From: martin@PROBLEM_WITH_INEWS_GATEWAY_FILE (Michele Martin) Newsgroups: alt.tv.quantum-leap.creative Subject: XOVER: The Witness pt3 Date: 14 Mar 1995 19:56:55 GMT Organization: Duke University, Durham, NC, USA Message-Id: <3k4se7$qcl@news.duke.edu> Scene 4 Random alley Toronto 5:00pm, Monday Stayde was smiling inwardly as he deposited money into the pay phone. He'd managed to spot Duncan MacLeod arriving at the airport and track him to his hotel. He was sure MacLeod had sensed him, but since MacLeod was with someone, apparantly his girlfriend, MacLeod probably didn't want to really make a scene trying to identify the nearby Immortal. Especially since he thought Connor was here and planning to meet him. Stayde wanted to maintain that illusion as long as possible. Until the final moment.... As he began to dial the number of the hotel at which Duncan was staying, he suddenly began to feel the buzz that indicated the presence of another Immortal. He quickly slammed down the phone and whirled, drawing his sword in the process. *Who...?* "Stayde! Your little variation on the Game is over! I've come for your head!" shouted a voice Stayde immediately recognized. Especially since he'd spent so long trying to imitate it. *Oops, wrong MacLeod.* Still, he didn't really forsee that much trouble. True, Connor MacLeod had a reputation as a very dangerous swordfighter, especially after he'd taken the Kurgan's head, but Stayde was no slouch. "Well, well. Connor MacLeod. Looks like I get two MacLeods for the price of one," Stayde commented as he strode to meet Connor's challenge. In a few seconds the fight was joined. A few yards away, a young man who called himself Scott Edwards was making his way home from an evening class at the local university observatory. As he rounded a corner, he began to hear very odd sounds. Like metal clashing against metal. Drawn to the noises, he quietly approached the alley. As he peeked around the corner, his eyes widened. *What the...? Sword-fighting? In Toronto?* Being of a somewhat curious nature, due to having traveled for several years with a photojournalist (okay, a hyper-intelligent glowing blue energy being cleverly _disguised_ as a photojournalist), Scott decided to get a better look. As the two men continued their battle, Scott crept along the wall of the alley. He hid himself behind some old crates and assorted litter of the type one usually finds in alleys. *Now what? I don't think these guys are faking it. Maybe I should do something.* With that thought in mind, Scott pulled a small silver sphere from his coat pocket. But before he could do anything, the fight reached its conclusion. One of the fighters, a tall blond-haired man in a battered grey trenchcoat, ran his sword through the chest of his stockier, dark-haired opponent. Scott swore silently and tried to concentrate on the sphere in his hand. As a faint blue light began to form in the center of the sphere, Scott heard the blond man say, "There can be only one." He glanced up just in time to see the blond man decapitate his opponent. *Ohmigod! The beheadings that've been in the news. That's the killer. I've got to stop him...* The glow in the sphere became stronger, but suddenly Scott felt something...some other energy aura forming nearby. He looked back at the blond man and at the body on the ground. A bluish white mist was forming around the body. The mist rose to envelope the blond man as what appeared to be lightening began to strike the ground around him. Scott hastily stuck the sphere in his pocket and dove for cover as the windows on nearby buildings shattered and a fierce wind blew through the alley. He heard the blond man yell, apparantly in pain, but that sound quickly merged with the roar of the wind and the lightening. *I've got to tell Dad about this...if I make it out of here alive!!* That was Scott's last thought for a while, because suddenly something struck him on the back of the head. As he lost consciousness, Scott thought he heard the squeal of police sirens in the distance. As the force of the Quickening died away, Connor heard the sirens as well. He decided to make a strategic exit, not wanting to have to explain what had just transpired to the local authorities. For some reason, police seemed to get rather unpleasant when they found you near a headless body with a sword in your hand. He decided to try and locate Duncan. Stayde's earlier comment implied that his kinsman was already in town. Gregory watched Connor depart from a nearby rooftop. He was somewhat disappointed with the way things had gone. Stayde had been so amusing to Watch, and he doubted it'd be quite as much fun Watching either of the MacLeods. Neither was into devious schemes of the type Gregory found so amusing--they were both so darn honorable. Though of the two, Connor might be the more interesting since he was the more agressive one. His kinsmen, Duncan, tended only to kill in self-defense. At any rate, there was one other detail that would have to be dealt with. MacLeod and Stayde had had another spectator to their little game, one who could ruin everything by telling the police what he'd seen. Unfortunately, the cops were too close for Gregory to get to the young man he'd seen in the alley. At least this time. But he'd keep an eye out and take care of the witness later. It was time to depart. Once the cops got here there was the chance he'd run into that annoying Nicholas. And that was something Gregory wished to avoid at all costs. scene 5---and *Quantum Leap* 5:30pm "We've got another one, Nick!" Nick sighed. Another beheading. When would it end? And when would they get a break in the case? He definitely needed to squeeze information out of that Gregory, though he wasn't sure how best to go about it. Especially since he really couldn't bring another vampire into the precinct for questioning. "Good news, though," Schanke's voice on the phone continued. "We've got a witness who saw what happened." Finally! "I'll be right there," Nick replied. *The nice thing about winter is that the sun sets early.* A few minutes later, Nick arrived at the crime scene. Like all the others, it looked more like the scene of a bomb blast than of a murder. Natalie was there examining the body of the victim. She picked something up with her gloved hands and showed it to Nick. "What do you think?" she asked, showing him what appeared to be an ancient sword. A very sharp sword, at that. "Could be the weapon. It's certainly got the right kind of edge on it," he replied cautiously. "Wonder why it got left behind this time?" "Look again." He looked, then saw what she was getting at. "No blood on the sword." Nat nodded as Schanke came up behind her. "Our witness says that the victim and the perp were sword fighting in this alleyway. That's the victim's sword, which he dropped along with his head." Schanke motioned to a young man standing off to one side, holding an ice compress to his head. "Nick, this is Scott Edwards, who may be the answer to our prayers. Scott, meet my illustrious partner Nick Knight." Nick shook hands with the young man, whom he estimated to be in his early twenties. He totally failed to notice the rather odd expression that came over Scott's face when their hands touched. "You okay?", Nick asked pointing to the large bruise on Scott's temple. "He's also a victim of another freak lightening storm, it appears. Says he got hit on the head by something that the wind blew up. The officers who first arrived on the scene found him behind some refuse in the alley," Schanke filled in. "So you saw what happened? What were you doing in the area?" Nick asked. "I was walking home from a class when I heard what sounded like metal striking metal, and I sort of decided to investigate what was going on. Guess I picked it up from my dad, who's always interested in seeing new things. Anyway, I saw these two guys fighting it out in the alleyway with swords. Just like in those old swashbuckler movies. I hid behind some boxes to see what would happen. Before I could do anything like call for the police, the one guy ran the other through the chest with his sword. Then, if that wasn't enough, he cut the guy's head off. Shortly thereafter, there was this freak storm or something...I'm not sure what. I took cover, but something still managed to whack me on the head. Guess the murderer ran off before the police got here." "You got a good look at him, though," asked Nick. "Well, kind of. I didn't get to close and it was a bit dark back here. Tall, blond, athletic. Look, do you have a phone--I really have to let my parents know where I am. I'm already pretty late for dinner, and they tend to worry if I'm not on time." "Yeah, Schanke has a phone in his car. Tell them they can pick you up at the station. We're going to want to get a composite of the guy you saw. This could be a major break for us in this case." Nat took Scott's arm, "Come on, I'll show you were the phone is. Then I'm outta here myself." "In a hurry to get a better look at victim number 5?" Nick asked. "Actually, no. I have dinner plans--a friend from out of town is here and we're getting together tonight. It's my night off...the first I've had in quite some time. It's not like I still need to determine a cause of death. Besides, you've got a witness now. And I doubt he'd, " she nodded at the body, "tell me anything we don't already know. We need an antiques expert to tell us anything important about the sword. Besides, word is you're going to be getting some out of town help on this case, including another medical examiner." Nat leaned closer to Nick to whisper, "I hear it's the FBI." With that, she led Scott toward Schanke's car and the phone. Nick shook his head, puzzled. *FBI? But this is Canada?* He turned to Schanke to ask if he knew anything about the FBI. But Schanke was staring at the body. He looked shocked, and Nick clearly heard him say "Oh boy!" under his breath. "Schanke?" No response. Nick shook his head and walked over to Schanke. He shook him by the shoulder. Schanke looked over, startled as Nick said, "Hey, Schanke. Don't _you_ go strange on _me_" Scene 6 Toronto Metro Station 6:00pm Dr. Samuel Beckett was confused. Which was understandable, and pretty much par for the course at this stage in a leap. He'd apparantly leaped into someone called "Schanke", a homicide detective who was in the process of investigating a beheading...or possibly a string of beheadings. He wasn't yet clear on that point. His partner's name was "Nick Knight", which he'd managed to piece together from listening to others talking to the man. There also appeared to be a witness to this crime--the young man known as "Scott Edwards", who rode to the station with him in Schanke's car. Fortunately he'd been able to follow Knight since he had absolutely no clue as to where the station was. Now that he was here, he wondered what to do next. Nick had escorted Scott to a nearby desk, where one of the other officers began to take down some basic information. Nick then walked back to where Sam stood. "So you don't know anything about the FBI being interested in this case? Cohen didn't mention anything to you earlier?" "Ah, well, no. Not that I recall," Sam stammered. "Well, maybe we should ask her what's going on, " Nick replied. He began to make his way towards the Captain's office. He looked at Sam, "You coming, Schank?" Sam suddenly heard the familiar sound of the imaging chamber door opening behind him. He answered, "Um, actually, I'm feeling a little strange. I'm going to the rest room and I'll, ah, meet you in a minute." He motioned surreptiously to Al, who had just appeared, to follow him. As he turned, Nick asked, "Are you feeling okay, Schanke?" "Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine. Just need a second," Sam replied as he hurried to the rest room. Quantum leaping had taught him to always pinpoint the nearest restroom as soon as possible. As he entered, he quickly made sure it was unoccupied before turning to Al. "Al, what's going on? Where, or rather, when, are we?" "Well, it's 1995, Toronto, and you're a homicide detective named Don Schanke. Your partner's name is Nick Knight," Al answered. The tone of his voice indicated to Sam that Al didn't have much more to tell him. He nodded, indicating that he'd gotten that much already. "Does Ziggy know why I'm here?" "She knows that you're probably not here for Schanke or Knight since according to her data banks they're both still on the police force in Toronto. I was hoping you might have some other ideas about what to check, " Al replied, sounding apologetic. "Okay, run a check for me about a recent beheading or series of beheadings...that's the crime they seem to be investigating." "Beheadings? Yuck. That's nasty. Okay, let me see," Al punched something into the handlink he had that connected him to the super-computer in charge of Project Quantum Leap. "Aha." "Got something?" "Yeah...it seems that tonight you catch a suspect in the case. A Robert Greene...who also appears to have been a suspect in a similar case in 1985...though back then he went by Russell Nash. And he was supposedly dead. Hmm. Anyway, this Nash or Greene or whatever his name is is found dead in his cell tomorrow morning. Decapitated. The guards are dead as well. The case was never solved, but there were no more of those beheadings. And...oh, this isn't good." "What?" "It appears that Greene was arrested because he was ID'd by a witness, a Scott Edwards." "Yeah, he witnessed tonight's crime. He's here at the station now." "Well, you better keep an eye on him, Sam. Because sometime tonight, he and his entire family disappear. There's no data on what happened to them." "So, am I here to save Greene or to save Edwards?" "Ziggy says there's a 50% chance either way. And a 98% chance you're here to save them both." "Okay, I'll try to keep an eye on Edwards and an eye out for this Greene. Meanwhile, you'd better go back and see if you can get any more information from Ziggy..or from Detective Schanke." Just then the door of the restroom opened and Nick stuck his head in. "Schanke? Are you planning on spending the night in there?" Sam waved Al off, then stepped out of the restroom. "I'm done. What's up?" "Scott's ready to put together a composite of the man he saw, so I introduced him to the graphic artist and they should have a picture for us soon. We need to gather all the paperwork we have on this case. I talked to the Captain, and Nat was right. There're two FBI agents on their way here from the airport. Seems there've been a number of similar incidents in the US. Cohen hopes we can work with them and any information they have to close this thing up ASAP, " Nick replied, as they two of them made their way back towards their desks. Sam saw Scott talking to a man he supposed was the sketch artist. Just then, the desk officer called out "Detective Knight? There's a Mr. Edwards here--he says he's looking for his son?" "Okay, send him over," Nick called back. Scott calmly tried to describe the man he'd seen in the alley. At least, he hoped he appeared calm. Police stations made him nervous. Very nervous. Though he knew technically that he shouldn't have anything to fear since no one was after him in Canada. But try as he might, he just didn't feel comfortable being here. And it hadn't helped when he'd gotten that really creepy feeling when he'd shaken Detective Knight's hand. He wasn't sure what it was that he'd felt...just that it'd felt somehow, well, wrong. He wished he had a better understanding of those sensations he'd get every so often. His father was trying to teach him all he could, but he just couldn't prepare Scott for _everything_. Certainly not for what he'd seen that night. He hoped Paul Edwards, his father, would show up soon. Because he really had alot to tell him. Almost on cue, he heard the desk sargeant inform Detective Knight that a Mr. Edwards had arrived. He looked up, spotted Paul and waved as the detectives also made their way over. Knight nodded at the composite artist, indicating it was okay to take a break. Paul arrived at the desk just before Knight and Schanke. "Dad! Am I glad to see you!" "Are you okay, Scott?" replied Paul anxiously. He noticed the bruise on Scott's temple. "What happened?" "Just a little bump on the head. I'm told I'll be fine. It's just been _some_ night. Let me tell you. Oh, dad, meet Detectives Knight and Schanke. They're investigating the, ah, incident I witnessed. Detectives, this is my father, Paul Edwards." Paul immediately reached over to shake the hands of the two, which caught both Sam and Nick a little off guard. Neither of them noticed the very odd expression that crossed Paul's face when he touched each of their hands. Nick was too preoccupied with the case and Schanke's recent odd behaviour. Sam was just too preoccupied. Nick did at least have the presence of mind to say, "Nice to meet you. Um, we may be a while here. We've taken Scott's statement, but after the composite's finished, there's also a chance that someone else might want to talk to him?" "Someone else wants to talk to me? I thought you were in charge of the case?" Scott asked, a bit anxious. "Yeah, well, it seems these aren't isolated incidents. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has some records of similar cases, and there may be some agents here who will want to talk to you," Nick replied. "Um, is there any chance of getting some food? I missed dinner, and since we may be here a while...?" "Okay, tell you what. After you finish the composite, I'll ask someone to show you where the cafeteria is so you can get something to eat. Mr. Edwards, this may take a few more hours--perhaps you'd like to come back?" "I'd rather stay with Scott. I'll call my wife and tell her we'll be a while, then we'll both go and have something to eat...when Scott's done with the picture," Paul answered. Scott noted that his voice sounded a little distant, and wondered if he'd also sensed something when he'd shaken Detective Knight's hand. It'd be something to discuss over dinner. That, and what to do about the FBI. Scott was not at all sure they could afford to talk to anyone from the US government. "Okay, Schanke can show you to the phone, and if you'll wait in the lobby, I'll send Scott with someone who'll show you both to the cafeteria," replied Nick. Sam nodded, and led Paul over to the phone that he'd fortunately spotted earlier. Scott returned to working with the artist, glad that modern computer programs made this alot faster than the old pencil and paper methods. Because he really needed a chance to talk to his father. Alone. -- Michele Martin martin@abacus.mc.duke.edu --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evil Guest Immortal: "I have you now, MacLeod." Duncan MacLeod: "I admit it. You're better than I am." EGI: "Then why are you smiling?" MacLeod: "Because I know something you don't know..." "..._I_ am the star of this show." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------