HELTER SKELTER

Chapter Seven

The Doctor relaxed in his console room while he thought over what they had discovered and pondered their next room. While he was doing that, he glanced over and smiled when he saw his companions coming through the back door.

"Doctor, you have to put a restraint on Amy," Rory said as he climbed up to him.

"Why, what's she gone and done now?"

"I haven't done anything!" Amy protested.

"She introduced Paul and William to the wonders of You Tube," Rory said, gesturing to the two men who were sniggering and elbowing each other.

"Look, Paul was looking through his playlist on his IPod and for some reason known only to herself, your ship put Lady Gaga's Bad Romance on there and I started laughing when I saw it. So Paul was curious and played the song and ended up likin' it so he asked about her and when I was tellin' them about her, I mentioned music videos and they were curious about that so the only place I knew where you could get the music video on demand was You Tube. Then once I got done explaining the concept of You Tube they wanted to see more so I showed them a couple of things."

"The music videos were interesting," Paul said. "We did something similar when we did promotional films for Rain and Paperback Writer and I know a few bands who did the same thing but I never realized the whole thing would go mainstream in future. And…Lady Gaga…"

He and William snickered.

"It's also interesting that porn went mainstream too because that bird had barely any kit on," he said as everyone laughed.

"Actually, Paul thought what Lady Gaga wore was what everyone wore until I said no, that's just her," Amy said.

"And so this is how you've spent the past couple of hours, watching Lady Gaga," the Doctor said.

"Well…that and we watched footage of some groundhog that gives you the evil eye when the camera zooms in and the music goes DUN DUN!"

They laughed when the Doctor groaned and put his head in his hands.

"One of the greatest musicians in the universe and you got him hooked on videos about groundhogs with evil eyes," he said to Amy while everyone laughed hysterically.

"I saw that once and thought it was hilarious so when he asked for more things to see, I showed it to him."

"I also asked about myself and she showed me a couple of interesting videos that apparently were made by girls who were lusting after me and had to put a bunch of clips to music to illustrate that to everyone," Paul said while William laughed. "I especially loved the artistic uses of photos of me in me swim trunks. That added to the whole I'm in love with Paul theme of the piece. Not to mention the use of the song, I'm bringing sexy back. That also added to it," he said with a grin.

"Okay, so are you through with showing Paul and William the entire future before it's time?" the Doctor asked Amy.

"Um…for now. I plan to show them more," she said.

"I have no doubt of that," he said dryly while everyone laughed. "But, I think the next part of our plan should involve trying to find someone who works at the warehouse and bring him here for interrogation. If Ian is a part of their plans, he might know or at least know the location of the underground island. But…at the same time, perhaps we should split up. Some of us go back to Devon's flat with the pretense of giving everyone information but at the same time observe Ian and chat with him and see if he does anything that'll give himself away."

"I can do that," Paul said. "They'll probably be expecting me anyway."

"I'll go with him," William said.

"Good idea. I want you to go in pairs for your own safety. And…wait a tic, be right back!"

He hurried out of the room. While he was gone, Rory looked at Paul and William.

"So…now they know about Lady Gaga, eh?" he said to Amy while Paul and William grinned and nudged each other.

"Yes, blame the TARDIS for that one. She's the one who uploaded the song onto Paul's IPod," Amy said, pointing to the ceiling.

"Also, she put a couple of rap songs on there," Paul said to them. "Those are interesting as well. Sorta like poems with a beat to them."

"Oh no, now Paul will be rapping on the Beatles albums," Rory said while they laughed.

"Hey, why not, I might also get Jane to appear in her knickers in more of our promotional…I mean…music videos," Paul said. "Gotta be a trendsetter at all times, you know."

They sniggered when Rory shook his head and glanced at Amy who grinned and shrugged. They all looked over when the Doctor came back into the room with Martha close behind him holding something in his closed hand. He climbed up to them and opened his hand. They saw five items that resembled loose ear buds.

"These are listening devices that will allow us to hear and also communicate with one another if need be," the Doctor explained. "We wear them in our inner ear and we'll hear everything that's going on. Paul and William will hear us and we'll hear them and if we need to speak, we just have to say something and everyone can hear and communicate back. This is also for safety's sake as well as allowing us to share information as it happens. I want to know what Ian says and I want to be sure we hear everything that he has to say if he says anything. Paul, if you or William need help, shout for it and the rest of us will come straight away. The last thing we want is for the two of you to end up their slaves again."

He passed the ear buds out and helped Paul and William with theirs while Amy and Rory put theirs in. They then tested them by having Amy and Rory go outside the TARDIS and communicate with them. They tried a conversation between the two groups and satisfied that the ear buds worked, they let Paul, William and Martha go outside. The Doctor leaned out when they were outside the door.

"I have a park room here in the TARDIS and I put Martha in there so she could go do her business. So she should be fine for the moment."

"Thanks. We'll take our car and go to Devon's flat. Good luck," Paul said.

"You too. Remember, be discrete when you want to say something to us, unless it's an emergency and you're in danger then call out so we'll know to come."

Paul and William nodded. The Doctor smiled, gave them the thumbs up and went back inside. They stepped back and watched the TARDIS dematerialize.

"Come on, love," Paul said to Martha. "You gotta go inside the house so me and William can pay a little visit to Ian."

After they put Martha inside the house and used the lavatory, they drove over to Devon's flat. While they drove, they heard the others talking in their left ears. They could tell from the conversation that they were waiting and watching near the warehouse.

"Have you found anything yet?" Paul said aloud while he drove.

"No, not yet. There's still no activity around the warehouse," the Doctor said to him. "What about you lot?"

"We're still on the road," Paul replied.

"Don't crash!"

"Piss off, Pond!" Paul said while everyone laughed. "No, we're nearly there though. Who knows what'll be waiting for us there."

"Just be careful and be on your guard and don't worry, we'll hear everything you hear so we'll monitor for any hints of danger."

"Yeah, like the sounds of tearing and twisting metal and Paul screaming get me out."

"If you don't shut up, Amy, I'm gonna turn the car around, drive over there and drive around behind you until you're the one under my car! I thought Mike was a pest but there's no contest when it comes to comparing him and you. You're the bratty sister I never wanted."

"Hey, you're the one that offered to adopt me so it's your fault," Amy replied.

"And that's a lesson for you in future, Paul," the Doctor said. "Be careful if you accept Amy into your life because she's a holy terror."

"Yes, I'm slowly learning that," Paul said while Amy laughed. "Anyway, we're here now, I'm pulling into the car park."

"Be careful, Bro," Amy said. "Both of you."

"You too," Paul said as he turned off the engine.

He looked at William.

"Well, mate, ready for this?"

"Ready when you are," William said.

Paul nodded. They opened their doors and got out.

Meanwhile, the TARDIS was in the corner of the car park and the Doctor, Amy and Rory were next door in a small park, sitting on a wooden bench while they watched the warehouse. The Doctor checked his watch and noticed it was nearly 11 a.m.

"I have a thought," Rory said while he slouched and folded his arms across his chest. "What if they were using this place and the moment Ian escaped, they cleared out as fast as they could go and went somewhere else?"

"Then why leave behind a crate of blasters?" the Doctor said. "I don't think that's it. My guess is someone is notified if there's a shipment coming and they come then and stay long enough to get it since this looks like it was abandoned to begin with. But my thought is we stay another hour or two and if no one comes, we take the TARDIS back to Paul's house and wait for them."

Paul and William were listening to that while they rode the lift up to the fourth floor.

"We're nearly to the flat now," Paul said aloud.

"Be careful," the Doctor said.

"We will," Paul said as the lift door opened.

He and William stepped outside and froze when they saw Carol standing with her door open, her face anguished while she spoke with police. Carol gasped when she saw them.

"Oh thank God, there they are," she said as she ran past the officer towards them.

"What? What's wrong?" Paul said as he heard Rory mutter, "Ought-oh," in his ear.

"You don't know?" Carol said in disbelief as the policeman came up behind her.

"Know what?"

"Paul, where have you been all night? We were worried sick about you. Someone went round to your house but you and William and Martha weren't there and we thought you'd been taken along with the others."

Paul's blood turned to ice and he could hear silence on the other end of the communicator. He swallowed hard.

"Who's been taken?" he said, dreading the answer.

"John, George, Ringo and Roger. They went out to eat after coming over here to find out where you'd gone and when they came out of the restaurant, several people jumped out of a lorry and made them get into it at gunpoint. Then they drove off. We couldn't find you and we assumed you and William was taken as well."

Paul's throat felt dry and William's face turned ashen.

"Where were you last night, Mister McCartney?" the officer said to him.

"I…uh…I mean we stayed with friends at a house outside London," he said, hoping that sounded convincing.

The officer pulled out a small notebook and pen and began writing.

"And no one contacted you last night regarding the kidnapping of your friends?" the officer said.

"You had the phone off the hook because there was a party going on," the Doctor said in his ear.

"We had the phone off the hook. We were having a party," Paul repeated to the officer. "We didn't want to be disturbed while it was going on."

Paul sighed when the officer narrowed his eyes at that and he guessed what he was thinking.

"We weren't doing or taking or smoking anything illegal," he said impatiently. "Can we just focus on my friends' abduction and keep me out of this?"

"Do you know anyone who might have a reason to abduct them?" the officer asked.

Paul glanced over and noticed both Devon and Ian were at the door, listening. He forced himself to stay calm and fight the urge to go over to Ian and do his own little interrogation. He turned his attention back to the officer.

"Yeah, there are a lot of people who would be barmy enough to abduct one of us," Paul said. "Nutty fans for starters, not to mention all the people that hate us since John made the we're bigger than Jesus comment."

He noticed the officer let out a quiet snort of contempt at that and fought the urge to throttle him.

"Do you know anyone personally who would want to abduct them?"

"Oh yeah, he knows an entire group of people," he heard Amy say.

"Not really," Paul said, hoping he was making the right decision.

He noticed Ian's shock at that but said nothing and kept his attention focused on the officer. The officer looked at William.

"And who is this?" he said.

"I'm William Campbell. I'm Paul's personal assistant and friend," he said. "We share a house together."

"And were you at this party last night?"

"Yes, I was. And I can vouch for Paul, he's telling the truth. We had no idea what was happening to our friends until now."

Paul noticed Ian opening his mouth like he was about to say something but he quickly closed it when he locked eyes with Paul which fueled Paul's desire to get him alone so he could find out what he knew. He knew if the Illuminati hurt or killed his friends, Ian was the first one he was coming after. He answered a few more questions about his whereabouts, hoping his answers were enough to satisfy the officer. When he was finished, he thanked Paul.

"Wait," Paul said. "There's no ransom note, no demands of any sort?"

"Not so far, Mister McCartney," the officer said. "But if someone does ring you with a ransom demand, notify us immediately and that goes for you as well," he added, looking at William.

They nodded and watched while the officer thanked everyone and walked past them. Paul watched him go and then felt someone grab his arm. He looked at Ian who was giving him a confused look.

"It was them. Why didn't you tell them about the Illuminati?" Ian said to him.

"Because we have no proof right now," Paul said, forcing himself to be polite, "as dangerous as they are, I want to be sure it's them before we involve the police."

"What about you and William? What will you do now?" Carol asked as Devon came up beside her.

"I have friends that will protect us," Paul said to her. "William and I will stay with them."

"You mean the lot that were here yesterday?" Devon said.

Paul hesitated a moment and then decided that even if they knew he was staying with the Doctor, they would never know where to look.

"Yes. They have a safe place for us to stay."

"And for Jane," the Doctor said in his ear. "and her family. We'll have to tell her parents about us but I'd rather they found out and be safe than be a target."

"I'm going to take Janie and her family with us, just in case. As for you lot, I suggest you find a safe place as well, especially you, Ian," Paul said. "If we're a target, you are as well."

Ian nodded. Paul studied his face but couldn't see anything that betrayed his allegiance. Knowing that time was of the essence and they were now targets, he brought the conversation to a conclusion and gave Devon the phone number of his mobile, telling him it was a private landline number they could use to reach him if they had any information. After that and accepting hugs from Carol, they promised them that he and William would keep themselves safe and they both hurried back to the lift while the Doctor told them that he, Amy and Rory would meet them back at the house.

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