Captured in a Photograph - Quantum Leap; Sam, Al + Trudy

[thecrazyalaskan]

It had taken a lot of emotional persuasion to get Al to remove the photo frome its frame. How could it not—it was the only decent one he had, of course he was going to be protective of it. then again, bringing it to this rendezvous would (hopefully) put the leap into context for Sam.

When Al stepped out of the Imaging Chamber, it was dark, probably three in the morning give or take fifteen minutes. The room was clean and organized, and clearly belonged to a young boy. Somehow, knowing that this was Sam's room (or rather, the room Sam's host shared with his young nephew) was something of a comfort, not to mention a memory.

Al laid that aside for time being, shifting his attention to Sam. The other man was sleeping, his host's nephew curled against him with a comic book clutched between his fingers, while Sam held a still burning flashlight. Al smiled warmly at the visual before kneeling by the bedside. "Sam, wake up."

Sam blinked at the sound of his name and groaned slightly as he sat up. "Ngh… What is it, Al?"

"Come here," Al replied, nodding toward the window. "Got something I want to show you."

Sam nodded slightly in reply, laying the boy down on the pillows before crawling out of bed and joining Al at the window. "What is it?" he questioned, searching for the customary handlink.

Al reached into his jacket pocket and produced not the handlink, but a photograph, time-worn but very well cared for. "Some perspective," he replied, unusually quiet, looking at the photograph before turning it to show Sam. "This is Trudy."

Sam thought back to the conversation they'd had earlier that night, which ended on the mention of Al's younger sister. The knowledge of her existence (past tense) had been carefully filed away in Sam's brain for later use, but a tiny part of his subconscious wondered about her and her relationship with her elder brother. That part of his mind was what made him study the photo as he did.

It showed two young teenagers sitting on the steps of an apartment building. The one on the left was a boy, aged about sixteen, with dark hair and eyes, and a grin that clearly indicated his identity as a younger Al Calavicci. The other child in the photo was a girl of about thirteen. Aside from her face being overly round and her physical stature being far shorter than that of her brother (two indicators of her mental disability), she was very much related to the boy next to her. Al had his arm around her shoulders, while she was hugging him tightly around the middle. On the very bottom white margin, written in a shaky hand (likely the photographer's), were the words, Al e Trudy, New York, Giugno 1950.

Sam looked up from the photo to Al, and for a moment was briefly was struck by how different he looked compared to the picture. Much more serious, for one thing. There was an unasked question in Sam's eyes, and Al picked up on it instantly. "This is the last time I saw Trudy," he explained, carefully returning the photograph to his jacket's inner breast pocket. "I went back to orphanage, she went back to the institution, and that was it." He met Sam's eyes, and Sam felt as though his friend could see into his soul with the intensity of his gaze. "We're not going to let that happen to Jimmy, alright?"

-.-.-.-

Title: Captured in a Photograph
Author: TheCrazyAlaskan
Fandom / Setting: Quantum Leap – Coda for "Jimmy" (02 x 08)
Characters / Pairings: Al (x) Sam, mentions of Trudy
Rating: K+
Genre: General
Word Count: 590
Warnings / Notes: …Glimpse into big brother Al?; title from NaNoWriMo forums
Summary: It occurred to Al that Sam had never seen a picture of his sister.

Kind of spawned on the fly this morning and I didn’t want to let it go. I couldn’t think of any place to house this scenario, and I wanted it to make sense in the context of the leap. That and this is one of my favorite episodes. (We'll see what happens when I get to MIA and The Leap Home.)

Despite the pairing factor not being obvious, assume Sam x Al is at play in some way here.

Sam, Al, Trudy, Quantum Leap © Donald Bellisario

Comments

[aussie-bones.livejournal.com]

I know I say this alot but you really capture Al, you're Sam is awsome too. I love these little shorties about Al and his sister.

[thecrazyalaskan.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. I have entirely too much fun writing for Al, with Sam as a close second, and I love writing about Al and Trudy. (I just wish I could write something about them as adults, but canon sort of put the 86 on that.)

[locoexclaimer.livejournal.com]

You could always write an AU. P: You could write Sam changing history, but I think that'd fuck with the show's canon too much.

Side note: This fanfiction was wonderful. ;A; God I barely remember that episode.

[thecrazyalaskan.livejournal.com]

Believe me, I've toyed with the idea of an AU. A lot. d: (Dude, I actually found some virtual seasons and one episode had Sam change history in this event's favor, but I'm still working on how I feel about it.)

Thank you. ;A; Just remember that it was good and made me cry.