originally posted by A.M. GlassLeap Into The Past
By A.M. Glass
Rating: 'PG-13'
Copyright: June 14th, 2000.
Revised Copy: August 16th, 2002.
Author's Notes:This story is a cross-over with another television show; which sadly isn't on anymore, "Quantum Leap." This isn't what you would call a direct cross-over, I've used the premise of the show for the story. Ziggy and a special guest are the only two characters from the show that make an appearance in the story. In order for the story to work, I have taken a slight liberty on Marti Noxon's excellent script; New Moon Rising, and I do mean slight, and I've incorrporated a few lines from the episode for this story. I'm not sure if you're going to like this or not, it's a departure from what I've written in the past.
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon, Fox Studios, Mutant Enemy, et al, have something to do with "Buffy The Vampire Slayer". No copyright infringement is intended or inferred. The story is the sole property of the author. "Quantum Leap" was conceived by Donald Bellasario and in part by Universal Studios.
Chapter 1
Willow thought to herself; as she watched Tara from across the desk, that she had been looking at her every chance she could get. It was if she were memorizing the other girl's features, making sure that she could call them up whenever she wanted to. That made her think, why?.
Why was this happening?
Why was she excited to be in her presence?
And more importantly...
Why was she excited?
Period.
Her breath caught when Tara looked over to her suddenly, there wasn't enough time for her to look away. And for the brief moment, their eyes locked, neither of them said a word. They didn't need to. Then just as suddenly, Tara's gaze went back to the book she was reading.
Willow shook her head, what ever had happened was intense. Too intense for words. She felt her heart racing in her chest, her pulse throbbing in her neck.
"Tara... I've got to go," she said as she pushed away from the desk.
"Are... are you sure?" Tara asked quietly.
"Umm... yes. I... I just remembered something I had to do. Can we get together tomorrow?"
Tara looked away from Willow, her face frowning as she went over her schedule for the next morning. "I... I can't. This was... th-the only time I had. I'm sorry Willow," she said with a forlorn expression on her face.
"Oh.. no. Tara, it's not your fault, really," Willow replied, reaching across the desk and gently squeezing Tara's hand before releasing it. "It's my fault," she whispered as she noticed the stares she was getting from the other students that were sitting next their table in the library.
"Would you two just kiss and make up. Geez, I've got a test to study for," a male student grumbled loud enough for Tara and Willow to hear.
Their eyes locked once again, both noticing the blush covering their cheeks.
"May.. maybe... we'd..." Tara stuttered.
"Better go?" Willow suggested.
"Thank you," the student said sarcastically.
They gathered their books and quickly left the library, never seeing the smile on the student's face. Waiting until they had left the building, he got up from the desk, shouldering his back pack and exited the library.
"Well, how did it go?" he was asked moments after leaving the building.
"Geez, I'd wish you wouldn't do that. Fine."
"What did you say?"
"I told them to kiss and make up. You should have seen them leave," he said as they rounded the corner of the library. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked as his companion stood in front of him with a worried look.
"We can't mess this up," came the reply.
"Alright... alright. How much time do we have left?" he asked.
"Four days."
"Four days? You've got to be kidding. Is that enough time?" he said, walking across the campus and heading for the student parking lot.
"The next full moon takes place two days from now, and we know he's headed here."
"So what," he said as he opened the car door. "Come on, you've seen how they look at each other. You'd have to be blind not to see it."
"They are close, but..."
"What?" he said pulling out of the parking lot and heading east.
"The information I have... well, it's not complete."
"Alright Kim, what aren't you telling me?"
"It's not good," Kim replied as the scenery passed by.
"Let's me get something to eat first. Then you can tell me." he said.
"Deal," she sighed. She hoped that everything would work out.
Chapter 2
The two Wiccans walked silently, each afraid to bring up what had been said at the library. Tara quickly glanced at Willow, her heart skipping a beat. The sun shone down on Willow, illuminating her hair, making it seem alive with fire, or so Tara thought.
"Well... ummm," Willow started but found she lacked the courage to continue.
"Yeah... ummm," Tara agreed.
"I... I hope it didn't bother you. What that guy said," Willow uttered.
"Oh... nn...nn... no. It didn't. You?"
"Me? I guess not."
"That's good," Tara said nodding her head.
"I've got to go," Willow stated, fighting the urge to touch Tara, even if briefly.
"Oh.. yeah. I'll.... I'll talk to you later?" she asked.
"Sure. I... bye," Willow said as she left Tara. She knew that if she turned around, she'd see Tara standing there, watching her leave. 'Oh goddess. What am I going to do?' she asked herself as she hurried towards her dorm room.
Tara sighed as she watched Willow disappear from view. She decided to take a walk around the campus grounds. She knew that she was in love with Willow. She had known this for a long time now. The only thing she didn't know was how Willow felt for her. There were times, when she'd sneak a glance in Willow's direction that she thought she saw something.
What was clear; at least to her, was the fact that Willow enjoyed being in her company. And that was a major plus in her book. She smiled as she thought of the red-headed beauty, how her day would be complete just by being in her presence.
A frown quickly replaced the smile.
She didn't enjoy saying goodnight.
She could never seem to come up with a reason to delay the inevitible.
To keep Willow's presence in her room for just one more second.
One more moment.
To add to the growing file in her mind, of her Willow memories.
And each time Willow left, Tara felt as if a part of her was missing.
Granted, there had been nights when Willow had slept over. And that's all that had happened.
They slept.
Tara was more than willing to give up her bed, and had every intention of sleeping on the floor with a blanket and pillow. Of course the first time she suggested the sleeping arrangements, was the first time she had ever seen the what she now knew to be Willow's resolve face'.
She couldn't sleep the first time. She was far too excited. Here was Willow, her heart's desire...
In her bed... sleeping.
As soon as she was sure that Willow had indeed fallen asleep, she took her time to look at her. Really look at her. She knew after that first night, there wasn't anything in the world that could surpass the feeling of being able to watch her sleep. To listen to the small little noises she made during the night. And, to have felt Willow's body next to hers.
She was sure that she had died and gone to a greater reward when Willow moved and ended up draped against her. Her heart was racing so fast, she was surprised that it hadn't pushed its way out.
Now, because of what some student had said, she had a feeling that she was going to lose Willow some how. She'd noticed that Willow had not reached out to her when they parted.
It was one of the things she loved. Willow would touch her briefly, and she relished the contact, no matter how long or short it was. It was a validation of their friendship. Willow seemed to infuse each touch with love.
It could only be that... or so she hoped.
Noticing that it was getting late, Tara headed back to her dorm.
Chapter 3
"Alright. What's going on?" he asked as he tossed the remainders of his trash away.
Over the next half hour, Kim explained what they were there to accomplish.
"You're pulling my leg right?" he asked after Kim had finished.
"No. I wish I was. If they don't get together..."
"Rod's not going to be born. So, why don't we just eliminate this..." he thought of the name he had heard earlier. "Osbourne character?"
"We can't stop him from coming here. Too many things depend on his arrival."
"What do you mean?"
"In this time line, Willow Rosenberg and Daniel OzOsbourne get married after he is shot and nearly killed."
" 'This time line'?"
"I keep forgetting the Swiss-cheese effect. We still haven't been able to correct that yet," Kim muttered to herself. "Pat, I know this is difficult for you to understand, but something's happened to change history. He's not supposed to be shot. They're not supposed to be married. Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay..."
"Yeah, I understand that part," Patrick interrupted, "If they don't get together... Rod's history... or... not really history... as he's never been born yet? And if he's never born, we're never able to crack the genetic code for..."
"Yes, exactly," Kim tells him. "No one in our time-line remembers who Rod is... or rather was, except for Ziggy and Admiral Calavicci. And I only know because of what Ziggy sends me over the handlink. It's very confusing."
"You're telling me? So what are we supposed to do anyway?"
"I wish Dr. Beckett was still here, he's had more experience in... Putting right what once went wrong."
"But, he is here... isn't he? I mean, he's still alive at this point in time?" Pat asked as he searched his memories of a man he thought he might have met before.
"Yes, but at this point in time, we weren't able to bring him back. It won't happen for another ten years," Kim said, recalling the exact moment Dr. Samuel Beckett returned to the Quantum Leap project in New Mexico. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. It was a joyous reunion, although bitter-sweet, as Gooshie, dear sweet Gooshie had died before they were able to finally lock on Dr. Beckett.
Since Dr. Beckett's return, the government poured more money into the project, allowing the retrieval process to become a reality and not a happenstance occurrence brought by the calculations by Samantha Jo Fuller.
Ever since, they had been able to send more than one person leaping. And only on extremely important cases was the time line ever tampered with. And this was one of those cases. Otherwise the project continued as what it was conceived to be, an opportunity to observe history as it happened.
"So what do we do then?" Patrick asked.
"Ziggy says that there's only a thirty percent chance that they will get together this time around," Kim answered, glancing at the blinking handlink that kept her connected with the hybrid computer in the future. "We've got to change that. But it means that you're going to leap again."
"Again?"
"Yeah... into a solider," Kim looked down at the blinking multi-colored handlink. "By the name of..." she shook the handlink, trying to get the rest of the text to dislay. Kim looked up, "...Riley Finn."
"Great," he sighed. "When does this..." he stopped as the familiar rush hit him.
"Bye Pat," Kim told him as he was enveloped by a bluish-white light. Kim looked over at the body of the male student that Patrick had occupied lying on the floor. He would wake up with a headache and whatever he remembered would quickly fade away. "Sorry about that kid. Ziggy... are you sure? I mean, what I'm reading. Is it true?" Kim shook her head as she read the information coming across the display. Sighing, she prepared herself. "I'm ready, Ziggy. Center me on Pat."
Chapter 4
Willow made it to the dorm room she shared with Buffy and Amy. Granted Amy took up less space than she and Buffy did combined but she continued to think of her as a room mate. She flopped down on her bed, her arms stretched out and stared at the ceiling.
"Amy... what am I going do?" she asked out loud, knowing Amy couldn't say anything, except perhaps squeak. "I... I think I might be falling in love, but I'm not sure, you know." Getting up from the bed, Willow walked over toward Amy's cage and made sure her fellow Witch had enough to eat and drink. "I'll be back later Amy. I need to clear my head." With Amy taken care of, Willow headed out of the room.
Willow thought about all the things she felt when she around the other girl. The important thing was that she never wanted to be apart from her. There was a undeniable connection between them, it was something she had only felt for two other people in her life. As she rounded the corner of one of the campus buildings, she realized that she had unerringly ended up in front of Tara's dorm. She shook her head and decided to go back to her own dorm when she saw Tara.
"Tara," she called out, smiling as the other girl looked around until she spotted her. When Tara smiled back at her, she felt happy. She wasn't sure how else to put it into to words.
"Oh, hi Willow," Tara said as she walked over towards her.
"Um, Tara. I just wanted to say I'm sorry about earlier, in the library," she said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Willow. I understand, really I do. Was there something you needed?" she asked.
"Actually, I was just out for a walk, and I ended up here."
Tara smiled. "Do... do you wanna come inside? We... we could still study, if you'd like?" she offered.
"I don't have my books with me."
"That's okay, we can share."
"You don't mind?" Willow asked.
"Oh, no. Of course not. I... I like studying with you," Tara replied, a slight blush on her face.
"Alright," Willow answered, holding out her hand.
Tara looked at the outstretched hand and took it into her own and led Willow inside.
Had they looked at each other, they would have seen smiles on both their faces.
Chapter 5
Riley pulled out his gun and aimed it at the cage containing the HST.
"I don't need a bunch of tests to know that this thing's a killer," he said to the doctor that had just explained that they would need to more time to determine whether or not this was the same HST that attacked Graham and his team. His finger steadily pulled back on the trigger.
"Don't shoot Pat," Kim said urgently, arriving just in the nick of time. "Pat... put the gun down. That's Daniel Osbourne... he's was about to look into signing up for a few courses, when... when he changed." Kim listened as Pat explained that he knew him, and that he was a student, before he was ejected from the area.
"Do you mind explaining to me what's going on?" Pat asked when he finally figured his way out of the place.
"I'm not really sure. We had a hard time getting a lock on you. There's something definitely odd about this place. Three days have already gone by."
"Three days?" he asked, watching Kim nod her head. "Can you tell me what I saw in there?"
"He's... he's a werewolf."
"A WERE..." he lowered his voice as he exited the house. "A werewolf? You're putting me on?"
"No. I don't know... we can't get any information. All I know is that the odds of Willow and Tara getting together just shot up by fifty percent."
"They shot up that high because I... or rather this Finn character didn't shoot him?"
"When we couldn't get a clear lock on you, I had Ziggy pull up the recent files on Willow Rosenberg-Osbourne. I spoke with her Pat. She's really nice, but sad. I told her I was writing an article on the band her husband was in. I asked her about their marriage," Kim paused as she thought about the woman she had spoken to, there was no life in her eyes.
"And?"
"And, she said they got married after he had been shot, and she mumbled something about it being her fault. I tried to get more from her... but then she clammed up. She wouldn't say anything else. I think she felt guilty. I think that's why she married him. She might have loved him once, but now... now it seemed more of an obligation on her part."
"So... why haven't I leaped yet?" he asked, as he continued walking.
"You need to help him escape."
"You want me to help a werewolf escape? Are you out of your mind?"
"Trust me. Do this and you're out of here."
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
"When?" he asked.
"Tonight."
**********
"Well, that went perfectly," Pat whispered to Kim as he sat on a bunk in the brig.
"Pat... you did it."
"What do you mean I did it? We didn't get out."
"It doesn't matter. The time line's been changed. Daniel Osbourne leaves town. Roderick Rosenberg is born five years from now, and by the
time he's eighteen..."
"He cracks the code."
"See you later Pat," Kim smiled as he was sent home.
Chapter 6
"Enjoying the night air?"
Kim turned around quickly when she heard the voice.
"Admiral Calavicci... I... I didn't expect to see you," Kim said surprised.
"Yeah, well I told Sam that I should check up on you. Seeing as you stayed around longer than you had to," he told her puffing on his cigar.
"I... uh... I wanted to make sure everything went okay," she said.
"I don't buy that load of... well. I'm not buying it. You just wanted a peek didn't you?"
She sighed, she had been caught and she knew it.
"It's so..."
"Romantic?" Al supplied.
"Yeah. It's romantic."
"Well kid, which one is it?" he asked, then seeing her puzzled expression, clarified himself. "Which one is her window?"
"Oh... it's that one. Over there," Kim pointed to the window in question.
"Don't you want to go inside and..."
"No... no. I already know what they said. Miss Rosenberg was more than willing to tell me," Kim explained.
"So, what are you sticking around here for then?"
"Wait. There, look."
Al looked up at the window and saw a faint illumination coming from the room. "What's that?" he asked.
"A candle... an extra-flamey candle," Kim replied smiling, as she went over the conversation Willow and Tara were having at the moment.
"What happened?" Al asked when the light went out suddenly.
"Oh... nothing," she said blushing. "I'm ready to leave now Admiral," Kim said turning to face the distinguished looking gentleman that she had the pleasure of working with.
"Now Kim... what have I said about that Admiral stuff?"
"You're right... Al."
"That's better. Come on, Rod and the kids are waiting for you to get home."
"They never knew did they Al?" Kim asked as she touched a few buttons on the handlink that opened the door leading to the imaging chamber.
"Naw kid, they never knew. And they won't hear it from me."
"Thanks Al. Hey Al, have you ever met Rod's parents?"
"No, I don't think I have."
"Why don't you come over to the house? We'll have dinner, and I'd love for you to meet them. Besides, you know Jen, Gary and Bill love listening to your stories."
"Sure kid, sure," Al replied as they stepped into the imaging chamber, and back to the future.
The End.
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Tara and Willow
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at: 6/18/02 12:30:18 am
