HELTER SKELTER

Chapter Four

By the time they got back to the studio, the photographers had finished with the set. The Beatles and William were now sitting on wooden crates in front of a bright yellow backdrop. William had changed his coat, switching his blue coat for one that was the same except for a black patch on his left arm that read O.P.P. They were sitting close together, leaning into each other while the photographers took several photos. John waved when they walked up to the photographers.

"We're finished with the funeral scene. Now we're shooting the photos for the inside of the album cover," he said. "Then we'll finish up with the back and we're finally done."

"Well, we need to go somewhere with William when you lot are finished," Paul said.

"Found out something?" John asked.

"Yes, something that might be big," Paul said, trying to be vague while he was standing near the photographer.

"Can you excuse us for a minute?" John asked the photographer.

He nodded and left them alone. When he was out of earshot, Paul explained what they found out. He also told them that the Doctor had made him and William honorary companions. John looked at the rest of his band mates.

"Here we go, there'll be no stoppin' him now," he said. "He'll be out chasing these bad guys instead of being concerned about the band."

"That's not true, John. I can do both," Paul said.

"Why don't you give it a rest, Paul? Let others fight the bad guys and concentrate on your bloody band!" John snarled. "You're not fucking Superman so quit acting like you are!"

Before anyone could say anything, John stomped away. Both George and Ringo fell into an uncomfortable silence while Paul stared at John with a mixture of shock and anger. Then suddenly Paul stomped off, muttering under his breath.

"Paul, wait!" Amy said, running after him. "Wait, please!"

Paul sighed angrily and turned. Amy ran up to him and put her hand on his arm.

"I suddenly have an idea about what will really break this band up," he said to her.

"No, just calm down, yeah?"

"Now you see why it's only me and William that have been keen to go after these people. John and the others think we're daft for doing this. They want us to just ignore them and they think if we do that, the Illuminati will just go away and leave us alone. Well, sorry, I nearly ended up dead because of them and William was imprisoned and tortured and brainwashed. Neither of us wants to take the chance of having them resurface and kidnap us again. Not to mention we're concerned about our friends, including the three gits I play music with."

"They don't understand," Amy said. "My parents thought I was daft when I finally told them I was going off with the Doctor. I'm sure everyone's who ever traveled with the Doctor has had family and friends who were against it."

"Well, you know, I can balance doing this and doing things with the band," Paul said. "It isn't like we have to worry about coming up with new songs now. We have the lyrics and we know what they sound like so all we have to do is go in the studio and record them and some days we take time out to take the photos for the album covers and we know what those look like as well. Not to mention the Doctor has a time machine, he could take me back to two seconds after I leave them, yeah? But the three of them have this mentality, out of sight, out of mind. They think if the Doctor defeated Satan, that was enough to keep them from bothering us again. But what if they want revenge on us and they're next? I've tried to explain that to them and they just ignore it. Now they're terrified I'm gonna break up the fucking band and cost them their livelihood. Well, apparently at one point, we do break up and go our separate ways and we seem to survive it and do well for ourselves so I can't understand why they're so bent outta shape about this. There comes a time when you have to think of someone other than yourself and use your talents and abilities to help mankind. I know John feels the same way but he wants to do it in a safe manner, you know, releasing the occasional protest song and letting others do the protesting while he sits on his ass in his country home and counts his money. Fuck em!"

William came up beside them and Amy smiled at him.

"Are they givin' ya a hard time as well?" she asked.

"Not really. I'm regarded as more of a charity case. Paul gets all the heat for doing this. Besides, I'm not really a part of the band. I just help out so it's not a big deal if I decide to go off and fight bad guys. They know what I've been through so they're extra nice to me but I think they talk about me behind my back and call me daft as well."

The Doctor and Rory came up beside him. The Doctor put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't feel bad, William. I get called daft all the time," he said to him.

"I'm sorry," Paul said to the Doctor. "Like I was telling Amy, now you see why the others aren't volunteering to go out and do this."

"Well, that's their decision. They're their own men and you are as well. Some people don't like it when their friends suddenly decide to serve a bigger cause other than themselves. Sometimes the reason is it makes them look bad for sitting back and doing nothing, sometimes they have trouble understanding why they're doing it."

"Or as I was telling Amy, sometimes they're worried they're going to lose their livelihood and the money that comes with it," Paul said.

"Yes, and that. If this is something that you really want to do and you know in your heart it's what you're meant to do, sometimes you have to ignore everyone else and carry on by yourself," the Doctor said. "Perhaps in time, if they see that you can handle this and your music career, they'll be more accepting."

"S'pose so, but for the moment I'm going to take your advice and just ignore them. At least William and I give a damn about the Illuminati coming back and harming us again."

He looked over the Doctor's shoulder and noticed everyone was gone.

"They leave?" he asked them.

"Yeah, they said you were done with the photo shoot and they were leaving. If that's the case, we can go ahead and get in the TARDIS. I don't want it here when they lock the building."

"I need to take this makeup and costume off and then I'll be ready," William said. "So I'll go ahead and do that now."

He hurried off towards the wardrobe room.

"I was thinking," the Doctor said, "that if we do this. We should wait until dark. That way we can use the darkness and the shadows to our advantage in case there are guards."

"Fine with me. We can go to my house in the meantime. I need to take a shower and I'm sure William needs one as well. I need to ring Jane and let her know what's going on."

"Don't you live with her?" Rory asked.

"Not anymore. I found a house that was close to EMI house so I didn't have as far to walk. And I did it for her safety. If someone's coming back for me, I want them to come after me and not hurt her or her mum and dad. William's rooming with me. It's a nice little house but as soon as we moved in, we installed security features. It's surrounded by an iron gate and the house has an alarm system in it and…"

He grinned.

"We have my dog, Martha. You didn't get to see her the last time because my dad took her. He used to look after her when I had to work long hours so she wouldn't get bored and lonely and start wrecking the house and shitting everywhere. But after what happened, I told him that I would rather have her with me so she can help guard the house. But…she's very lovable and she won't eat you if you come in the house with me."

"Martha? As in Martha, My Dear?" the Doctor said with a grin.

Paul smiled.

"Yeah, I liked that song. I'm glad I wrote something that was about her. She's a great dog. I've had her for years now and she's like a shaggy little human. Anyway, just letting you know so you won't come through the door and scream when this bloody great sheepdog pounces on ya."

A half hour later, William was out of his makeup and was in his street clothes again. Instead of combing his hair to the side, he had trimmed it and had fringe. He had also shaved the mustache he used to have. Amy thought he looked quite handsome, much better than he did before. They checked to make sure everyone was out and inquired about Keith Moon. They were told he had already left the building to go eat and they thanked the staff for their time and bid them goodbye. After Paul gave them the address to his new house, he and William headed for his car while the others went to the TARDIS.

By the time they landed across the street from the house, Paul was waiting behind the locked gate. He waved and pushed a button, opening the gate for them.

"William's having a shower so I thought I'd wait and let you in," he said as they walked across the street.

They walked through the gate and looked around. The house was a small wooden house, painted a pale blue with black shutters beside the windows. The porch was concrete with two wooden posts that supported the roof. There was a garage beside the house and flower beds in front of the house on either side of the walkway and steps that led up to the porch. The gate closed behind them and Paul put his hands in his pockets as he led them to the front door. He opened it and gasped when Martha pounced on him, nearly knocking him down.

"Oi! Down, girl!" he said as Martha bounced up and down with joy. "Gotta get her trained when I get the time. Problem is, I never have the time. Anyway, this is the famous Martha you've heard so much about."

The three of them bent over and petted her black and white shaggy fur while Martha licked at their hands and faces. Paul closed the door and Martha followed at his side as he led them through the entryway into the living room. When they reached the living room, they looked around while Paul told them he'd go make tea and left them. They heard the shower running in the distance while they took everything in. There was a brown leather couch with matching chairs on either side of it and a wooden coffee table in front of it. A large color TV was across the room and over the TV were framed movie posters of A Hard Day's Night and Help! Over the couch were three framed gold records for Please, Please me, Rubber Soul and Revolver. On the right side of the room was a trophy case with several medals and awards displayed in it along with some Beatles memorabilia. Amy wandered over to it and looked in.

"Hey, Paul!" she yelled as she looked through the glass.

"Yeah?" he called out.

"Is this your MBE in this trophy case?" Amy yelled as the Doctor and Rory came over to take a look.

"Yeah, it's one of the things in there!" he called back.

They continued to peruse the contents of the trophy case as Paul came in with the tea tray.

"Do you have an MBE, Pond?" he said teasingly.

"No, I don't!"

"Well," Paul said, feigning arrogance as he set the tray on the coffee table. "I s'pose not all of us are important enough to meet the Queen."

"I've met another Queen of England, only this England was floatin' on the back of a space whale. So there, McCartney!" Amy said while the Doctor and Rory giggled.

"Did you get an award from this queen?" Paul asked her.

"No."

"Then you're a loser. I got an award, so there."

"Oh piss off, Paul," Amy said while they laughed.

"Space whale?" Paul said as he took his cup of tea from the tray. "Sounds intriguing."

"It was. Last of its kind and it was carrying a microcosm of England on its back," the Doctor said.

"And it could survive, floating in space?" Paul asked.

"Yes. It didn't need external oxygen sources. It made its own," the Doctor said.

"Wow! I learn more and more about the universe each time I see you lot," Paul said. "But…this is what I like to call the Paul McCartney's a Vain Git living room. I have more in another room but to be honest, I really didn't have much in the way of pictures or art for the walls and I figured I'd put a few things from my collection up just for show. Same with the trophy case. I needed a place to keep my medals and awards safe but I'm not over there constantly polishing them and gloating about how much of a superstar I am. Accolades are nice but to me the music counts more."

"I agree," the Doctor said. "The music will be around long after those trophies are rusted and dusty. That's your real legacy, not that stuff in the display case."

"Although…" Amy said. "I like the Paul plushie. It's cute."

"Do you have a Pond plushie?" Paul said while they snickered.

"No, I don't."

"Too bad. I like the fact that someone's made a miniature me. Makes me feel like a god," Paul said with a pompous sniff.

He winked when they laughed.

"If you want to see more, I can show you the Paul is a God room," he said with a mischievous smile. "Actually, take your tea and come along. I'll give you a quick tour."

He led them through the house, pointing out photos that were on the wall. There were photos of him and his family. Amy stared at one of him as a young boy with his brother, father and mother and felt a twinge when she remembered Paul saying his mother died when he was fourteen. She smiled at the woman who was wearing a white dress and sitting with her two boys while Paul's father stood beside her with his hand on her shoulder.

"She looks just like you," Amy said to Paul when she pointed at her.

Paul looked and a wistful smile spread over his face.

"Thanks. I wish she was here so you could meet her in person. I'll have to take you to meet my dad and Mike someday."

He continued his tour. On some walls were some photos of him and the other Beatles clowning around and acting silly. He paused at one and pointed to it.

"This is when we were in Hamburg when Stu and Pete Best were with us," he said as the others looked at it. "This is one that Astrid took of us, it's back when we had our Teddy boy look before she helped us develop our mop top hairdos."

The five boys were grouped around each other. Everyone was dressed in leather and had their hair swept up in pompadours. Stu stood in the background, wearing dark sunglasses and looking James Deanish while the others were posed closer together.

"All of you look so young here," Amy said, pointing.

"Well, this was back when I was 18," Paul said. "George and I were just kids, really. He had to lie about his age in order to stay with us in Hamburg and they deported him when they found out. They had rules about underage musicians playing in the clubs. He's only 8 months behind me but I was 18 and he was 17 so we left with him rather than carry on without him. We still think of him as the baby of the group although like I said, I'm as much a baby as he is."

He continued the tour. While he did, they heard the shower shut off. They were passing by the bathroom and Paul giggled when he suddenly pounded his fist on the door.

"AND THIS IS OUR LAVATORY!" he screamed, continuing to pound the door while the others laughed hysterically. "I WOULD TAKE YOU INSIDE AND SHOW IT OFF BUT IT'S BEING OCCUPIED AT THE MOMENT!"

"PISS OFF, PAUL!" William screamed which made them laugh harder.

"Sorry, William," Paul said as they snickered. "Anyway, follow me."

He led them to a room filled with more Beatles memorabilia. There were posters on the wall advertising various places they played including one for The Cavern and Shea Stadium. There were a few more gold albums on the wall and several cases and shelves filled with books, awards, toys and other things from Paul's career. They looked around it for several minutes and then Paul led them into the kitchen. He headed back to the stairs after he showed it to them and noticed the lavatory was empty. He turned on the light and gestured to the steamy interior before he shut off the light and headed upstairs.

On the second floor were his and William's bedrooms. He showed them his bedroom and the moment they entered, Martha leapt off the bed where she'd been laying and ran to them.

"And this is my magical living dustmop," Paul said while they laughed and petted her. "She was havin' a kip until we interrupted her. But this is my sanctum sanctorum."

Paul had a wooden king sized bed with a blue eiderdown on the bed. Beside the bed was a nighttable that had another framed photo of him and his family and scattered around the room were more photos of him and his family and the Beatles in casual poses. They walked out with Martha following and went to William's room. The door was open and William was sitting on the bed, dressed, while he put some black socks on his feet. He smiled at them when they entered and gave Martha a pat on the head when she went up to him and stood nearby, panting while she accepted his affection. They looked around and saw several framed photos on the wall of William, his sister, mother and father.

"You have a beautiful family," the Doctor said to William when they looked at the photos.

"Thanks. I did say I wasn't going to get in touch with them but I decided to anyway and they were happy to see me. I told them I wanted to come back to London though and that was alright with them as long as I ring them from time to time. But they're all still in Scotland. I'm nearly dressed so whenever you lot are ready to go…"

"We're gonna wait a bit till it gets darker," Paul said. "I made some tea and I'll see about some sandwiches so we're not going to this place on an empty stomach. Take your time."

William nodded. He finished with his socks, slipped his feet into some house slippers and he and Martha followed them when they left the room.

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