Disclaimer: The Sentinel belongs to UPN/Paramount and Pet Fly Productions. Quantum Leap belongs to Universal Studios and Belisarius Productions. No copyright infringement is intended and no money has changed hands.

Author's notes: Yet another episode of "Night of the Evil Plotbunny." My two cents worth on the question of Blair's paternity.

January 1, 2001

Blair looked at the package with trepidation, not certain he wanted to deal with its contents. The letter that had been taped to the front of it was shocking enough. All this time, his mother had known who his father was, and she had never said anything, had continually told him that there was a long list of candidates. It had been a lie, but the reason was even stranger. The man had told her not to tell him until the dawn of the new millennium.

The letter read,

He sat there, just staring at the package. Finally, it was Jim who broke his circular train of thought. "Is it growing horns or something, Chief?"

Blair looked up. Sure enough, there was Jim, standing over him with a concerned expression on his face, despite the levity in his tone. The Sentinel could hardly have missed the state of agitation he was in, despite the fact that he probably hadn't moved in twenty minutes. His heart rate had probably gone through the roof!

He sighed and leaned back on the couch. "Might as well be, man." He handed the letter to Jim, who read it quickly. "I don't know if I want to open it or not. Why would he refuse to let me know about him until now? What could he be doing that would have caused him to have to leave Mom like that? I don't know if I want to know about him or not if he could do that."

Jim sat down beside him on the couch. "I think you do. I can already think of one possibility. What he was doing was classified and this is the declassification date."

Blair shrugged. "Maybe."

Jim looked at his partner. Silently he pulled his pocket knife out and opened the larger blade, then handed it to Blair. "I have a projector in the basement. Should I go get it?"

Blair looked at the knife as though it might jump out and bite him, but finally he took the offered tool and nodded. "Thanks, Jim."

Within half an hour, Jim had the projector set up and was threading the film from the can that had been in the package through the reels. They had draped a white sheet over the mantle to serve as a screen, holding the cloth in place with Blair's amethyst geode and a small Egyptian sphinx. Once Blair was settled on the couch with a bottled water, Jim started the projector and moved to sit beside his friend.

The man looked like a typical hippie from '68. He had curly blond hair, held in place by a green headband, blue eyes hidden behind violet shades, and a strong countenance. His clothes were riotous, quite a reminder of the times. He sat on the back seat of a school bus, the camera most likely in the aisle between the two rows of seats. His face was troubled and alert, as if he were waiting for something to happen.

He took off his shades, folded them neatly and put them in the breast pocket of his violet shirt. "I don't quite know how to begin. I hate the fact that I won't be able to stay with Naomi. She's so different than anyone I've ever known, and I love her." He sighed. "No matter what, Blair, I want you to remember that. I love her, and I wish to God I could have known you.

"A lot of what I'm about to tell you is not only classified, but dangerous. That's why this film is going under lock and key and why you will not receive it until 2001. Letting you know the truth before hand could cause major problems, and could even result in your death or Naomi's. Or even Jim Ellison's."

Both men on the couch started. "Yes, I know about the two of you. I know because I am not who I appear to be. My real name is Dr. Sam Beckett. I'm a scientist. I started traveling through time in 1995. Only the way I do it isn't like anything H.G. Wells or Gene Rodenberry came up with. We call it a Quantum Leap. I become other people, actually leaping into them. I take over their body and they take over mine back at the project. The face you're seeing isn't actually mine, it's Johnny Breaker's. But that's the funny thing about Leaps. Even though it's his face, it's still me, and you're still my son, even genetically. You have a sister, Samantha Jo Fuller. I've been told that she actually works at the project." Sam shook his head. "She was drawn to it, but I have no idea why. And I made sure that she knows I'm her father. I sent her a letter. I didn't have to go through the same rigmarole with her because she's already a part of Quantum Leap.

"When we started the project, it was just to prove that it could be done. The military funded my research, but don't worry about that. There's no way that they can control the technology. It's too unpredictable. As it is, something took over the project. We can't control where or when I go or who I leap into, and before I leap, I have to fix something that went wrong in history. As a general rule, I can't go earlier than my own birth date, but that's not always the case. Some things got changed up...but that doesn't matter. On this Leap, I'm here to stop an assassination. Ted Jundi."

Sam looked up at the ceiling of the bus for a moment. "I swear, your mother can be infuriating at times! It's so hard to get her to listen to reason. Normally, people can't see the real me, they only see the person I've leapt into. But not her, and once I told her the truth, she's all out to help me save Jundi. But I can't let her do that! It's too dangerous, especially when I know she's pregnant! I am doing everything I can to keep that woman away from the fair tomorrow, but she'll probably stow away on the bus or something. That's the other reason I'm doing this. I'm hoping that you'll come to the project and get into the Holographic Imaging Chamber with Al. He's still three days into your future if this package was delivered on time. That should be enough time for you to get there. I'll give you the details later. You're the only one I can think of who has a chance of convincing her not to come with me, and from what Al has told me, even that's not a sure thing, not because of you, but because Naomi is Naomi.

"I'd also love to meet you, if only once. They can't figure out how to bring me back, so this would be my only chance to see you. On my end, Jundi dies in two days, and I have to figure out a way to stop it. Either way, that's my last day here."

Sam stopped and cleared his throat. "Now, I know you're worried about how I know Ellison's the real deal, that he's actually a Sentinel and not that crap you were throwing at that press conference. Ziggy, the computer, was able to trace your entire life history, and being dishonest enough to write a fraudulent dissertation is not in your character. I'm rather proud of you, what I've heard. You threw away your entire career for your Sentinel. That kind of friendship is priceless. I know. That's what I've got with Al. Either one of us would sacrifice his life for the other.

"Don't worry about the military connections. They don't even pay any attention to what we do down there any more, though they still fund it, hoping that we'll figure the whole mess out, and I've told Al to make sure that any mention of Sentinels and Ellison is protected within Ziggy's databases. That computer knows how to hide a file, I promise. She's very protective of me, and I'm fairly certain of my family as well.

"Before you ask, Ziggy is a complete AI system. She has emotions, reasoning, and problem solving skills, as well as the speed, power, and capacity of three Cray supercomputers. She can hack into ANYone's life. She also has discretion, and she'll do what I or Al tell her to before anyone else, no matter what their rank." He smiled slightly. "She's also a flirt, but don't take much of what she says to heart on that front. She's completely in love with Al, even if he hasn't figured it out yet.

"Al is Admiral Albert Calavicci, US Navy. And don't worry about him, either. He's been my best friend for a lot of years, and he knows how to keep a secret."

Sam shifted in his seat. "I know you're probably mad that I made Naomi wait to give this to you, but it was too important that your future not be changed. I figure you might have wanted a few things to be different, like Alex Barnes, Brad Ventris, or the dissertation mess, but think about those things. If they hadn't happened, you wouldn't be where you are today, a police detective with the best rookie solve rate in Cascade history. And Al's read those files. No modesty, Blair. It wasn't all Ellison's doing. You two are a team, and you're a better one at his side than as an observer.

"One last thing before I turn this machine off. The Leaping process screws around with the brain somewhat. Every Leap I take puts holes in my memory. The first one was the worst. I couldn't even remember my own last name. I might not remember you consciously after I leap, but if, somewhere along the line we run into each other again, I'll probably remember, and because of our connection, if I leap into someone around you, you'll see me and Al. You'll know the truth.

"I love you, son. You'll always be a part of me, no matter how swiss-cheesed my memory gets, and we'll always recognize each other. Hopefully, I'll see you soon. The address for Project Quantum Leap is on the card taped to the inside of the can lid, along with the access code for the security system. The only way you could get that is if I gave it to you, and you'll be expected, so there'll be no mistakes. Ellison can come, too." He snorted. "Like anyone could stop him. Al's still two days ahead of you, so don't come before Wednesday. See you, Blair." Then he got up and turned off the machine, and the film went white.

Jim and Blair just stared at the screen for a while. Jim was, of course, a bit worried about the military part of the whole equation, but that was the least of their worries. The letter WAS in Naomi's handwriting. She wouldn't have lied to Blair about this, not in the guise of coming clean. There would be no point! No, the biggest worry right now was what might be running through his Guide's mind.

Blair looked thoughtful, though, not panicked or angry. He stood and went to his room, grabbed his laptop off the desk, and brought it into the living room. While he got logged on, Jim stood and began the process of taking down the projector. Blair said, "There's got to be something about him online, even if it's just college records and the like."

For several hours Blair flew through the internet, trying to find everything he could on the man who said he was his father. The data was extraordinary! As Jim put dinner on the table, Blair started to tell his Sentinel all that the had found on Dr. Samuel Beckett. "Get this, Jim. He started MIT when he was fifteen. He has six doctorates, including music, medicine, quantum physics, ancient languages, art, and history. He got the Nobel Prize in physics. He played Carnegie Hall at 19. This guy's more than just a prodigy, Jim! He's probably the most intelligent man on the planet!"

"So are you going?" Jim hoped he would. Blair had often said that not knowing who his father was didn't bother him, but he had often looked with longing at the relationships of other fathers and sons, like Simon and Daryl, and he had tried his very hardest to get the Ellison men back together, at least to the point where they were speaking again. It wasn't hard to see that he had missed having that in his life. Even if he only ever got to see the man once, it would be worth it, and he would be able to check up on him from time to time. He would also be able to meet the sister he had never known about.

Blair took a bite of the chicken alfredo as he conscidered the question. "I'd like to. Do you think we can clear the Peni case by Wednesday? Then we can hopefully get Simon to give us the rest of the week off. That should be enough time."

Jim smiled. "Yeah. That should do it."

Wednesday night, Jim and Blair were on a plane bound for New Mexico. Blair was nervous, of course. He would get to meet his father for the first time ever, and probably the last. Who knew if the Leaper would ever come into their lives again, and if he came, he would be there to put something right in history. As that was generally Jim's job in Cascade, there was no telling if he ever would. They wouldn't be able to count on it in any way.

They arrived Thursday morning at the military bunker which housed the Quantum Leap Project. They typed in the access code and the doors slid open, admitting Sentinel and Guide to the facility. They were met just inside by a man in a loud Hawaiian shirt and white pants. He was an older man with a kind face who carried a stogy in one hand that set Jim to sneezing almost immediately. He said, "Oops! Sorry. I didn't even think about that. I'll get rid of this as soon as we get in there." He held out his hand to shake, and as Blair and then Jim took it in turn, he said, "I'm Al Calavicci. Sam is still taping at the moment, so you can't go in just yet, but as soon as he's got that thing locked up, we'll let you go in. I swear, kid, your mom is such a spitfire! She's been a bit, ah, insistent about going with Sam, but that could easily get her killed, which would get you killed, too. I do have one question. Is she still like that?"

The two men looked at each other, both simultaneously remembering the incident with the car-jacking ring. Blair said, "You have no idea."

They walked into the project room and the two guests looked around while Al put out his cigar. The computers took up most of the space, including a huge monitoring island in the center of the room. A female voice came from above them. "Hello, Detectives."

They looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. Just as Jim spotted a set of speakers, Al said, "That's Ziggy. She's the one that makes sure everything goes as smoothly as possible, though sometimes that's not very. Ziggy, is Sam through making that tape yet?"

"Yes, Admiral. The film is hidden and should be safe until he can place it in a bank."

"Good. We need to get these two set up to be visible in the HIC. Get the scanner ready."

The brain-wave scanner was a simple matter of two electrodes and five minutes for each man. Then they were hustled into a corridor that led to a hydraulic door. Al stopped them there for a short talk. "Okay. The big thing here is to not say anything to your mom that she doesn't already know in this time. We're not sure why she can see Sam and me, but she can, and she'll be able to see you, too. You've got to keep her from trailing Sam! If she goes, it's likely that she'll get shot."

Jim spoke up. "Why is this Ted Jundi being targeted?"

"Apparently, he was rather insulting to someone during some of his war protesting, and it pissed off the wrong people. The job is professional. No one ever found the gun. We don't even know where the shot comes from, let alone who the shooter was."

Blair said, "Maybe we can help with that. How's the resolution of your holographic imaging system?"

Al frowned. "I don't know. Why?"

"If it and your sound system are good enough, Jim should be able to use his senses to advantage in there. He might be able to see the shooter."

Al looked at the two detectives and grinned. "Let's find out, shall we?"

Sam looked into the mirror on the wall of the bank, seeing Johnny Breaker staring back at him through the glass. He hated never seeing his own face, but he supposed that it was worth it for all the good he had been able to accomplish over the years.

He hoped that he had done the right thing by bringing his son into the Project. They'd had to do a lot of slick maneuvering to get official attention focused elsewhere for the moment. He knew better than to imagine that all the military advisors who had been attached to the project had simply given up on it because of their inability to get him back home. The Imaging Chamber itself could have vast military applications if they ever managed to get their hands on the thing, though with Ziggy's safeguards that was unlikely.

He headed outside, walking to where Johnny's van was parked, Naomi waiting in the front seat. She was being obnoxiously stubborn about going with him. She had capitulated nominally, but Ziggy said she still ended up going. Once he started changing things, there was no telling what would happen. She could so easily be hurt, and he couldn't let that happen.

He knew from previous experience that falling in love during a Leap was worse than dangerous, and it hurt every time, but with Naomi, nothing had been able to prevent him from falling. She was too vibrant a soul, and if anyone was ever able to pin her down, they would be the luckiest bastard on the planet, in any time. But she was all about being free of commitments, not tying herself to anyone or anything, and from what Al had told him, that wasn't going to change in the next thirty-odd years. Only someone who could follow her wherever she went would have a chance in hell of holding on to her heart.

Despite that truth, however, she was going to be a great mom, as long as he could convince her to stay out of the way so she wouldn't get hurt. True, the history Al had at the moment didn't have that happening, and that was a good thing or he wouldn't have been able to get their son to come and talk to her, but things were in flux with him here and could so easily get screwed up.

In the original history, Naomi had never had a child. Blair's very existence was a change he'd already made in history, and from what Ziggy had been able to find, it was a good one. In 1996, he'd really started to change things for the better. He'd found his Sentinel and kept him from ending up in an insane assylum. He'd been at the police station when it was taken over by the Sunrise Patriots, changing enough incidents that the whole group had been taken down before they could kill every person left in the building. He had nearly become the victim of David Lash, which brought Jim Ellison into the picture and stopped him before thirteen other victims could be added to the psychopath's circle of "friends." With Jim able to actually do his job and do it better than he ever had before, the entire history of Cascade Washington was changed for the better, and even that of the nation, because when they stopped Klaus Zellar, they stopped him from being able to assassinate the President-elect at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2001. After all, who knew what good George W. Bush might do in the future.

He drove back to the hotel, Naomi chattering incesantly about how great she thought Leaping must be. He had tried continually to tell her what a headache it was, but she still romanticized it. He got the feeling that everything but war and government was romantic in some way to her. It was part of what made her the luminous creature he had fallen for. He wouldn't have her be any other way, but at the moment, it was damned inconvenient. She could get herself killed.

Once they stepped out of the van, Naomi piped up and said, "I'm gonna go get a shower, Sammy. Then we can go grab something to eat, okay?" He nodded. Food sounded pretty good right then, though thoughts of Naomi in the shower tended to increase his appetite for things other than food.

As the winsome redhead shut the bathroom door, Sam heard the familliar sound of the HIC door opening. He turned around to see Al and two other men. One of them was tall, with a military bearing. He looked around with acute interest at the surroundings, as if he wasn't sure what he would be seeing. The other one was of average height, with long curly hair and a bounce that was so Naomi, he knew without a doubt that this was their son. Blair.

Al walked over to him. "Hey, Sam. The package got through just fine."

Sam nodded. "I see that. Blair?"

The young Shaman looked at the man who was his father. He saw the real man, not the body of the person he was inhabiting. He had hair just as dark as his son's, but it was straight and fairly short. They had the same eyes, and there was a vague family resemblance, though Blair looked more like Naomi. "Yeah. That's me."

"It's good to meet you. Your mom's in the shower." Sam smiled at his son ruefully. "It could be a while."

Blair snorted. Naomi and her long showers. And Jim wondered where he got it from? "Yeah, no kidding. Her one real indulgence, even in our time." Blair paused, getting his thoughts together, then said, "So, you know how my life is going. How are things going here?"

"Pretty good. Al, did you ever figure out where that shot is going to come from?"

"Nope. The kid's got a theory, though."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

Blair was about to answer, but Jim nudged him, pointing toward the door to the bathroom. Blair looked over and saw Naomi peeking out. No way could they start talking about Jim until she was out of hearing range. Jim's hearing range.

Seeing where he was looking, Sam turned around and saw the eighteen-year-old who was not-so-subtly trying to evesdrop. Caught, she came out in a bath robe. "Hi! More friends of yours, Sam?"

"Yeah. These are Joseph and Blair." Jim blinked, but he realized that it was a good idea not to tell her his name. But he hated his middle name, damn it! "Blair is--"

"He's our son, isn't he." She smiled. "He looks like my grandpa, Jacob Sandburg. In fact, I'll bet that's your middle name, isn't it."

Blair grinned. "Yeah. And Joseph is a real good friend of mine. We've been through a lot together." 1

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