This was written for GISH 2022 Item 004: “Fanfic through the Ages”: Write a special crossover fanfic of a character from a 1990s show, book, or video game and a character from a 2000s show, book, or game meeting in a different 2010s universe.
Please enjoy my story where Quantum Leap meets Pushing Daisies in The Avengers.
Sam Beckett groaned. No matter how many times he did it, Leaping always left him feeling disoriented. The noise and screams he heard around him didn’t encourage him to open his eyes but he forced himself to do so. He found himself sitting on an asphalt street, surrounded by overturned cars, damaged buildings, and terrified people.
“Hey, are you alright?” a calm voice asked, cutting through the pandemonium.
“What?” Sam looked up and saw a woman with wavy, brown hair and large, emotive eyes standing over him with a tall, brunette man standing behind her. Both of them looked harried and on edge. “Oh, yes, I’m alright. Thank you.”
The man shifted uncomfortably. “Chuck, we need to go.”
“Oh, hush,” she said as she turned to look at her boyfriend. “Just because the world might be ending doesn’t mean we should stop helping people.” She reached out a hand and helped Sam stand. “I’m Charlotte, but everyone calls me Chuck.” She pointed to the man standing behind her. “And he’s Ned.”
“I’m…” Sam paused. He didn’t know who he was yet. He usually found out his identity from Al. Where was the hologram when Sam needed him?
“You’re Tom Collins,” Al said when he popped up without a sound.
Sam jumped at the unexpected appearance of his friend. “Sorry. I’m Tom.”
Chuck nodded. “Sorry to greet and dash, but we really want to get out of here while we still can. Good luck.” She and Ned then started to quickly walk down the road.
“Do you always have to scare me like that?” Sam hissed as he turned his attention to Al. “Who are they?” he asked before the other man could respond.
Al looked at his Handlink. “Guy’s Ned. Can’t find a last name. He’s a piemaker. Girl’s Chuck like she said. She’s…huh. That’s weird.”
Sam looked over at the man–hologram–and tilted his head. “What’s weird?”
“She’s dead. Or at least she’s supposed to be.”
“‘Supposed to be’?” Sam’s eyes widened in concern. “Are you telling me I’m going to have to kill someone to get out of here?”
“I don’t know.” Al continued to analyze the screen. He’d never seen a reading like it before. “Actually, I think she was dead and now she’s not.”
“Are we talking ‘briefly coded in the ambulance’ used to be dead or ‘fully buried and rose from the grave’ used to be dead?”
“I’m not sure. There’s something strange about her,” Al tried to explain. He looked at his Handlink again. “I don’t know the details, but Ziggy already says there’s an 82% chance that girl is involved in whatever you have to do.”
Ziggy rarely gave such high percentages so early so Sam immediately took off after Chuck and Ned. As he approached the couple, however, a figure jumped out from the shadows and sent Sam stumbling back. He barely managed to stay balanced and not land on his ass, but he was fairly sure his jaw was on the pavement. He’d seen a lot of weird things on his Leaps, but the human, robot, skull, creature thing with a strange helmet that he was looking at right then was the weirdest by far.
The creature let out a shriek, lifted its gun, and shot what looked like an electrical charge straight at Chuck’s heart, making the girl collapse.
Ned screamed and didn’t even care that the creature’s sights had turned to him.
Before the creature could fire again, a suit of red and gold armor appeared and fired some type of energy beam at it, frying the creature. “Keep it moving, people,” a male voice said from inside the suit before flying away again.
“What is going on?” Sam muttered. He had no idea what year or reality he had Leapt into, but he wasn’t enjoying it.
“Uh…” Al shook himself slightly and looked at his Handlink and the new information that had been sent to him. “We’re in New York City and apparently in this timeline, there was an alien invasion on May 4th, 2012.”
Sam stopped himself from asking questions. The situation was more important than his scientific curiosity. He jogged over to Chuck and Ned to see if they were alright.
“Oh, God. No. No, no, no,” Ned muttered frantically as he knelt next to the love of his life. He kept reaching out to Chuck but then pulling his hands back.
Sam looked over at Ned. “Do you know how to do CPR?”
“I do, but I can’t use it on her,” the piemaker said bitterly.
“What? Why not?”
“It’s too complicated to explain right now, but just believe me when I say that if I touched her she would die.”
Al gasped quietly. “That’s it, Sam. Ziggy’s sure of it. Saving her is the wrong you have to right in order to Leap.”
Sam was already in motion before he’d had time to process Al’s words. He wouldn’t have cared if the man had told him that saving this girl would keep him trapped forever. He wasn’t going to just stand by and watch someone die. He checked Chuck for signs of pulse and breathing and, upon finding neither, began administering CPR. Sam knew time was of the essence in that situation and so he focused solely on his task rather than the chaos around him.
Just as Sam, Ned, and Al were beginning to think the effort would be futile, Chuck gasped and turned on her side as she started coughing.
Ned wiped the tears from his eyes and carefully placed a hand on Chuck’s shoulder. He wanted to kiss the woman but that would have to wait until they had appropriate aids available. He made eye contact with Sam. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.
Sam simply nodded as he felt the familiar tingle begin to build inside of his body. He wondered what this Tom Collins was like. He hadn’t even seen his reflection or learned about the man’s life.
But he knew other adventures were waiting for him and so, with a small smile, he took a Leap.
A Writer's Life For Me 