From: Philippa Chapman (Glastonbury, Somerset, UK.) Date: Sun, 23 Feb 1997 15:00 +0000 Subject: Prelude to a Leap, Part 1/2 Author's notes: This story was *partially* inspired by the film 'Prelude to a Kiss' and also by wondering how Sam might cope if he fell in love with a woman whilst having to be a woman himself. As things progressed, I also got an idea of *another* way Sam might get something approaching the old Al back after having changed his life so radically in MI. With a little help from his friends..... (And if you want to read the first way I devised, see 'Looking-glass Limbo') PRELUDE PART 1 'Just one voice, singing in the darkness....' Summer 1996 Al stepped out of the courtroom in Albequrque with his youngest daughter Stella on his arm, feeling hollow and empty. He was a free man. All the tears, fights and recriminations had finished; even the long barren and silent years had come to an end. He sighed and hunched over. "Dad, you did your best. You both did, inspite of everything. But you and Mom just grew apart. She's happy now in L.A., doing healing. You gave her the freedom she needed, that you both needed. Now it's time to start over. You can give your full attention to getting Doctor Beckett back for a start." "I just wish we could have made it until you left home, my little star." "Dad, I may be the youngest by five years, but I am sixteen. It's okay, going to school here. I won't cramp your style, you know. I'm going to help on summer camp again very soon. You ought to get yourself a girlfriend." Al tried to look angry. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you, Stella. You seem frighteningly grown-up for a sixteen year old kid. Anyway, I'm just tired and I need some time on my own before trying dating again." As it happened, Al didn't get that time alone straight away. Tina was waiting in his now single quarters, having picked her way past the security lock with little more than a welcoming smile on her face. Summer, Fall and Winter *definitely* looked up quite a lot, when Al wasn't out keeping tabs on Sam. Things had a different perspective for Sam Beckett. After he'd persuaded Beth to wait for Al, everything had unravelled crazily. As far as Sam was concerned, he was alone a lot of the time and when Al was there, even that relationship had shifted. Al was tireder, strained and his appreciation of the charms of attractive women on Sam's leaps had diminished drastically. Sam felt himself unwittingly torn between the good that he had tried to do and the old Al that only he remembered. 'God help me if I don't miss all those outrageous comments. And the loud clothes. Al's been wearing brown and black far too much recently.' 'All it takes is one voice, singing so they hear what's on your mind...' Sam looked around him as reality settled into coherence. He was standing on a wide, paved sidewalk. He could see moss in the cracks between the paving stones. Sam looked up and whistled appreciatively. He was facing an impressive row of old, Regency houses. No, the row curved at each end; it was a crescent in warm golden stone. Sam felt by instinct that he was half way up a hill and turned to take in the view behind him. Opposite him, across the bowl of a valley, a soft green hill rose up, covered in grass, trees and more golden houses. Recognition snagged at his memory; he had seen this place before; either in pictures or reality, he couldn't remember. Sam turned back to the houses. Above the door in front of him was a carving of an elephant's head. A flash memory crossed Sam's mind; a crazily drawn elephant in a book sitting on a nest. The words popped out of his mouth automatically. "'I meant what I said and I said what I meant; an elephant's faithful, one hundred percent.' Of course! Horton the elephant.....well, that's as good a sign as any...." Sam stepped up to the door and rang the bottom bell. A blonde woman in a light blue business suit opened the door. Sam opened his mouth to talk, but the woman pre-empted him. "Ah, you must be here to read the electricity meter." Sam decided to nod in agreement and let himself be led to the under-stairs cupboard. The ceiling was incredibly high and the curving bannisters could have graced Cinderella's palace. Sam barely had time to appreciate the surroundings before the cupboard door opened. As he gamely followed her pointing hand, there was a huge flash of light and reality fled away. He came to resting on someone's thighs. "Are you alright? Did you get a shock?" Sam opened his eyes cautiously. "No, I don't think....." His breath was completely taken away by the most beautiful pair of gray eyes he had ever seen, set in a face that was darned close to stunning. It was definitely *not* the blonde. This lady had light brown hair and was looking at him with sympathy and concern, her expressive lips softly parted. he thought to himself, . 'And when you look around, you'll find....' 1999 New Mexico Al was frustrated. All the right hormones were raging around inside him, even after several cold showers, but it was no good. The images he had just seen refused to wipe themselves from his mind. , he cursed as he paced his living room for the umpteenth time. It had taken two and a half years for the fling between Al and Tina to run it's course. Then there had been that croupier from Las Vegas, but distance came between them. He'd got Stella settled in college, then he'd gone into the local hospital to play Father Christmas and found that Santa had some incredibly willing helpers. Then nothing. Al had almost thought of trying Verbeena, but the thought of a woman who might be analysing every move he made was a distinct turn-off, no matter how gorgeous she was. Stella had sent letters enthusing about a visiting physics professor from England. Al eventually sent out discreet enquiries, always ready to do what it took to get Sam back and the lady had come down to the project once all the red tape was out of the way. She was curtly polite, frosty and her black hair was scraped back in an efficient bun. Al checked off the stereotypes: reserved, bossy, efficient and dowdy. Professor Susan Rosemore even wore glasses. But she knew her stuff, that was certain. Al stepped back and let her get on with her job. Apart from brief greetings, that had been the sum of contact between them for nearly six months. Then Summer had arrived and Al couldn't sleep at night, despite the air conditioning. His links with the military and Sam Beckett's reputation had helped furnish them with a small indoor pool. Al eventually gave up on sleep and wandered down for a swim at 3 o'clock in the morning. He was surprised to hear the unmistakeable sound of someone else swimming too. He left the men's changing room cautiously, ready to sound the alarm if it was an intruder. He lingered in the shadows on instinct. The figure pulled itself out of the pool with the back turned towards him. Al boggled at the white back and the sweetest rounded tush he'd seen in a long time. And below that a pair of mighty fine legs too. The woman picked up a towel and turned around. Al groaned softly, then bit his lip, hard. The front view was about ten times better than the back. Her breasts were full and high, almost straining against her swimsuit. He dragged his eyes away reluctantly to find out whether the face matched up to the rest. It wasn't easy to make out in the shadows, but he definitely saw a generous mouth before she pulled off her swimming hat and incredibly long black hair tumbled around her face. Al shrank back into the shadows as the lady wrapped herself in her towel and came around the pool towards him. He held his breath as she passed only a few feet away. For a moment, he was seriously tempted to reveal himself, but he realised that in his current state he could be arrested. Then he recognised the face without those glasses and the hair scraped back and disappointment squashed that idea flat.