Date: Sat, 30 Aug 1997 16:09:02 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Memories - Part 4 Message-ID: Quantum Leap Memories by Katherine R. Freymuth Copyright 1997 Part 4 "Do you want to talk now?" Verbina asked as Al enteed the Control Room. "What did you two talk about in there?" Al looked at Verbina with slight surprise. "Are you worried about what I told her? Well, don't be. I didn't tell her abything she hadn't figured out herself." He shook his head slightly. "She's a truly remarkable woman." "You talked for quite a while,"Verbina commented. Al took a slow breath. "We had a lot to catch up on." He looked at Verbina and saw the questioning on her face. "We grew up together. At least until Dad had to put Trudy and me in the orphanage." Verbina smiled slightly. "Has she always been so... insightful?" Al nodded slightly. "Always. She could tell me what was going to happen before it did." He looked at Verbina firmly. "She predicted World War II. Can you imagine a six year old girl predicting a war?" He exhaled. "Of cours, I didn't believe her. In fact, Inever did really believe her until just now." "It's hard to imagine you as a skeptic of the supenatural," Verbina told him. Al shrugged. "Yeah. Well, I was a wild child." Verbina laughed slightly. She didn't say anything, waiting for Al to speak his mind. "She said that she has a mission here - in this time - but she wouldn't tell me what it is." Verbina paused. "It may have something involving you," she suggested gently. Al frowned. He looked at the psychiatrist carefully. "Why do you say that?" "She told me, before you went in to see her, that she was here for someone. A male someone." She took a breath. "Since you and she know each other and you are one of only two males who have access to the Waiting Room, it's a good assumption that she's probably here for you." Al tilted his head questioningly. "Why me?" Verbina looked at him gently. "I don't know. Do you?" Al frowned at her with slight annoyance. He didn't like when she tried to make him introspective. "I have no idea," he told her. "And right now, it's the last thinf on my list of things to worry about. Right now, I'd better go see how Sam is doing." He paused. "If my memory of Maddie's family is correct, he's going to need my help." Sam had finished eating dinner with Christa and Joe, learning more about the Dniels family. He found that the three siblings lived quite well together and cared for each other very much. However, like all families, they had their problems. The biggest problem was, unfortunately, that Joe and Christa seemed to have a prejudice streak in them. Although they never said anything directly derogatory about the Tornellis, they seemed uncomfortable with the family living beside them. They seemed desperate to leave the Italian Quarter as soon as possihble but Sam wasn't sure if it was because of the Italian neighbors or because of John's Down Syndrome. Sam thought it was probably the latter, since they didn't seem to mind their other Italian neighbors. His suspicions were confirmed while Joe helped Christa clear off the table. "You know," Joe commented, "I'm beginngin to think that house actually is cursed. I mean, first there was that girl and now there's this boy..." "His name is John," Sam interrupted, reprimanding. "Besides," Christa put in, "the idea that that house is cursed is absurd. It's just bad luck, that's all." Sam glared at her. "Bad luck?" "It's the Fifties, Sam," a smoke-filled voice told him. "A lot of people thought the way Christa does." "Watch out, Christa," Joe said with a slight smile. "She's about to give us the 'you never did understand her' lecture." Sam frowned. "I don't think lecturing you two is going to make any difference." He stood up and left the kitchen without another word but with a firm glare. Al glared at the two siblings angrily before following Sam into the living room. He found the physicist sitting on the couch, his eyes closed. "Are you okay, Sam?" he asked gently. Sam took a deep breath before opening his eyes and lookeding at Al. "How did you handle it?" he questioned. "How did you handle people talking about your sister the way they talk about John?" Al exhaled. "You remember Trudu," he observed. "Well, most of the time, I pummelled them - when they were kids. When they were adults, all I could do was just stand there and take it." Sam sat forward. "This isn't one big happy family, Al. At least, not to me it isn't. I mean, yes, they love each toerh but, according to Joe and Christa, all three of them grew up with a handicapped girl next door and yet they haven't accepted John." Al raised an eyebrow. "Maddie has," he said firmly. "Her experience with... the handicapped girl helped prepare her for John. His I.Q. is much lower than the girl's. He can walk. He can say a few simple words. He can't do much else, though. He'll never learned to read, write, or even color a picture. His I.Q. is about that of a two year old. Maddie understands and accepts this." "So why can't Joe and Christa?" Sam asked angrily. Al took a breath. "When that little girl lived in that house, Maddie was nine, Joe was seven, and Christa was six. Christa followed her big brother's lead and Joe followed the lead of all the other kids on the street, in the school, in the park. Maddie, being the eldest, always had to be more mature than her brother and sister. Both of their parents worked to keep the family going so she did a lot of the housework. She had also gotten to know the handicapped girl and her brothe very well. She easily empathized with the brother because they were both in the same kind of situation - being the eldest amd forced to grow up before they had the chance to just be children. Finally, the girl's mother abandoned her children. It wasn't long after that when Maddie and the brother were separated." Sam looked at Al with curiosity. "You seem to know a lot about Maddie and her family." Al shrugged slightly, hoping his concern wouldn't show. He knew he had said too much and he was hoping that Sam hadn't made the connection. However, as he saw Sam's pensive look, he knew his hopes were for not. "Al," Sam said gently. "You lived in the Tornelli house, didn't you?" When Al didn't answer, Sam closed his eyes in sympathy. "Oh, Al! No wonder you weren't comfortable in there." Al hesitated. "I do't have a lot of fond memories from there." He gave Sam a slight smile. "I did Joe a few bloody noses then." "Maddie," Joe's voice came from the kitchen as he and Christa came into the living room. Sam diverted his attention to the man, questioning in his eyes. Al looked at his boyhood nemesis with curiosity. Joe hesitated. "Christa and I were talking and we'd like to apologize for what we said earlier. We're sorry we upset you by talking about them the way we did." "Them?" Sam questioned, knowing eactly who he was talking about but wanting to see how sincere he really was. Joe looked at Sam with some confusion as to what he was meaning. "The boy and the girl, of course." Sam shook his head. "You can't even say their names, can you? Trudy and John, Joe. How can you expect me to believe you're sincere when you refer to them as 'the boy and the girl'?" "Maddie, don't be so hard on us," Christa told him. "We all know how you feel about them but does that mean that we have to feel the same way?" Al glared at the two in anger. "You two haven't changed a bit, have you? Joe preying on people who can't defend themselves and Christa following his lead. If you two weren't holograms, I'd deck both of you but it probably wouldn't do either of you any good." Sam looked firmly at Christa. "No, you don't have to feel the same way as I do." "Sam!" Al yelled at him in anger. "But," Sam added quickly to ward of Al's anger, "you should at least try to understand and accept them for who they are. Both John and Trudy are unique and wonderful people, full of unconditional love." Jot took a step towards Sam. "Face the fact, Maddie. John's too stupid to even know how to use a toilet and Trudy is probably dead. The same goes for that arrogant deggo brother of hers." Joe didn't see it coming but, the next thing he knew, he was laying on the floor, his lip bleeding from the punch to the jaw that Sam had given him. Al smiled at Sam's actions as he mimicked Sam's punch. "Maddie!" Christa exclaimed in shock. "That 'arrogant deggo brother' happens to be my friend, Joe," Sam leered at the fallen man. "I won't have you insulting him or his sister that way. The same goes for Linda and John." Joe slowly stood up, rubbing his jaw. "Not a bad punch," he commented. "Did the brother teach you that?" Sam glared at him. "His name is Al." He paused. "What the hell is the matter with you, Joe? Do you have it out for everyone or just Italians, especially those who are mentally handicapped?" Al was glaring at Joe in synchronicity with Sam. "Probably a little of both," he commented. "He never did like being associated with his mom; she was as Italian as my dad. And just as wonderful - both her and her husband." Joe rose his eyebrows as Al spoke. "Handicapped? This isn't a golf game, Maddie." Al shook his head. "I can't take this anymore," he announced, walking away from the group. Sam shook his head as well. "There's just no getting through to you, is there? Why can't you see the good in people?" He looked at Christa. "And why can't you think for yourself instead of following his lead all the time? Haven't you learned anything since you started college?" Giving each of the two siblings before him a firm and meaningful glare, he walked upstairs in search of Maddie's bedroom, hoping that his words would get Joe and Christa to think about their actions. When Sam finally found the correct room, he also found Al standing in the room, looking around. "I've had a lot of good memoried of this room," He commented as Sam came into the room. "Maddie and I spent many hours inhere just talking to each other." He huffed slightly. "My mother never did like me being up here. She wanted me to play with kids my own age. But why would I want to play with the very same kids that picked on and insulted my little sister?" Sam lowered his head. "Kids like Joe?" he asked quietly. Al didn't say anything for a moment. "Yes," he finally said quietly. Sam paused. "So you and Maddie were close." Al laughed slightly. "Close is an understatement." He took a breath. "I've had three best friends in my life. You are one. Chip was another. And then there was Maddie." He smiled widely. "Maddie was terrific with Trudy. And Trudy was crazy about her." He looked at Sam with a pause. "You know, Sam, I really think that Maddie would make a great mom. I think you're here to make sure that Maddie raises Linda and John." Sam smiled slightly. "You think so," he said more than asked. Al nodded slightly. His face became serious. "She'd definitely be a better parent than Michael Tornelli." Sam frowned slightly at the expression on Al's face. There was something that still bothered the Admiral. "Al," Sam questioned gently. "Is there something else you need to tell me?" Al looked at Sam slightly, trying to see if Sam knew more than Al had told him. He saw deep concern in his friend's eyes and it scared him. It scared him because he wasn't sure what Sam had to be concerned about. Diverting his eyes, he quickly put in the exiting sequence into the handlink. "I'm going to see if our latest theory on why you're here flies with Ziggy," he told Sam as he stepped through the Imaging Chamber door and closed it. Sam exhaled in frustration. He knew it took a lot to get Al to talk but this was highly unusual. He could swear that Al himself didn't know what was wrong. A moment passed before Sam readied himself for bed and for another day in the life of Madeline Daniels.