Dr. Sam Beckett shakes his head, trying to clear away the cobwebs as he opens his eyes after a particularly wild leap. But he can’t seem to shake off that roller coaster feeling in the pit of his stomach. It should be gone by now, he thinks.

Or, maybe not.

For Sam has awakened to find himself in a most precarious position: riding a motorcycle on a road filled with hills and curves.

He’s not sure how fast he’s going, and he has no idea where he is. It’s all he can do to keep the speeding bike from running off the road.

"Sam, can you hear me?"

Thank God! Sam thinks. The voice belongs to Al, his holographic guide and best friend, who has traveled through time with him since the very first leap. "Yes," he answers aloud. "Al, what am I doing?"

Before Al can answer, Sam rounds a curve and discovers that an already hazardous experience has just gotten several degrees more dangerous. A truck is heading straight his way from the opposite direction.

"Sam, grab a handful of binders!" Al yells.

"What the hell does that mean?" he yells back.

"Brake! And steer to the right!”

Before Sam can say he doesn't even know where the brakes are on this thing, Al tells him what he needs to hear. "The hand brake is on your right side--that controls the front. The foot brake’s on the right, too—it’s for the rear.”

As Sam follows directions, Al repeats, "Steer to the right, Sam."

Sam pulls the motorcycle off the narrow road and wrestles it to a stop on the shoulder, as the truck passes by harmlessly to his left. He allows himself a sigh of relief.

"You did great, Sam!" Al congratulates him. "Hey, you may have a natural talent for this."

“I don’t feel too talented right now,” Sam answers. "And I still don't know where I am, or why I'm riding this thing."

"That's what Ziggy and I are here for." Ziggy is the "parallel hybrid" computer created by Sam for Project Quantum Leap. Along with Al, Ziggy has helped guide Sam through each leap across time. Her help (Ziggy is definitely a her) is always invaluable.

“I can give you a few pointers about this bike, Sam,” Al is saying now. "And here's the first one. Put on that helmet! Apparently, this guy likes to ride without one.”

Sam straps on the helmet as Al continues. "As soon as you catch your breath, you need to get going. Ziggy’s not sure how much time we have.”

*****

"Okay, Al," Sam says, pulling the motorcycle out onto the twisty road once again. "Let's start with where I am."

"Ziggy says you’re in upstate New York, on the Cedarvale-Amber Road," Al replies. "You're somewhere between Syracuse and a town I can't pronounce. This stretch is known as ‘The 13 Curves’. It’s one of those places where a distraught bride is supposed to hitch a ride with drivers on dark nights, and then they find out later that she died many years ago.”

"Please tell me I'm not here to save the bride," Sam says, only half joking.

"No, don't worry about her--you've got somebody much closer to your own time to take care of."

"And who would that be?"

"Well, uh--that's part of the problem. Ziggy isn't sure yet. It could any of three people we know about. Or it could be someone we don’t know about yet.”

"You better start at the beginning, Al. Who have I changed places with this time?”

Sam carefully navigates "The 13 Curves", making sure not to drive too fast or let the bike lean over so far that the footboards drag the pavement. He remembers Al's advice not to push the Harley too hard ("This is a cruiser bike, Sam--it's not meant to jump the Grand Canyon!"), as Al briefs him about the man whose life he has leaped into.

"Your name is Jason Morgan, Sam. Ziggy says you’re in your late 20's, maybe 30, and you’re from a town called Port Charles. That’s where you’re going right now.”

As Sam slows down to avoid the deer darting in front of the motorcycle, Al continues. "Your parents are both doctors, and you have a younger sister--she's adopted--and an older half-brother. It’s the brother we need to worry about.”

"What's his name?”

“AJ Quartermaine.”

"He doesn't have the same last name I do, so we must have different fathers," Sam reasons.

"No, you have the same father. You have different mothers. Ziggy says, don’t ask. It would take too much time to explain, and you don’t really need to know.”

"Fine. So AJ must be one of those three people you told me about. Who are the others?”

"One is your best friend," Al answers. "The other is the woman you love."

*****

Carly is feeling pretty good about herself today. She looks in the mirror and thinks, Pregnancy becomes you, Ms. Benson. Then she mentally corrects herself. Pregnancy becomes you, Mrs. Corinthos.

Well, not yet. But soon.

How could a year that started out so rotten turn itself around in just a few months?

Back in January, Carly was miserable--married to a man she hated, pregnant by a man who hated her, and in love with a man who only wanted to get away from her.

Now, she is happily divorced from AJ. And while she knows she will never stop loving Jason, she is ready to marry Sonny Corinthos.

And most surprising of all to Carly--she is looking forward to it.

*****

"Her name is Carly Benson," Al is telling Sam.

"Are we married?" Sam asks, deciding not to make any more assumptions based on different last names.

"No. Actually, she married your brother.” Al pauses a moment, checking Ziggy’s information. "But don't worry, Sam--she still loves you."

"Then why is she married to AJ?" Sam asks, getting more confused by the moment.

"Ziggy says it has something to do with a child custody case. Apparently AJ is the father of her son, Michael. And by the way, she’s divorced from AJ now.”

"That's good. So, are Carly and I supposed to get married? Or is there some other problem I don’t know about yet?”

"There's definitely another problem, Sam, and you do know about it--or Jason does. You see, Carly’s pregnant.”

"Is it mine or AJ's?" Sam asks.

"Neither, Sam. The father of Carly’s baby is your best friend--a guy named Sonny Corinthos.”

"Al," Sam says in exasperation, "what kind of soap opera is this?"

*****

Sonny looks across the room at Carly playing with Michael on the couch. This is nice, he thinks. And it’s getting better all the time.

Sonny is afraid to admit how good life feels right now. If he admits it, he might lose it.

The good things in life have slipped away from him so many times before. Lovers, friends, family—he’s lost them all.

Brenda, Stone, Lily and the baby she carried--all dead.

Jason--far away, probably never to return.

At this point, Sonny shakes his head in amazement--for the very act that drove Jason away has also resulted in the best thing that ever happened to Sonny.

Carly is pregnant with his child. And she’s ready to marry him, and make a family with him.

She’s told him numerous times that she still loves Jason, and always will. But she’s made it clear to Sonny that she wants to be his wife, in every way. For Sonny, that’s enough right now.

He knows that as a mother, she is protective as a lioness. That’s what he wants for his child. And she wants him to be a father to both of her children.

He finds it almost unbelievable that a woman he once disliked and held in contempt is now the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with.

I don’t deserve this, Sonny thinks for the umpteenth time. We did something wrong. We hurt a person we both love.

Once again, he marvels that not only is there no punishment, but he and Carly are both better off than they ever were before.

It’s not right, Sonny tells himself.

But he can’t help feeling happy, despite the guilt.

*****

"You better tell me all about this, Al," Sam says. "What's the deal with Carly and Sonny?"

"It happened at the end of November," Al begins. "Carly was still married to AJ at the time, but she was ready to move out, and take Michael with her. The reason she stayed with AJ as long as she did was, she was afraid she wouldn't get custody of Michael. Ziggy doesn't know the whole story, but apparently Carly's had kind of a checkered past, and she was afraid if it came down to a fight between her and AJ, he'd win. His family’s filthy rich, too.”

"Does that include Jason?"

"Yeah, you've got a lot of money--but not from your family. You accumulated it on your own.”

"Do I have my own company?" Sam asks, curious about how someone Jason's age can have so much money, without simply inheriting it.

Al consults Ziggy again. "Sam, I don't think you're gonna like this. Ziggy says you’re a mobster--well, Jason is. And so is Sonny.”

"So, where I am returning from?" Sam asks, a little afraid of the answer. "Jail?"

"No, no--it's nothing like that. You just left town a few months ago. And this thing with Carly and Sonny is apparently what caused it."

"Well, you don't have to go into too many details about what 'this thing' was. If she’s pregnant now, it’s pretty clear.”

"No, it's more complicated than that. You see, Carly thought you were cheating on her with some teenaged girl. Ziggy says Carly can be pretty insecure sometimes. Anyway, she went over to Sonny’s house to find out if it was true. And Sonny didn't really like her then, so he let her believe it was true." Al pauses. "They started yelling at each other, but instead of just fighting, they--well, you know what they did." Al pauses again. "The thing is, she still loves you--I mean, Jason--at least, that's what she tells Sonny."

After another quick consultation with Ziggy, Al concludes, "Anyway, since you left town, Carly and Sonny have gotten to really care about each other. And Ziggy says they've found out they have a lot more in common than the baby. Looks like they’re making plans to get married soon.”

Sam thinks back on everything he’s heard. "Okay. I love a woman who married my brother and then cheated on me with my best friend, who’s the father of the baby she’s now expecting. She says she still loves me, but she’s marrying my friend. And I’m here either to help one of them, or my brother, or somebody else we don’t know about yet.”

"That's right, Sam, but there's more. I forgot to tell you--you have brain damage.”

"Was I born that way?" Sam asks.

"No, it happened about four and a half years ago. You were in a car wreck.”

“I have brain damage from a car wreck, and I ride a motorcycle without a helmet?”

"Apparently, you're a little reckless--or Jason is. Ziggy says don’t worry, you don’t have to copy that part of his personality.”

"That's reassuring," Sam says. "Now, tell me about the car wreck."

"Ziggy says AJ is an alcoholic. He smashed a car into a tree, and you were hurt. You have no memory of anything before the accident.”

"Why was I in the car with AJ?"

"You were trying to stop him from driving drunk. And Sam, I think you may have to do that again. Ziggy isn't sure yet what you're supposed to prevent. But she knows it’s some type of accident--and it has something to with history repeating itself.”

*****

AJ is drinking heavily tonight. His life is a mess, and drinking is the only thing he wants to do any more.

Well, not the only thing. What he really wants to do most is see Michael. But he’s being stopped at every turn. And it’s all because of Carly and Sonny.

Why did I ever marry that slut? AJ wonders. She treated me like garbage from day one.

It’s a complaint he’s been making a lot lately--in his own mind, and to anyone else who will listen.

From AJ’s point of view, things only got worse when Carly hooked up with Sonny Corinthos. It was bad enough when it was just Carly and Jason, but even Jason was smart enough to drop her. And Sonny was there to pick up the pieces.

AJ hates them both. He wants to get even. Some day, he'll figure out how to do it.

*****

Sam’s motorcycle ride is almost over. He’s in Port Charles now, and Al gives him the directions to the Quartermaine mansion--home of Jason and AJ’s parents, grandparents, and their younger sister, Emily. Until recently it was AJ’s home, as well. But he’s been thrown out.

“AJ is some piece of work,” Al tells Sam. "It turns out he hired an arsonist to burn down a warehouse you and Sonny owned. You--I mean Jason--found this guy and got him to agree to testify against AJ. You told Sonny, and he basically blackmailed AJ into giving Carly a divorce and full custody of Michael.”

"So, AJ must hate me, and them," Sam says.

"Yeah, but I think he hates himself just as much. Deep down, I think he knows he’s screwed up. But he just keeps trying to blame other people. And he’s making things worse every day by drinking.”

"The drinking must have something to do with what I'm here to stop, Al," Sam says.

"Ziggy says the same thing. Sam, I think the first thing you need to do is find AJ.”

As Sam pulls the motorcycle into the Quartermaine driveway, he sees a dark haired man weaving his way toward a fancy sports car.

“I think I've found him, Al," Sam says.

Sam makes his way over to the car and opens the passenger side door. "Going somewhere, AJ?" he asks, climbing in.

"Jason? No, wait, you’re not really here. I know that. If you were back in town, Mom and Emily and the rest of your fan club would already be planning some grand welcome home party for their little golden boy! And they'd be rubbing my nose in it."

"If that's what you want to believe," Sam says.

"It is. You're just one of those things I've been told I'll start seeing if I don't quit drinking. And you know what, Jason? I don’t give a damn. If you’re the scariest thing I’m going to see, why bother quitting?”

"Because you have to," Sam answers. "Because it's the right thing to do. Because you’re going to kill yourself or somebody else if you don’t.”

AJ puts the keys in the ignition and turns on the engine. "Remember the last time you jumped in a car with me and tried to stop me from driving, Jason?" he asks, a nasty grin on his face.

"No," Sam answers truthfully. He imagines the real Jason would say the same thing, since he has no memory of anything before the accident.

"Aren't you going to try to take the keys away from me, like you did that day?" AJ asks.

"Would it do any good if I did?" Sam replies. He is relieved to see that at least the car is not in gear yet.

"No, it wouldn't--because you're not real, Jason. You're no threat to me."

"No one is threatening you, AJ," Sam tells the drunken man behind the wheel. "And I think you know the best thing you can do right now is to shut off that engine, and go inside."

AJ is surprisingly responsive to the suggestion. "Why the hell not?" he says, turning off the ignition and pocketing the keys. "There's a bottle of vodka in that house with my name on it."

As he gets out of the car and heads toward the front door of the mansion, AJ calls back to Sam, "Thanks, Jason. Drop by again sometime.”

Sam gets out of the car and walks over to Jason’s Harley. He starts the engine and rides away from the house, heading for the road leading back to town.

He pulls the bike off the road and turns off the engine. If his work is finished, he should be leaping away any second.

It doesn't happen.

"Al, where are you?" Sam asks.

The familiar hologram appears. “I’m here, Sam. I was back at the Waiting Room, talking to the real Jason Morgan. He’s kind of an interesting guy. You should hear what he’s been doing since he left Port Charles last January.”

"Al," Sam says urgently, "I stopped AJ from driving drunk. I should have leaped by now. Unless there’s something else I’m supposed to do here.”

"Let me check with Ziggy," Al replies. "She ought to know for sure by now why you're here."

Within moments, Al has an answer. "Sam, you have to get back to the Quartermaine house! Sonny is there for some kind of business meeting, and Carly came along with him. She’s having a big argument with AJ--and he’s drunker than ever! They’re at the top of the stairs. If you can’t stop it, Carly is going to fall--and Sam, she’s going to lose her baby.”

Sam is already gunning the engine and pointing the motorcycle back toward the Quartermaine house. Please, let me get there in time, he prays.

*****

AJ and Carly are exactly where Ziggy said they would be, and this is by far the most vicious argument they've ever had.

“I feel so sorry for Michael, and I have so much guilt for giving him you as a mother!” AJ spits out. "You're a nightmare! You drag him from one criminal to another. You never pay any attention to him!”

"Look who's talking!"

But AJ won’t stop the bombardment. "You just keep getting the guys you're with to pay for Leticia to keep him out of your way!"

"No, no--you know what? That’s you, AJ! You’re the one who made us suffer for months with your God-given right to see your son. And what did you do? You couldn't stop by the nursery for five minutes on your way to bed." She throws in his face what she knows will hurt the most. "Don't feel sorry for my son. He’s finally happy, and Sonny’s a wonderful father!”

AJ is getting angrier by the second. "Sonny is not Michael's father!"

"Yeah? Well, Michael thinks he is.” Carly can counter cruelty with cruelty, and that is what she’s doing now. "I thank God every single day that there is a man in his life that he can respect. Somebody with honor, and dignity, who lives by a code of rules--instead of being a drunken loser like you are! The best gift I ever gave Michael, after Jason, is Sonny!”

"You won't keep my son!" AJ threatens.

"I've already got your son, and he is staying with Sonny and me! Look—“ she shows him the diamond on the ring finger of her left hand, “I’m wearing Sonny’s ring now, okay? Sonny is the husband I want!”

AJ grabs Carly's wrist, yelling, "This is all you're about, Carly! Diamonds and money!”

"Let go of me!"

As she jerks her hand away, Carly loses her balance. She feels herself start to fall backward, as a voice inside her head screams, No! This can’t be happening! Not now!

At the same time, Sam Beckett is bounding up the stairs, as the voice inside his own head repeats, Please, let me get there in time.

Carly tries to regain her balance, but she can’t. The world seems to shift into super-slow motion, and she begins plunging ... back ... back ... back ...

Right into the arms of a man in a leather jacket.

Before Carly can say a word, she sees AJ staring at her and at the man holding her. "Jason? You really are here?” AJ asks in disbelief, right before he passes out drunk on the top step.

"Carly, are you all right?" Sam asks, relaxing his protective hold enough for her to turn around.

Carly’s disbelief is even more profound than AJ’s. "Oh my God! Jason! How did you get here?”

"Are you all right?" Sam repeats.

"Yes, Jason, I'm fine--thanks to you! Please, tell me, what are you doing here?”

Sam Beckett doesn't answer Carly's question. Even if he wanted to, he doesn't have time. At the precise moment Carly assures him she’s okay, Sam leaps--and the real Jason Morgan is transported from the Waiting Room of Project Quantum Leap to the stairway of the Quartermaine mansion in Port Charles, New York.

The first words Jason hears are Carly asking, "Please, tell me, what are you doing here?"

Jason shakes his head in total confusion. The last thing he remembers is riding his motorcycle along a twisty stretch of road known as "The 13 Curves". He can't tell Carly what he's doing here, or how he got here, because he doesn't know himself.

All he knows is that he has to get away. He was heading home for one purpose: to tell Sonny and Carly he wishes them well. To tell them he hopes they'll be happy together--Sonny and Carly, and Michael, and the new baby.

He realizes with a start that he is holding Carly in his arms, and she’s looking at him with almost as much confusion as he is feeling. He pulls away from her.

"Carly, I'm sorry! I have to go.”

He turns and runs down the stairs, as she calls after him. "Please, Jason, don't go!"

But it’s too late. Jason is already out the door.

And Sonny is on his way up the stairs, concern evident on his face. "Carly, what happened?" he asks. "Why is AJ lying there? Are you okay?”

"Yes," she says, as she feels his arms encircling her.

Carly decides she has to tell Sonny the truth. “AJ and I were arguing,” she begins, knowing how much this will upset him. "He grabbed my wrist. I pulled back, and I started to fall. But Jason caught me,” she finishes, looking straight into Sonny’s eyes.

"Carly," he says softly, "Jason isn't here. He hasn't been here for a long time."

"He was here, Sonny!" she insists. “AJ will tell you the same thing!”

“AJ is passed-out drunk,” Sonny replies. "If he saw Jason, it's probably because he's got the DTs."

"Are you saying I'm crazy?" Carly asks quietly. "Do you think I'm hallucinating?"

"No, of course not! Maybe you just—“ Sonny pauses long enough to flash a dimpled smile. "Maybe you just have a guardian angel."

"Sonny, I know what I saw. The person who helped me did not look like Roma Downey or Della Reese. He didn't even look like the guy angel--you know, the one who always shows up when somebody is about to die?"

A chill comes over Carly as she says those words.

Somebody might have died today, she realizes. A tiny, innocent person who would never even get to take his first breath.

Suddenly, Carly sees a horrible vision in her mind: herself, lying at the bottom of the stairs, and Sonny, crouching over her bleeding body, as her baby’s life ebbs away.

"No!" she screams.

"Carly!" Sonny says soothingly, holding her closer. "Carly, it's okay. You’re not crazy. Everything is okay.” He gently rubs her back. "You're fine. The baby is fine.”

She looks into his eyes for more reassurance, and finds it.

"Can we go home now?" she asks.

"Absolutely!" The dimpled smile returns, as they head downstairs toward the front door.

*****

Jason Morgan finds his motorcycle waiting outside in the Quartermaine driveway as he runs out the front door. It’s the only familiar thing in his life right now. Hopping onto the bike, he heads in the direction of the closest highway out of town.

Jason isn't sure what's worse: not knowing how he ended up on that stairway with a pregnant Carly in his arms--or realizing that he still loves her.

Either way, he has to get away from her again--the farther the better, and as quickly as possible. He tells himself that Sonny and Carly deserve a chance to be happy. And if he stays here, he can't guarantee that he'll simply step aside.

Jason knows he'll probably return home some day. But not any time soon.

As Jason rides west, AJ begins waking up from his drunken stupor. He has no idea why he is lying at the top of the stairway in his parents’ home, or what he said and did before he passed out.

Carly and Sonny are in the back seat of Sonny’s limo, heading home to their penthouse. A few months from now, they will welcome a beautiful baby boy.

And Dr. Sam Beckett is leaping into another life, in another time--where he will try once again to change history for the better.

Quantum Leap is a property of Donald P. Bellisario.