Joxer's Quantum Leap, part 4

by Anne Beaudry

Sam looked nervously at the women that were before him and prayed that he would survive the next few hours. He looked at Hope, she was identical to Gabrielle in almost every way. The difference being the look of pure evil glowing in her eyes. Callisto's eyes glowed as well, he noticed, but with a different light. Callisto's eyes glowed with the light of insanity and this scared Sam more than the thought of his possible death.

Looking at Sam, Callisto smirked and said, "Who are you? Are you ready to die with these two?"

"I am willing to die for my friends!" Sam snapped.

"You are so cute when you are angry! Too bad you have to die now!" Callisto said sweetly and then swung her sword at his head. Xena brought her own sword up, blocking the blow to Sam's head, and then swung around to strike at Callisto's midsection. With a frustrated shriek, Callisto leaped into the air and flipped backwards away from Xena. Hope ignored Callisto and focused on Gabrielle.

"Hello, mother." Hope snarled. "You thought I was dead didn't you? Did you really think that my father would allow you to kill me that easily? My father has great plans for this world and you insignificant humans can do nothing to stop him!"

"Hope, I can't let you do this!" Gabrielle cried.

"I can't let you do this!" Hope mimicked. "Oh mother, stop being so melodramatic! You and your little friends are going to die. Good-bye mother!"

Hope raised her hands and a ball of glowing energy formed before them. Throwing her hands forward, the ball of energy flew toward Gabrielle. Dropping to the ground, Gabrielle threw her foot out and twisted it behind Hope's legs. Her daughter fell to the ground and glared at Gabrielle.

"Sam! Sam, help Gabrielle! Don't worry about Xena, Ziggy said that she can take care of herself! You've gotta stop Hope from killing her, or Joxer and her won't get together!" Al cried.

Sam looked at Hope who was slowly getting up and staring at Al. "Who are you? You are not a god!" Hope hissed.

Gabrielle looked behind her, looking around to see who Hope was talking to. She couldn't see anybody and turned back to Hope. Hope walked slowly to Al and circled him, looking him over as a hungry tiger does his prey. Al looked nervously at her and turned with her. He poked a few buttons on his hand-held computer and looked at her again. She glared at him viciously, staring at him as though he were a mouse.

"Sam, Ziggy says that we are not here for Gabrielle, we are here to stop Hope!" Al said.

"Stop Hope?" Sam said, confused. "I thought we were here to save Gabrielle?"

"We have to do that too, but we have to stop Hope! Her daughter!" Al said.

"Hope is Gabrielle's daughter?" Sam asked.

"Yes." Gabrielle said as she looked at Sam. He looked like Joxer and he was a bit clumsy, but he didn't act like Joxer. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it almost seemed like he was in love with Xena. The Joxer she knew wouldn't be interested in Xena except as a friend, and there was no way that Joxer could fight like he did with Callisto. She wasn't sure who this man was, but she felt certain it wasn't her friend. She knew it wasn't Jett either, he was still in prison. Maybe Jace? She had the feeling that Jace wouldn't act like this either. She glanced at him again and decided that she would worry about it later.

Al paused a moment and punched some more buttons on his little machine. He stared at it again and hit it a couple of times, muttering, and punched some more buttons. He looked at it again and then stared at Hope with growing horror. "Sam, Hope is the daughter of Satan!" Al whispered in horror.

"What are you talking about? Satan doesn't exist." Sam replied.

"In this land he is known as Dahak. In other lands, he is known as Satan, Lucifer, Naama and others. He has been around since the dawn of time and will be here still when this world is reduced to ashes." Hope said.

"She is right and if we don't stop her, she'll destroy this world and everything in it!" Gabrielle cried.

Sam looked skeptically at Hope. She might have been a twin sister or perhaps an identical cousin. But there was no way she could be Gabrielle's daughter. They looked about the same age, it was impossible!

Hope's eyes never left Al. She knew he was not a god, yet she couldn't figure out what he was. She put her hand out to touch him, but it passed right through him as though he weren't there. She was confused by this and it only infuriated her more. She wanted to kill this person but couldn't figure out how to do it. How could she kill something that she couldn't touch?

Xena cautiously approached Callisto. She couldn't figure out how Callisto came back to life. She had plunged the Hind's blood dagger into Callisto herself. How could she have survived? "So, how did you do it? What kind of deal did you make with Dahak?" Xena asked.

The psychotic blonde grinned and replied, "Oh, nothing special. I just wanted to be the one to kill you. I think that's fair, after all, you have killed me four times already." Shrieking, Callisto swung her sword at Xena. When Xena blocked it again, she shifted her weight and dropped to her knees for another strike. Just as swift, Xena back-flipped and landed on the on the alter behind her. Callisto snarled as her sword swung through empty air instead of her hated enemy.

"What's the matter, Callisto? Losing your touch?" Xena teased. With an insane shriek of defiance, Callisto raised her sword and ran to the altar, trying to run Xena through, but again Xena flipped over her and her sword found nothing but air. Screaming with frustration, Callisto turned again to face her foe. She let her sword dangle loosely in her hand and she smiled sweetly and walked slowly to Xena.

"Why do you have to make this so difficult? You know I'm going to kill you sooner or later. Personally, I'd prefer sooner!" With a scream of utter hate Callisto raised her sword and charged towards Xena. Blinded with hate, she swung and with a cry of triumph felt her sword sink into flesh and bone. She grinned maliciously and looked down at her victim, then snarled in frustration when she saw long blonde hair. She pulled out her sword and looked for Xena. Seeing her to her left, she smiled wickedly.

"Oopsie! Now see what you've done? You've made me kill your little friend. Oh well... no great loss. I was going to kill her anyway." Callisto smiled and watched Xena's reaction. Her mouth dropped open as she saw Xena smile. Callisto looked down again and couldn't understand what Xena was smiling about, unless...

"You bitch!" Callisto screamed and turned back to look at Hope, gently lowering her to the ground. Glaring at Xena again, she pointed to Hope and said, "Look at what you made me do! Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Suicide comes to mind." Al said sarcastically.

"You're first, little man!" Callisto snarled.

Gabrielle leaned towards Xena and asked quietly, "Who is she talking to? There's no one there!"

"I'll explain later!" Xena whispered back.

Callisto approached the holographic man and swung her sword through his midsection. Snarling with frustration, she put her hand out and tried to touch him. She looked confused as her hand passed through him. "What are you? A vision? Or a nightmare?" she asked.

As Callisto was distracted with Al, Xena slowly approached behind her and prepared to attack. Callisto glanced over her shoulder and saw Xena. Spinning around, Callisto raised her sword to block and then brought her sword down to strike at Xena's exposed neck. Xena blocked the vicious attack and the clang of metal striking metal rang through the cave. Callisto screamed and pushed forward, trying to back Xena into a corner.

Xena fought back but still found herself being pushed back. She felt herself slowly draining as she blocked every blow. She felt each pounding blow reverberate through her body, slowly weakening her muscles and she tried valiantly to fight back. Strike. Block. Strike. Block. The insane face of her enemy floated in front of her, mocking her, laughing at her ever weakening blocks. She summoned her last ounce of strength and tried once again to fight back. Callisto laughed and easily blocked Xena's desparate strike. Callisto swung again and again until Xena was visibly weakened.

"Well, Xena, looks like it is my turn to gloat! Say good-bye Xena! Oh, and don't worry about your little friends, you'll be seeing them soon enough!" With a cry of triumph, Callisto raised her sword, preparing to end her foe's life.

"Stop!" a voice behind Callisto demanded. "Leave her! She is no longer a threat!"

Callisto turned and saw Hope standing by the altar. The insane blonde stared at her and then slowly smiled, her eyes dancing with an insane light.

"Take her and follow me." Hope said and nodded towards Gabrielle.

Callisto walked towards Gabrielle and went to grab her when Sam stepped in her way. Callisto glared at him and tried to push him out of her way, but he grabbed her arm and threw her against the wall. "I don't think so, Blondie!" he said and leaned against her to pin her against the wall.

"Get off of me!" she snarled and rammed her other elbow into his midsection. Sam grunted in pain and doubled over. "I'll take care of you later!" Callisto said and looked around for Gabrielle.

Sam glanced up and noticed that she wasn't looking at him at all. Taking advantage of her momentary lapse of attention, he wrapped his arms around her midsection and tackled her to the ground. He quickly turned her over so that she was face down on the ground and sat on her back with his knees on her shoulders, effectively pinning her to the ground. Callisto struggled and attempted to knock him off, but she couldn't move him. She realized that she was not going to get free by struggling, so she tried a different tactic. "It's been a long time since I had a man on top!" she whispered seductively and wiggled her body a little.

"Yeah, well, that's your fault, not mine!" Sam said sarcastically and looked around for Gabrielle. Not seeing her he called her name.

"Sam, you've got to hurry! Hope's got Gabrielle and she's gonna kill her if you don't get to her soon!" Al cried.

"What do you suggest I do with her? I can't let her up, she'll kill me!" Sam said.

"Pop her one! Knock her out!" Al said.

"I can't hit a woman!" Sam protested.

"I can!" a deep female voice said before a boot smashed into Callisto's face.

"Ohh! Nice one!"Al said.

"Thanks. Now where is she?" Xena asked.

"There's a small tunnel in the back over there. She's down there about fifty feet." Al replied.

Xena limped quickly to the tunnel and Sam ran and put his arm around her waist, trying to support her. She pulled away and shook her head. Sam sighed, he felt a deep admiration for this strong, beautiful woman.

They went quickly and quietly through the tunnel until they could see a larger cavern at the other end. Xena crouched at the entrance and looked in, motioning for Sam to get behind her. He crouched and looked over her shoulder. Hope was at the opposite of the cavern, with her hands held high in the air and chanting loudly. Xena looked around the cavern and didn't see anything that could be dangerous, so she started forward slowly and cautiously and motioned for Sam to follow her. They crept into the room and stopped when Hope turned around and glared at them.

"Do not attempt to stop me!" she said and turned back to the stone altar. Sam looked around Hope and saw Gabrielle tied with her arms above her head and a gag stuffed into her mouth. She pleaded at him with tear-filled eyes. Xena raised her sword and lunged at Hope. The blonde raised an arm and flicked her hand, sending the warrior princess flying across the room and landing hard against the far wall. Sam went to help her but Al stopped him.

"She's okay! We've got to get Gabrielle!" Al said.

"How am I supposed to do that, Al? You saw what she did to Xena! That could've been me!" Sam snapped.

"Hold on! Ziggy's got an idea. Get behind me! One... more... sec.... Got it! Take that, you bitch!" Al said and punched a few buttons on his hand held computer and aimed it at Hope. Hope smirked as nothing happened and walked slowly towards them.

"Al! You better hurry up!" Sam said urgently.

Al hit the small machine a few times and chewed furiously on his cigar as he punched some more buttons. Finally a beam of pale red light shot out from the small unit. He aimed it at Hope and silently prayed that it would work. Hope stopped as the beam hit her, a surprised look on her face. Al punched another button and the beam of light grew brighter and more intense. Hope screamed as the light hit her. Her skin began to smoke and she tried to shoot an energy blast to Al, but couldn't concentrate long enough to create it. She screamed in agony and turned to face her captive.

"Mother! Help me!" she cried and reached out to Gabrielle. Gabrielle looked away, trying to stem the flow of tears. She had gone through this before, but it still hurt to watch her daughter die. It had taken a while but she had finally come to the realization that Hope must die. She didn't know what was happening to her daughter. All she could see was Hope's smoking as though she were on fire, but there was no evidence of fire to be seen. She tried to free herself from the ropes but they were too tight and they simply cut into her skin when she moved.

Sam tried to look at Hope but the smoke was growing more intense and he could see the start of tiny flames on her arms and body. The flames grew until they enveloped her entire body. She screamed soundlessly and collapsed on the ground, her body slowly stopped moving and twitching as the flames consumed her. Al turned off the beam of light and punched a few buttons.

"It's okay, Sam. She's dead, for now, at least." Al said with relief.

"Thanks. How did Ziggy know to use the laser? How did it work here?" Sam asked and walked over to free Gabrielle.

"Well, according to the scrolls that were discovered, the gods used a type of light energy that could destroy things. Ziggy figured that this was probably a laser and she was able to send it to your brain waves. It works the same way as my holographic imaging program." Al explained.

Sam nodded as he freed the bard from her bonds and helped her to her feet. She tried to stand but started to fall again. Sam grabbed her and helped her to sit down. She looked over at Xena and Sam walked over to examine the female warrior. She lay crumpled where she fell and he rolled her over gently. He brushed the hair from her face and felt at her neck for a pulse, sighing with relief when he found one that was strong and steady. He gently slapped her cheeks to bring her around and smiled when her eyes fluttered open. He lay her back down and walked over to Hope's body. Nothing was left but a charred corpse and, as he nudged it a little, a few pieces of charred flesh broke off.

"Joxer, thank you!" Gabrielle said and tried, again, to stand. Sam smiled at her and helped her to her feet. She smiled up at him and hugged him close. Pulling away, she gently kissed him on his cheek. Sam smiled at her and went back to check on Xena again. Bending over her, he talked quietly to Al.

"Why haven't I leaped yet?" he asked.

"Ziggy says that you still have one thing left to do." Al replied.

"What do I have to do? Hope is dead, Callisto is out cold, both Gabrielle and Xena are safe, what else?" he asked.

"I'm not sure." Al said, confused.

"Joxer, who were you talking to earlier?" Gabrielle asked.

Sam stood up and looked at Al. "Um, nobody. I was...uh... just talking to myself." Sam said.

"Really." she said sarcastically, then crouched down to attend to Xena, "Xena? How are you feeling?"

"Like I just got thrown against a wall. I'm fine!" Xena said as she got shakily to her feet.

Gabrielle and Joxer glanced at each other and helped her up. They left the cave and walked a short distance away. Xena turned back and looked at the cave entrance. Unhooking her chakram, she quickly scanned the cave entrance again and threw the round blade as hard as she could. The blade bounced off a large rock above the cave entrance causing it to break apart and block the cave entrance. Xena snatched the chakram out of the air as it passed her and replaced it on her hip.

"That should hold her for a while." she said as she walked away. Stopping, she whistled for Argo and smiled as the palomino mare galloped towards her and stopped only inches from the warrior princess. She smiled and reached up to stroke the mare's neck. Gabrielle took Sam's hand and smiled at him again.

"Kiss her, Sam! What are you waiting for? She wants you to!" Al said, encouraging his friend.

Sam gently stroked Gabrielle's cheek and bent down to kiss her tenderly... and felt the familiar tingle.

Joxer opened his eyes and saw Gabrielle kissing him! He jerked away and cringed, waiting for her to hit him. He looked around and saw Xena on Argo. He was confused. The last thing he remembered was being in a room with blue walls and a white floor and a metal table in the middle of it. He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them again, he was kissing Gabrielle!

"Gabby! I'm... uh... I'm sorry! I didn't... don't... um..." he stuttered.

Gabrielle reached up and kissed him again. Xena smirked and turned away, encouraging Argo into a slow walk. Joxer lost all coherent thought as the woman he adored pressed her lips to his!

"I just wanted to thank you again for saving my life!" she said and ran to catch up with Xena.

Joxer stared after her for a moment and then ran after her.

The End

Please take the time to write to Anne at JoxerBuddy@hotmail.com and let her know how you liked the story!

COPYRIGHT NOTICE:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, Callisto, Hope, and all other characters who have appeared in the series, together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of StudiosUSA and Renaissance Pictures. Sam, Al, and Ziggy are characters from the show Quantum Leap, and are owned by their own copyrighters. No infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan fiction. This story is copyright © 1999 by Anne Beaudry and is her sole property along with the story idea. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.