FADE IN:
EXT. OFFICE BUILDING
QUICK CUT:
The taxi PULLS up to the sidewalk.
Sam CLIMBS OUT of the taxi.
SAM
Th-Thank you Angelita for the adventurous ride.
ANGELITA
Angelita Carmen Guadalupe Cecelia Jimenez. You’re welcome, Sam. Bye Al.
Angelita broadly SMILES, and WAVES to him and Al.
Al WAVES back, curiously GRINNING.
AL
Bye Angelita
Sam LOOKS UP at the building before him, WHISPERING to Al.
SAM
Okay, now what, Al? Do I just go up there and see if he has a quantum generator capable of time travel?
A woman, a somberly anxious look on her face, briskly WALKS OUT of the building past Al and Sam.
Al guardedly STARES at her.
AL
Whoa. What is she doing here?
SAM
Who, Al? Do you know that woman?
AL
Unfortunately, so do you. She…she’s your wife, Sam.
Sam deeply CONCENTRATES, attempting to RECALL a memory.
SAM
M-my wife? Don-Donna? Why would she be here?
AL
Think things just got a little more complicated. And given everything so far, this can’t be a coincidence. Stay tight Sam, I’ll be right back.
SAM
Stay tight? Where are you going? Shouldn’t I follow her?
AL
No. Don’t interact with her, Sam. Not at all, not until I get back.
Al OPENS the chamber door, and EXITS.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. QUANTUM LEAP PROJECT FACILITY – HALLWAY/SLEEPING QUARTERS
Al KNOCKS on a door at the end of the hallway.
The door OPENS. Donna Beckett stands in it.
She enthusiastically INVITES him in.
DONNA
Al, hello. Please come in. To what do I owe this visit? Everything okay?
AL
I wish I could say so. But, no, everything is not okay.
Donna LOOKS at him in shock.
DONNA
Has something happened to Sam?
AL
No, Sam is fine. For the moment. Project Quantum Leap is compromised and in potential danger though.
DONNA
From what Al? What has happened?
AL
How did you do it? How did you start the Evil Leaper Project?
Donna STARES at Al; confusion is evident in her gaze.
DONNA
Evil Leaper Project? What is this about Al?
Al TURNS red, his anger evident. He SCREAMS at Donna.
AL
IT’S ABOUT THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE GOING KABLOOEY! EARTH’S ENTIRE HISTORY HAS BEEN CHANGED! AND YOU AND THOSE EVIL LEAPER NOZZLES ARE AT THE HEART OF IT!
Donna SLUMPS into a nearby chair. She SIGHS.
DONNA
This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was only supposed to change our history, Sam and I.
Al SITS in a chair next her, GAZING in confusion.
AL
You and Sam?
DONNA
Yes, me and Sam. We were never supposed to be together. I’ve seen the mission logs. You know, you were there. How Sam selfishly changed our fates, remember?
AL
Have you ever heard of divorce?
Donna half-heartedly LAUGHS, tears STREAMING down her cheeks.
DONNA
Easy for you to say. But then again, you’ve never been divorced because of him. How an ‘angel’ appeared to Beth, telling her you were still alive and not to give up. And then Maggie Dawson’s photo of you is published a year later? Who do you think that was, Al? It was Sam, changing your and Beth’s fate.
AL
Whatever, or whoever, made it happen, it was for the good. For both of us. It gave her hope.
Tears continue STREAMING down Donna’s cheek.
DONNA
Hope, yes. For the good. He’s saved so many lives, Al, but he’s also changed others. I’m sorry.
AL
If your sorry, help us fix it. How did this happen? You were meeting with a scientist–
Donna INTERRUPTS him.
DONNA
Yes. Dr. Donald Cutter. He had his own theories on time travel, inferior to Sam’s of course. And with much darker ulterior motives. All he needed was funding.
AL
Apparently. Seems he went back and ‘killed’ Adolph Hitler, making it look like a suicide of a dejected art student, which has sparked a cascade effect on the entire timestream. But how is it your younger self was meeting with him in 1989?
DONNA
The fluidity of time, Al. Chicken and the egg. Everything – past, present, future – occurring at the same time. It’s only our perception of time that makes it linearly rigid and set. You send a letter in 1945, and instantly a door opens for Sam. Remember?
AL
So, he sends his younger self a letter, and, in secret, the two of you create another leaper project? In 1989?
DONNA
There’s a little more to it than that, but essentially yes. Sam probably doesn’t remember, either, but we met him at a conference right before Project Quantum Leap went online. He was still just theorizing, but he was able to use them in more practical applications once I gave him certain rudimentary ideas from Sam’s research and leaps. Of course, it has taken years. Much longer than all this. Once it was running, though, he took every opportunity to communicate with his younger self to accelerate the process. He even contacted my younger self, one of our meetings that you apparently witnessed. At first I was skeptical, but he called it an opportunity of a lifetime that would change everything.
AL
Indeed, it changed everything all right.
DONNA
I tried stopping him, but by then it was too late. Everything was already in motion across the spectrum of time. And the rest you pretty much already know.
Al SIGHS.
AL
Chicken and the egg. And that’s why you’ve been staying here, isn’t it? Even though you were trapped, because you would disappear if you stepped outside the facility unprotected by the shielding! You knew, and didn’t say anything!
DONNA
I thought about leaving. But Al, you and Sam can make it right again by hindering his research.
AL
We have to now, but how? How do we prevent his younger self from further pursuing his research? The genie is already out of the bottle. We have to make certain no one can continue it, especially this Dr. Cutter.
DONNA
It’s even more grave. Cutter, his younger self, plans to discredit Sam at the conference where we first meet based on his foreknowledge in the hope to gain funding for his own leaper project. Turn the tables on him, in 1989, and discredit him first by altering his work to gibberish. No one will want to continue the research. Sam won’t like it, but I see no other way.
Al TURNS to leave.
AL
You realize I have to lock you up, and you’ll have to explain all this to Sam one day.
DONNA
I know, Al. I know. And I understand.
FADE OUT: