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22 "Not really," Harry interjected, leaning his hands on the console again and turning to address Gooshie and Donna. "He's always gotten himself mixed on this end, but I'm getting the feeling that what ended up getting mixed in was incomprehensible to his host." Meeting the blank stares of his conversation partners, he quirked up the corner of his mouth and purposely mistook their lack of response for lack of understanding. "He's got a lot of math in here," then dropping his voice to a catty whisper, "It's very boring." The door slid open a third time and Al launched himself into the room at a full run, forced to use Donna and Gooshie as his brakes. "Harry!" He took a breath and looked at the faces of the two project managers. "Uh-oh..." Donna dismissed him, still upset at what Harry had just told her. "You can't do this, you know." "I?" Harry asked incredulously, pressing his fingers to his chest. "I can't do this? I must have missed something. Who's fault is it that I'm here?" Everyone in the room opened their mouths to protest, defend, justify, or just argue, but Ziggy was the only one who spoke. "Dr. Beckett has repaired the Quantum Leap Chamber. I am ready to retrieve him."
She was just looking at the gun... just holding it loosely in her fingers, looking at it, grinning, weaving over the half-downed fifth of vodka on the floor beside her. What did it matter? This was it. Might as well go out with a bang, right? Bang... bang-bang... she giggled sickly at the ramblings of her drunken brain. The part of her that was left, that was still her, screamed mercilessly at her. What am I doing!? I don't want this! You're not making any sense!
"What?" "I said the image keeps changing." Al shoved the handlink almost up Harry's nose. The detective whirled around and snatched the little piece of technology from him, watching for himself. The imbedded LCD screen kept scrambling and refocusing. As soon as Harry could see the wedding announcement, see his picture in black and white newsprint, it would vanish and be replaced by the headline "Detective Dies at 32, Suicide Suspected". And almost before Harry could feel the kick in his gut from that news, the image would change back to their wedding photo.
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