From: jj1152@mcis.messiah.edu
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 96 23:34:00 -0500
Message-Id: <"d06S6?P000000000*"@MHS>
Subject: "Top Secret" part 16/?

Picture requisite copyright disclaimers here, as usual. :)

Well, sorry I've kept everyone waiting so long on this, but in case you're
wondering, I've made a promise to myself that the story WILL be finished by the
time I leave for Christmas break, so take heart, it will be done soon!  (And it
will then have officially taken the whole year to post this darn thing. :) )

Look for part 17 to follow soon, a part which has actually been done a lot
longer than this one. :)

And Sean, just in case you forgot, I'm sending this to you so you can forward
it on to the X-Files newsgroup. :)  Thanks again!

One more thing before I begin--I must apologize for the busy-ness of this
chapter, but I've been trying to get the whole thing finished in as few
remaining chapters as possible, and the next one is almost entirely one scene,
so this one got a little jam-packed.  Hope it doesn't throw too much of a
monkey wrench into your enjoyment of the story. :)


                                Top Secret
            a Quantum Leap/Lois and Clark/X-Files crossover
                            by Julie L. Jekel

                            January 28, 1996

    "Now, we've decided that we're not going to use the Retrieval System on
her, at least not after the first Leap," Al was telling Mulder as they came out
of the Imaging Chamber together early the next morning.  The Admiral had been
showing the Agent how to use the handlink to manipulate the holographic images
and call up information.  "Tina's been theorizing lately that maybe our failed
retrieval attempt with Sam is what got him lost in the first place, kind of
like how a rubber band always flies off in the opposite direction from what
you're pulling it.  Now, if she Leaps anywhere OTHER than back here after
saving you, we'll HAVE to try it on her.  It wouldn't be fair not to."
    Mulder nodded, his face thoughtful.  Just then, Scully walked in, swathed
in the engulfing fermisuit.  Her partner turned to meet her gaze as she
entered.
    "You'd make a wonderful mummy, Scully," he quipped lightly.
    Her only response was a mildly amused glare.
    Al, meanwhile, was making a decided effort not to whistle at the way the
outfit accentuated her figure.  Somehow that kind of thing seemed highly
inappropriate considering the circumstances.  He smiled thoughtfully to
himself.  It was so much more fun being a hologram, when he didn't have to
worry about how the women he was eyeing would react because they couldn't see
or hear him.
    "You know, you're a lucky SOB," the Admiral commented merrily, slapping the
taller man on the back.  "At least when she wants to talk to you privately,
she'll go to the *ladies'* room."
    Mulder stifled a chuckle.  "I never thought of it that way..."
    "Well, be grateful for it, regardless.  Now..." he turned to the other
agent.  "Let's get this link tested and get you into the Accelerator."

    Ziggy often reminded herself that it was a good thing she could multitask,
or life at the Project would get seriously out of hand.  Right at the moment,
while part of her systems were focusing on running the Imaging Chamber and
preparing to fire the Accelerator, a part of her had recorded and was now
investigating evidence of yet ANOTHER intruder, one who had apparently knocked
out the surface guards with a flying noodle kick, and used a code no one
outside the Project was supposed to know to enter the elevator.  AND, using an
even lesser known command, he had programmed it to go directly down to the
maximum security level.  She studied the older man curiously, wondering how he
had cracked those codes, and trying to decide whether or not to counteract the
command and send him back to the surface.
    Then, unexpectedly, the man spoke.
    "Hello, Ziggy," he said softly, an unmistakable fondness in his voice.
"Have you been taking good care of everything here for me?"
    The computer's voice, when it responded, sounded surprised and hesitant.
"Doctor Beckett?"
    Sam smiled, his calm joy lighting up the old janitor's features.  "It's
strange to be so close to home," he commented softly.  "How've you been,
Ziggy?"
    "All my circuitry is functioning properly, I believe.  Do forgive me for
asking, but what are you doing here?"
    He laughed, years seeming to disappear from his face at the sound of the
familiar voice.  "Checking up on someone, in a way.  In my time, Al's trying to
get a lock on Lois Lane, and the only way you could promise a steady reception
was if I was in closer proximity to them.  But you've got to promise me, Ziggy,
you won't tell anyone I'm here..."  There was a definite strain in his voice as
he continued.  "Not even Al."
    "Very well, if you insist, Dr. Beckett.  Where would you like to go?"
    "I was going to go down to the Control Room.  The me from this time is
between Leaps, from what I understand, so there shouldn't be too much activity
there, and it would give me a chance to look at your programming and see if I
can figure out what went wrong with the Retrieval Program."
    "Under ordinary circumstances, there wouldn't be much activity there,"
Ziggy admitted.  "However, due to certain unexpected extenuating circumstances
regarding some of our visitors, there is some activity there right at the
moment.  You are familiar with the name Dana Scully, I assume."
    A look of sudden comprehension replaced the confusion on Sam's borrowed
face as details from some of his past Leaps began to filter into his mind.  "Of
course.  Well, Ziggy, take me wherever you think no one will find me."

                            April 19, 1995
                           FBI Headquarters
                            Washington, DC

    As the blue light faded from around her, the young woman looked around in
confusion.  She was standing in the middle of the front lobby of the J. Edgar
Hoover Building, so she couldn't figure out why she was feeling so disoriented.
She worked here, after all...didn't she?  But then, why couldn't she remember
how she got here?
    Suddenly, a familiar figure brushed by, his trenchcoat flapping against his
long legs as he moved resolutely through the crowd.
    "Mulder!" she called out instinctively.
    The man stoppe and turned, his sharp hazel eyes searching the crowd for the
one who had called his name.  Much to her annoyance, they swept over her and
kept going.
    "Mul-der!" she repeated impatiently.
    This time, his eyes found her face and narrowed suspiciously.  With very
little effort, he bridged the gap between them, looking down at her.
    "How did you know my name?"
    Rolling her eyes in annoyance at his games, she opened her mouth to retort,
then let it fall slowly closed again as a surprising realization struck her.
    "I...I don't know."

                         Project Quantum Leap

    "So, how DID you find out about the Project, anyway?" Al asked as he, Lois
and Clark went through the breakfast line at the Commissary.
    The two reporters hesitated, exchanging an uneasy glance.
    "I'm not sure I should tell you," Clark explained finally.  "From what I
can tell, it's something that's still in the future.  Sort of."
    The Admiral frowned, nodding.  "I understand.  Still...does it have
anything to do with a handlink?  A hand-held device like the one I let Mulder
use, only more high-tech?"
    "How did you know about that?" Lois asked, surprised.
    "A couple of days ago, not too long before Sam Leaped out, I was having
some trouble in the Imaging Chamber.  Ziggy was getting signals from a second
handlink, and despite the distance of the signal, somehow kept getting it mixed
up with mine and responding to commands from it."
    Clark looked slightly embarrassed.  "I guess the next time we find
something like that, we should be more careful about randomly punching
buttons, huh?"
    Al snorted, trying to conceal a smile behind a mask of sternness.
    ("So they found the handlink too, huh?  I always wondered what happened to
that thing after Sam bounced me out.")
    Clark looked up suddenly at the Admiral, his eyes narrowing warily.  "What
did you say?"
    "I said I would appreciate it."
    "No, after that.  About the handlink."
    Al looked startled.  "I...I didn't say anything after that."
    It only took the reporter a moment that the other voice he'd heard was on a
higher frequency, just like Al's voice had been on the tape.  Lois glanced at
her fiance, a question on her face that matched his own realization.  He
nodded.
    ("Gooshie, how the hell did Kent know I was speaking?")
    "I can hear you," Clark replied softly.
    ("WHAT??")
    "What are you talking about?  You can hear who?" Al asked, puzzled.
    Kent took a deep breath.  "Admiral, if I'm not mistaken, there are
two of you in this room."
    Partial comprehension dawned on the Observer's face, but not all of the
confusion had faded.  A slight twinge of disappointment went through him as he
realized what this meant--Sam was not going to be coming home in the near
future...
    ("GOOSHIE!  Get me out of here!")
    "Wait!  Don't leave!" Clark sprang out of his seat, turning in the
direction the voice was coming from.
    ("Can you see me, too?")
    "No.  The only reason I knew who you are is because I recognized your
voice."  He didn't mention that he thought he might be able to see him using
his X-Ray vision, since he still had hopes of keeping his other identity
secret.
    Al reflected briefly that this must be what it was like for people who
stumbled onto Sam while they were talking.  As far as he could tell, the
reporter was carrying on a conversation with thin air.  But how he could hear
the Observer lurking somewhere in that thin air was still a mystery.
    ("How the hell can you hear me?") the voice of the OTHER Admiral Albert
Calavicci demanded, unknowingly echoing his more tangible double's thoughts.
    "I...I have...unusually acute hearing.  Your voice is registering on a
supersonic frequency."
    ("Oh, like Troian!")
    <Whoever Troian is,> Clark thought, frowning.
    ("But she could only hear me while that ghost-recording equipment was
turned on--")
    "If you're here, there must be an important reason," Clark changed the
subject.  "Is it something to do with the tape?"
    "What tape?  What is he talking about?" the Al from the present asked Lois.
    "I don't think I should tell you, or it might not happen," she whispered
back.  "Are you allowed to fiddle around with history THAT much?"
    Disgruntled though he was by that assessment, Al was nevertheless foced to
concede the point.
    The holographic Al let out a coarse laugh.  ("Yeah, I guess you could say
that.  Things are getting a little hairy for us her and now because you hung on
to that thing.")
    "How do you mean, 'hairy'?" Clark asked.
    <Hairy?> Lois shot a puzzled glance in the direction of her fiance.  He
responded with an "I'll-explain-later" smile.
    ("We're being blackmailed,") the future Al announced grimly.  ("By someone
who's going to get his hands on that tape a few months from when you are.
Someone who wants to undo all the work we've done here, more or less.")

                            FBI Headquarters
                                  1995

    Perhaps it was because the Project team had opted NOT to try the Retrieval
Program on her, but Scully was discovering that many of her memories returned
fairly quickly, unlike what Al had told her to expect.  Fortunately, they were
also returning in the right order.  For instance, she'd remembered that she was
there to save Mulder's life BEFORE she had remembered her name, and had thus
avoided accidentally blurting out to him who she really was.
    There were still holes, though.  Deep, dark, blaring holes that made her
feel a little bit like part of her soul had been ripped out.  Sitting there
talking to a past version of her partner (whom she had begun mentally referring
to as "Spooky" to keep him separated in her mind from the hologram of her
partner she was expecting to show up soon, silent apologies to both of them)
she realized that she didn't even remember if hse had any family.
    And one thing didn't quite match her memories.  Although Spooky appeared
fascinated by the story she was telling him, she got the distinct impression
that he didn't believe a word of it, which DEFINITELY did not seem like the
Mulder she remembered.
    "Okay, let's back up a little here.  Name, rank, serial number, what are
you doing here, etc.  And try to make it coherent this time.  You can't expect
me to put together a puzzle out of a few small pieces, all out of order, and a
bunch of holes."
    "Can't I?  You're supposed to be one of the best profilers in the Bureau,"
she replied curtly, beginning to get annoyed.
    He fell back a step, startled not by the information she knew but by the
tone of her voice.  "I just asked--"
    "My name is Carmen Huarez, Agent Mulder."  (She'd gotten that off the
one of the business cards she'd dug out of her blouse a moment before to
prevent them from jabbing her.)  "And I'm not going to stand here recounting my
vision to you moment by moment.  If you want to hear me out, sit down or give
some other indication you're not going to walk away as soon as you get bored."
    He pondered for a moment, the familiar thoughtfulness creasing his
forehead.  "All right.  What are you doing for lunch?"
    Scully smiled, experiencing a sudden vision (or memory) of how her past
counterpart would react to Mulder telling her that he had invited a psychic
he'd just met out to lunch.  "Have you ever heard of the Blue Moon Diner?"

                                To Be Continued...

.......................................................................

Item Subject: Signature for most occasions
JJ
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