From: akulsum@aol.com Newsgroups: alt.tv.quantum-leap.creative Subject: road 7/9 Date: 11 Nov 1996 05:09:10 GMT Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) (1.10) Message-Id: <19961111051100.AAA22434@ladder01.news.aol.com> Hey you guys...it seems when I stopped pestering you, I stopped getting a lot of feedback, so I am officially pestering again. Even if it's just a short 1 sentence comment, I'd love any feedback!! Thanks and I hope you're enjoying it. amkt "The Road Taken" pt.VII Sam went to talk to Susan early the next morning. He felt a bit awkward doing so, because it felt as if he was asking little more than a stranger, but it seemed Susan posessed the strength Katrina didn't. Although, Katrina had to be very strong herself to pull out of everything she had gotten into. He wondered how long they had known each other. She reminded him of Al in many ways; a few years back, he had gone through some rough times himself and all he really needed was a faithful friend to help pull him out. *Strong, proud, and stubborn.* Sam sighed. *Talk about a deadly combination.* He hoped everything had gone okay the night before with the two of them. Al hadn't come back and he wanted to be sure he had at least told her. Once he reached Susan's, he found himself a bit uncertain of how to go about bringing up the subject. "Come in," Susan had said warmly as she ushered him into the house. He followed her back into the living room and she chatted with him about Jeff's job and her new position. "You never called me," she finally said. "What?" Sam asked, startled. "You promised when you left on Tuesday, but you never did. It's been five days since I've even spoken with you." "Oh...I'm sorry. I forgot," Sam mumbled, realizing that his promise had been lost in the pile of other things he had to worry about. She put a hand on his arm. "I was worried." "You could have called me," he pointed out. She smiled slightly and withdrew her hand. "Yes, but I figured you needed some time." "No kidding," he muttered, and then, louder, "I appreciate you concern, but I'm fine, really. And I _am_ sorry I forgot to call. It's just that, I got a job and all...." "That's wonderful! Oh, Katrina, I'm so proud of you....just look how far you've come. And I understand," she assured him. "It can't be easy." "No," he agreed, and then went in for the kill. "Susan?" She looked up at him. "I have a favor to ask and it's not very easy for me." Her gaze softened. "What can I do, Katrina?" He looked down at his feet. "Well, I've gotten myself into a bit of trouble here and I really need you not to ask any questions about this." "Katrina, if you're in trouble, maybe we should see someone." "No," Sam put up a hand. "I mean it, Susan. I just need to borrow some money. Actually, it's a bit more than some money." She looked carefully at him. "Katrina, look me in the eye and tell me you're not going to do what I think you're going to do. Not after we took so long to overcome this." Sam was confused for a moment, and then he realized that she was probably referring to money for drugs or something else that could land her in almost as much trouble as being killed by an angry loan shark. "No, look, Susan....I need five thousand dollars to pay off a debt. Please trust me." "You know I trust you. If five thousand is what you need, I'm sure we could swing that." Sam reflected on the power of the friendship that she would be willing to do that for Katrina. It again reminded him of Al and himself. "I'll pay you back," he assured her. "It's just that I've only been working three days and....." "It's okay," she said softly. "Let me write you a check. I'll put the money in the account tomorrow. Please, don't worry about it. And promise me that you will let me know if there's any way I can help. I don't want you doing anything stupid." Sam nodded. "I promise. And I won't forget this time." They smiled at each other. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ Al slept in most of the day. It was almost one in the afternoon before he got up, wondering why no-one had come to find him. He never overslept. Then he realized it was Monday. He sat up in bed, noting the empty space beside him where Tina usually was. He showered and dressed in record time and hurried down the halls to the Control Room. Verbeena, Gooshie, and Tina were all there preparing some system or another for use. "How come nobody got me up?" he demanded in a loud voice. "It is Monday after all, and Sam probably needs help." "Al," Tina cooed, coming up to him, "he's at work right now and he's not going to bring the money over until after work. Besides, you looked like you needed the sleep." He glared a moment longer and then softened his gaze with a small smile. "Thanks, honey," he whispered. "You're the best." "Al?" Verbeena joined them. "I've been talking to Katrina and she asked me to tell you that she wanted to talk to you." "Sorry, Verbeena, I have things to do, people to see to, dragons to slay..." She grinned at him. "The things were done by Gooshie this morning, the people were rescheduled, and the dragons are in your office making later appointments." "Thanks so much, but I really do have those personel forms to take care of, and we need to pull the details on the murder." "Done and done," she persisted. "You have nothing to do until at least five in the afternoon." "I have to take care of Sam," he protested. "It's still only about ten in the morning in Sam's time. You have plenty of time before the accident. Besides, there's nothing else you can do. He's got the money, and he knows where to bring it. Al, after you take care of Sam, your time will be up. You will be out of second chances." He looked steadily at her, dimly aware of Gooshie and Tina working quietly in the background. Then, slowly, he nodded, and headed towards the Waiting Room. Katrina smiled slightly at him when he came in. "Al," she said, "I really need to talk to you. Dr. Beeks tells me that I won't be here much longer and that you'll be sort of busy, so...." Al tried to smile, but found that he couldn't. "What is it?" She took a deep breath, and her words had the ring of a thought out speech. It was apparant that she had been thinking about it for a while. "I know that nothing I do or say can make up for the horrible things I did to you. And messed up or no, it broke my heart to leave you and Trudi. I can't expect you to forgive me, and I won't, but I have to tell you that I have missed you very very much. Dr. Beeks has been telling me a bit of what you've done with your life and it's very impressive. I'm very proud, even if I didn't have anything to do with it. So I just needed to tell you all that. And....that I love you." Tears sprang into her eyes and he pushed his own back. "Thank you," he whispered. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ Al met up with Sam at about the time Sam was picking his things up to go home from work. "Do you have the money with you?" Al asked as he walked down the hall next to his friend. Sam nodded, not wanting to talk in public with people around. "Good. I've got the directions. I've also got the details on the murder. Listen up, Sam. Okay...." Al stuck his ever present cigar into his mouth as he fiddled with the colorful handlink. It squaked in protest at the abuse Al adminstered. "Her body was found Tuesday morning and the coroner dated the time of death to be about 7:30 the night before. Of course that's all going to change now. Let me just pull up Ziggy's estimates here..." Sam crossed the parking lot to his car, now more or less free to talk to Al. "So, how did it go?" "How did what go?" Al said around his cigar as he prodded the rest of the information out of the handlink. "Al," Sam repremainded gently. "You did talk to her, didn't you?" "Yeah. Yeah, I talked to her." "And?" Sam stopped walking to look at Al. "How did it go?" Al gave a small shrug. "Well, it was kind of rough at first, but I guess it went okay." He offered a smile. "You could say we made the first step towards....making amends. I stayed a while to talk to her about Trudi and my father....and a bit about me. About what I did after she left. I guess you could say we made some progress." Sam gave him a warm smile. "I'm so glad to hear it, Al." He looked his friend in the eyes and noted with no small amount of satisfaction that the bitterness and resentment they normally held when he spoke of his mother was gone and there was only a kind of sad regret remaining. "Yeah, well, anyway," Al mumbled to himself and pulled the handlink back up to eye level. "Let's see what you've done here. Okay, do you have the money?" Sam nodded. "And you know where to take it, so that's good." Al frowned. "What is it?" "Now you get killed back at the apartment. I don't understand it. Sam, you should be in the clear." "Al, take it easy, let's just think this through. Okay, Katrina is still killed. Why would they want to kill her if she gave them the money?" "I don't know, Sam, but Ziggy says your chances of living to see daylight are smaller than your shoe size!" Sam stepped into the car and turned on the ignition. "Well, maybe it's just because I haven't actually gotten the cash yet." "What? Sam, why not?" "Al, it's five thousand dollars!" Sam exclaimed. "Do you know how long it took me to convince the bank to get it this afternoon?" Al looked at the handlink. "Nope, Ziggy confirms that your friends, the nozzles, deposit five thousand in the bank on Wednesday, and Katrina is still dead. Sam.....you're finished." ok, 2 more parts to go and then I have yet another one to start posting. (sigh) it never ends.... ;)