Message-Id: <9712152007.AA11479@arctos.bowdoin.edu> Subject: NEW: Reverse Reflection, 7/7 (epilogue) Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 15:07:24 -0500 (EST) From: "Emilie R. Karr" Title: Reverse Reflection, 7/7 (Drama) Author: Emilie Renee Karr This is it, folks... Epilogue Al Calavicci rang the doorbell and then wished he hadn't. For the past week people had been trying to get him to talk. Verbena as always with professional concern, and Gooshie with his clumsy curiosity, and even Tina one night at dinner and another night actually in bed asked what exactly had happened during the Leap. He supposed he should be thankful Ziggy wasn't pushing for answers, though of course the computer knew the entire tale already. What Al really wanted was to discuss it with Sam, but Sam hadn't Leaped in yet. Ziggy was 100 percent confident that he would sometime soon, and that they would have their connection with him still, but meanwhile Al had no choice but to wait. Even when Sam had popped out of the timestream there was no telling how much he would remember, and Al wasn't sure he would remind him if he had in fact swiss-cheesed it all. He had other news to relate as it was. During the past year Ziggy and the rest had worked out several new theories for retrieving Sam, and were eager to test them as soon as they got his cooperation. Al wasn't as confident as the rest, but he hadn't given up hope on Sam in the past year, and he supposed he shouldn't give hope on their getting him back since they had found him again. But until they got Sam back, it would be hard to talk with him. And Verbena was right. Al did need to talk. He wanted to do so with someone. But now, standing on her porch, he was no longer so sure. Except it was too late, because she was already there, opening up the main door and speaking through the screen. "May I help you?" Very polite to this uniformed stranger. In the past an unknown man in military garb on the doorstep would have meant mourning to come, but fortunately times had changed. He wasn't precisely sure why he had worn this outfit. To appear respectable, perhaps. So she would have better reason to listen to him. "Dr. Reid, I would--" Would what? He hadn't the slightest idea what to say. "I'd like to talk with you, if I can." "About what?" The sassy curiosity hadn't altered a whit in the last eight years. She was only thirty, after all; still a kid, really. "About a lot of things. I knew--" he hesitated, then went on, "I knew your mother." "Both of my parents are still very much alive," she informed him. "If you'd like their address or something..." "No," Al shook his head. "No, but I want...Did you know your mother was married to someone else when she met your father?" Through the screen he saw her incline her head, gaze at him thoughtfully. "Yes, I did, though I've not heard much about it." Her mannerisms of course were unchanged, and she looked very much as he had seen her, one week ago or eight years ago depending on one's point of view. After a moment she opened the screen door and allowed him entrance. Once inside he could see her clearly. She had indeed changed little, only now she was at an age at which he had known her mother. And he was amazed he had missed the resemblance. Not exactly like Beth, but very very close. Close enough that he felt nervous, disturbed, trapped as he had felt the one time he had met with Beth after he returned. He didn't leave, though. "Berry--" She raised an eyebrow and he started again, "I'm sorry, Dr. Reid, my name is Albert Calavicci and I..." He didn't need to finish the sentence. Berry rocked back on her heels, eying him speculatively before gesturing to the sofa. "Please, Mr. Calavicci--" "Call me Al." "And Berry's fine for addressing me. Would you like something to drink in the grand old tradition, coffee, tea?" "No." Al shook his head. "I just wanted to--there's some things I'd like to tell you about. If you're willing to listen." "I'd be happy to." Berry sat in the chair across from him, meeting his look with easy confidence. Something in her eyes made him want to squirm, and he glanced away. "Is Sidney--is your husband around?" "He should be back from his job within an hour. Do you want to speak with him too?" "I'd like to, actually." "Can I impinge on you?" "Go right ahead," Al assured her. "I don't think I've ever met you. I think I understand what our relation is. I'd like to know more about that, because it's something I've always wondered about. But also--how'd you find out about me? About us, since you know Sidney too?" "Berry..." Al started to speak, stopped, re-started. "Do you remember how you met your husband?" Berry grinned. "If you knew that story you'd know it'd be a pretty hard thing to forget." "Actually I do know it..." Project Quantum Leap had rules, strict ones, about secrecy. Government laws concerning Top Secret Projects and Eyes Only Material. And the project itself had its own codes, many of which involved keeping the timeline straight and not mucking up history, past or future. But one could make exceptions for special circumstances. Al was acting Director until Sam came home. Between now and then, he didn't see why he shouldn't take advantage of some of the perks. And Berry was watching him with all her curiosity dancing in her eyes, waiting for him to explain what her soul already guessed. And rather than deny the truth or only give little tidbits that wouldn't add up to anything substantial, Al took a deep breath and began at the beginning. "I have a friend named Sam Beckett, a scientist who theorized he could time travel, and one day to test that theory Sam stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator..." Al hoped that soon he'd be able to tell her the end of the story, about how Sam Leaped home. But just talking about it, with this woman who had been lost and gone and then saved and married, all due to Sam and himself, was a relief, a comfort. He and Sam were back to setting wrongs right again. And until Sam returned, Al wouldn't have it any other way. The End Hope you enjoyed it! If you want to make somebody's day, e-mail me and tell me so: ekarr@bowdoin.edu