PART I

And there it was again.

Dr. Beckett was always grateful for the few seconds he had to reflect on what he'd done before the new life began. The girl hadn't thought she was anything, but now she had a new life, a new baby, a new love... and she had herself.

But Sam was glad to be out of the skirt... and he definitely hoped Virginia enjoyed being breathed all over more than he did, because that amorous lunatic with the tail was going to be doing an awful lot of that.

Wolf... He wished he could keep that love in mind for more than a few seconds. That kind of love was always so rare... and it didn't matter where it came from. When it came, it made everything better.

Donna... I swear when I come home, I'll show you. Physicists mate for life, too.

Then the flash... and he braced.

It was an echo... it was right in front of him... he couldn't see anything but blank and blobs and... god, his heart! His heart! What the hell is going on? What was that? A gun? What the hell was he doing?

Sam was pretty sure he said, "Oh, boy," but he was pretty sure it came out, "Oh, shit."

"He leapt to where?"

"Dr. Beckett is in the year 2001," Ziggy sang. "I have located him in New York City and am still attempting to ascertain an approximate date and time."

"What's taking so long?" Al whipped around the room, barking out orders like he was the one in charge.

"Admiral Calavicci," Ziggy admonished gently. "You know I'm tuned to biorhythms. When I locate Dr. Beckett..."

"If you're tuned to biorhythms," Al turned on the supercomputer, jabbing an accusing finger at her, "and you can't find Sam's, what do you think that means?"

"I 'think'," she intoned the human process word as though it were beneath her, "that Dr. Beckett is dead, but he may merely be ill."