AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story depicts Back to the Future characters one week after the events of TellTale's computer game, while Quantum Leap characters are depicted over a year after the events of the series finale.

      Marty McFly was eager to get out of class that day as he had plans with his girlfriend Jennifer Parker. Soon as the bell rang he waved goodbye to his science teacher and classmates and headed out into the hallway, when he felt a tap on the shoulder.
  "Mr. McFly, may I have a quick word with you?"
  "Oh, Mr. Strickland. I'm kind of in a hurry. but I guess I can spare a couple of minutes."
  "I read your father's book over spring break, and found it to be very intriguing."
  "That's nice. I'll let him know."
  "I must admit, I used to think of him as a slacker, up until that night he rescued your mother from Biff Tannen."
  "Yea, they've... told us that story."
  "You know, around the time your parents first got together, I noticed them hanging around this peculiar looking drifter who for some reason was hanging out with my sister's ex-boyfriend, Dr. Emmett Brown."
  A nervous sweat suddenly came over Marty. "Uh, you don't say?"
  "Well, I will admit my memory isn't all that great, but for some reason you remind me of that individual. I think he went by the name Calvin... Creak? No, that doesn't sound right!"
    Just then, Jennifer came running up. "Hey Marty, we gotta get going. Doc and Mrs. Brown are waiting for us to pick up Jules and Verne!"
  "Oh right! Listen, Mr. Strickland, I'll be more than happy to pick up this conversation with you on Monday, kay?"
  "Oh sure. You two have a good weekend!" Mr. Strickland said as he smiled and waved goodbye to the young couple.
  "He sure is chipper these days!" Marty said as he put his arm over Jennifer's shoulder and they slowly walked through the school parking lot.
  "Strickland? He's always been like that."
  "Oh... uh, right."
  "Are you okay, Marty?"
  "Yea, I just... Look Jen, I didn't want to bring this up, but Doc and I kind of altered history recently."
  "So what, Strickland used to be a grouch or something?"
  "There's more to it than that. Have you ever heard of his sister Edna?"
  "Oh of course! When I was little, my grandfather Danny would tell me all about how he arrested her and Kid Tannen back in 1931 after the whole ordeal with the speakeasy fires and-" a sudden realization came over Jennifer as they approached Marty's truck. "You were there, weren't you?"
  Marty smirked as he opened the passenger door for her. "Oh yea. In fact, there was a brief period there where I accidentally prevented Kid Tannen from being arrested and I caused your Grandparents to split up."
  "What?!"
    "Yea, I briefly erased you and your dad from existence, but me and Doc went back and fixed everything... or so we thought." Marty said as he got into the driver's seat and they both buckled up.
  "So you thought?"
  "Yea, see it turned out Kid Tannen was dating this saloon singer..."
  "Trixie Trotter?"
  "Yep, and it turned out she was my grandma Sylvia!"
  "Holy crap, Marty!"
    Marty took a deep breath as he started the engine and drove out to the road. "Oh, that isn't the end of it. See I didn't know she was my grandma until after I made the mistake of letting Doc's teenage self go with Edna Strickland to the movies. They fell in love, got married and... honestly, the less said about that timeline the better! The point is I had to go back a third time and break them up... and in doing so, caused my Grandpa Arthur to marry Trixie, aka Grandma Sylvia a few years sooner! Thankfully that didn't effect when my dad was born!"
  "Sounds like you went on quite an adventure!"
    "I sure did. You know what's really funny though? Whenever we alter the past like that, it takes a really long time for memories to change. Like it's been over half a year since my first trip to 1955, then that whole ordeal with Biff and the almanac from 2015 and ending up in the old west... and I'm just now having flashbacks to memories of the other timelines. Hell, I even had a nightmare about going to my dad's funeral in 1973 in the Hell Valley timeline where the almanac made Biff Tannen rich!"
  "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I saw our family in the future! I mean, are we still going to end up that way?"
  "I dunno, Doc's always saying it's best not to know too much about our destiny."
  "He didn't have to knock me out just for being curious!"
  "I really could've used that sleep inducing gadget when I was in the Citizen Plus timeline!"
  "Citizen Plus?"
  "It's a long story." Marty said with a sigh as they reached the elementary school.
  "It's about time you guys showed up!" Verne said in excitement as he and Jules ran up to the truck and squeezed in between Marty and Jennifer.
  "Don't mind Verne. He's just upset that he got sent to the office for sticking a firecracker up a dead frog's rectum during science class!"
  "Ew!" Jennifer remarked.
  Marty couldn't help but chuckle. "Okay, you two. Hold on tight. I'm gonna get you home in time for dinner!"


    A few minutes later the group arrived at the home of Doctor Emmett Brown and his family where the all too familiar sound of three sonic booms rang out, and the DeLorean appeared. Marty, Jennifer, Jules and Verne got out of the truck at the same time the gull wing doors to the DeLorean opened and out came Doc and Clara.
  "Marty! Jennifer! Boys! It's so good to see all of you!!!" Doc shouted as he sprang from the passenger's seat of the DeLorean and hugged his sons tightly.
  "Geez, Pop! You're acting like you haven't seen us in months!" Verne commented.
  "Well, considering he told me he and Mom were going to the year 1995 to pick up some parts for the time circuits, I'd say that's a distinct possibility." Jules replied.
  "Well, we were only there for the first half of February. Our future selves were very welcoming!" Clara commented.
  "You actually talked to your future self without causing a paradox?" Marty asked in surprise.
  "Only for a brief few minutes. After that encounter with your three future selves, I realized that it is possible to interact with ourselves, so long as we do it sparingly." Doc exclaimed.
  "So it's just like Mom's rule of not eating too many cookies between meals?" Verne joked.
  "Speaking of which, you boys better wash up for dinner! I'm making spaghetti and meatballs tonight."
  "Ooh, how lovely!" Verne said in an Italian accent. "Come on, brother! Let's a-go set-a the table!"
  "You're too goofy!"
  "Are you two staying for dinner?" Doc asked.
  "Well, we have tickets for that Bon Jovi concert in town, but we'll stop by later and catch up." Marty said.
  "Ah, I see. Well, I hope you two have fun!"
  "We will, Doc!" Marty replied as he and Jennifer got back into the truck and headed towards the town square.
    A few hours later, Doc was back in his garage tinkering with the DeLorean when he noticed that the flux capacitor was emitting energy all by itself, even though the time circuits were turned off. "Huh, that is very peculiar!"
  "What's going on, Dad?" Verne asked.
  "Oh nothing. I noticed something rather strange going on with the time machine." Doc said as he activated the time circuits.
  "Well, Mom wanted me to let you know that the brownies she put in the oven are almost finished."
    "Excellent! Tell her I'll be in momentarily." Doc said as he was still tinkering with the time circuits and put a date into the DESTINATION TIME read-out. A melancholy look came over Doc's face as he noticed that the flux capacitor was now acting even more erratic, with flashes of electrical energy. "Great Scott! What in the hell is the matter with this thing?!"
  "Hey, Doc?" Marty's voice came from outside.
  "Marty, am I glad to see you! How was the Bon Jovi concert?"
  "It was good, though Jennifer started getting a headache from all the screaming girls one row behind us. About a block or so before getting here, my truck got a flat. You mind if I use your phone to call for a tow truck?"
  "Oh certainly. While you're waiting, perhaps you can help me figure out what's going on with the time machine."
  "Is it acting up again?"
  "I can't say for sure, but something seems to be affecting the flux capacitor!"



    "Well, soon as I get my truck taken care of, we can take the old DeLorean out for a spin, and maybe take it up to 88!" Marty said with a grin.
  About a half hour later, Biff Tannen showed up with his tow. "Don't worry, Marty, My team and I will take good care of your truck, and get a brand new tire on it pronto!"
  "Thanks, Biff." Marty said awkwardly.
  Jennifer came outside with a plate full of brownies for Doc and Marty. "Hey, I called my folks and told them I'm staying here to help Clara with chores and Verne with his homework."
  "We appreciate you both being of help to us!" Doc said when a sudden electrical charge zapped him right in the butt. "Damn, that hurt!!! Come on, Marty. Lets take this for a test run."
  "After watching the flux capacitor zap you in the rear end like that, I'm not so sure."
  "Come now, Marty. After what we went through with Edna Strickland and Kid Tannen, I'm certain a simple trip to 1957 won't do any harm!"
  "1957?"
  "December 27, 1957 to be exact! I'll fill you in on why I chose that particular date. Best of all, I was out of town for the holidays, so we can observe Hill Valley without worrying about running into myself!"
  "Whatever you say, Doc. Catch ya later, Jennifer." Marty said as he kissed his girlfriend and got into the passenger seat of the DeLorean and closed the door.
  Doc activated the car's hover mechanism and flew up into the air, taking a quick glance at the time circuits before reaching 88 miles per hour.

	MONTH	DAY	YEAR	TIME
DESTINATION TIME	DEC	27	1957	06:00 AM
PRESENT TIME	MAY	23	1986	10:30 PM
LAST TIME DEPARTED	FEB	14	1995	04:20 PM

Hill Valley, California
Fri. December 27, 1957
    Once they arrived in the past, Doc landed the DeLorean right in front of the garage. "Oh good. The mansion hasn't been vandalized yet!" Doc said as he and Marty exited the car.
  "Vandalized?"
    "Yes. As I told you earlier, I was out of town this holiday season, visiting relatives on my mother's side who lived in San Francisco. When I returned home just a couple days later, I was mortified to discover that some delinquent thought it would be amusing to throw rotten eggs all over the front porch! It took me weeks to get rid of the stench! If my father had been alive to see it happen, he would've died from embarrassment!"
  "So we came here to stop that from happening?"
  "No, I just wanted to find out who did it!"
  "Yea, that's exactly how you got pinned for being the speakeasy arsonist in 1931! Besides, doesn't this whole place get burnt to the ground in 1962?"
  "You don't have to remind me of that, Marty. After all, I was there. Besides, catching a hooligan in the act isn't the only reason we came here! There is something very odd going on with the time circuits, and I am determined to get to the bottom of it!"
  "Well, you're the Doc, Doc."
  "Listen! Did you hear that?" The faint sound of glass breaking just up the street could be heard and a voice was muttering Christmas carols. "Quick, lets hide behind the DeLorean!"
  The two time travelers watched with baited breath as the shadowy figure came trotting down the road.
  "This guy's obviously had a little too much eggnog!" Marty commented.
  The figure stopped right in front of Doc's mailbox, unzipped his pants and started whizzing all over the ground.
  "That explains why Copernicus refused to retrieve the mail on New Year's Eve!"
  The figure zipped his pants back up and grumbled to himself. "Thanks for nothing, Santa, you butt-head!"
  "Biff Tannen... of course." Marty said with a groan
  "I do recall he was quite a mess after the whole ordeal with your parents. It got way worse after they announced their engagement."
  "How the hell can he get worse from that?!" Marty remarked.
  Having heard Marty's comment, Biff turned around in their direction.
  "Oh great, he heard me."
  "You really need to learn to make those sarcastic comments of yours more discretely."
  Biff drunkenly walked up to the car and stared at it for a few seconds before turning his eyes to Doc and Marty. "Hey, don't I *hic* know you?"
  "Uh, no. We're just two guys hanging out here enjoying this festive time of year. Feliz Navidad!!!" Doc said with a huge grin.
    Biff took a closer look at Marty. "Wait a minute... I do remember you! You're the jerk Calvin Klein who took Lorraine to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance! Then you let that pipsqueak George McFly take her from you!"
  "Yea, that whole situation was a little more complicated. You just happened to drop by at the wrong time. Then again, if you hadn't... I would've had to-"
    "Whatever, you freak! You and Doc McBozo here can..." Biff's train of thought was overcome with the need to throw up, which he proceeded to do so all over the driveway as he desperately held onto the side of the DeLorean.
  "I'm beginning to think he wasn't the vandal." Doc proclaimed.
    Suddenly, the flux capacitor started going off like crazy, shooting sparks of energy all over, until one struck Biff, causing him to glow bright blue for a brief second. When the light subsided, Biff was now replaced with an older looking gentleman wearing Biff's clothes.
  "Great Scott!" Doc said in a surprised tone.
  "This is heavy!" Marty remarked in amazement.
  "Oh boy." the stranger said bewildered.


New Mexico
Mon. June 5, 2000
    Al Calavicci sat quietly on a park bench with his wife Beth. "Something on your mind, hon?" she asked.
  "Yea I just... I was just thinking about Sam."
  "Still no luck finding him?"
  "As long as he keeps leaping through time as himself, there's no way of tracking him!"
  Beth kissed her husband on the forehead. "You really miss him, don't you?"
  Al let out a sigh. "Yea, I do, Beth. If it wasn't for him..."
  "I know, Al. It was very hard keeping that secret from you all these years!"
    "Hey I was just grateful you waited for me to come home!" Al said. "Oh that reminds me. I know it's a little early, but I wanted to give you this." Al said as he handed Beth a paper bag with a jewelry box inside.
  "Oh my gosh, Al! It's wonderful!"
    "Happy anniversary, honey!" All and Beth were about to kiss when suddenly his cell phone went off. "Sorry, Beth, I gotta take this. Hello? Oh Gooshie, hi! What's up?" Al strained to listen. "What? Hang on, I can't hear you too good. What's all that commotion? The Waiting Room? Someone's in the Waiting Room? My God, how did that happen?! What do ya mean Ziggy doesn't know?! Well, hang on! We'll be right over!" Al said as he hung up.
  "I take it we've got work to do?" Beth said with a smirk.
  "You bet we do, baby! This might be our last chance to contact Sam... not to mention get him home!"


Hill Valley, California
Fri. December 27, 1957
  "Doc, who the hell is that?!"
    "Beats the shit out of me Marty!" the wild-eyed scientist replied as he stepped closer to the strange fellow who had moments earlier appeared in a flash of light where Biff Tannen stood. "Um, excuse me. My name is Doctor Emmett Lathrop Brown. I'm a local scientist."
  "Oh, Pleased to meet you!" the figure said as he extended his hand to shake Doc's. "My name is Doctor Sam Beckett, and I'm also a scientist."
  "Why am I not surprised?" Marty commented in a sarcastic manner.
  "Oh, this is my young friend Martin Seamus McFly." Doc said.
  "Marty Mc- Hey, you're not related to George McFly the science fiction writer, are you?" Sam asked.
  "Actually, yea. He's my father!"
  "You wouldn't happen to be a fan of the author Jules Verne, would you?" Doc asked Sam.
  "I've read quite a few of his works as a kid!"
  Just then, a bright glowing rectangular doorway opened in thin air and out stepped Admiral Al Calavicci. "Oh my God, Sam! I can't believe it. It's really you!!!"
  "Al? How'd you find me?"
  "Well, you leaped into a guy named Biff Tannen in the year 1957 and..." Al looked over to notice the bewildered old man and teenager staring right at him. "Who the hell are these two?!"
  "Oh, that's Doctor Emmett Brown and his friend Marty McFly. I think they can see both of us!"
  "Are we not supposed to be able to see you?" Marty asked as he attempted to place his hand on Al, only to pass through him like thin air.
  "Great Scott!" Doc said. "Is he a hologram of some sort?"
  "Yes and no. See, I'm a time traveler who's been leaping back and forth within my own lifetime, and my friend Al here is my observer who communicates with me through neurological holograms."
  "So, you're time travelers?" Doc said in amazement.
  "Small world!" Marty added.
  "You mean you guys are also time travelers? Oh no, don't tell me these guys are with those evil lady leapers we had to deal with before!" Al groaned.
  "I don't think that's the case, Al." Sam said. "Look at that vehicle they have with them." Sam said as he pointed to the DeLorean.
  "Dang! That's certainly not a car from 1957!"
  "Doc, are you sure we can trust these guys?" Marty asked.
  "They seem fine, Marty. Clearly whatever means of technology they use to travel through time is far more complex than the flux capacitor."
  "Flux capacitor?" Sam and Al asked at the same time.
  "Yes. See, I invented... or will invent this time machine in the year 1985."
  "That's just the beginning of the story!" Marty mentioned.
  "So what year are you from?" Sam asked.
  "Well, Marty and I just came from the year 1986, though technically I'm from some point in the 1990s, having wound up stuck in the old west for a number of years where I got married and raised two sons. Unlike your time machine, we're not anchored to any particular point in time."
  "Wait a second! If Sam leaped into Biff, then where is Biff right now?" Marty asked.
  "Oh, he's in my time! We have him locked up in the Waiting Room." Al exclaimed. "Speaking of which, Sam, why the hell did you go so long without leaping into anybody?! That made it impossible for us to keep track of you!"
  "A couple of reasons. One, I finally learned how to control my leaps. Secondly, I was sort of afraid you wouldn't be the same Al I remember after I fixed your marriage to Beth."
  A tearful smile came over the admiral's face. "Oh Sam, of course I'm not the same. Beth told me everything you told her about our original timeline, and all the good we've done putting right what once went wrong."
  "Yea, I guess I got a little carried away pouring my heart out to her."
  "Thank you for saving our marriage!"
  "Pardon me for interrupting what I can tell is a very touching reunion, but how many pleases have you leaped in and out of?" Doc asked.
  "Oh lots! It's honestly impossible to remember all of them." Sam answered.
  "Of course, normally, when he leaps into somebody, people around don't see Sam. They see whoever he's replaced." Al explained.
  "And I presume nobody is able to see you at all?" Doc asked.
  "Well, there are exceptions." Sam replied. "Animals, very young children and the mentally challenged can see us."
  "Apparently you can include other time travelers to that list!" Marty responded with a smirk.
  "Yes, and I'm still trying to figure out what could have caused our two very different modes of time travel to collide like this!" Sam mentioned. "To make matters worse, I'm having a hard time remembering what I've been up to since the last time Al and I saw one another. I think leaping into this Biff Tannen guy might've swiss cheesed my brain!"
  "Swiss cheesed?" Marty asked.
  "Leaping back and forth through time causes Sam to have partial memory loss." Al said as he took out a strange looking multi-colored device and started pressing buttons, causing it to make all sorts of funny noises.
  "Is that what you use to travel through time?" Doc asked.
    "No, that's the hand-link Al uses to make contact with... with..." As Sam struggled to remember the people he knew in the future, a sudden feeling of anger filled him. "Hey, what're you butt-heads looking at?!" Sam grimaced as he did all he could to compose himself. "Oh, please forgive me. Sometimes a little bit of the person I leap into merges with me and I get their personality traits or memories!"
  "Oh geez, this guy's in big trouble, Doc! He's got Biff Tannen on the brain!" Marty exclaimed.
  "Listen, Sam. I'm going to have a talk with Gooshie and see if he and Ziggy can't figure all of this out."
  "We'll stay here with him and try to help him regain his memory." Doc said.


New Mexico
Mon. June 5, 2000
    "Thanks, Doctor Brown. I appreciate that!" Al said as he waved back to Sam and their new friends before exiting the Imaging Chamber.
  Gooshie the head programmer was bubbling with excitement as he approached Al. "This is purely amazing! Other forms of time travel!"
    "Yea, and these guys are free to come and go as they please without constantly having to deal with an identity crisis pretending to be other people! I'd sure like to know what kind of hair products that Doc Brown guy uses! How's that Biff Tannen guy doing in the Waiting Room?"
  "He seems to have mellowed out after Dr. Beeks paid him a visit. It wasn't too hard to convince him he was having an alcohol induced nightmare. Listen, as you requested, I haven't told Donna anything."
  "Good! I don't want to get her hopes up until I know for sure we have a chance at finally getting Sam back here safe and sound! I'm really hoping this... flux contraption or whatever the hell they call it is the key to accomplishing that!"
  "Uh, just so you know, Ziggy's been cross-checking Hill Valley's records and there seems to be some strange contradictions."
  "What do you mean?"
    "Well, it seems Doc Brown and his young protege may have been responsible for altering their own personal history on multiple occasions. There was a string of news articles that showed a reality in which Biff Tannen became a millionaire after successfully betting on a horse race in 1958, which unfortunately lead Hill Valley to become a bleak poverty ridden dystopia! Biff eventually would be murdered in 1996 by his estranged wife Lorraine! However, a completely different set of documents tells us that Doc Brown was married to a woman by the name Edna Strickland and they ran the town like a police state!"
  Al nodded before taking a deep breath. "Well, I don't really have the time or patience to hear all of this! Right now all I give a damn about is-"
  "Getting Sam home, I know." Gooshie said in an assuring tone.
  "Do me a favor, and have Ziggy dig up whatever she can about the McFly family. There's something very peculiar about that Marty kid!"


Hill Valley, California
Fri. December 27, 1957
    Back in the garage of the Brown Mansion, Marty and Doc looked in amazement as they saw Biff's reflection instead of Sam's in a large mirror.
  "So that's how you see who you've become?" Doc said.
  "Yes, I pretty much take on their physical aura in the past, while they have mine in the future. On quite a few occasions I've even leaped into women and a few black people. I was once even a chimp!"
  "That's pretty heavy!" Marty commented. "Have you ever leaped into yourself... that is a younger version of you?"
    "Only once. I got to relive a Thanksgiving weekend with my family where I was there to change the outcome of a basketball game that I originally lost. The very next leap I was in Vietnam, rescuing my... my brother Tom. Oh my God! I-I remember now! I remember what I was up to right before-"
  Al reappeared. "There you guys are! Geez, I was only gone a few minutes and I had no idea where you went!"
  "Welcome back, Al!" Marty said.
  "Hey kid. Listen, would you guys mind enlightening me on what kinds of shenanigans you've been up to with your time machine?"
    "There's not much to tell." Doc exclaimed. "Marty's first trip back in time resulted in messing up his parents' initial courtship, so he had to do whatever he could to make sure they got together, otherwise he and his siblings would never be born! Additionally, we needed a bolt of lightning to give the DeLorean enough energy to send Marty back home to 1985! Of course everything turned out fine!"
  "You left out the part where I tried to warn you about the Lybians shooting you."
    "The less said about those assholes, the better, Marty! Anyway, I finally got to go further into the future, to the year 2015, where I discovered Marty's future children were doomed to be unjustly arrested! So I went back to 1985 to pick up Marty. I had him bring his girlfriend Jennifer along, which in hindsight wasn't the best idea."
  "You can say that again, Doc!" Marty remarked.
        "Anyway, I told Marty that we were simply there to keep his son from getting involved with Biff's grandson, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the plan didn't go exactly as I thought it would. Then I found out Marty thought it would be neat to buy himself a sports almanac and take it back with him to 1985! He even suggested that we place a few bets with it! After I gave him a stern lecture about how that was not my intention for the time machine, I proceeded to throw away the almanac. However, Jennifer, that is the 17 year old Jennifer who came along with us was picked up by the police after I had incapacitated her, which in hindsight was also a bad idea!"
  "I'm beginning to get the picture though." Al replied, scratching his head.
  "Mind if I continue the story, Doc?" Marty asked.
  "Go right ahead."
    "Okay, so we go to Hilldale, which is where Jennifer and I live after we get married. She ends up hiding in a closet watching my older self along with my parents and our kids sit down to a nice pizza dinner. She finds out that I get myself into an automobile accident in 1985, which I honestly have no clue about until getting back from the old west later on! But first, while Doc and I are busy trying to retrieve Jennifer-"
  "Old-Man Biff has the almanac, steals the time machine, gives the book to his younger self and your whole timeline goes totally caca!" Sam finished.
  "Yep, pretty much." Marty replied. "In that alternate reality Biff not only cheated his way into riches, but he managed to ruin my family in the process, murdering my father, and I still have no clue how that creep managed to talk my mom into marrying him!"
  "The important thing is we managed to fix everything by returning to 1955, though it wasn't easy as we had to avoid running into our past selves, as Old Biff happened to choose the exact same date Marty got his parents back together and then caught the lightning bolt to send him back home to 1985!" Doc exclaimed.
  "So then how did you wind up in the old west?" Al asked.
  "As fate would have it, I was in the DeLorean when it was struck by a bolt of lightning, sending me 70 years back in time! Unable to repair it in 1885, I proceeded to leave it preserved and buried deep within an abandoned mine, then sent Marty a letter via Western Union."
  "That's funny. We did something similar when we were in a jam after switching places!" Sam mentioned. "I forget how it happened, but something caused Al to leap with me, but instead of being in the past together, I wound up stuck in the Imaging Chamber!"
  "Look, we could stand around sharing all sorts of stories about our escapades and adventures traveling through time, but right now I think it's best if we figure out what brought us together like this!" Al spoke.
  "Great Scott, that's right!" Doc said. "Dr. Beckett, you said earlier that your memory came back of what you were doing prior to arriving here."
  "Well, for a while I've been going around checking up on certain people I've met and leaped into like Jimmy LaMotta, Billie Jean Crockett, Jessie Tyler, and Elvis Presley's friend Sue Ann."
  "So this whole time you had us worried sick you were taking a trip down memory lane?!" Al said in an exasperated tone.
  "Well, I was taking some much needed time off. I even popped in on your old girlfriend Lisa! After seeing how happy their lives were thanks to us... I started thinking about my own family."
  "Your brother and sister." Al remarked with a sigh.
  "Yea, I almost forgot how I saved Tom's life in Vietnam. He was alive and I gave him a future! But then I realized, what was the point of giving him a future if I couldn't be a part of it?"
  Marty couldn't help but get sentimental thinking about his own brother and sister. "Man, I gotta remember to call Dave and Linda when I get back to 1986!"
  "Anyway, I thought it would be worthwhile to drop in on Tom and our sister Katie around the year 1995... the year I first started leaping."
  "Holy shit, Doc! Weren't you and Clara just in 1995 before we came here to 1957?"
  "Of course! We spent a couple of weeks in February of that year! It's possible our departure back to 1986 may have somehow interfered with Sam traversing the space-time continuum, which would explain why the flux capacitor started acting up!"
  "Now that you mention it, I'm starting to remember more clearly now that I was trying to focus on my family's farm, but then I heard these three sonic booms ring out, and all I could see was this strange Y shaped thing!"
  "The sonic booms would be the DeLorean upon re-entry." Doc exclaimed.
  "Yea, and the Y shaped thing is definitely in the flux capacitor!" Marty added.
  "So then when Biff got close enough to the DeLorean, I must've managed to break free of the flux capacitor's hold, enabling me to leap into him!"
  "Great, so you can leap out and come back to us?" Al said anxiously.
  "Uh, not just yet. I have a couple more stops that I'd like to make, starting with my siblings!"
  "Okay, but... but you have to promise me that you'll come back, Sam! It's been very difficult keeping the project running without you!"
  "I'm sure it has, Al. Thing is, I'm not quite ready to go just yet. I'd really like us to stick around here and get to know these guys a little better, and I really want to hear more about how you guys managed to reunite in the old west."
  "Well, after getting Doc's letter from 1885, I took the hoverboard that I had gotten earlier... in 2015 and rode it back into town, though by the time I got there my other self had just gotten sent back to 1985 thanks to the lightning bolt that hit the clock tower. I could hear Doc, that is the Doc of 1955 celebrating when I ran to him."
  "He damn near gave me a heart attack! At the time it didn't occur to me that Marty and my future self could return to this time!"
  "So he fainted and I drove him back here, and when he woke back up, I finally managed to explain how I came back to 1955 again!"
  "Because you needed his help to fix the time machine and retrieve 1985 Doc!" Sam said.
    "Well, not at first." Doc remarked. "You see I spent the first three quarters of 1885 posing as a black smith while attempting to repair the damaged time circuits, only to realize that most suitable replacement parts wouldn't exist until around 1947. After what we went through with Biff and the almanac, I decided to instruct Marty to have my 1955 self fix the time machine and proceed to go straight back to 1985 and allow me to live out the rest of my days a century in the past."
  "So it was a John Deer letter?" Al said with a laugh.
  "Well, when you put it that way..." Marty remarked.
  "So what made you decide to go back and find him?" Sam asked.
  "After recovering the time machine, Marty and my younger self happened upon my grave, which revealed that I would meet a horrific demise merely a week after sending the letter to Marty!"
  "He got shot by Biff's ancestor Bufford Mad Dog Ta-!" Before Marty could continue the story, he was interrupted by people yelling outside.
  "Hey Biff, where the hell are ya?!"
  "Yea, you left the diner before Strickland showed up!"
  "He was freaking out over how his sister and your dad hooked up in the slammer last summer!"
"Oh no, I recognize those three idiots!" Marty said with a groan as he lead Doc, Sam and Al out of the garage and towards the mansion. "I should've known Biff's gang would be around!"
"They must've been the ones who egged the front porch!" Doc said.
"Hang on, I'll go take a closer look." Al said as he shouted. "Gooshie, have Ziggy center me on Biff's gang!"
From Doc, Marty and Sam's perspective, Al teleported immediately to the front steps where Biff's gang were.
"Whoa, that was heavy!" Marty said.
"So where the hell did Biff run off to?!" the tallest dark haired thug asked.
"Search me, Match! It's a wonder we managed to track his car down!"
Al watched as the third kid who was wearing 3-D glasses was holding a bag with rotten eggs in it. "Keep calling out for him! I'm sure he'll show up! In the meantime, lets have a little fun here and mess up old man Brown's place!"
"Gooshie, have Ziggy center me back on Sam, Doc and Marty!" Once again, Al re-materialized where he had been earlier.
"Well?" Sam asked.
"Well, you're their ringleader. Go up and tell them to beat it!"
"All right." Sam said with a gulp as he ran up to the front porch. "Yo, dudes!"
"Dudes?" Matches said in a puzzled tone.
"Biff, where'd you run off to?"
"I was just uh... getting some fresh air. Listen we really shouldn't be messing around here."
"Why not?"
"Because I said so!" Sam said sternly. "Now put down those rotten smelly eggs, or I'm going to give you each a knuckle sandwich!"
"Uh... okay, Biff." 3-D said as he handed Biff the bag.
"Now I want all three of you to march your butts back home and stay with your families until New Year's Eve! If I find out you came back here, I'm not going to be happy! Got it?!"
All three of Biff's gang members slouched their shoulders as they walked off as Doc and Marty walked back up towards Sam, while Al had Gooshie re-center him on Sam.
"You always were good at talking sense into people!" Al said to his friend with a smirk.
"Hey I just realized. This whole time you haven't smoked a single cigar!"
"Oh, you're thinking of the old me! I kicked that nasty habit after Beth and I started having children!"
"So you're a dad?" Sam said proudly.
"Four grown daughters. The oldest just graduated college and is attending MIT! Again, thanks."
"Don't mention it, Al!"
"Hey Doc, I think we should get going and head back to 1986!"
"You're right, Marty. Doctor Beckett, it's been an absolute pleasure to meet you! I hope we meet again some day in the future!"
"Likewise, Doctor Brown!" Sam said as the two scientists shook hands. Sam then shook Marty's hand. "Mr. McFly, it was also an honor to meet you."
"Oh yea, good luck on your music career, kid!" Al said as he pressed a button on the hand-link triggering the door to the Imagiing Chamber, which he stepped through.
"Music? I never brought up that I play music."
"They're over 10 years ahead of us, Marty! I'm certain by then you'll have made a name for yourself." Doc said. "Lets return to the DeLorean and get back to 1986!"
"Yea, as much as I'd like to see teenage Biff crash into another manure truck, it's probably best we get the hell outta here!" Marty said as they got back to the time machine.
"Would you like to drive this time?" Doc said as he handed Marty the keys.
"Yea, that'd be great!" Marty said as he got into the driver's seat of the DeLorean and started the engine.
Doc got into the passenger seat and turned on the time circuits and put in the destination time.

	MONTH	DAY	YEAR	TIME
DESTINATION TIME	MAY	23	1986	10:40 PM
PRESENT TIME	DEC	27	1957	07:11 AM
LAST TIME DEPARTED	MAY	23	1986	10:30 PM

New Mexico
Wed. June 7, 2000
    A couple of days after his encounter with Sam in 1957 Hill Valley, Al Calavicci sat quietly in his favorite chair, anxiously awaiting to hear any news of his best friend's return to present day.
  "Al, there's a couple of gentlemen here to see you." his wife told him.
  "Thanks, Beth." Al walked up to the front door and chuckled as he saw a slightly older Doctor Emmett Brown and Marty McFly. "Huh, I had a funny feeling that I would run into you guys!"
  "Yes, well... we had a good 14 years or so to arrange this meeting." Doc replied. "Mind if we come in?"
  "Oh, of course! Just, please be sure to take your shoes off."
  "Can I get you guys anything to- oh my!" Beth got an excited look on her face as she saw Marty. "Al, you didn't tell me you know Marty McFly of the Pinheads! Our youngest daughter Janis just loves listening to his music!"
  "Oh, that's flattering! I'll have to send her an autograph copy of our next album!"
  "Yea, we kinda met that other day when I went to see Sam in 1957. To be honest, I was hoping that would be him at the door."
  "Actually he came to visit us in 1987, then again in 1992, and more recently three months ago! He was so fascinated with my time machine, that he wanted to see how it worked!" Doc exclaimed.
  "I'm guessing he didn't bother to leap back into Biff Tannen?"
  "Nope, he was himself all three times!" Marty responded. "Infact he offered to serenade Jennifer when I proposed to her."
  "Sam always was a hopeless romantic!" Al said with a laugh.
    "Not only that, but somehow our interaction with the two of you changed our personal timelines for the better" Doc added. "When Marty and I returned to 1986, we discovered that my family mansion was still intact, and has remained intact to this very day!"
  "Yea, and Biff's old gang started a charity around the early 70's!"
  Al chuckled. "That Sam! It doesn't take much for him to bring out the good in people! Boy, I sure hope he comes back soon."
    "Actually, that's the very reason we came to see you. Well, Marty's here to promote his band's tour, but I'm here to help you with Project Quantum Leap! I brought along a spare flux capacitor that we can integrate with Ziggy and the Quantum Leap accelerator! Sam helped me out with all of the schematics, and it's highly possible combining the two forms of technology together will create the ultimate form of time travel!!!"
  "That sounds almost too good to be true!" Al said as he took a second to think it over. "Well, that the hell? Welcome to the team, Doctor Brown!"


Elk Ridge, Indiana
Sun. June 5, 1994
    Sam sat quietly in his old room looking at family photos and various trophies.
  "Mom never could bear to throw out any of our old things." a familiar voice said from the doorway.
  "Katie!" Tears filled Sam's eyes at the sight of his now grown up sister. He sprang from his chair and gave her a hug. "Oh Katie, I am so happy to see you again!"
  "Hey you got room for one more?" Tom Beckett said with a grin as he walked in and patted both siblings on the shoulder.
  "I can't tell you how much it means to me seeing you two!" Sam said still choking back sobs.
  "Come on, little brother. Pull yourself together. What would Dad say?"
  "I can't help it, Tom. I just... I've been through so much! All I've ever wanted was to see you guys one more time!"
  "My brother the crybaby time traveler!" Katie joked.
  "So who'd you help out since the last time I saw you?" Tom asked.
  "You wouldn't believe me if I told you!"
  "Why dontcha show Katie how you do that time jump or whatever it is you do?"
  Sam chuckled at his older brother. "Maybe later. I just want to spend some quality time with you guys before I leave for good."
  "For good? Sam, what're you saying?" Katie asked.
    "I'm saying I can't keep coming back here. As much as I love being home with you two, I have to keep making a difference in peoples' lives the only way I know how. I can't promise I'll return, but maybe someday. Until then keep looking out for each other!"
  "Of course, Sam. I'd never let anything happen to our baby sister!" Tom said with a smile as he shook Sam's hand. "We're both proud of you!"
  Katie couldn't help but cry a little as she gave Sam a hug. "We'll always be here for you, honey!"
  "I know. There's just one last thing I have to do before I go." Sam exclaimed as he gestured towards his desk with an old fashioned typewriter.
  "We'll leave you to it then." Tom said as he escorted Katie out into the hallway.
    "I'll come down to say goodbye one last time soon as I'm finished." Sam called back before sitting down to the typewriter. The moment he fed the paper through, he already knew what he wanted to write:

Dear Al,

      If you're reading this, then that means you and Doctor Brown have begun collaborating together on my plans for updating Quantum Leap. If all goes according to plan, I'll finally be able to return home! However, there's always a possibility we might still run into some problems down the road. That being said, I just wanted to say in the off chance I remain stuck in the past, your presence in my travels have meant the world to me! I can't imagine a better partner to have gone through all of this with! Take care, and say hello to Beth and the girls for me!

Your friend in time,
Dr. Sam Beckett

    Sam looked his letter over once last time before sealing it in an envelope and heading downstairs.