't just stay in the past to keep that building from catching fire," says the quantum physicist. "I mean, Mikhail has to have his life back."

"If you don't change something, Mikhail won't have a life to come back to," says Ian.

"We have to figure something out," says Addison.

Through the rest of the night, both Ben and Addison ponder how to deal with the root cause of next week's tragedy.

Oooooooo

Once again, Ben and Addison are extras, this time working on a television show. Both Mikhail and Liliana subscribed to something called a call-in service, which told them where to be this morning. With Ian'a help, they navigated the MTA and got here, and now they line up to check in. After a while, they receive vouchers in which they fill their- or rather their leapees'- information.

Soon they are led to the holding area, located inside a sound stage with all sorts of equipment, an d some thin walls partitioning the holding area from the constructed sets. Folding chairs are set up, and some of the extras are already sitting.

Addison notes that no one is holding any smart phones, before remembering smart phones were not around in 2002. Two of the other extras read paperback novels, and one of them is playing on a Nintendo GameBoy Advance.

"Might as well get some coffee," says Addison, walking towards a table where there is a plastic dispenser serving coffee; containers of non-dairy creamer and sugar and stacks of Styrofoam cups are nearby.

It is not a Starbucks dark roast; the coffee will have to do.

Oooooo

Maybe an hour or so later, Ben and Addison are on set. Not surprisingly, the set is dressed to look like a diner, as the toll-free number informed them they would portray diner patrons. Ian is projected here, not wanting to miss an opportunity to sort-of be in the middle of a television show filming.



An assistant director has Ben and Addison sit at different tables.

"So, what is your name?" asks the young man with blond hair, sitting across a table from the leaper.

"B-Mikhail," says Ben. "My name is Mikhail."

"Russian?"

"No, I'm Kor-Romanian. I'm Romanian."

"I'm not anything exotic. Name's Steve."

"Nice to meet you."

Ian looks, seeing Addison chatting with a dark haired woman in another part of this set. He sees directors talking to people.

"Oh boy," says Ian, looking as an actor walks in, a young man with brown hair. "Hey guys! That's Will Friedle!"

There is no denying it. Will Friedle sits at one of the tables. A young man with close-cut brown hair and wearing a plaid shirt sits at the table across from the actors. Directors and other crew talk to the two of them.

Ian excitedly tells both Ben and Addison about the actor who became famous from his performance in Boy Meets World.

"Background," snaps the director. "And action!"

And so the substitute observer watches the crew film the scene for this television show. Friedle and his co-star talk, and then a young woman with dark hair and wearing a beige coat comes and joins them.

Then a young man with big dark hair goes through the entrance and talks to them; his shirt with visible, prominent bloodstains.

There are cuts and different takes taken. Both ben and Addison pay attention, as they had not experienced this before in their lives. The same scene is shot from different angles.

It is hours before the director wraps for the day.

Ooooooo

Back at holding, an assistant director announces the wrap time for the extras. Ben and Addison and the others write down the information on their vouchers.

"This leaping is really interesting," says Addison. "Getting to live a slice of other people's lives."

"Definitely a learning experience," replies Ben, smiling. "I can still remember leaping into the Space Shuttle!"

"You know, I wish I could leap into Taylor Swift, and you into one of your boyfriends at the time. Then we can enjoy the high life on her credit card."

"Who's Taylor Swift?" asks a young woman who looks as if she just recently entered adulthood.

"She was..a cartoon character, wasn't she?" asks Addison, a confused look on her face.

"You'll find out in a few years," Ben says to the girl. He looks at the other leaper. "I wonder if Sam has ever been background on set during one of his leaps."

"Uh, who's Sam Beckett?" asks Addison.

"You're remembering."

Addison reaches the table, and her- Liliana's- voucher is signed.

After a few bus rides with the help of their leapees' bus passes, Ben and Addison reach the street where their leapees live.

"We should find out what we'll do tomorrow," says Ben.

"Don't we need to figure out how to stop the fire?" asks Addison.

"Yes."

It had been so long, so long since he actually touched Addison. It had been about a year, from his point of view.

Ben walks into the common area of the hostel where Mikhail Covali lives. He looks around, and one of Mikhail's hostel-mates is watching television.

Ian suddenly appears.

Ben sees a phone mounted on the wall, and picks up the handset.

"You and Addison okay?" they ask.

"Of course," replies the leaper. "I got to check what I will be doing tomorrow."

"I do have an idea. We need to look for fire hazards in this building. And I, as a hologram, well, I can see things you can't."

"How are things back home?"

"Magic, Jenn, the rest are fine," answers Ian. "We're actually looking forward to the Thanksgiving Party in two weeks."

"I remember the last one."

"We're still busy on our end, Ben. I'm sure you and Addison will be at our next Thanksgiving party."

"We look forward to seeing you."

"Now to play Holographic Fire Marshal."

oooooooo

The next day, ben shows up at Mikhail's other job at a taco stand in North Hollywood, one that does not involve appearing in front of camera.

"Mikhail," says a man with a big moustache and olive-complected skin. "You a movie star yet?"

"Not yet," Ben says to the man who must be Mikhail's boss. "I'm just taking this one leap at a time."

"Leap, eh? Well, your next leap is to wash your hands at that hand-washing station, and then get to work."

"Right on it."

Ben washes his hands at a sink using soap and water. He then goes behind a cash register. This triggers memories of his own, when he first worked at a Togo's when he went to college for his undergraduate studies. For the first hour, he mostly wipes the counter, and only an occasional customer arrives to order a taco or a burrito or a tostada bowl.

It is not long before the lunch crowd arrives, taking breaks from jobs ranging from carpentry to plumbing to auto maintenance to paralegalism. Ben and his co-worker are continually operating the cash register. In the midst of taking orders for tacoes and burritos and chips and Pepsi, Ben wonders if some of Mikhail's memories are helping him.

As he hands a man in a gray outfit a bag with two hard-shelled tacoes filled with well-done ground beef, taco sauce, and pico de gallo, he wonders how Addison is doing.

oooooooo

Addison feels cold.

It is a cold day, and the new leaper can feel the goosebumps on her skin, even as she and at least a dozen other women run along the sand on Will Rogers Beach just below the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.

"And cut!" exclaims the bearded man directing this commercial.

This is supposed to be a summer day. Addison and the other ladies are all wearing two piece bikinis.

And temperatures are in the low sixties Fahrenheit.

She and the other extras on this beach go back to their first positions; pretty much all of them wrap their arms around their bodies due to the cold air.

They do this over and over again.

"New deal," says the director.

As the crew rearrange the cameras and check the equipment, Addison and the others walk back to a blue tent used as the holding area. The new leaper quickly dawn a coat to wear over herself. A machine blows warm air into the tent. Some of the young women even crowd in front of the machine blowing hot air.

Addison walks over to another tent were hot, cheap coffee is served on a table. She soon pours herself a cup.

"How are things going with Mikhail?" asks Daria, who had driven her to this beach.

"Mikhail?" asks Addison, remembering less than a second layer that Mikhail is the name of the man whom Ben leaped into. ""Mikhail's fine."

"You've been with my brother for years," says Andrea Covali, who had also ridden in the car with Daria and Addison all the way from North Hollywood.

"I..don't know what to say," says Addison. And indeed she does not.

It is clear Liliana had been dating Mikhail in early 2002- the new leaper had seen pictures of them together.

But despite possessing the young Romanian immigrant, Addison can not go into the depth's of Liliana Adamescu's mind, despite what Ian had told her about neurons and mesons and stuff.

Addison sips the hot coffee. "I am still trying to figure things out," she says.

"I do like you," says Andrea. "You're a great girl."

"Tell me about Mikhail. I'd like a different perspective."

"Well, he's my brother, and sometimes he annoys me."

"Big brothers do that sometimes," says Daria.

"He always comes through."

"I know people like that."

Addison then notices Ian, who is wearing a T-shirt and shorts. She wishes she had a cell phone so she could look like she is talking to someone who is not there.

She then looks and sees an auburn-haired woman standing a few feet from the tent, a coat over her bikini, holding a small piece of paper and speaking out loud.

"Excuse me," the new leaper says to Andrea and Daria. "I need to practice..acting."

"Go for it," replies Daria.

"Any news?" asks Addison.

"Ben and I inspected Mikhail's place," answers Ian. "We found some fire code violations. Ben called the fire marshal and sent a letter to their office yesterday."

"Okay, and yet this morning I was shivering in the cold while running only wearing a bikini. It was almost like Beast Barracks at West Point...Wait, a minute, West Point."

"You are a graduate of West Point. Served in the Army, left as a captain. But I need to tell you that exposing the fire code violations wasn't enough, The fire still happens, and Mikhail and five others will still die."

"Does Ben know?"

"I told him, before I tuned into you."

ooooooo

Just after sunset, Addison is back at the hostel where Liliana, Andrea, Daria, and two other young women live. She lies in Liliana's bed, trying to know as much as possible about the young woman whose life she had borrowed, reading a letter Liliana's parents mailed from Romania, as well as a personal organizer containing the leapee's schedule. On the dresser is a framed photograph of Liliana and Mikhail.

She looks at a headshot of Liliana, who is clearly a pretty girl, looking prettier in the headshot than what Addison sees in the mirror.

She wonders what to do as the fire is only in a few days.

 

[Dbz77]

Chapter 4​

Like most mornings, the Starbucks coffeeshop on Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood has its usual lines, with people lining up to get things from just a cup of coffee to cappuccinos and bagels and egg sandwiches. Unknown to these customers, almost all of them regulars, is that one of the cashiers is a time traveler from two decades in the future, known to those of her time as Addison Augustine, appearing here as a barista named Liliana Adamescu.

Again and again, Addison takes orders. She had gotten into the rhythm rather quickly, wondering if some of Liliana's memories are influencing her subconscious, automated actions. The coffeeshop scene is almost like what it will be like in her time, except that people here are not accessing the Internet via smart phones.

Retail is a new experience for the new leaper. She does remember that after graduating the United States Military Academy in West Point, she was commissioned for active duty in the United States Army, serving as an officer. She had read about the invasion of Afghanistan; she recalls having been deployed there.

Once she briefly stops wondering what she will recall about her life, Addison wonders how Ben is doing.

Ooooooo

Once again, Ben Song is wearing a cowboy outfit, along with over a dozen other extras. He sits at a long Formica table between some trailers.

This time, Ben is in a ranch in the green foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, just south of Santa Clarita. A facsimile of a stereotypical Wild West town was constructed, complete with facsimiles of banks and saloons and laundries. Much of the morning had been spent hanging around.

Andrea Covali sits across him; she eats a bag of cool ranch Doritos while the man appearing to be her older brother Mikhail sips some Coca-cola.

"so how are things going?" Ben asks Andrea.

"Uh, fine," she says.

"How do you like this kind of work?"

"Interesting. Meet a lot of people, visit so many places. Last week I had to get on bus in a parking lot and it took me to San Bernardino."

"What role did you play?"

"Just someone watching school baseball game."

"And you like moving to America."

"Different from Romania, for sure. So much more. I like tacoes. I'd eat tacoes every day if I made money."

Ben smiles. "That's right. I remember...I do work at that taco stand. A lot of college students work that kind of job."

"I guess so. I'm still waiting for my next modeling shoot."

"It's tough business. You're up against the likes of, uh, Kendall Jenner?"

"Who?"

"Oh, no one's heard of her yet," says Ben, recalling that Kendall Jenner only came to fame in the 2010's. "What can you tell me about Liliana?"

"You've known her for years."

"Well, what's your perspective?"

"Nice girl. Always good. I remember I spent day in park with her back in Romania, two years ago. And I liked it when she had dinner with family."

"Yeah," says Ben. Memories arise in his mind, memories of his time with Addison, their first date at a restaurant in Los Angeles back- or forward- in 2018.

"All right!" barks an assistant director of this production. "we need you all back on set. We're gonna film in fifteen minutes."

"We should go," Andrea says to Ben.

"Of course."

Soon, they are back in the faux Old Western town, as the crew prepares for another shoot.

Ben glances at Mikhail's sister, thinking about how to make sure she will still have a big brother next week, let alone in twenty years.

Ooooooooo

"I remember that game," says Addison as she looks a the Sony PlayStation 2 game being shown on the Magnavox color television.

"Hi there," says a man named Petru, pressing the buttons on the controller as he sits in the common room in the North Hollywood hostel. "Lily, is it?"

"Yeah,:" replies the new leaper.

"I'm excited. I start new job at steak house next to Universal. I heard they tip well."

"Oh really?" asks Ben.

"Yes," replies Petru. "Four days, I start my first shift. It's a lunch shift, of course."

Ben looks at the young man, who is clean shaven and has light brown hair. Petru is one of them men Ian said that would die in the fire, which is three days from now. Even as he lives a few days of Mikhail Covali's life, he is still trying to figure out how to prevent the fire, or at least make sure none of the six who would die are in the building when it happens. "I hope you do well."

"Oh, by the way, Mikhail," says Petru, "You have work tomorrow."

"Thanks."

"Too bad you can't have Lilly for your sleepover. Lease allows no girls to sleep over."

"We have been busy," says Addison. She had not had the opportunity for alone time with Ben ever since she arrived in 2002. Not for the first time since her first leap, she wishes she and Ben leaped into a married couple, instead of a young couple who could not even live with each other due to rental rates in Los Angeles.

"You need to save money for motel room," says Petru. "Or get your big breaks, join cast of TV, so you can live together."

"We will be together soon," says Ben. "I am sure of it."

 

[Dbz77]

Chapter 4 1/2​

Let's get it crunk up on
Have fun up on, up in this dancery
We got ya'll open, now ya floatin'
So you gots to dance for me
Don't need no hateration
Holleration in this dancery
Let's get it percolatin', while you're waitin'
So just dance for me

The song by Mary J. Blige plays from the speakers of a Toyota Tercel as it is driven southbound on Long Beach Freeway. It is early morning, and there is plenty of traffic, the brake lights from southbound vehicles, a third of them tractor-trailers, glow. The sky above is a dark purple, and the buildings appear to have washed-out colors.

"You okay back there?" asks Daria, who is driving.

"A little tired," replies Ben. ""Had to wake up early."

"Have to leave early."

"I remember," says Addison, sitting in the front seat. "I remember going this way. We went to the terminal in Long Beach to take a round-trip Carnival cruise to Hawaii."

Daria laughs at the though of Mikhail and Liliana affording a cruise.

"Uh, we're practicing pretending to be other people," says Ben. "I do remember visiting Honolulu and Maui."

"The Carnival Miracle. The dining room was awesome, and I liked Guy's Burger Joint. And who could forget drinks by the pool."

"I remember the steakhouse.

"And formal night, with you in that tuxedo. And I wore this red dress and we went to the ballroom"

"You two have imagination," says Daria, looking ahead on the traffic for Interstate 710. "Okay, I pretend to be Speed Racer, and I just phase through cars on freeway."

The continue for another half hour, with Daria taking a loop ramp to another freeway, and then five minutes later, exiting onto a street called Bellflower Boulevard. After navigating through some city streets, Daria and her passengers all see a dark blue pyramid.

Following yellow signs and other cars,. Daria soon parks the Tercel at a parking lot on the campus of California State University Long Beach. She, Ben, and Addison step outside. In the distance are some trailers, and other people carrying garment bags and walking towards those trailers is a clear sign that that is where these three must head.

The two leapers go through the familiar process of lining up, reaching the assistant directors at a portable table, and signing in, receiving a voucher by Sessions Payroll. They then go into a large tent where the extras would hang out when they are not needed on set. Ben and Addison immediately go for the coffee, and the two of them wonder if part of it is due to "muscle memory", as they might call it, from Mikhail and Liliana. Most of the people here are in their twenties, portraying college students, while there are a handful of older people who presumably are playing professors.

"Nothing like coffee to start morning," says Daria, who sits across from Ben.

"It is a learning experience," replies the leaper.

"How are things going for you so far?" Addison asks Daria.

"Still working. I had my first speaking role two weeks ago. I told you that. Don't you remember?"

"I'm sure Mikhail remembers."

"Yeah, Liliana would remember too," adds Ben, smiling.

"Hey there," says a young man. "You're Daria, right?"

"Yes," replies Daria.

"I met you on set at Universal, when we were filming that World War II movie. How's it going?"

"We need to check wardrobe," says Daria.

Of course, Ben and Addison go to the wardrobe trailer, where a young lady checks their wardrobe selections, to make them look like college students in the early fall.

Then, about one and a half hours after call time, Ben and Addison and Daria are among the extras called to set.

They all take a long walk, up a concrete ramp to a fountain next to the college's main administration building. They walk past a roundabout, and then around the side of the University Student Union, to a building which hosts several eating establishments.

The set is at a bunch of tables in the outdoor patio section of an establishment called the Nugget, whose sign is covered, identifying it as the fictional establishment called the Broiler. The crew inspects the extras as well as the cameras and lighting and other equipment to film this scene. Ben and Addison look around, still wanting to learn more how movies and TV shows are made.

"Okay," an assistant director says to Ben. "You will walk along with this guy."

Ben looks and sees a young man with black hair and amber-complected skin, wearing a T-shirt with the name Woodbridge U.

He glances and sees Addison sitting at a table. A few feet away is a lady with blond hair and blue eyes, who is the actress in this scene.

"Background," says the director. "and action!"

Ben and the other extra walk as directed, and Addison pretends to chat with the other ladies sitting at the table. The actress speaks to another actress.

There are more cuts, and more takes. Different angles are shot. Between takes, Ben, Addison, and the other extras get snacks such as Doritos and Frito-Lay corn chips and sodas and coffee from crafty tables set up just a few feet from the shooting location. At times, the extras go all the way back to holding when the crew has to do major work.

The extras break for lunch at 1:30 PM. Lunch is served at the parking lot on the north side of the CSULB campus, near where the extras first checked in. Ben and Addison line up. Food is served cafeteria style, with salads and dinner rolls and sauteed vegetables and several types of meat like beef, chicken, and fish being served.

"I definitely have to admit," says Addison as she eats her lunch at a table. "The pay sucks, but this job has great benefits, the best food."

"I wish," says Daria. "Sometimes they only offer a cold sandwich and chips. Sometimes your only lunch is at crafty."

"Still trying to get used to this."

"I thought you were vegetarian"

Addison looks at a piece of meat she had cut. "Oh, I guess I got tired of that?"

Ben turns his head. "Any plans soon?"

"Modeling shoot at Griffith Park," replies Daria.

After an hour's lunch, most of the extras, including Ben, Addison, and Daria, are summoned back to the Nugget. Once again, the crew prepares to shoot the next scene at this place standing in for the fictional Woodbridge College, moving around and testing the cameras and other equipment.

"Okay," says an assistant director wearing a sweater, "you two sit at that table."

Daria smiles as she and Ben sit at a table.

"Good to sit here," she says.

"Okay," says the assistant directors. "you walk over there and join those girls for lunch."

"Got it," replies Addison. She glances towards Ben and Daria.

"You okay?" Daria asks.

"I'm getting the hang of this," answers the leaper. "You wouldn't believe how much has happened?"

"And how are things with Liliana?"

"Liliana?" asks Ben.

"You are seeing her."

"Yeah." Ben mulls about this. He had never met Liliana, and he is not even sure he can detect whatever feelings Mikhail might have for her. "You know, Daria, this is a bit, uh, complicated."

"Complicated?"

"There's just a lot of things."

"I understood this, Mikhail. I was told we used to play together in the preschool. We know each other for so long."

"Yeah, I guess."

"I remember sitting with you at school ten years ago."

"How could I forget? But what is this about?"

"Are you sure about Liliana?"

Ben is on the spot again. He wishes he could talk to Mikhail Covali, get his opinion on Liliana Adamescu. "That's something I have to think.."

"Okay, background!" exclaims an assistant director. "Get to hour number one position. We are about to shoot!"

Ben glances at the actress, who wears a different outfit, a sweater with the fictional Woodbridge logo. He then looks at Daria. "We'd better pantomime."

"Background!" exclaims the director. "And action."

ben and Daria pretend to talk, Addison walks to the table and joins several young women, and the actress says her lines as she faces a co-star.

And there is another take.

Oooooo

Addison stirs awake. She is sitting at the front seat of a blue Toyota Tercel. She notices she is not on any freeway. She figures she fell asleep even before the car reached the onramp to northbound San Diego Freeway.

"here you go, Mikhail," says Daria.

"Thank you for the ride," replies Ben.

"I always stand for you."

"You are the greatest," says Addison.

Ben walks inside the hostel, putting Mikhail's bag right next to his bed. The leaper sits on the bed. He wants to go to sleep.

There is something he has to do.

He leaves the hostel and walks down the sidewalk After a few minutes, he reaches the hostel where Liliana lives. Walking up to the door, he rings the doorbell.

"Yes?" asks a female voice.

"Is Ad- is Liliana there?" asks Ben. "It's Mikhail."

The door soon opens, and Addison appears.

"Oh hi," she says.

"We need some alone time."

ooooooo

When you rolled up in the Escalade
Saw that dub you gave to the valet
Knew that it was game when you looked at me
Pulling up your sleeve so I could see the Rolley bling
Saw you later in the corner booth
Raising up a toast so I would notice you
But your heart's a mess, think you oughta know
Doesn't matter if you're balling out of control
All that matters is
That you treat me right
Give me all the things I need
That money can't buy, yeah
Think you gotta keep me iced? You don't
Think I'm gonna spend your cash? I won't
Even if you were broke, my love don't cost a thing
Think I wanna drive your Benz? I don't (ooh)
If I wanna floss, I got my own
Even if you were broke, my love don't cost a thing


Addison takes the french fry covered in gravy and eats it, enjoying the taste. "I never actually had poutine before," she says. "And it only cost eight dollars!"

"it looked interesting," replies Ben, sticking a fork into the bowl, and removing a gravy-covered cheese curd. The two of them are in a bar and grill in North Hollywood. It is a large place, with a wooden bar, of course, and several circular wooden tables. A waitress walks with a plate of food. Several other people are there, and music is played from a TouchTunes Internet jukebox.

"I'm just so glad to be on a date with you," she says. "A date, after all these years." Addison takes a piece of beef short rib from the bowl and eats it, savoring the taste. She barely notices being tired from working on set all day. Being here with Ben, after four years, fuels her feelings. "It's been a long journey I remember when you first leaped, how I felt."

"It was a rough time," says Ben, sipping his beer.

"Maybe we had to go through all that to be where we are now- together, in a bar in North Hollywood in the year 2002."

"Makes us forget we have a mission."

"Yeah, Mikhail and five other men are relying on us to keep them from burning to death."

"Ziggy hasn't figured out how the fire started," says Ben. "I called the fire marshal yesterday, and already sent them the letter, but they never condemned the building before the fire burned it down."

"Maybe we shouldn't think too hard about that. Let's enjoy the moment. After all we've ben through. Besides, sometimes ideas pop up when we're not thinking about it."

Ben smiles. "For all we know, Sam figured out the final piece of the puzzle to quantum leaping while out on a town with Al and some drinking buddies from the first project."

"I remember Al. Old guy, retired admiral from the Navy, observer during the first project. He was the brainchild in reviving the project. And I remember...the funeral."

"I have some memories of his funeral. He was loved by many."

"Maybe we should change the subject."

"It's okay," says Ben. "You're rediscovering, like I did when I first took the leap. You don't have to rush it. Memories will come back for you."

"Leaping in time, putting right was once went wrong, it feels like a calling. If only we can go home after every leap. Like, sailors on subs get to go home unless the sub sinks."

"We should know more about how leaping works. Maybe your visit here to 2002 is a necessary detour. I mean, you leaped into Liliana instead of Mikhail for a reason. Solving this leap requires two leapers; I'm sure of it. And I'm sure we will leap together, home."

Addison gets up and walks towards the Internet jukebox, feeling a bit grateful that Internet jukeboxes already exist in 2002. She searches for songs for about ten seconds, before remembering many of her favorite songs had not been released yet.

"Any ideas?" asks Ben as he walks up to her.

"Got to look for something that was already around now," she replies. Ah, here it is. It's a classic, even in this time."

They go back to their table, enjoying their drinks and their food. Ben talks about some of his past leaps, such as the time he leaped into an astronaut aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, and Addison remembers being the observer for that leap. He also mentions being a detective, and surviving the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

And then the song "I'm Not in Love" by Will to Power starts playing.

I'm not in love, so don't forget it
It's just a silly phase I'm going through
And just because I call you up
Don't get me wrong, don't think you've got it made
I'm not in love, oh no, just because

ben holds Addison's right hand in his hand. "Shall we?" he asks.

"Yes," she replies.

The two of them walk to a dance floor.

I like to see you, but then again
That doesn't mean you mean that much to me
So if I call you, don't make a fuss
Don't tell your friends about the two of us
I'm not in love, no, no, just because
(There's something about the way she makes me feel)
Oh, you wait a long time for me
Oh, you wait a long time

And they dance together, her hand on his shoulder, his arm around her waist. Their hearts beat together in rhythm.The two leapers look into each others eyes, seeing themselves for whom they really are.

Just because
Ooh, you wait a long time for me
Ooh, you wait a long time

I keep your picture upon the wall
It hides a nasty stain that's lyin' there
But don't you ask me to give it back
I know you know it doesn't mean that much to me
I'm not in love, I'm not in love

Timer seems to slow down- or maybe it had slowed down for them. They have been waiting for this moment for so long. Even when it seemed they would be separated forever, Ben and Addison had hoped for this moment.

And this moment is just the first step. There are so many more steps to take.

ooooooooo

Addison eats some Kellogg's Froot Loops that had been dispenses from a dispenser. Also on the table is a glass of orange juice.

She and Ben eat breakfast at a motel in North Hollywood after spending the night there. It is a no0-frills motel, not like a Red Lion Inn or a Holiday Inn or a Marriott. The two of them, having breakfast together, it feels so right.

They finish breakfast, and walk to the front desk. It looks like a typical front desk, with a desk of course, as well as chairs and a rack filled with brochures advertising various places like Universal Studios Hollywood, Griffith Park, the Queen Mary, the La Brea Tar Pits, and other places.

"You two lovebirds done?" asks the desk clerk, a man with short-cropped black hair and a short-cropped beard.

"Uh, sure," replies Ben, giving the clerk Mikhail's credit card. The clerk pushes buttons on a cash register, scans the credit card, and then prints out a receipt, which Ben says.

"Come back here again," he says.

Thew two leapers walk out of the motel and into the courtyard where there are seven cars parked, all of them from the 1990's.

"Mikhail will be surprised to have a few extra hundred dollars on his credit card bill," says Ben.

"At least he'll be alive to read his credit card statement," says Addison. "We have to stop that fire."

Suddenly, a translucent figure appears.

"Ian?" asks Ben.

"You can both hear me, right?" they asks.

"Yeah, we can hear you," replies Addison. "You look like a ghost, though."

"A compromise as you both need to hear me. I have bad news."

"Like what?" asks Addison.

"The fire marshal did inspect the building, and ordered it condemned and vacated. Mikhail and those others, they live. The owner of the building, well, he doesn't go down for manslaughter, but the fire marshal found several other buildings that were major fire hazards. He had to sell them to raise enough money to pay a huge court-ordered fine."

"That's good news, Ian," says Ben. "But we should have leaped. Well, I wouldn't complain exactly about not leaping out last night, but what's stopping us from leaping out now?"

"Just follow me," says Ian. "the fire marshal inspected the building and found the fire hazards, yes, but they inspected it after the fire should have happened. That means they did not prevent the fire from happening."

"So what did?" asks Addison.

"What we do know is that tomorrow, Liliana Adamescu was murdered as she was on her way to a modeling shoot."

"If Liliana dies, I die," says Addison.

 

[Dbz77]

Chapter 5​

Addison Augustine walks along a sidewalk in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles. A car occasionally passes by. Wires and cables are held up by tall pine poles.

"It seems obvious," she says. "The original fire was arson. But something happened that they changed their mind and decided to kill Lilliana instead. Mikhail would have died in the fire, so the fire, and Liliana's murder, has something to do with them. So we need to learn as much about the murder as we can."

"Ziggy's downloaded all the investigation files from the LAPD database," says Ian, appearing as a translucent hologram to talk to the two leapers at the same time.

"We had better formulate a plan."

Ben Song listens as the new observer talks about the details of the murder of Liliana Adamescu.

Oooooo

Addison looks at Liliana's reflection in the shared bathroom in the hostel and takes a deep breath. She studies her features, the green eyes and the chestnut-brown hair.

She will save her life.

Half an hour later, she is in the passenger seat of a car that travels along the exit ramp from the Hollywood Freeway, going over Highland Avenue before merging into the street's right lanes. Passing thew Hollywood bowl, the car reaches Hollywood.

The leaper glances outside the window, seeing the various tall buildings bunched up together. Many people walk along the concrete sidewalks.

The car turns onto a side street and then pulls into a ten-foot wide alley, the disc brakes slowing down the tires until they come to a stop.

Addison unfastens her seat belt and gets out of the blue Toyota Tercel.

Daria gets out of the car.

"Watch out!" yells Ian.

Addison sees Daria pull out a .22 caliber handgun. The .22 caliber round exists the barrell in a flash just as the leaper literally leaps to the right.

Daria is pointing the gun at the woman who looks like Liliana, her wrists shaking.

"You're shaking," says Addison. "You've no experience with physical violence. I remember the first time I held a gun,during Beast Barracks at West Point. My hands were shaking too. I remember pulling that trigger the first time."

"Mikhail will be mine," says Daria, her right hand still trembling as it holds the cheap pistol.

"I know about your plot to burn down the building. You couldn't have Mikhail, so you couldn't let anyone else have him. I've seen that same story at least three dozen times. You changed your mind, decided not to burn the building down. . You heard something from someone, maybe even from me, and figured that if you took Liliana- me- out of the equation, you could have him for yourself.
"You would have gotten away with your original plan. Nobody would have found out it was you behind the fire. This is different You won't get away with this. You go down. The only difference is for how long."

"Why you?" she asks. "why did he pick you?"

"You changed your future once, you can do it again."

"Freeze!" someone yells.

Addison kneels down in the alley. Daria turns her head and sees two blue-uniformed officers from the Los Angeles Police Department. They both point pistols at her.

"Drop it!" they yell. "Now!"

Ian looks at them.

"The choice is yours," Addison says to Daria.

She takes a deep breath, still with feelings of rage and confusion.

Setting the feelings aside, she kneels down and puts the cheap pistol down slowly.

The two police officers surround her and one of them places cuffs on her.

Both Addison and Ian breathe sighs of relief.

Ooooooo

An hour later, Addison is still in Hollywood. She meets with Ben on a sidewalk on Highland Avenue, and they hug.

"Always your partner," he says. "It did take a lot longer for me to take the bus all the eway here."

"Taking a bus isn't as hard as leaping through time."

Ian appears to both of them, looking like a translucent ghost. "Daria spends the rest of her stay in the U.S. In the Central California Women's Facility, before she was deported," says the observer. "No indication that she causes any more trouble. Mikhail and Liliana move back to Romania in 2005, and they marry and start a family. Andrea decided to live in the U.S. She became a model and an actress, having speaking roles in several TV shows and movies. She marries an American and also starts a family. Here is a picture of them in 2018."

Ian projects a hologram. The entrance to Universal Studios Hollywood appears. They clearly see a clearly older Mikhail and Liliana. Also there are a clearly older Andrea and another man. And there are children ranging in ages from a few months to ten years old."

"So quantum leaping is about making happy endings," says Addison.

"Much of it, yes," replies Ben. "Now let;'s give Mikhail and Liliana a great welcome home.

He holds Addison and they kiss.

Their hearts beat in unison.

They once again feel closeness, perfection.

Unseen to anyone in 2002, a blue glow surrounds then, and they quantum leap.

Addison Augustine finds herself in another time and another place.

She looks around at a large room. Some rings spin around on their side. She looks and sees hersefl wearingh some white fabric suit.

"The accelerator chamber!" she exclaims.

Some other people run in.

"Magic! Jenn!" she exclaims. "Ian!"

"Welcome back," says Magic.

She looks and sees a blue glow.

She can not believe it.

Ben Song is about to leap back.

Ben Song is returning home.

After all these years, her lover will be home with her.

She sees a blue, humanoid shape getting clearer and c leaerr, the features becoming more and more detailed.

She can see Ben's face.

And the blue figure is gone.

"Ben!" she yells.

She immediately runs past the others, down a hallway, and into the control room for Project Quantum Leap, where there are large monitors where the supercomputer Ziggy displays various types of data.

Addison looks at a large screen.

"We know where he is," she says. She looks towards Ian.

"Handlink!" she yells.

Ian throws her the circular electronic device that acts as a remote terminal for Ziggy.

She marches right to another room next to the control room. The adjoinging room has orange walls.

It is the Imaging Chamber, which will project her hologram to the past.

Soon, the imaging chamber projects a hologram around her, and she sees herself between two earth walls. There are other men inside, all in green uniforms and helmets.

A dog barks at her. She looks and sees the uniformed soldier holding the dog's leash.

"Ben!" she calls out.

"Addison," says Ben. She walks towards him and waves her hand through his arm, telling him everything he needs to know about where and when she is.

"You might know this already," says the observer, "This is not a movie set. You're in West Flanders in Belgium, and the date is October 18, 1914. The First Battle of Flanders starts tomorrow."