Two Sides, One Coin
Part 4
SongStar
The rest of the morning and afternoon passed with Sam desperatly trying to come up with some plan as to how he was going to keep two, possibly three people from dying. Al at one point had gone to look in on the Vice President and had come back to tell Sam that there had been a brief meeting between him and the Chris guy, but nothing other than that it was still on for tonight had been said.
By the time late afternoon had rolled around, Sam was becoming worried and a little nervous. He was alone again in Toby's office. Al had gone back to the project to see what he could get out of both Gooshie and Ziggy and would hopefully be back in a little while.
Sam had even started throwing Toby's balls to see if that didn't help him concentrate any.
"Hey Toby." a voice asked from the doorway.
Sam caught the ball and looked up to find Sam Seaborn in the doorway. "Sorry." he said.
Sam shrugged. "I'm use to it." he said and frowned. "Is everything alright?"
Sam/Toby nodded "Oh yeah. Just thinking." he said
"You worried about tonight?" Sam asked, coming further into the office
Sam/Toby shrugged. "No, why would I be." he answered. "Ugh." he sighed to himself.
Sam raised an eyebrow, but gave his boss a slight grin. "Don't worry, the speech is going to go fine and i'm sure you'll hook up with Andi afterwards."
Sam/Toby rolled his eyes, but decided to changed the subject. "How are you doing." he asked. Sam was hoping that if maybe the boy started talking now about everything that was bothering him, then maybe he wouldn't go outside at all. However if he averted that then what would happen when the entire staff and the President stepped outside. There was a chance that everyone would die then.
Sam Seaborn shrugged. "I'm fine." he said rather stiffly. "Listen, i've got something I need to finish. I'll talk to you later." he said and was gone before Sam/Toby could do anything to stop him.
"You could go after him." Sam thought to himself. "Yeah, but would that do any good?" he asked himself. "Sam will just probably get to suspicious and then I've got problems." Sam sighed. He just wasn't sure what to do, so he sat back, started bouncing the ball again and continued to think.
Sam still hadn't come up with a good solution to anything by the time 7 o'clock rolled around. He had eaten about a halfhour earlier when one of the secretaires had dropped some food off, but he had not eaten all that much. Al was still nowhere to be seen and Sam really would have liked for him to show up about now. Al could help him spot anything
The time came to leave the White House to go over to the hotel. Sam shared a limo with the other Sam, Josh and CJ. Hardly any of them spoke on the way over there. All three seemed to be caught up with their own thoughts.
When they arrived around 8pm they were met by Andi and she fell into step by Toby's side as they made their way into the building. Sam looked around briefly before they went in, hoping to spot something but he never did see anything. "Al, where the hell are you?" he thought to himself. "I swear, when I complete this mission, i'm going to kick your rear end."
The senior staff met with the President and then took up positions along the walls, while the President waited in back for nine to come around.
Sam watched the people file in, hoping to spot someone out of the ordinary, but he didn't. He occasionaly glanced over at Andi and Sam. Sam was pretty much ignoring him, mostly talking to Josh, but Andi said a few quiet words to him.
Suddenly nine oclock was here and the after the secret service made sure everything checked out, the allowed the President out.
Bartlet looked out of the crowd for a long moment "Good evening..." he started
Sam tried to not listen to closly to what Bartlet was saying, but quickly got caught up with what he was saying. This would be a bad mistake.
Sam was so busy listening to what Bartlet was saying that he failed to notice that Josh and Sam, both of whom had been closer to the door, quietly left the room. He also failed to notice that Al had suddenly popped in and was standing pretty close by, looking around for the two men.
"Sam!" Al shouted.
Sam jumped slightly, but was able to keep anyone else from noticing the movement. He glanced over at Al with a raised eyebrow
"Sam and Josh are gone." Al quickly told him.
If Sam could have, he would have kicked himself for not noticing. He had gotten so wrapped up in what Bartlet was saying that the mission was now threatened.
Sam nodded and quietly turned to Andi. "Scuse me for a second. I'll be right back."
Andi nodded and Sam slipped out.
"Are they outside yet?" Sam asked as soon as he was out in the hallway.
Al glanced at the handlink. "Yes. You have 2 1/2 minutes." he said grimly
"Shit." Sam said and started down the hallway. "Al get out there." he added
Al nodded and was gone. Sam was almost to the door when he heard his name being called. He turned back to find Andi coming after him.
"Is everything ok?" she aske concerened.
Sam nodded "Yeah. I'm just going to go find Josh and Sam and I'll be right back." he said and smiled. "Just stay here."
Andi nodded and Sam smiled again.
Sam almost ran through the door to the outside. He looked around frantically, spotting both men over by the limo's which were a couple of feet from him and out in the open.
"One minute Sam." Al told him
Sam started walking towards both Josh and Sam who appeared to be locked in conversation and didn't noticed him walking towards them. "Josh. Sam." he called out.
Both men looked up at him, Josh frowned a little at his approach. "Its ok Toby. We're fine." he told him "Sam needed some air."
"30 seconds Sam." Al intoned.
"Well, why don't you come back inside." Toby/Sam told them as he came to stand with them.
Josh opened his mouth to say something when the first shot rang out, hitting the tire of a nearby car.
"What the hell?" Sam Seaborn said looking around.
"Oh god." Josh breathed just as the other shots began to ring out.
"Sam!!!!" Al practically screamed at the same time.
Needing no other prompting, Toby/Sam grabbed both men and quickly drug them around the back of the limo. He started to push both men behind the car, but felt and heard Sam fall out of his grasp. He threw Josh behind the car and as several bullets wizzed past his head, he turned to Sam. Sam was on the ground holding onto his leg, but appeared to be alive for the moment. Toby/Sam reached down, grabbed onto him and without preamble, threw Sam and then himself behind the limo.
Once he was behind the limo, he grabbed onto both men again and pushed them down onto the ground and covered them both with his body as the shots continued to ring out
"Stay down!!" Al commanded "The secret service have heard the shots and will be out shortly." he said.
Somone screamed at that point and Sam couldn't tell which man screamed and wasn't about to rule himself out either.
It seemed like an eternity, but the shooting eventually stopped and some shouting could be heard over the buzzing in Sam's ears.
"Its ok Sam." Al told him, with a somewhat relieved sound to his voice. "You should check Sam and Josh." he added and started pounding on the handlink.
It took a moment, but Sam eventually got up off of both Josh and Sam. "Josh? Sam?" he asked as he touched both men on the shoulder. "Are you two ok?"
Josh was the first to sit up. He looked rather shaken and had gone rather pale. "I...I think...i'm ok." he managed to say. Toby/Sam glanced over him and didn't see any sign of blood. He looked down at Sam, who hadn't moved, but appeared to be breathing. "Sam?" he questioned and then noticed the blood on the upper part of Sam's left leg. One of Sam's hands was clutching the wound, but blood seemed to be still coming out between his fingers.
"Sam." he repeated, putting his hand back on the younger man's shoulder. "Talk to me."
"My leg." Sam managed to gasp out as turned over a little and looked at Toby.
"Were you hit anywhere else?" Toby/Sam asked
"I don't think so?" Sam told him through clenched teeth.
Toby/Sam got Sam in a sitting position and futher checked him out. He soon found that the only wound was to Sam leg and he quickly helped to apply more pressure to it. He was going to have to get some help over here.
He looked up a second later and noticed that Josh was looking at them with a faraway look in his eyes.
"Josh?" Toby/Sam questioned which caught Al's attention
"Sam, he's about to have an episode. Try and talk to him." Al told him
"Josh." Toby/Sam said firmly. "Josh look at me."
Sam Seaborn, who had his eyes closed at the moment, trying to fight the pain, opened them and looked over at his friend. "Josh." he said quietly. "Its ok. It's over. Your ok."
"Josh. Listen to Sam." Toby/Sam said
Josh wasn't responding just yet
"Josh, look at me now." Toby/Sam commanded and reached over to place a hand under Josh's chin and made him look in his eyes. "Josh! Come back. Your ok."
Josh blinked at that.
"That's it Josh." Toby/Sam told him. "Your alive, Sam's alive and I'm alive. Your ok."
Josh seemed to shake it off and sighed heavily. He blinked again and looked up at both Sam's
"Welcome back." Sam Seaborn told him quietly.
"Damn." Josh muttered and sat back against the limo.
"Just breath Josh. Its ok." Toby/Sam told him and glanced quickly at Al.
Al looked at the handlink again. "Your out of the woods now Sam." he told him and looked at the hankdlink again. "However Ziggy still thinks something might happen. Listen, I'm going back to see if I can't get her to hurry up. I think its going to ok for a little while, just keep a watch out."
Toby/Sam gave a slight shake of the head and Al was gone. He focused on Josh and Sam again and then heard their names being called. He looked up over the back of the limo to find that help was coming to their rescue.
Stallions Gate, New Mexico
Project Quantum Leap
Al walked into the control room practically shouting. "Ok Ziggy. Get with it and find out what happens now."
"I'm working on it Admiral." she replied crisply
"Well work faster." Al thundered
"What happened?" Toby asked, coming into the room.
"Everything is fine." Al told him, looking down at the control board
"Sam Seaborn was shot in the leg." Ziggy answered
"Ziggy!" Gooshie and Al cried together
"He's alive?" Toby asked
"Yes." Ziggy said, ignoring the other two men. "He just won't be to happy about it for a little while."
"Shut up, Ziggy!!!" Al shouted and then looked at Toby. He sighed. "Things happened a little bit differently. Andi wasn't outside this time at all, it was just you, Josh and Sam. Sam managed to get everyone behind a limo, but your Sam was shot. He should be ok." he looked down briefly, trying to read some data. "Josh almost had an episode, but its been averted for the time being."
Toby sighed in relief. "So does something else happen?" he asked
Al looked up at him. "That's what we're trying to find out now." he said
Washington DC
GW Hospital -- 10:30pm
Sam Beckett stood outside the operating room, watching the surgeons work on Sam Seaborn's leg. Sam had almost asked them if he could come in and help out, but quickly remembered that his host was not a medical doctor. The doctors had told him before Sam went in that the bullet had gone in Sam's thigh, but as far as they could tell, everything would be just fine. Sam would probably have to be on crutches for several weeks and would most likely have to go in for physical therapy, but the fact that he was alive was what mattered the most. Toby/Sam just hoped that Al would get back quickly to tell him what else was going on so he could get out of here. He was tired and wanted to sleep back in his own time.
Both Andi and Josh had been with him until a few minutes ago when Andi had left with Josh so he could go call his therapist. Josh was still a little pale, but he seemed to be a little bit more steadier than he had been. Andi had assured Sam that she would stay with him. The rest of the senior staff and the President were in the waiting room and Sam figured he should probably go up there, but felt he should stay here for just a few moments longer.
A few minutes later, Sam heard a familiar sound and he turned to see Al stepping out of the door.
"Al." he greeted
Al nodded and glanced briefly at the operating room window before looking back at the handlink.
"Were you able to come up something?" Sam asked
Al nodded "Yeah. Ziggy still isn't to sure about what exactly happens, but there is an 80% chance the President will die in the next hour."
"Bartlet?" Sam hissed
Al nodded "Yeah. Unfortunatly since you changed history and prevented Sam and Andi from getting killed, the President is now the one who dies."
"Shit." Sam commented "Does Ziggy know what happens after that?"
"It goes pretty much the same way that it went when Andi and Sam were the ones that died." Al told him, poking at the handlink
"I'm going to go to the waiting room." Sam told him, giving the window one last glance. "I hope he's still there."
"He is." Al told him, looking back up. "Just stick close to him."
Sam and Al made their way to the waiting room and found the President and the rest of the staff sitting there. They looked up at him and Sam figured they just wanted some news.
"He's not out yet, but I think everything is going to be fine." Sam told them
"Josh was just through here and said pretty much the same thing, but I still wanted to here it from somebody else." Leo admitted
Sam nodded "Is Josh ok?"
Leo nodded. "Yeah, more or less. He and Congresswoman Wyatt left to go over to his doctor's office. A couple of guys went with them."
"Good." Sam said in relief and looked at the President. "Are you alright sir?"
Bartlet looked at Sam and nodded "Just pissed, but i'm ok." He said and sighed. "Thankfully noone got hurt to bad tonight."
"Yet." Al said, unable to keep quiet.
Sam resisted the urge to glare at his friend, instead going to a nearby chair and sitting down.
Noone spoke again for a little while.
About 20 minutes passed and Sam decided to get up and get some water. He walked out of the room and found a nearby waterfountain. Al followed him and perched himself next to the wall.
"You doing ok?" he asked
Sam nodded "Yeah." he said and looked around the hallways. Several doctors could be seen and a couple of secret service men either roamed the hallways or stood guard.
"Does it happen here?" Sam asked quietly
Al nodded "Yes. I don't know how with all the secret service, but yes." he said and looked around himself.
Sam got some more water and was just standing back up when Al said his name quietly.
"Sam."
Sam looked at Al and then looked in the direction that Al was looking. He saw a figure coming down the hallway and as he drew closer, Sam could see it was a young man.
"Its the guy that was talking to Hoynes." Al told him in a clipped tone
"Are you sure?" Sam asked, already knowing the answer
Al nodded "Yes." he said and looked down at the handlink. "Sam! Its him. He will kill the President."
"Shit." Sam said as he watched the guy walk towards the waiting room the President was in. He started to walk that way
"Easy Sam." Al told him "Don't spook him. Let him make the first move, but make sure he doesn't do anything else."
Sam didn't comment as he made his way back to the waiting room. He arrived just seconds after the younger man and was just in time to here him ask to speak to the President.
The President nodded and they walked to one side. Sam watched the entire time, noticing that Leo was watching the two as well. Suddenly the young man put his arms behind his back and then Sam saw something metallic looking coming out of his sleeve. It was a knife.
"Sir!" Sam said loudly about the same time Leo did. The chief of staff had noticed it as well
Their was a flurry of movement and Sam wasn't quite sure at all what happened next. He knew he had crossed the distance towards the guy and pounced on him just before he could stab the President with the knife. However the next thing he knew, he was being pulled off the guy by the secret service and pushed away.
"You ok?" Leo asked as he reached down to help Sam back to his feet.
"Yeah. I think so." Sam told him
"What the hell is going on?" Bartlet asked, trying to see around the knot of secret service men surrounding him.
Before anyone could say anything, several other secret service people ran into the room. One of them quickly looked the situation over
"What's going on?" he asked
"Little late there Ron." Bartlet commented
Ron looked at him and nodded. "Yes sir. Sorry about that sir. We got the shooters and I was questioning them. They mentioned one other person and I figured he might try and come here." he looked over at Chris who was being held by several agents.
"Who do you work for?" Ron asked as he approached Chris. "The others would not tell me."
"I'm not telling you!" Chris spat.
"I suggest you do." Bartlet told him, pushing himself out of the protective ring of agents. "Tell us who you work for and why your're trying to kill me and my people."
Chris glared at him, but Barlet only glared back. Finally Chris's resolve broke and he looked away
"Wait." CJ spoke up. "I think i've seen this guy in the White House before. He works in the Vice Presidents office."
Bartlet looked at her and then back at Chris. "Is that true?"
Chris looked up and met him stare for stare. "Yes sir. It is." he said.
"Did Hoynes set this up?" Leo asked suddenly, dangerously
Chris looked at him and smiled "Yes Mr. McGarry, he did set this up."
"Why?" Bartlet asked
Chris turned back to him. "Because you were supposed to give your support over to him and not run again. Since you didn't do that, he decided to take this course of action." Chris stopped and smiled slightly. "Noone was supposed to know it was him. He would have been elected President and noone would have been the wiser."
"Ron!" Bartlet growled, turing to his head agent.
Ron nodded and turned to look at several of his agents. "Go back to the White House and arrest the Vice President on charges of trying to attempt an assassination." he said and the agents left the room.
"As for this guy." he said as he looked at the agents surrounding Chris. "Get him out of here and lock him up."
The agents led Chris out of the room and everyone watched them leave. No one spoke for several long moments. The President was just about to say something when a doctor walked in and let them know that Sam was out of surgery and they could see him in a little while.
As they waited for the doctor to come back and tell them they could go back and see Sam Seaborn, Sam sat quietly in a chair listening to President Bartlet and Leo talk not to far him. CJ was sitting not to far off, listening as well but wasn't getting involved. Bartlet was less than happy and letting Leo know and Sam figured the older man could handle him and didn't need either him or CJ to step in.
Al had been poking at the handlink for the last couple of minutes, not paying any attention to what was going on around him. Sam figured that he was just making sure the timeline had been corrected before the project pulled him back.
"Sam." Al said after a few more minutes.
Sam glanced over at Al and raised an eyebrow, not asking verbally because someone in the room would definatly notice.
Al was smilling a little. "Ziggy says that the timeline has been corrected. I'll tell you more in a few minutes, we need to pull you back now."
Sam nodded and Al disappeared. Sam looked around the room one last time and wished the people well silently. A minute later he felt the slight pull of the leap process take him and the blue white light surrounded him and he was gone.
Sam awoke at some point later to find Al hovering over him. His friend's face cracked into a smile when Sam opened his eyes.
"Al." Sam said
"Yeah." Al told him and put a hand on Sam's arm to keep him from getting up. "Don't get up for a minute. Your memories need a little time to adjust to what the timeline is now."
Sam nodded and a few seconds later he had to close his eyes because the images that were coming to him were making him a little dizzy. These new images and knowledge were replacing what the previous timeline had been and the experience was always a little strange.
Finally, after a few minutes, Sam opened his eyes again and Al let him sit up.
"You ok?" he asked
Sam nodded "Yeah." he said, running a hand through his hair. "So everything is fine now."
Al nodded. "Yes. You did it Sam." he said "Barlet was able to win reelection and is still in the White House. Everyone came through the assassination attempt pretty much ok. There were a few problems, but everyone was there for each other and they worked through it."
Sam nodded and smiled "Good. Have Ziggy bring up all the information she has on the last couple of years. I want to look over it."
Al nodded. "Already told her. I wanted to look over it as well."
Sam got up off the table and both men started to walk out towards the control room. "At least now the right person is in office." he said and then frowned. "What about Sam's parents?"
"I asked about that." Al said as he shook his head. "They still get divorced, but Sam had his friends to help him through it."
"Good." Sam said and looked up to see Gooshie working at the control table.
"Gooshie." he greeted
The dark haired man looked up and nodded. "Dr. Beckett. Good to see you sir. Good work."
"Thanks Gooshie." Sam said "Do you have any information on the Barlet administration yet?"
Gooshie nodded. "Yes sir. You and the Admiral can go take a look at in the conference room. I'll have it come up on the screen in there."
"Thanks Gooshie." he said and turned to Al. "Well you want to go see what they have been up to in the last couple of years."
Al nodded and both men walked off towards the conference room. They were happy, the timeline was now correct and history was in good hands with Bartlet and his team.
The End
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