From: lalsoong@sprynet.com (Christine Wirick ) Newsgroups: alt.tv.quantum-leap.creative Subject: Paradox Delusion 22/23 Date: Sat, 22 Feb 1997 19:00:51 GMT Organization: Sprynet News Service Message-Id: <33264191.1376174@news.sprynet.com> Nntp-Posting-Host: ad70-113.compuserve.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Chapter Twenty-Two: He found himself leaping into a man standing in a courtroom only a few feet away from the judge. A tumult was growing among the watchers as the judge pounded his gavel and threatened contempt charges against several people. "Mr. Everheart," the judge said, addressing Sam, "would you please try to keep your witness under control?" "Yes, your Honor," Beckett replied and turned toward the witness. He was shocked to see Lisanne Sheffield sitting in the witness chair! He whirled around anxious to see who the defendant was and found himself staring at Charles Sheffield. "Mr. Everheart, is there a problem?" Sam tried to think quickly, but he didn't even know yet whether Sheffield was his client or if he had leaped into the prosecuting attorney. After he had helped Patrick through all of the altered lives, he had expected to leap into a new situation, one that did not involve Patrick or any of the other players from the leap at the house in Mt. Pleasant. Yet here he was staring into the face of the man who had attempted to kill Patrick and had sent Patrick into a perilous journey of tortured lives. He prayed he wasn't the defense attorney. How could he ever be expected to defend a man that he knew firsthand was guilty. "If you have no further questions, counselor, then ask your witness to step down," the judge bellowed. "I have no further questions, Your Honor." Sam felt his mouth grow dry. "We will have a recess for lunch, then." The judge tapped the table with his gable. "Court will recommence at one-thirty." Sam did not have time to eat. He had just over an hour to familiarize himself with Everheart's notes and case strategy. To his dread, he found the attorney's notes on the defense table and gathered them up. Al please show up soon, he thought as he made his way through the crowd and out of the building. I cannot, will not, defend this man. You've got to get me out of this mess! A group of reporters confronted him before he could reach the steps leading toward the street. "Mr. Everheart, do you honestly believe your client is innocent?" one of them asked. Several of them began asking questions at once. "I'm afraid I can't give anything specific away about the case. Now if you would excuse--" Sam started to push his way past them, but stopped suddenly when he recognized a familiar face in the crowd. Meg was covering this story! Good for her, he thought. He hoped to have the opportunity to read a copy of her report. If anyone could accurately describe this case, Meg was certainly the one. He wanted to say something to her, that he was glad to see her again. He realized, however, that she didn't know that he was Sam Beckett. He wanted to reach out and hug her. He was sure he had fallen in love before, but until now, leaping around had not afforded him the opportunity to reunite with someone he loved. And yet he wasn't sure that revealing his true identity to Meg was the correct thing to do. He would only leap out again, probably never to return to her life. The other reporters continued to bombard Sam with questions, but Meg stared at him quizzically as though she was beginning to realize. "I have to work on the case," he said forcefully and made his way down the steps. It tore him up inside to leave Meg behind. He knew that now was not the right time to talk to her. He would have to find the time later. Perhaps, make the time. Maybe, if he had been correct, and she really had shown a glimmer of recognition, she would seek him out. Right now, he needed to confer with Al. Hopefully, the hologram would make his appearance shortly. Now to figure out which car Everheart drives, he thought as he glanced from car to car parked on the side of the road. He also noticed a full parking lot only a block away. Al appeared in the middle of the street, oblivious to the car passing through him. When the traffic was clear, Sam began crossing the street to join his friend. "Sam, you've leaped into an attorney--" he tapped a few buttons, "--named Jacob Everheart." "Just direct me to his car and we'll talk along the way." After fighting with the handlink, the project observer provided the answer. "Everheart owns a white 1985 Cadillac. It's parked over in the parking lot." Al pointed with his cigar. "third row, seventh car in." "Thanks, Al." As they made their way over to the parking lot and to the third row, Al did most of the talking. "Patrick Marland is still in a coma and Charles Sheffield is being tried for his attempted murder. Sheffield was released on a $10,000 bail after only three days in jail. The prosecuting attorney finished with his last witness yesterday and apparently gave a very convincing argument." "Charles Sheffield may have been influenced by Zoey, but he tied that sheet around my neck of his own volition." "You mean Patrick's neck, Sam." "It was me he was interacting with. I felt the sheet around my neck. You can't blame me for hating the man. Al, how can I possibly defend him? I've leaped into his defense attorney! I must be here for some other reason, but for the life of me, I can't figure it out at the moment. What does Ziggy say?" "Ziggy's still not sure," Al said, punching away on the handlink. "One thing is for sure, though, she doesn't think you're here to see Sheffield acquitted--and neither do I." "Guess who I ran into before you popped in?" Al offered Sam a quizzical look as he puffed on his cigar. "Meg!" Sam exclaimed. "And I'd almost swear she knew who I was." They reached Everheart's car and Sam fished in the man's pocket for keys. After Sam unlocked the driver's side door and got into the car, his holographic friend walked through the other door and sat down, too. "Yeah, well, she's already proven that she has psychic abilities." "Where are we going, Sam?" "I don't know. Someplace where I can study Everheart's notes." Al consulted with Ziggy. "There's a restaurant called the Candlelight Inn--go three blocks and turn left. Once they'd arrived at the restaurant and a hostess had led Sam to a booth seat, Beckett opened Everheart's briefcase and began browsing through the notes, while Al continued to provide him with any new information Ziggy could gather. The waitress arrived and took Sam's order for a diet coke, grilled chicken sandwich and a small salad. He wanted to eat something quick, so he would have more time to work on figuring this leap out. "We should call Meg to the stand," Beckett said quietly so as not to attract the attention of other customers. "Then after her, Raymond. "They're the only ones who saw what happened--except me." "Sam, you're thinking like the prosecuting attorney. By the way, what witnesses did the prosecuting attorney call?" Al asked. He could find out that information from Ziggy, but was prodding Sam to look more thoroughly through Everheart's notes. Leafing through the papers, Sam found that about one-third of the notes contained information that the state had been required to give the defense. Sam spoke as he flipped through the pages. "Raymond and Meg. . .Dr. Egan... Sheriff Yeltsin...every officer that investigated the alleged crime scene. It says here that my next witness is Martin Bridgeman! Why?" Al began fiddling with the remote. "When Meg was questioned on the witness stand, it came out that she and Patrick--or you rather--went to visit Martin Bridgeman about the haunting case. The prosecuting attorney apparently thought that Martin Bridgeman might be able to help him uncover some type of conspiracy that you guess were involved in." "Conspiracy? What difference would that make? Sheffield attempted murder. There is no justifiable motive for murder." "Let's hope the jury agrees with you Sam." The project observer resumed his activity with the handlink. "Get this, Sam: Ziggy has just come up with a new theory as to why you've leaped into Sheffield's lawyer. she thinks you're here not to acquit Sheffield, but to make sure that Meg and Patrick get together." "Get together? I'm not sure I understand. At the risk of sounding egotistical, it was me she fell in love with." "Well, you may not like to hear this, but Ziggy says that Meg actually has feelings for Patrick that she hasn't admitted to herself yet and that Patrick is rather fond of her as well. Ziggy believes that the only reason that they didn't get together before you leaped into Patrick is that Meg has not yet been able to shed the ghost of her dead husband. Think about it, Sam. You could leap out of here a week from now or one hour from now. Either way, you're going to be out of Meg's life. Ziggy says that there is a 99.9% chance that you are here to get Meg and Patrick together. I mean, look at those odds! Ziggy has been pretty sure before, but never this sure, Sam." Slowly, Sam nodded. "You're right, of course. If I don't convince them that they are meant for each other, then they'll never get together. I can't risk jeopardizing their happiness over my jealousy, and maybe if I can convince Meg right away, I can leap out of here and not have to worry about defending Sheffield." "That's the spirit, Sam." Sam began reading Everheart's notes more thoroughly. After several minutes, the waitress brought out Beckett's food, and he continued to read while he ate. He managed to place a couple grease stains on the pages while eating, but at least he felt somewhat prepared when it came time to return to the court. Al left by way of the imaging chamber to continue helping at the Quantum Leap Project Headquarters. After paying his bill, Sam left the restaurant and drove back to the courthouse. He prayed he would be able to locate Meg before it was time to go back into the courtroom. To his relief the mob of reporters were still waiting for him when he returned and Meg was among them. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him and he raised his hand to silence them. "I tell you what," he said. "I'll speak to one of you. I'll answer questions that with the condition that whoever I choose has to share the information with the others." This brought strong protests by the group, but Sam was adamant. "That's my final offer," he said. He looked straight at Meg. "Young lady, this is your lucky day. Would you please join me inside the courthouse?" "Don't worry," she told the tumultuous group as she followed Sam. "I solemnly swear to bring back a complete report. " They found a couple of empty seats in the hallway outside the courtroom and sat down. Without hesitation or scruples, Sam grasped Meg by the hands and said, "Look into my eyes. You notice something, don't you? Please, tell me it's true." "Sam?" she questioned. "I wasn't sure if it was true." "Yes, it's me." Sam nodded enthusiastically. "Oh Sam!" Meg hugged him and then kissed him passionately and he returned it with equal fervor. "Sam, I'm happy to see you, but why have you leaped into Sheffield's attorney of all people?" "I've been asking myself the same question. I don't know. Some bizarre twist of fate, I guess. Ziggy doesn't have any idea either. When at last Meg's surprise had subsided a bit, Sam decided to approach the subject of Patrick. "Have you visited Patrick at all?" he asked. "Probably not as often as I should. But what is there for me to do? He's still in a coma." "Talk to him, play music for him. I hear it's great therapy for coma patients. You'd be amazed by the number of coma patients who say they were aroused by such therapy." Meg looked away from Sam and knotted her hands. "You're probably right," she admitted. "Then you'll go see him?" Meg nodded. "But how does this bear on us?" she asked. "As much as I've grown to love you, it pains me to admit that there can be no 'us.'" "Oh Sam!" she exclaimed, turning to hug him once again. She began crying on his shoulder. "I will never forget you." "I only hope that I can promise the same thing." Meg pulled away and wiping at her eyes, said, "Now, about those answers to my questions." Before he could answer, Sam felt the beginning tug of his leap out and quickly responded, "You'll have to ask Everheart for those." I'm finished, Sam thought sadly mid-leap. He would miss being connected with Patrick and staring at Meg's smiling face.