TITLE: Unlocking the Cage

AUTHOR: Trent Grey

EMAIL ADDRESS: bianki@hotmail.com

SUMMARY: A young man will die before he can escape from home and discover who he is if Sam doesn’t stop his murder. However, things get complicated since Sam’s leaped into a girl with a criminal record.

RATING: I'm trying to make this a PG-13 thing, but I can't guarantee that since there's violence and lots of cursing.

WARNINGS: This is a slash story, with implied m/m themes. There’s also extreme violence and physical child abuse in this story. Lastly, this includes the death of an original character who isn’t very likable anyway. You don’t like it, I’m not twisting your arm to read it. Feel free to leave if you wish.

DISCLAIMER: Dr. Sam Beckett and Admiral Al Calavicci and everybody don’t belong to me, they belong to Bellisarius Productions. I'm not making any money on this stuff, and even if money was offered, I most probably wouldn't take it, I’m just that silly. This story is a tribute to Quantum Leap, and I hope readers will enjoy it. However, Alex, Lisa, Brenna and Renee do belong to me.

MISCELLANEOUS: This is the first story in my "Searching" trilogy, but I dunno when I’ll be able to work on the second story, "On the Road Again".

Sam could feel his body nearly burst as he leaped, the bluish-white light surrounding him with an electric jolt as he took over another person's aura.

The first thing that Sam noticed was that there was an overpowering smell of an incredibly wet dog lingering in the air. The second thing he noticed was the big Rottweiler standing right in front of him, looking for the life of it like it was confused.

This old, unfamiliar, male human had just changed places with the young, familiar teenager who still made the Rottweiler rather nervous. First, the poor thing tried to muddle through the concept, looking adorably confused as it did so. Sam figured this was a good time to try to get away from it as soon as possible, absently wondering if the monster wouldn't kill him.

He got his answer when the dog's ears flattened against its head and it let out a low growl.

Sam's eyes widened as he got up slowly, trying not to alarm the dog as he did so. "Nice doggie, good doggie..." As soon as he got to his feet, Sam did what any sane man in his position would do. He ran like hell.

"Ohhh, BOY!!!"

* * *

Leap-In Date: March 15, 1995

Chapter 1: Oh, Boy

What the hell is THAT? She thought as she easily rode her skateboard, watching as the scene unfolded in front of her. A girl with long red hair was sprinting as if her life depended on it down the street. Considering the fact that Mud, the Taylor's Rottweiler, was close at her heels, the girl figured there was a good reason for it. She suddenly had an unreasonable urge to burst out laughing at the sight, watching as the girl pumped her arms and alternated between cursing and what sounded like praying. Good God.

"Renee!" She shouted. The red-head didn't turn at her name, but kept going. Now, it seemed to the skateboarder that she was going even faster. Kicking the ground at her feet to get the skateboard going faster, she yelled again. "Renee!"

Screw it. She finally caught up with the dog and gave it a good swift kick to the side to get its attention. The dog stopped and turned, growling at her. The girl gave the Rottweiler a low growl of her own, surprising it. "Go home, mutt." She pointed imperiously back the way Renee had been running from. Mud cringed a little and slunk back the way it came from.

"There we go." She smiled, and dusted off her hands with satisfaction. "Now, Renee, you mind tell-" She turned to Renee, who was now fast disappearing over the hill. She sighed, and kicked off again. Finding her was easy enough for the girl. She knew Renee would be slumped over the old tree in Mr. Fillmore's yard, and sure enough, she was. Renee was still trying to recover what breath she had, her hand on her heaving chest.

"Geez, Renee! Didn't you hear me back there?" Sam looked up to see a young girl with long, black hair looking at her with a slightly irritated look. Her eyes were a dark green, and she was fairly well developed for a girl her age. If he had to hazard a guess, he figured the girl was thirteen. "Hello?"

"Huh, what?"

"I said, didn't you hear me back there? I was yelling loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear, ya know."

"Sorry." Sam looked sheepish as he stored the information. My name’s Renee. He groaned a little. Why couldn't I have leaped into a man? Why?

"What's up? Mud rough you up?"

Sam shook his head. "No, just a side-stitch. I'm okay."

"Well, here, get on my skateboard. We're already late for Lisa's, and Ali's gonna be pissed." Before Sam could protest, the girl shoved him on her skateboard and got up in front of him, kicking off. As they started to speed down the hill, Sam threw his arms around the girl's waist in a death-grip and squinted his eyes shut.

After what felt like an eternity to Sam's scared mind, the girl slowed to an easy stop rather than with her normal hard skid, more to soothe her panicked rider more than anything else, and picked it up after Sam gratefully stepped off. The house that the girl had taken her to was a nice-looking two-story house that was light lavender blue in color. Like the other houses in the neighborhood, Sam now realized, it looked like the kind of place a family that was doing better than average would live in. On the open porch, a young girl sat on the railing. Looking up, she caught sight of the both of them and hopped off. The darkening light of evening made it hard for Sam to see what the girl looked like, but he could tell that she was a blonde.

"Dude, you guys are like SO late! Where the hell were you?!"

"Hey, don't yell at me, Lisa. Blame the dipstick here-" With that, she jabbed her thumb at Sam.

"Did you try to cut through the Jackston's yard again?" The blonde looked very peeved.

"Err, uh, yeah." Sam stammered. All right, this one is Lisa.

The blonde's eyes rolled, and she took Sam by the arm and dragged him inside the house. Walking through a narrow hallway, the girl dragged Sam into a darkened dining room, where a lamp glowed brightly over the center of a circular oak table. Sprawled in one of the chairs was a kid with brown hair, wearing subdued clothes, and shuffling a worn deck of cards. It was hard to tell if the kid was a boy or a girl.

"Hey, Alex," Lisa spoke, guiding Sam into the chair across from the kid. Okay, it’s a he. "Look who finally decided to show up."

Alex looked up at Sam, his eyes narrowing. "Certainly took you long enough. Where the hell were you?" The deep natural voice confirmed Sam's suspicions.

"Getting chased by Mud." Lisa supplied before Sam could speak.

"Again?" The question was flat. Apparently, the three of them had been through this before with Renee. He waved his hand curtly and motioned for Sam to sit. "I don't want to hear it. Just sit down."

Lisa returned with the black-haired girl and sat down at the two remaining chairs. Alex shuffled the deck one more time and started to deal cards. "All right. This is standard five-card stud. Nothing wild. Brain-stem, how many cards?"

"Two. So, what's going on in the outside world, Ali?" The black-haired girl asked Alex, taking the two cards that Alex dealt to her.

Alex looked at the girl with a raised eyebrow. "What? Aside from the bomb threat you called in?" The girl looked a little guilty and a bit surprised when Alex spoke in an acid tone. "Well, let's see." Alex put his cards face down and turned to look at Lisa and Sam. "First, there was the black-out that lasted for three hours at school-" He glared at Sam. "I dunno why the hell you acted on that idea from, Renley, but next time, DON'T. Do you really want to add a hacking misdemeanor to that mile-long list of offenses that the police station has on you?"

Sam swallowed. These kids have criminal records?! He dumbly shook his head.

"And you-" Alex turned to Lisa with the same menacing stare. "Where the hell do you get off setting off stink bombs in fricking half the school?! I could barely breathe when the stink bomb set off in my desk. The teacher had to drag me out of the room, I was coughing that bad."

Lisa's eyes widened. "Alex, I-"

"Don't." Alex cut her off. "Just don't."

"That's it, Ali!" The girl whose name Sam didn't know finally got sick of it. "I asked them to do it. Got it?"

Alex whipped back to her. "Fine. Then what possessed you to tell them to do it, Brain-stem?"

"You needed cheering up, dammit!" She snapped back. "Ali, he had no right-"

"He was well within his rights." His voice was now very subdued. Whoever this man was that they were referring to, Sam got the feeling he didn't want to meet him.

"Throwing you down a flight of stairs is 'well within his rights'?!" Sam's eyes widened. Good God...That must be why I’m here… "Brain-stem" merely continued her protest. "Beating you with the butt of his shotgun because you were five minutes late is 'well within his rights'?! Ali-"

"Brenna." Alex's voice was sharp, using the girl's real name. "I am NOT going to hear anymore of this."

Sam rose from his seat with a hand to Brenna. "Alex, who's been beating you?"

"That's one stupid question, coming from you." His acid tone returned. "Dammit, if there's thing I hate that you guys do, it's pulling these stupid stunts just to cheer me up. You guys are sick." Alex picked up his cards, however, and looked pointedly at Sam after a minute of silence. "How many cards, Renley?"

Sam blinked. As he looked at Alex incredulously, he was met with a glare so full of ...something that he was forced to look back to the cards in his numb hands. Al, where are you?

As if summoned, the door to the Imaging Chamber opened in a rectangle of white light behind Alex's chair, and Al stepped through after punching a few buttons on the handlink. For a split second, Sam thought that Al had been in two places at once, one sitting at the table, frowning down at his hand of cards, and the other standing behind the one at the table, wearing an identical frown as he punched more buttons on the handlink.

I must be losing it. How many times have I leaped in to see someone who looks like a younger version of myself? Sam shook his head and looked down at his cards. It would be a straight if it weren't for that nine. "One." He tossed the nine to Alex, who gave him another card.

"Tyler, how many?" Alex asked.

Al finally looked up from the handlink to look at Sam. "We need to talk, Sam."

"You're damn right we need to talk, Renley." Alex snapped. "You have a criminal record, in case you haven't noticed, and I'll be damned if you're gonna shoot yourself in the foot just for the sake of cheering me up."

Al did a double-take at the boy sitting at the table. "You can hear me, kid?"

"Renley, you do realize that you're being an idiot. Of course, I can hear you. I can still hear just fine. And goddammit, how many times did I tell you, don't call me 'kid'!" The remark was enough to cause Sam and Al to look at each other with wide eyes.

Brenna watched the Renee and Alex curiously. "Ali, get me a Coke," she ordered.

"I'll get it-" Lisa and Renee volunteered at the same time. Brenna looked at the two of them with a hard glance.

"I'll get it," Alex snarled, slapping his hand down on the table and shoving his seat back. Sam watched as it slid through Al's legs, and saw Al sidestep Alex unconsciously, though the Sam's world was a hologram to him. "Tyler, what do you want?"

"Bud Lite. It should be in the locked cupboard."

"Parents are so predictable." Brenna rolled her eyes with a small smile. "Ren, you want anything?"

"No-" Sam coughed, his voice giving out on him at the mention of Lisa's drinking habits. "No, thanks."

Alex looked at Sam with a raised eyebrow. "Must be sick or something. I'll be back." With that, he left the room.

"Hey, Lisa," Sam finally found the courage to speak up when he remembered Al needed to talk to him. "I need to use your phone."

Lisa looked at him funny. "Dude, don't you remember last week?"

"Uh, last week?" Sam was mystified, his eyes flicking to Al's. C'mon, Al, help me out here...

"Yeah. You do remember last week, don't you?" Brenna leaned forward, looking at Sam intently. Sam squirmed a little in his seat. He really wasn't feeling anymore comfortable under their close scrutiny.

"I'm working on it, Sam." Al assured him, jabbing at the handlink. He growled a little and smacked it with the heel of his hand. It whined plaintively. Growling a little more, Al stuck his lit cigar in his mouth and smacked it more viciously, getting an even more injured whine from Ziggy.

"Uhh, yeah! Of course I do! What a dumb thing to ask!" He laughed nervously. "Al..."

Al kept smacking the handlink. Smack. Whi-i-i-ine. Smack. Whi-i-ine. Smack. WHI-INE!

"Well?" Brenna prompted, a tiny smirk on her lips.

"C'mon, Ziggy! Don't do this to me!" Al beat the handlink with one of his fists.

"Well what?" Sam felt like he was sweating bullets. If they catch onto me, I'm dead.

Al was now in the process of shaking the handlink, getting a garbled whine that Sam was sure that if he hadn't been in such a potentially dangerous situation, he would've burst out laughing. As it is, he had to grit his teeth to keep from doing so.

"What happened last week?" Lisa asked.

The sound of the handlink dying almost made Sam want to cry. "Uh-oh." Al looked at the handlink with panic written on his face. "I think I killed it." He glanced quickly at Sam. "Sorry, Sammy. Gooshie! Open the door!" The last he barked up at the ceiling. The door opened behind Alex's empty seat, and Al sent a sympathetic glance to his friend before stepping through it. The door closed with a snap.

"You don't remember." Brenna said flatly. "Geez, Ren, you were the one who broke open the phone because you thought it was tapped. Good God." She shook her head. Sam looked at her with a surprised look on his face. But... he was so sure they were going to...

"What'd you think we do, dude?" Lisa asked. "Kill you?"

Sam laughed very nervously. "Yeah. What was I thinking, huh?"

Lisa rolled her eyes. Brenna sighed. "I'm going to see what's keeping Alex. That lock should be easy to take care of." With that, she left the room via the door that Alex had left through. Lisa looked at Sam with not a little concern.

"Ren, are you okay? You've been acting funny all night."

"I'm okay. I'm just worried about Alex. Who's the one who beats her?"

Lisa looked at him incredulously. "You've GOT to be kidding, dude. Remember Steven? The guy who makes Satan look like Santa? Alex's father?"

"Father?" Sam had leaped into abuse situations, but every time he had inquired about the abuser, he had always been told that they were good people.

Lisa looked at him with wide eyes. "Ren, you hit your head, didn't you? You told me that you were going to kill the bastard if he hurt Alex again. We’re gonna protect Alex anyway we can, remember? Even if it means we’ll get arrested."

Sam blinked. Oh, BOY...

He didn't realize that he had spoken until he saw Lisa's face sober. "Who the HELL are you?"

* * *

Alex cursed again when his switchblade slipped. He'd been working at this stupid lock for a solid five minutes, and he was positive that it wouldn't have taken this long if it were Brain-stem or Tyler working at the lock.

"It'd work better if you loosened your hands." Brain-stem's voice startled him, but he covered quickly.

"Well, I wouldn't know, would I?" Alex whirled to face her, his switchblade firmly in hand. "I'm just the idiot of the group. You're the ditz, Renley's the crazy one, Tyler's the belligerent one, and I'm the stupid one. Is that it?"

"You're not stupid, Ali." Brenna stepped forward, taking the knife from his hand. "Just like Renee's not crazy, I'm not the ditz, and Lisa's not belligerent." She calmly turned to the lock, making sure that Alex could see what she was doing. After a few seconds of picking and twisting, the lock popped open. "That's how you do it."

"You definitely like rubbing my face in it, huh?" Alex glared at her. "Everything I can't do, you shove my face in it and rub it in."

"Ali, I don't do it intentionally." When Alex snorted and folded his arms, Brenna shook her head. "Whatever, okay? What do you want from me? For me to quit the stunts? Fine, I'll quit with the stunts."

"Why don't you tell me why you even pull them in the first place, huh?" Alex dropped his arms and ran his fingers through his curly hair. "Why are you doing this?"

"Ali, try to put yourself in my position for a minute." Brenna told him softly. "Your best friend has to deal with a mom who does cocaine, and then her mom gets mixed up with slime like Steven." She saw Alex tense, but she continued. "Through all of the beatings that that jerk gave his mom, gave him, there was nothing you could do about it. Every time he would show up with fresh bruises, insisting that nothing was wrong, and you'd get so mad. And I don't mean irritated, I mean full-blown pissed."

Brenna took a deep breath. "You have to vent somehow, and smashing something won't work. So, you beat the stuffing out of something. And then you get some crack, and sell it. It doesn't matter what scum buys it, you just sell it. And it keeps on going until it feels like You. Can't. Stop." Brenna tapped a finger on Alex's chest after each word. "You try to rationalize it, but you just feel so helpless... Ali..." Brenna blinked a couple times to get rid of the tears, but Alex caught it.

"C'mere." He opened his arms and took her in them. "Brenna, it's okay, honey. Let it all out, sweetie. Shhhh..."

She wanted to protest that it wasn't okay, but his rough voice felt soothing. Coupled with the hand carefully stroking her back, she took a shaky breath and calmed down.

Alex was reluctant to ruin the moment, but he had caught Brenna's glances during at the table. "Brenna?"

"Yeah?" She pulled back to look into his dark grey eyes.

"Why were you looking at me like I was nuts at the table?"

"Because Renee hadn't said anything. At all."

Alex blinked. "But, she did-" At Brenna's unusually serious face, he shook his head. "If it wasn't her, then who the HELL was it?"

"What did the voice sound like?"

Alex sighed again, thinking. "It sounded a lot like mine."

"Your father?"

Alex frowned, and slowly shook his head. "Wherever he is, he isn't six feet under. I dunno how I know, but I know." He looked up at Brenna. "Does that make any sense at all?"

Brenna nodded. "The second my mom died, I collapsed from the pain. And she was in another state."

Alex sighed. "But why now?"

"It could be a sign."

"To start looking for him?"

Brenna looked a little uncertain. "I'm not sure, but don't do anything impulsive."

"Me? Do something impulsive?" At Brenna's raised eyebrow, he sighed. "All right, so I'm a little jumpy."

"A little?"

"Whatever. That doesn't matter. If you think I should just chill for a minute and think things through, I will. Okay, babe?"

Brenna gave him a little smile. "Good." She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips briefly. "I'll get Lisa's beer and-"

The two were interrupted by the sound of a table snapping into an undoubtedly large number of splinters, telling from the pitch of the crash. It was followed shortly by the sound of a chair shattering glass and very expensive dinnerware.

"Now, Lisa, don't you think we can talk reasonably about this?" came Renee's voice from the other room. Brenna and Alex looked at each other quickly, and ran for the dining room.

* * *

"What do you mean, who am I?" Sam asked, his mind beginning to panic. "I'm Renee, remember?"

"No, you're not. Now, stop feeding me lines!" Lisa barked. "Who the hell are you, and what did you do to Renee?"

"I didn't do anything to her--me. How could I possibly do something to myself?" Sam started to get up from his chair.

Lisa, unfortunately for Sam, caught the slip. "I was right. What the hell did you do with her? If you hurt her in anyway, I swear to God I'll pop you one so hard your face will get an inside look at your brain." She got up as well, starting to advance on Sam and flicked out a small switchblade knife in her right hand.

Now starting to get seriously scared, Sam backed up instinctively and as soon as Lisa got within range, he deftly kicked the knife out of her hands. Cursing as the knife hit the floor, Lisa picked up Sam's chair and swung at him. He dodged quickly, and put enough distance between them. The best defense is distance. Sam remembered Al telling him during an earlier leap.

"I haven't done anything with Renee, I swear. I wouldn't hurt her, and I wouldn't use her to hurt you."

"Bull." The girl snarled, swinging with the chair again and missing Sam's head by a couple of inches with one of the legs. "Now, either you cough her up, and you're gonna be coughing up internal organs." She jumped up onto the table and kicked at Sam's head.

Sam caught her foot reflexively. For a girl of twelve, Lisa certainly knew her way in a fight. He just hoped he wouldn't have to knock her out just to subdue her. Lisa struggled for a little bit, and when she stopped, she glared at Sam and swung the chair from over her shoulder at his head. He lifted the leg he had held onto upwards, unbalancing the teenager.

She fell to the table and landed on her back before she could react. A long crack appeared in the old wood, and almost immediately the table broke in half. The chair that Lisa was swinging flew out of her hands to smash into the dinnerware cabinet, the sound of shattering china filling the room instantly.

"Now, Lisa, don't you think we can talk reasonably about this?" Sam asked the prone girl, offering a hand to her to help her up. Lisa grunted and took the proffered hand, but as soon as Sam hoisted her up, he felt the sudden impact of a well-placed foot in his gut, knocking the wind out of him temporarily.

The door burst open, revealing Alex and Brenna, who dashed into the room, bodily separating the two combatants.

"All right, what the HELL is going on here?!" Alex snapped at the both of them, glaring first at Lisa in his arms and then at Sam, being detained by Brenna, though he wasn't fighting her to get out of her reach. The other door to the dining room burst open to reveal an aging man dressed in striped pajamas and holding a shotgun in his hands.

"What the hell are you doing here, you little punks?!" He shouted. Shaking his head, he swung up the shotgun to eye-level and aimed at Brenna. "Get the hell outta my house! NOW!!"

"Now, wait a minute, Dad-" Lisa wrested herself from Alex's arms to step toward her father.

"I said, get outta here!!" He yelled at them other three. Whirling, he set the sight of the shotgun on Lisa. "And you, you little monster! I told you I didn't want these criminals in my house!"

"Hang on a sec, Mr. Tyler." Alex stepped forward, slowly stepping in front of Lisa to protect her. "I can explain."

"I don't want to hear it." Mr. Tyler snarled in a low voice. "Ever since Lisa met you, she's been nothing but trouble. She used to be a good girl, and now she's a monster. And it's all your fault."

Alex visibly flinched, but did not dispute him.

"Now, wait, Mr. Tyler." Sam spoke up. "Please." He gently pushed Brenna aside and out of immediate danger. "You don't want to do this."

"And YOU-" Mr. Tyler turned the gun on Sam. "You belong in an asylum, you twisted freak."

"If you do this, Mr. Tyler, you're going to regret it."

"You gonna make me regret it?" He straightened the gun until it was level with Sam's neck. "Huh?"

"No, but the guilt will weigh down on you." Sam swallowed. He could remember the times he had been forced to kill in order to leap. "Believe me, I know. It gnaws at you from the inside out until you want nothing more than to forget." Sam sighed.

Alex took advantage of this pause to speak. "Sir, I promise you that we'll leave. Right now. And you'll never have to see us again. Please, just put down the gun."

Mr. Tyler looked at his daughter. "Lisa, get over here."

"No, Dad." Lisa told him calmly.

"I told you to get over here."

"And I said no, Dad."

"If you want to keep living under this roof, you get over here NOW."

"Lisa," Alex turned to her. "Please do as your father says." Mr. Tyler looked at the young man with no small amount of surprise.

"But, I want to go with you."

Alex shook his head. "Lisa, please. You know that I care 'bout you. I wouldn't be asking you if I didn't."

Lisa frowned. "But-"

"Lisa." The quiet plea struck Sam with its familiarity. How many times had Al said his name in that same voice? Sam lost count a long time ago. "Go."

Lisa sighed, and wrapped her arms around Alex's neck. Alex hugged her and stroked her back a couple of times before he gently but firmly removed her arms and urged her toward her father. Brenna looked at him with an odd look.

"If you'll excuse us, sir." Alex nodded respectfully to Mr. Tyler. "I'll give the money to Lisa for the table and the china before the week's over."

Mr. Tyler glared at him, somewhat half-heartedly in Sam's opinion, and Alex walked past him. "C'mon, guys. We've got to get going."

Brenna placed a hand on the small of Sam's back, and guided him out of Lisa's house without a word.

Chapter 2: One Good Hand Deserves Another

November 19, 2000 – 2025 hours, 8:25 PM

Rear Admiral Albert Calavicci shoved his handlink almost in Gooshie’s face when he stepped out of the Imaging Chamber. God, Sam better be all right…Who knows what those twisted kids could do to him? He fervently said to himself as he almost absently walked out of Control with only a curt nod to Donna and Ziggy’s physical form.

Before he even realized what he was doing, he founded himself walking down the hallway that led to the Waiting Room, barely remembering that Dr. Beeks was with the visitor. From what they had managed to pry out of the red-haired girl, she was involved in things that weren’t looked too kindly upon by local law enforcement, but Al hadn’t realized what kind of a mess Sam was in until that kid had heard him.

The thought still sent a shudder through his body, his feet mechanically leading him back to the strange redhead. He hadn’t known what to make of the girl at first, but now that he knew the whole score, he would definitely act more appropriately.

He almost started when the Waiting Room door opened, but he walked in smoothly, attempting to cover up his nervousness at leaving Sam in such a potentially dangerous situation and having this girl that was giving him the run-around.

The door to the Waiting Room opened, revealing the redhead sitting on the white table, and Verbena Beeks talking with her calmly. When the door opened, the girl turned to Al and stared at him with a little frown.

"Are we finished here, Doc?" She asked Verbena absently, her eyes still on the admiral.

Verbena sighed. The conversation had led her nowhere, and if she didn’t stop now, there would’ve been a good chance that she would’ve tried to strangle the girl. "Yes, we’re done."

"Okay." She hopped a little on the tabletop until her whole body was facing Al. "Hi."

Al nodded to her wordlessly, his eyes going to Dr. Beeks, his eyebrows lifting with an unspoken question. Verbena only shook her head and shrugged as she left the room. He turned to the redhead.

"Now, Renee, is there anything else that you can remember?"

"Wow…" She had a big grin stretching across her face as she peered at Al more closely. "Aren’t you so cute?!"

"Renee."

Renee’s face fell. "Sorry. But you look SO much like Alex, and he’s just so CUTE—"

"Renee, I’m serious." Al added a bit more steel to his voice.

"I know you are but what am I?" Renee started grinning again. "Still, you really DO look like Alex." Her face fell into a thoughtful frown.

"Tell me about Alex, then." Al’s patience was wearing a thin at this point.

"He’s so SWEET. And he’s smart too. Gets A’s and B’s in school, and he thinks up cool stuff for us to do so that we won’t get bored all the time."

"What about his family?"

Renee blinked, and then suddenly shrunk into herself. "They scare me. I don’t scare easy, and they SCARE me."

"Tell me about them."

"His mom does crack. She’s like spaced out all the time and she doesn’t DO anything at all. She just sits in front of the TV and smiles all the time." Renee shuddered.

"Does he have a dad?"

The question made her start trembling violently. "IT doesn’t count as a dad. IT’s just a demon from Hell."

"You’re kidding, right?" Al scoffed, and beginning to get more than a little worried about Alex.

Renee shook her head vigorously. "Nuh-UH. IT beats Alex. And his mom too, but she doesn’t notice, ‘cause she’s doped out all the time."

"Does it have a name?"

"Captain Steven Welker. Retired from the Army."

Al winced. If anybody could deal punishment to another person, it would have to be a soldier in the Army.

"Please, I don’t wanna talk about IT anymore. Can we move onta somethin’ else?"

"It’s okay, kiddo. What about Alex? Does he do anything illegal?"

Renee burst out laughing, leaving Al to puzzle over what made her do so.

"What?" Al asked her.

"Now THAT’S funny!" She recovered her composure a bit and took a deep breath before speaking. "Do you realize how fast we’d kick his ass if he even tried? He’s our little angel, our conscience."

"Why? Because he gets beat at home?"

Renee nodded. "That’s not the only reason though."

Al frowned. "All right, then where do you live?"

"Merriweather Correctional Facility for Juvenile Offenders." Renee leaned forward, covering one side of her mouth with one hand and gesturing for Al to approach her. When he did, she whispered in his ear, "But it’s actually a juvie jail." She leaned back quickly and burst out laughing again.

"What about your friends…" He went for his handlink and then remembered that he had left it with Gooshie to get it repaired.

"Brenna and Lisa?" Renee prompted. "Well, Brenna’s serving a five month jail-term and she’ll be out on parole next week, I think, and Lisa lives at home."

"Does Alex live at home?"

Renee looked sad as she nodded. "All of us tried to help him runaway, but he didn’t want to. Said that if he had to take it, then his real dad would be proud of him for it."

That made Al stop in his tracks. "His real dad? I thought Welker was his real dad."

"IT’s his STEP-dad, thank God. Alex is still looking for his real one."

"Does he have any clues?"

Renee shook her head. "If he does, he hasn’t told any of us."

Al frowned. That might be why Sam’s there. To help Alex find his father.

"You’re gonna get a frowny line if you keep doing that." Renee admonished him with a grin.

"Is there anything else you can remember?"

Renee gave a little frown herself, and plopped her chin into her hand. "I don’t think so. Why?"

"Alex could be in big trouble if you’re right."

Renee’s eyes widened, and she frowned, concentrating harder. "I know that Alex wanted to be in a play that they were holding auditions for, but I can’t remember when it starts."

"That’s okay. I’ll drop by later to see if you remember anything else, okay?"

Renee nodded. "Please, don’t let Alex get hurt. He’s really nice, and he doesn’t deserve what he’s got."

"I won’t." Al told her solemnly. "I promise." With that, he left the Waiting Room.

Chapter 3: The Objective

March 15, 1995 – 2225 hours, 10:25 PM

The three of them left the Tyler residence without another word. Once outside, Sam could see that night was fast approaching, and he'd probably have to find out where he lived. However, he got the feeling that he wouldn't be heading there any time soon.

"Renley, what happened in there?" Alex turned to Sam with barely checked irritation.

"Me and Lisa got in an argument, that's all." Sam replied, causing Alex to sigh heavily.

"I remember one time when one of your 'arguments' nearly started a riot." Brenna muttered as her eyes rolled skywards. "Why don't we just call them the precursors to World War III?"

Alex gave a weak half-smile, but still kept walking.

"So, what’s on the agenda for tonight?" Brenna spoke up. "Crash at the Pitt and see what new acts are making total fools of themselves?"

Alex shook his head. "Nah. Not really in the mood for bad music." He turned to Sam, an eyebrow raising. "What do you wanna do, Ren?"

Sam shrugged. "I’m kinda tired. Maybe I’ll head back home and go to bed." Alex and Brenna looked stunned, but quickly covered.

"Okay." Alex said slowly, looking unsure. "How about I show you two home, then?"

"Well, we can go do something—" Sam began, but Alex shook his head.

"No, you don’t, Renley. You’ve been catering to our whims for the past couple of days. If you’re tired, then I’ll take you home."

Sam blinked. "Um, thanks." He saw the door to the Imaging Chamber open and Al step out. Nodding to him discreetly, Sam turned to Alex as the young man nodded.

"Well, I know the way, Alex." Sam started. Since Alex could apparently hear Al, it was going to get a whole lot harder if Al had important information.

Alex sighed. "Brenna, would you mind—"

Brenna nodded. "I’m gonna see if the Blimp has duty tonight. See ya later." With a quick kiss to Alex’s cheek, she got on her skateboard and sped off down the street. Sam and Alex kept walking, and Al fell into step with the pair.

Alex cleared his throat a little before speaking. "Ren, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry."

Sam frowned. "About what?"

Alex loosened up his shoulders. "I’ve been acting like a dick all week, and it’s not fair for me to take it out on you guys, especially you, kiddo."

"Has he been beating you more than usual?"

Alex spun on Sam, looking at the taller man in surprise. After a minute or so, Alex shook his head with uncertainty and kept walking.

"It… well, he’s been getting a couple more sixers than usual." Alex shrugged. "I guess he’s gettin’ violent ‘cuzza them."

"Sixers?" Sam asked. Al waved a hand in Sam’s face to get his attention and then pantomimed drinking a beer. Oh. Sam blinked. Oh, boy.

Alex turned on Sam again. "Are you positive nothing’s wrong? The Blimp getting on your case or something?"

"I’m okay." Sam reassured him. "But what about you?"

"And what about the play?" Al tacked on quickly, causing Sam to turn to him with a puzzled look. Al pointed to Alex so that Sam wouldn’t miss his response.

One of Alex’s eyebrows rose. Hello, Mr. Voice. "I really wanna do it, but I don’t think the Captain’s going to be very supportive."

"I don’t see why being supportive means you can’t do it." Al spoke before Sam could reply.

"Renley, if he doesn’t like it, I take a pounding. Or have you forgotten your birthday?"

"What happened when you got home?" Sam inquired, looking at Al.

"Let’s see if I can remember how it goes." Alex frowned. "Five broken bones, four bloody knuckles, three blows to the head, two cracked ribs, and a partridge in a pear tree."

"You’ve got to be kidding." Al blinked.

"Why didn’t you report it to the police?" Sam quickly added.

"Ren, do you remember the last time I tried?"

Al jabbed a few buttons on the handlink and winced. "You were in the hospital for a week." His rough voice was unusually quiet.

"Yeah. If the bullet had been a couple inches to the left, I wouldn’t be here now." Alex nodded.

"What about—" Sam started, but Alex cut him off.

"Renley, we’ve done this song and dance one too many times. No, I’m not gonna run away."

"It looks like your only choice." Al told him sharply, punching a few buttons on the handlink. "That social worker only made matters worse, didn’t she? Is that why you’re getting knocked around?"

"…Social worker?" Alex turned to Sam slowly, fixing him with a raised eyebrow. "What social worker?"

"Oops." Al whispered.

"When is this social worker coming?" Alex asked Sam.

"Tomorrow." Al answered for him.

Alex visibly sagged. "Great. By the way, which one of you set it up?"

"Set it up?" Sam asked, eyebrows raised.

"The appointment. Which one of you set it up?"

"We all did." Sam answered as Al showed him the handlink readout.

"Let’s just hope that the Captain doesn’t make an ass of himself. But of course, that’s asking a little much." Alex looked at Sam for a minute, and then discreetly at the spot where the other voice was coming from. Checking his watch, Alex cursed under his breath.

"Chicky, I gotta run, or else it’ll be double tonight." Kissing her lightly on the cheek, Alex took off down the street, waving at her over his shoulder. Sam turned to Al.

"Chicky?"

"I think it’s his nickname for his friends. Being the only guy, he’s surrounded by chicks. It’s not too hard to figure out."

"Now, what’s going on?"

"It’s March fifteenth, 1995, and you’re in Burkittsville, Maryland. Your name is Renee Leyland, but your friends call you Renley—"

"Al." Sam said in a low tone.

"There’s a 96.3% chance that you’re here to save Alex from…" Al stopped walking, staring at the handlink almost in horror. "Getting shot."

"What?"

"In two days, there’s shots fi—" He smacked the handlink. "—fired around eight o’clock. The next door neighbor reported it. Details are still sketchy, but Alex gets shot in the chest and dies on the way to the hospital." He looked up at Sam solemnly. "Sam, we gotta do something. There’s something about that kid…"

"I know." Sam nodded. "I’m not about to let him die. Now, where do I live?"

"5027 Bakerton Avenue, which is the Merriweather Correctional Facility for Juvenile Offenders."

"What?"

"Renee’s got a list of offenses a mile long. Some of them include bank rob—" Al smacked the handlink. "—bery, hacking into her high school’s computer and changing her grades, and a charge of second-degree murder. Oh, says here that she was acquitted."

"That sounds—murder?!"

Al nodded. "Apparently she’s the most ‘adventurous’ of the four."

"Shouldn’t I, I mean, she, be under lock and key?"

Al shrugged. "Well, if she’s supposed to be, then the guards must not be doing their jobs." He looked up from the handlink to look at Sam. "Sam, with these kinds of kids, nothing is going to keep them trapped unless they wanna be trapped. I remember when I lived in the orphanage, and I ran away. It’s different for Renee since she’s doing hard time, but she can still get out."

Sam was quiet for a while. My God… Shaking his head, he sighed and turned to his friend. "Does Ziggy know why Alex can hear you?"

Al shook his head. "Nah, but we’re working on it. My guess is about as good as yours."

"Could he have the same brain waves as I do? Like that executive who was going to turn that Salvation Army into the Blake Plaza?"

Al shook his head. "If he did, he would’ve been able to see me, too."

"Wasn’t there a time when you said that someone could hear you?"

"There was that Miss Melanie when you were Jesse Tyler…" After a minute, Al shook his head. "But she was older than I am. Alex here’s only--" He punched in some keys in the handlink. "Twelve."

"Which means he’s too old for that alpha wave theory that Ziggy has." Sam said with a frown. "How else could he hear you?"

"Like I said, my guess is as good as yours." Al shrugged. He was about to punch in the code to open the Imaging Chamber door, but he caught a look at Sam’s face. It was obvious his friend was mad. "Hey, buddy, it’ll be okay. I’ll get you that theory pronto. And I’ll get Ziggy to bring up anything that could help us."

Sam looked up, looking a little confused. "No, it’s not that. I just wish I could do something for Alex."

"So do I, Sammy." Al sighed. "Renee back in the Waiting Room got real antsy when I mentioned Alex’s step-father."

"Could you keep an eye on him for me?" From the look Sam was giving Al, the admiral could tell it was a plea for some control over the situation which seemed to be spinning out of his hands.

Al sighed again and nodded. "I’ll see what I can do, Sammy. I’ll be back in a little while, but in the meantime, try to keep yourself and the other two out of trouble. The last thing you three wanna do is get arrested for something."

Sam nodded, and the Imaging Chamber door opened. Al stepped through, letting the door slide shut behind him.

"Renee!"

Sam turned to the voice to see it was Brenna. "What?"

"Are you gonna stand there all night? We gotta get going before the Blimp’s shift comes up."

Sam sighed and followed her as she sped back down the street. Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me. Please, protect Alex.

End of chapter three.