Title: Leap

 Author: meagan <nutmeg@serv.net>

 Summary: _Angel_/_Quantum Leap_ crossover. Slash. The curse is in effect. That's all I'm saying. Keep in mind that I haven't watched _QL_ for several years, and even when I *did* watch it, I wasn't a huge fan, so I'm playing fast'n'loose with that 'verse since I can't remember details.

 Spoiler: Let's say... Everything so far. And this assumes you have basic knowledge of _Quantum Leap_, but I don't think the way I've used the show really constitutes a spoiler. I think everything I use could be gleaned from the opening credits.

 Rating: PG/PG-13 (sorry, but you're just going to have to imagine the good stuff. This thing is long enough as it is)

 Disclaimer: Of *course* they belong to someone else. If they were mine, things would be different. Specifically, they belong to Mutant Enemy, Fox, WB, and anyone else I forgot. Note: I don't remember when I wrote this. I don't even have it in my own files.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The ease of the landing should have been a warning to him. One minute, he was hurtling through time and space, as was typical. The next, he was casually slouched in a darkened office, chin balanced artfully on his finger and thumb. He opted to listen to the little voice in his head -- for once, it was not Al -- that told him to enjoy the peace because it wouldn't last long this time.

  And so almost on cue, a tall brunette breezed through the door. "Brooding again?" She sighed, dropping a pile of books on the desk in front of him. "You asked for them. You get to deal with them. I have an audition."

  "Um... Thanks." He began flipping through the books, hoping that the titles would give him some clue why he was there. Much Latin, a dash of Greek, a bit of Spanish. All about demons. All about the end of the world. Great. He was there to literally save the world. Maybe he should get something to eat before tackling this stuff and figuring out what was happening. Translating always made him hungry.

  And that's how he discovered things were... *off*. He stood to walk out the door into the morning sun and find the closest store. But before he actually stepped out into the sunlight, the woman who had so generously dumped the books on his desk grabbed his arm and yanked him back inside. Horrified, she demanded, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

  Oh. She must be the boss around here. "Sorry. I was just going to get something to eat."

  "What are you talking about? Why would you need to go outside? You *live* here." She grimaced. "Not to mention the whole disintegrate-when- exposed-to-sunlight thing. I happen to like working for you. You know that, right?"

  But his mind had stopped following her words when she said "disintegrate." Something was not right here. The body he was inhabiting must belong to someone with an extreme sensitivity to sunlight. "Do you have a mirror?"

  "Huh?"

  "A mirror." He began blinking rapidly, hoping this excuse would be acceptable. "I have something in my eye."

  "Oh, right, like a mirror's going to help." But she dug through her purse and handed over a small pocket mirror.

  And when he held it up to his face, he saw nothing. No face. He turned around and examined the wall behind him. That was what he was seeing in the mirror -- the wall behind him. No him.

  "Angel, what are you doing? You know you don't reflect."

  He turned his attention back to the woman tapping her foot impatiently. She was clearly not someone who would accept a glossed-over explanation. Al appeared behind her at that moment, frowning at the small device in his hand, but Sam ignored him. Somehow, the truth seemed to be the easiest way to deal with this person. "I'm not Angel."

  "Oh." To Sam's amazement, she clearly accepted his words, not even considering asking him for clarification. "Well, that explains things. I thought this was going to happen *next* week. I was supposed to have more time to get ready." She froze. "Wait. You *are* Sam Beckett, right?" Stunned, he nodded. She frowned. "Then you don't know you're a vampire? I thought what's-his-name was going to fill you in."

  He stared at her for a long moment, trying to figure out what was happening. Her tone and posture were matter-of-fact, as if it didn't occur to her that informing someone that they were a vampire was anything out of the ordinary. And the comment about next week... Then he glanced back down at the books. Demons, witches, shapeshifters -- not the usual reading he would normally expect for an office.

  She sighed dramatically at his lack of response. "Okay, I'll take that as a yes. Or no. Or whatever would mean you didn't know that. But now you do, so just go downstairs and help yourself to that yummy blood I know Angel has down there. Keep his body going and as healthy as it gets." She began to walk back out the door but paused before exiting. "Don't tell Wesley, okay? I have a feeling that it would just suck up the rest of the day, and we have tons of things to do. Explaining to him would leave us with no time for anything else." She pulled one of the books from the pile. "You read this. I'll be back in a few hours."

  "Wow." Finally, Al spoke up. "She's something else."

  She paused at the door. "And tell your buddy -- Al, right? Tell him to stick with you. I don't need to be distracted by wondering if he's watching the audition." Speechless, Sam could merely nod. "Great. Bye!"

  Once she was out the door, Sam turned his attention to his holographic guide. "What is going on?"

  Al shrugged. "She pretty much covered it. You're Angel, a vampire. But don't worry. You're a good vampire. There's an end-of-the-world prophecy set to go off in a couple of days. Or maybe tonight."

  Sam sighed heavily, dragging his hands over his face. "So I'm here to save the world. Great."

  "I don't think so. See, they've done this before. Saved the world, that is. Many times. So there's more to this than just averting yet another apocalypse. I just don't know what that is. Yet."

  ~~~

  True to her word, the actress -- he had realized that was her ambition when he discovered a small stack of scripts stuffed in a drawer -- returned a few hours later. "So Wes hasn't shown up yet?"

  "Who?"

  "Wesley. Your buddy didn't fill you in?" Sam shook his head. Normally, he would have been a bit panicked to hear this sort of question since he kept Al's existence a secret, but things were different this time around. For one thing, it was clear that she already knew about his guide. "Okay. Wesley used to be a Watcher -- someone who trained Slayers." At Sam's bewildered expression, she waved her hands dismissively. "You know, I just don't have time for this. Short version: He works for you. There's this hero worship thing I don't fully understand. He's not supposed to know you're not Angel. You guys have to solve this problem." She pushed the books at him one more time. "Tonight. Well, that's not exactly related to you being here, but that's what the guys had planned for tonight." Now she glanced at her watch. "Okay, I think that's all you need to know. I have a date, so I'll see you tomorrow." As she walked out the door, she bumped into a tall bespectacled man. "Oh, Wes. Help Angel." And with that, she was out the door.

  Wesley nodded at the brunette's back. "So, Angel, what shall I help you with this evening?"

  Now Al performed his usual go-between function, gathering information from his side and feeding it to Sam for his use. The time passed quickly, and before Sam knew it, they were headed out the door to fight... something. He wasn't sure what it was, but they clearly won. Apocalypse averted. Again, if Wesley's matter-of-fact demeanor was anything to go by.

  But he was still in Angel's body. Clearly, whatever was going on, it wasn't the whole save-humanity thing they had just experienced.

  Before he had a chance to reflect on what had happened, Wesley grasped his upper arm firmly. "Good show." He released Sam's arm. "Well, Angel, as always, thank you for a bracing evening." His voice suddenly turned forlorn. "I think now I shall go home and thank whatever forces were looking out for us this evening for our continued existence."

  And that's when it hit him. The leap had nothing to do with saving the world. It was this man, currently carefully avoiding his eyes. Cordelia -- Wesley had unknowingly supplied her name -- had mentioned "hero worship." If Sam recalled basic human emotion, this was most decidedly not mere hero worship. He decided to tackle the problem head-on. "Wes, how do you feel about me?"

  The human blinked, obviously trying to figure out how the words should be interpreted. Then he did something Sam found absolutely fascinating. Wesley flushed and ducked his head. "You are a very good boss." Now he turned away from Sam, lowering his voice in what the scientist would later swear was an attempt to hide his next wistful words. "And friend."

  "Wes --"

  "I know, you do not form friendships with coworkers."

  "That's not it." Sam gazed at his shoes for a long moment before continuing. "I just don't know if we're talking about the same thing."

  "Angel?" The astonished tone in Wesley's voice pulled Sam's eyes to the mortal's face. "Do you mean..."

  Sam shrugged. Obviously Wesley had drawn the proper conclusion but was uncomfortable actually saying the words. "Yeah."

  "Oh." Blinking rapidly, Wesley began pacing. "But what about the curse?"

  Another piece of the puzzle that Cordelia would have to fill in. "That's the key, isn't it?" He pulled Wesley against him in a tight hug, hoping that Wesley would recognize it for the first step that it was. "See you tomorrow."

  ~~~

 "So you guys did it, right?"

  Sam sighed. He was rapidly becoming aware that Cordelia was not known for her tact. "No, we did not."

  Now Cordelia sighed. "And why not?"

  "Oh, gosh, I don't know. Could it be something about a curse?"

  She frowned momentarily before brightening. "Is that the only reason?" He nodded, confused. "Great! So all we have to do is convince him that your soul is not an issue. I mean Angel's soul." Quickly, she began flipping through yet more books. "We can leave bits and pieces of curses and spells so he can think we're hiding something from him."

  "We *are* hiding something from him."

  "But not what he'll think we're hiding." She paused, reading a passage in one book and comparing it to another. "And then we'll tell him that it's a one-time deal. Take it now or it's gone, never to be repeated."

  "Take *what*?"

  She shrugged casually. "You. He'll think you're Angel but with no soul-loss issues. At least temporarily."

  "Cordelia --"

  "Look." She slammed the book shut. "He needs this. I thought I was supposed to not tell you, but that's obviously not working." Sam blinked at the figure appearing behind her. Al. "It's like there's this big space in his life where you should be. Well, not *you*. Angel. Do you know about Buffy?"

  "Who?"

  "Buffy. The slayer. I'll take that blank look as a no." She sat on the edge of the desk, gesturing at Sam to take a seat as well. "Okay, here's the deal."

  He just gazed at the chair until Al spoke up. "Listen to her, Sam. This Angel guy is different. He's just been sitting in the waiting room, calmly waiting for this to be over. He *knows* what's going on. He'd do it, but there's this curse that messes things up." The holographic image of his guide paused, considering whether to share the next bit of information. "And it looks like this is the reason you're here. I'm talking ninety-nine percent here."

  "Um, Sam? Care to rejoin the conversation?" His attention was drawn back to an impatient Cordelia. "So. Buffy. There was this Gypsy tribe..."

  ~~~

  When Wesley returned to the office that evening, he found Angel and Cordelia working on... something. He wasn't quite sure what because they quickly hid the papers from him. Not quickly enough to prevent him from seeing that they had a secret, but quickly enough that he couldn't see what it was. His heart would have made a rapid descent to his stomach if it hadn't been there already. Obviously Angel was having second thoughts about the previous evening.

  "Wesley! You're back!" Cordelia's voice was too cheerful, and Wesley barely refrained from wincing. "Angel and I have to, um, go. There's this, um, club. Yeah, a club. And we need to go because, um, there's some weird thing happening with, um, the band there. Okay. So, bye."

  Dejected, Wesley watched the pair leave. Together. Without him. They were obviously hiding something from him.

  Then he noticed a sheet of paper on the floor. Covered with scrawls from both Angel and Cordelia. He frowned at the door, waiting for them to return and catch him snooping in their work. They clearly didn't want him to know about whatever it was that they were doing. When the door did not open, he picked up the paper.

  The penmanship was... challenging, to be charitable about it. But he was able to decipher most of it. From what he could sort out, it was some sort of spell. To reverse Angel's curse for a short period of time. One evening, to be exact. So they were trying to find some way to allow Cordelia and Angel to have sex. He was wrong about his heart. It was now burrowing its way through his stomach and making its way down to his feet.

  A name caught his eye. *His* name. He rubbed his eyes and took another look at the words. Yes, *his* name. Cordelia's appeared nowhere on the page, but his name was everywhere. As well as Angel's. What on earth...

  The soft cough broke his concentration. "So. You found it." Angel stepped back into the office, moving to the coat tree in the corner. "I forgot my coat."

  "Oh." Wesley glanced back at his hand, dropping the paper as if scalded when he realized what Angel was talking about. "Angel, I --"

  And suddenly Angel was nowhere near the coat tree but was instead gently running the fingers of one hand down the side of the former Watcher's face, removing the glasses with the other. "Shh. Now you know." He paused, studying Wesley's features. "So is it okay?" Speechless, Wesley nodded. Angel stepped away from him, but before he could register disappointment, the vampire was picking up the phone and dialing a phone number familiar to both of them. "Cordelia? Do it." Wesley gazed Angel as the vampire closed his eyes and listened to the sounds emerging from the phone's handset. Then his eyes snapped open. "Thank you." And he dropped the phone back in the cradle.

  "Angel?" Tentatively, Wesley reached out, fingers grazing Angel's sleeve. "What's going on?"

  The vampire paused, apparently unsure what to say in response. "What do you want to happen?" At Wesley's continued silence, Angel once again began caressing the warm skin he had been touching before the phone call. "It's up to you. But we only have tonight."

  "Huh?"

  Angel smiled, presumably at Wesley's lack of eloquent speech. "This is one of those one-time-only things. Use it or lose it."

  "Oh." Hurt, Wesley pulled away. "And so I'm convenient?"

  "Wes. It's not like that." Angel lifted his hand once more, gently turning Wesley's face to his own. "I meant that we only get one shot at this." Now Angel's other hand moved to Wesley's other cheek, ensuring that the mortal couldn't turn away. "And you're the one I..."

  But as he was attempting to finish his sentence, Wesley was, quite simply, distracting him. Human fingers began tracing vampiric lips. Silent seconds passed before Wesley spoke, his voice timid. "So you did this for me?"

  Angel's lips parted, but before he spoke, his tongue darted out to touch the fingers on his lips. "Yeah."

  ~~~

  Sam had spent a lot of time trying to figure out just what he was supposed to be doing. The save-the-world thing wasn't it. Helping Cordelia get that part in some sports beverage commercial wasn't it. But this... Warm, trusting fingers skidding over teeth that would become fangs, an unsure man standing straighter and moving closer to him with growing confidence... *This* was it. And, according to Cordelia, this was something that would have naturally happened had there not been a pesky curse to deal with.

  At first, he had thought she was just trying to play matchmaker. Pushing two lonely men together because *she* didn't want either of them. But then he had watched Wesley. Cordelia had called it hero worship. Sam realized it was one hell of a crush. But, if what Al was telling him was accurate, the feelings were not simply a one-sided crush. Angel just couldn't act on them without risking his soul, and the vampire was clearly ill-prepared to let Wesley down easily. Even the best-intentioned "gee, that's really sweet, but you know we can't do that" talk was doomed to make Wesley think that Angel was merely humoring him, just saying things to make the mortal feel better and letting him down gently even though the reality was that Angel felt the same way.

  And so Sam was there to help.

  He was relieved that Wesley had managed to fill in the blanks. Sam wasn't sure he would have been able to stumble through an explanation if the other man had decided to play dumb and force the issue. When Wesley had assumed that it was a convenience issue, Sam had felt an odd stab of emotion. Not quite guilt. More like fear that feelings would be brushed aside and the experience turned into a purely physical encounter. The more Sam was around Wesley, the more he realized that the man was a gentle soul, used to being pushed away and pushed around as was convenient to the people around him. No matter what Wesley or anyone else thought, that did not mean the man was weak. If anything, it meant that he was stronger for being able to push aside his own feelings and animosities to help whoever needed assistance. He was strong for others but weak for himself. Not to mention the fact that Angel himself would have been more than willing to do this himself if it didn't mean risking his soul. The word "destiny" kept floating through his mind.

  ~~~

  Angel was too silent for too long. Wesley began to reconsider his actions, pulling his hand away from the vampire's mouth. "Angel, I --"

  "Think we should take this downstairs?"

  And so they did.

  ~~~

  When Angel came back to his body, he was wrapped around a warm form. He shifted, and the arms around him tightened. "No." Legs wrapped around his, forcing him to remain on the bed.

  "Wes." No response. He placed one hand on Wesley's shoulder, gently shaking the mortal. "Hey. Wake up."

  Finally, Wesley opened his eyes. And almost fell out of the bed when he saw Angel gazing at him with an amused expression. But gentle hands caught him and pulled him back onto the bed. "Angel? Angelus?"

  "Angel." The vampire was very glad that he knew what had transpired the previous evening. If he hadn't known, he would have reacted very poorly to finding Wesley, naked in Angel's bed, referring to Angelus. "The spell worked."

  Wesley nodded, slowly moving to climb out of the bed. "So I guess I'll be going now."

  "Why?" Angel began to frown at the needy tone in his own voice. Then he realized that being needed was not something Wesley was going to get upset about. "I thought..."

  "Thought *what*? That you could have sex with me and then pretend everything was back to normal?" Wesley was obviously trying for an irate tone, but his words came out merely distressed and more than a little despondent. And he just as clearly realized this, sinking back on the bed and gazing at the floor.

  Neither man spoke for several long minutes. Staring at Wesley's back, Angel realized that this wasn't over. He had hoped that the previous evening's featured entertainment -- also known as wham-bam-thank-you-Sam -- was going to be enough, but now it occurred to him that it had merely made things more complicated. Not necessarily *worse*, but definitely not *better*. Angel sighed. "I thought I would make breakfast. For you. Here." He paused, weighing his options. Then he placed one hand at the base of Wesley's spine, moving his fingers in tiny circles. "In bed. It's the least I can do for you." Before Wesley could take even one second and read the wrong things into that sentence, Angel continued. "After all, you trusted me last night. I don't want to make you regret that."

  They sat in silence once again. This time, Wesley broke it. "I don't. Regret it, that is. I just..." He sighed. "Does the phrase 'pity fuck' mean anything to you?"

  Angel's heart fell. "Is that what this was to you? Just pity? You felt sorry for me and didn't refuse because you didn't want to hurt my feelings?"

  "*What*?" Wesley turned around to face Angel. "*You* think *I* was pitying *you*? I thought *you* were pitying *me*."

  "No. I don't do pity." Now Angel's mouth began to curl into a smile. "I aparently do badly-timed seductions."

  "Oh?" To Wesley's horror and Angel's amusement, Wesley *squeaked* the word. He cleared his throat and tried speaking once more. "Seduction?"

  Angel shrugged casually. "I was working with a deadline."

  "Deadline. Right." Wesley sighed. "So this was once in a lifetime. Never to be repeated. Never to be discussed."

  "Yes, yes, and no. It was a limited-time offer, and that time has passed, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about it." When Wesley failed to respond to that statement, Angel wrapped his arms around the mortal's waist and rested his cheek on one warm shoulder. The vampire was thankful that his time in the waiting chamber had allowed him the opportunity to compose a careful speech. "I did it because I wanted to. I wanted to see you happy and know that I was the reason. Purely selfish reasons." He sighed, releasing Wesley from his embrace. "But, back to the once in a lifetime thing, last night was it." He waited until Wesley turned around fully and faced him before continuing. "Not because I don't want to do it again. I do. It's just that, well, I had one chance to get it right. And that was my chance." He dropped his eyes to their hands. At some point during those last few sentences, his fingers had intertwined with Wesley's. He smiled at the sight of all that skin rubbing together. "So. Did I succeed?"

  Wesley lifted their hands to his face, studying Angel's fingers before gently pressing his lips against the digits. "Yes. You did." Once again, they sat in silence, but this time, it was a comfortable silence. And once again, Wesley finally broke it. "I believe you promised me breakfast in bed."

  Angel smiled. "Yes. I did."

  ~~~ the end ~~~