HELTER SKELTER
Chapter Thirteen After finishing with Paul and William, he called everyone into the console room. He stood Paul and William by the console while everyone else stood around it. "Right. Here's what we're going to do," the Doctor said. "What the TARDIS did with Robert's body, he's going to do with Paul and William, that is, she's going to put a force field over them because I'm going to amplify the other end so the entire conversation will be heard throughout the room, however the force field will be soundproofed so we can speak and they won't hear us while Paul and William talk to them. So go ahead when you're ready, Paul." The Doctor stepped back and asked the TARDIS to put the force field up while Paul pulled the letter out of his pocket and punched in the number on the keypad the Doctor showed him. He waited while everyone heard the phone ringing. Four rings in, someone answered it. "Hello?" said a deep voice. "This is Paul McCartney," Paul said. "Ah, Mr. McCartney. Have you and your double decided to surrender?" "My double's name is William and yes, we surrender," Paul said. "Are you alone?" "Yes, we're alone, who is this?" Paul asked. "This is Altok, My dear Mr. McCartney. I'm the one that sent you the letter. I didn't deliver it in person, however. Your dear friend, Ian, did." Paul's eyes flashed anger at that and he held off saying something angry back to him. "Well, now we know why Martha went berserk when she saw him," the Doctor said to everyone while they stood and listened. "Here is what I need you to do. I want you and William to wait outside the gates of your house and we will be by to pick you up. And I want you to be alone, no tricks or your friends die." "How do I know you haven't killed them already?" Paul said. There was no answer. "Hello?" Paul said. "I said, how do I know you haven't killed them already? I want proof that they're alive before…" "Paul?' Everyone froze when they heard John Lennon's strained voice echoing above them. Paul swallowed hard. "John?" he forced himself to say, "you alright, mate?" "Seen better days," John said weakly. "All I can say is I believe ya about the Illuminati coming back. I'm sorry, Paulie. I'm sorry we got caught and they're forcing you and William to come back." "Are you hurt? Did they torture you?" Paul said urgently. There was no answer. "John? What did they do to you and the others?" "I believe that's enough proof," Altok said calmly. "You bastard, if you've hurt them…" "What? You have no power, Mr. McCartney. You have no authority. All your fame and riches mean nothing to us. We can kill you and your friends and do it slowly and painfully. You and that double of yours are helpless so go on and threaten me some more. It'll only make it worse for your associates. Now, we showed you proof your friends are alive, what about your double, is he there?" "Wait a tic." He handed the phone to William. "Yes, I'm here," William said to him. "Excellent. And do you agree to surrender yourself along with Mr. McCartney?" "I will if you agree to set the others free." "I shall repeat what I just said to Mr. McCartney. You have no bargaining power, no authority and you are even less in control than Mr. McCartney is. So I will repeat the question, do you surrender?" "Yes," William said through gritted teeth. "Excellent. Put Mr. McCartney back on the phone then, there's a good lad." William swore a silent curse at them while he handed the phone back to Paul. "I'm here," Paul said. "We will pick you up in two hours time at 2 a.m. Be on time or your friends will die. You will see a black lorry, that will be us." "Good, we can sneak in the back with them then," Amy said. "I'm warning you, Mr. McCartney. If you try to trick us, you, your double and your friends will all die slowly and horribly and then once we're done with you, we'll go on and do the same to your friends and family. So consider this a friendly warning, yes?" "Yeah," Paul said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. "Excellent. 2 a.m. Don't be late." There was a click and a dial tone before Paul hung up the phone. The TARDIS took down the force field while everyone climbed the steps up to them. Paul hugged Jane and Amy and Margaret hugged William. Paul, William, come with me. I have another thing I can do for you before you're taken," the Doctor said to them. Everyone followed the Doctor while he led them back to the med bay. Jane held Paul's hand and he smiled, loving the feel of her hand in his own. They entered the med bay and the Doctor stopped them while he went over to a drawer on the far side of the room. He opened it and looked through a few things before he pulled out a couple of tiny white patches that were about the same size as the communicators. He walked over to them. "These patches dull pain. These are extra strength so they'll be able to nearly numb your bodies. However you'll still be able to function. I'm doing in case they should resort to torture or beatings." Paul squeezed Jane's hand when he heard her groan softly. The Doctor told Paul and William to lift up their tongues and he put the patch on the underside near the back. Once he was through, he told them to follow him to the laboratory. Once there, he got some of the regular communicators and passed them out, instructing them to put them in their ear. Amy and Rory helped the Ashers get theirs in properly before they put theirs in. The Doctor put his in his ear and then told them he needed them to follow him one last time. He led them to a room filled with antique items. The items were arranged on wooden shelves that wound around the room. There were three different rows of them and the Doctor scratched his chin while he walked slowly, trying to find something. The others looked at the other objects with interest, noticing some were from Earth and some looked like they were from other planets. "Aha! Found it!" They looked at the Doctor as he grabbed a tiny black box off the shelf. He brought it over to Paul and gave it to him. "I have a funny feeling the engagement is very sudden," he said. "And you don't have a ring to give your fiancée." "No, I don't," Paul said. "Well, now you do," he said, pointing to the box. Paul's eyes widened and he smiled. Without opening it, he turned and presented it to Jane as everyone gathered around. Jane took it and opened the box while Paul leaned in. She gasped when she saw a gold ring that had delicate etchings of ivy all around it. In the center of it was a tiny pale pink heart shaped stone. Her breath caught in her throat as Paul took the box, took it out and slipped it on her finger. "Good," the Doctor said when it fit her finger perfectly. "That is amarailis, the lover's gem. It's from Andromeda." "Are you kidding me? This is from another planet?" Jane said to him. "Not kidding at all. It's from Andromeda and it's a very precious, rare gem. I figured you were worth more than a lousy diamond." Jane laughed and hugged him. "Thank you," Paul said. "Not at all. Now you don't have to worry about giving her an engagement ring. This old thing was just collecting dust and I suddenly had a thought that perhaps it could be useful at last. I'm glad it fits. I wanted to make sure I gave it to you before all the chaos started." "Thank you, Doctor," Margaret said. The Doctor smiled. "You're very welcome. My only request is me and Amy and Rory get to attend the wedding. And…there will be a wedding," he said, giving Paul a pointed look. "I told Paul that I love to dance at weddings, I'm a very good dancer." "HA!" Rory bent over laughing when the Doctor eyed Amy. "Don't listen, folks! This is his idea of dancin'!" Rory laughed harder when she imitated his wavy arm dance move. Everyone laughed when the Doctor grabbed her arms, slammed them down at her sides and put a hand over her mouth. "Right, shall we go back to the console room now?" he asked while everyone laughed. Once they were in the console room, Jane hugged Paul tightly as he and William were preparing to go. "Love, let me go with them. I helped the last time," she said. "No, I want you to stay here. Your mum and dad need you right now. I'll be alright, I promise." Jane hugged him tightly and buried her face in his navy blue t-shirt, inhaling his scent so she'd remember it. She kissed his lips and he nuzzled her cheek before they broke apart. The others took turns hugging him and William, wishing them good luck and telling them they loved them. Then when everyone had finished hugging and kissing them and Paul and William finished saying goodbye to Martha. They headed out the door with the Doctor, Rory and Amy. The Doctor, Amy and Rory put their perception filters on while they walked with Paul and William back to their house.
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