Title: Dark Shadows Over Time
Fandom: Quantum Leap
Pairing: Al/Sam
Categories: Angst, Dark, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship
Length: Epic
Warnings: This story depicts life in a POW camp as a POW so some extremely unpleasant and disturbing situations and emotional issues crop up, including but not limited to non-con, homophobic themes, coercion, physical and mental torture, and attempted suicide. There is also the recovery involved so please tread carefully.

Author on LJ: evilleaper
Website: Alia’s Amorous Intent

Author’s Summary: ‘Dark Shadows Over Time’ tells of Sam's leap into a Vietnamese prison of war camp near the very end of the conflict. - Leap date 1973. - Sam's host for this leap is no other than his long time friend and observer Al. From the beginning Al is reluctant to reveal to Sam his hosts identity or to accept that Sam is being missed treated beyond what is expected as part and parcel of being a P.O.W. Why? Because Al has secrets he has never told anyone. Secrets he believes will not help Sam, the young man that Sam is there to help and will only harm his relationship with Sam.

Review:
This is one of those series that is like a one-two punch in the gut. It has the power to leave you reeling, leave you hurt, leave you angry, and make you want to fight back. Well, fight back in the sense that you just have to keep reading because there’s always darkness before the dawn, isn’t there?

Alia does a fantastic job of creating a sometimes choppy, sometimes confused, and always thriving piece of fiction about both Sam and Al’s life before, during, and after his years of leaping through time and other people’s lives, most especially Al’s. The horrors they face, together and apart, are heartbreaking and disturbing, and the road to recovery is a long one but, as with every leap, the rewards are always greater than the pain and they both prove this here. Though I freely admit that there are a few pacing issues what with the author changing from first person to third person narrative depending on the point-of-view, it still manages to be an intense read from beginning to end.

Dark Shadows Over Time Series