IT WAS 20,000 YEARS AGO TODAY

Chapter Eleven

Everyone was silent as they ate their fish and chips and glanced at the other Bill. Bill had lit a cigarette and was taking a drag on it while he read the morning paper. He looked like he did on the Sergeant Pepper cover but instead of a military uniform; he was wearing black trousers, white shirt and a red and white sweater vest. He finished his cigarette as the waiter came over. To everyone's relief, it was a different waiter this time and he kowtowed and practically groveled over Bill while he gave him his order of a cup of coffee and a glass of wine. The waiter went away and Bill looked around before he pulled a small black box out of his pocket similar to the one Paul had. And just like that box, this one contained LSD tabs. They watched while he put one in his mouth and swallowed it before he lit up another cigarette. He took a drag on it and flicked some ash off into the ashtray before he resumed his perusal of the morning paper. While he read the paper, everyone stared at him. So far he hadn't spoken and his demeanor didn't give any clues whether he was currently Paul or Bill. Paul looked at the sweater vest with disgust and tapped Eleven on the arm.

"I wouldn't wear that ugly thing if you had me at gunpoint," he mouthed to him, pointing to the sweater vest.

Eleven held his laughter in while he pinched his nose and gagged silently. Paul nodded and rolled his eyes. He turned his eyes back to the other Bill as the waiter came up to his table and served him his coffee and wine. He frowned when Bill didn't even look up from his newspaper to acknowledge the man or thank him. The waiter seemed miffed at that but said nothing as he walked away. Bill barely noticed his presence as he turned the page and read an article. Paul tapped Eleven on the arm.

"That was rude. I would have never done that to the waiter," he mouthed to Eleven who nodded in agreement.

Eleven leaned in and Paul did the same.

"You're come from a working class environment so I believe you about acknowledging the waiter's presence," he whispered to him. "If this is Crowley's son, I believe he takes after him. Crowley was known for being arrogant and disdainful of people he felt were lower than him. Bill's probably been brought up the same way."

"And the bad part is he's doing everything in my name and doing things I'd never do like wear manky, grotty clothes I wouldn't be seen in broad daylight in."

Eleven chuckled softly and patted his shoulder before both of them leaned back up and finished eating. While they did that, Jane watched Bill's double while he turned the page of the newspaper and flicked more ash off his cigarette. He had heard the conversation between her husband and the Doctor and she had to agree with them. Just from observing this other Bill, she could tell the man oozed arrogance and she could tell he felt he had a sense of entitlement. It made her sick to her stomach that her husband's counterpart was murdered so a pompous, heartless man could take his place.

While he was reading the paper, a man walked over to him. He looked Mediterranean with olive skin and thick eyebrows that nearly formed a unibrow. The man had a dug face much like Bill's, thin lips, shoulder length black hair and a cold, calculating expression on his face. Bill looked up from his paper and smiled at the man, obviously recognizing him.

"Hello Andre," he said to him as he sat down.

"Good morning, Paul, enjoying your day?" Andre asked while everyone at the other table ate and watched them.

"Yes, I am for a change," Bill said airily, "I finally got a break from those idiotic band mates of mine. I tell ya, Andre, sometimes they just get on my last nerve."

"I understand," Andre said, taking a cigarette when Bill offered it to him. "Perhaps a trip to the zoo would cheer them up. Especially if they went and saw the…platypus."

Both Doctors raised their eyebrows when Bill stiffened at the mention of the world and suddenly began to go into what looked like a minor seizure. His eyes rolled up in his head. Ten felt someone tapping on his arm and he turned his head around.

"What's going on?" Amy mouthed as she pointed to Bill.

"Psychic driving," Ten mouthed back. "Platypus must have been the trigger word."

Bill's seizure stopped and instantly his whole demeanor changed. Instead of being arrogant and cocky, his shoulders were slightly hunched and he appeared submissive. Both Doctors narrowed his eyes when Andre chuckled at this and took a drag on his cigarette.

"Anything to report, William?" he asked him.

"Not much, master," William said in a voice that had none of the cockiness it had before. "We're supposed to play Wembley Stadium tonight."

"And are the others accepting you as one of their own?" Andre asked.

"George and Ringo are complying for the most part, although they remain cold and distant in private."

"But Lennon…"

"Lennon is hostile and he's still being belligerent."

"What about planting clues? Is he doing that?"

"I believe so, master. We're working on the songs to go along with the Magical Mystery Tour idea and I believe he's still embedding clues into the songs. I was listening to the title track and about 48 seconds in I heard a faint car crash embedded deep in the song."

Andre cursed

"What should I do, master?" William asked.

"Do nothing at present. Let the little shit think he's being clever and getting away with it. Later on, we'll insert conflicting clues so at least if this gets out to the public, no one will know what to believe," Andre replied. "His duplicate isn't quite ready yet so we'll have to tolerate him for now. Do what you can to accommodate him but at the same time let him know that this is now your band and the little git is just gonna have to accept it."

"He nearly punched me the other day," William said.

"What happened?" Andre said, narrowing his eyes.

"He was drunk and high on LSD, same stuff he's been using to drown his sorrows in since McCartney died. I tried to avoid him and frankly, Ringo and George were doing the same but when I was going out to my car outside EMI, he followed me, grabbed me and slammed me up against the door. Told me that I knew all along that McCartney was gonna die and it was my fault and he would have loved it if I'd been taken along with him back to Dartmoore Forest and stood there, forced to watch at gunpoint while McCartney bled to death. He told me if I'd seen the anguish McCartney was going through when he was bleeding from the bullet hole in his head and slowly dying in front of his eyes, I might have gained a heart or soul of some kind. I told him I didn't know what he was on about; that I was Paul and he nearly lost it. Mal had to come and pull him off me before he put his fist in my face."

"If that happens again, call me. We'll come round and sort him out and make sure that doesn't happen again," Andre said. "I don't like that he's still alive, every second he lives he jeopardizes our plans but as I said, we have no choice right now so we have to continue to threaten him if he keeps up his antagonistic behavior. Are you adjusting well?"

"Yes, I think I'm finally starting to master playing the bass left handed."

"Good. Good job. I'm proud of you and so's your uncle. He told me he sent you a couple of letters and a package so it should be here shortly. Keep an eye out for it."

William nodded and Andre crushed out his cigarette in the ashtray and blew the last of the smoke out his nose as he got up.

"I have to be going, but it was nice meeting with you again…Scarab."

Eleven sighed angrily when William went into a mini-convulsion again at the mention of the word. Andre chuckled to himself and waited while William changed back into the Paul persona. Once the seizure was done, William blinked and instantly his cocky demeanor was back as he coughed and straightened up in his chair.

"Leaving so soon?" he said with more confidence than he had as William.

"Yes, I have business to take care of; I'll talk to you later. Good luck at the concert tonight," Andre said.

William nodded and he picked up his newspaper again as Andre smirked and walked out of the room. Eleven looked at everyone.

"At least we know the key words now," he mouthed to everyone. "We need to get him alone and…"

"I gotta go pee," Tya suddenly said to Jane.

"Baby, in a minute, okay?" Jane said, trying to keep her quiet.

"Jane?"

Jane froze when she heard William's voice. She looked up and saw him staring at her in shock.

"When did you get here? I didn't see you come in," he said.

Jane glanced around but he didn't seem to see anyone else. Paul held his daughter and kissed her head, trying to keep her silent so he wouldn't become visible to William. William put the newspaper down on the table.

"You know, you can sit over here with me, I won't bite," he said with a bemused expression on his face.

Her stomach lurching, she got up and walked over while Eleven gave her a look of encouragement. While she was doing that, Paul slowly got up with Tya and mouthed to everyone that he was taking her to the lavatory and for a short walk. Everyone nodded and Paul shot his wife a loving look before he slowly exited the restaurant with Tya in his arms. Meanwhile, Jane walked over and sat down beside William so everyone would have a clear view of them. William reached into his pocket and pulled out the box of acid. He offered one to Jane and she shook her head and held her hand up. William shrugged and put them back in his pocket. Jane looked into his eyes and noticed that they were now slightly glazed and she knew the acid was kicking in. Looking at this man who took Paul's place, she felt only disgust. Unlike her Bill or her husband who were both warm and loving, this man was pompous and arrogant and seemed to think he owned the world. Looking at him, she could tell why the Beatles had broken up in her universe's original time line. William took a final drag of his cigarette and crushed it out.

"Thought you were rehearsing for a play," he said to her.

Jane wracked her brain trying to think what play it might be but since this was months after she started traveling with the Doctor, she had no clue. She decided to keep things as vague as possible.

"We stopped for lunch," she said. "I thought I'd come and see you during the break."

"Nice to know you paused long enough in your little career to remember you had a boyfriend."

"And what's that s'posed to mean?" Jane said angrily.

She gasped and Bill nearly rose from his seat when William seized her arm.

"It means you need to quit your career and marry me and give me a family!" he snarled at her. "I don't know if you know this but we Northern men want two things, a loving wife who caters to her husband and a family and so far I don't see you providing me with either."

Eleven watched the interaction, glad that Paul had left since he was pretty sure Paul would have been over the table and punching William in the face before he had a chance to stop him. Jane wrenched her arm away from him and William chuckled.

"You know I'm only havin' ya on, love," he said with mock affection, "but I do wish you'd spend more time with me. I get lonely without ya near, ya know. You need to come tonight and support me. I get to play Wembley Stadium, babe. Sold out crowd. All these years and the Beatles are still on top! Ain't it lovely?"

"Yeah, I s'pose it is," Jane said, wondering how her counterpart was reacting to all this.

She gasped when William seized her arm again.

"You know, you've been really moody for the last few months and I don't like it," he growled at her.

Jane wanted to scream out that she was more than likely moody because the love of her life was dead but she held her tongue and forced down her anger since the last thing she wanted was a black eye.

"I'm sorry, I've been a bit tense lately," she said as evenly as she could, "it's stressful going through rehearsals…"

She thought for a second and decided she would say what was on her mind.

"And frankly your drug use disturbs me," she added.

She wanted so much to wipe the smirk off William's arrogant, pompous face as he gazed at her in silent amusement. She glanced over at Bill who was watching his counterpart with barely contained anger and she said a silent prayer of thanks that the Doctor had gotten to him in time so he never ended up like the arrogant fool sitting beside her. He chuckled softly.

"Babe," he said in a condescending tone of voice that made Jane want to slap him that much more, "you're concerned about my drug use while Johnny is constantly pissed and stoned off his arse 24 hours a day? Have you seen the man? You have been in his house and seen the mortar and pestle in his bedroom, right? You do know what he uses that for, right?"

Jane wasn't sure if her John took drugs apart from the occasional joint. If he did, he was able to hide it pretty well since she never heard of him possessing a mortar and pestle in his house. William was looking at her, waiting for an answer so Jane decided to bullshit her way through it again.

"I suppose he does, but I don't have to date him, do I?" she said.

"I s'pose not, unless you are…"

Jane's mouth fell open.

"I think you know the answer to that one…Paul," she said, forcing herself to call this man by her husband's name.

"Do I?" William said. "I don't know what goes on during your day because you're not with me like you should be."

"I have a right to have a life of my own, thank you very much!" Jane shot back.

"No, you have a right to be with me, Paul McCartney, and keep me fucking company. That is your right!" he snarled after seizing her arm again.

Ten nearly rose up when they saw him squeezing her arm and hurting her. Eleven grabbed his arm and shook his head. Ten stayed in his seat and glowered at William while he released her arm and smirked. Then to Jane's horror, William spotted her wedding ring and she inwardly groaned while William blinked his LSD addled vision into focus and stared at it in disbelief.

"What is this?" he said, pointing to the ring. "I never gave that to you! Where did you get it?"

"I picked it up in Portobello Road."

Jane gasped when William lunged at her.

"Wrong, you little whore; this is an expensive wedding ring! Who gave it to you, who?"

In desperation and to protect her friends and family who were about to reveal themselves to save her, she decided to play her trump card.

"Platypus!" she yelled.

William slumped back in his seat, his eyes up in his head while he convulsed. She looked at Eleven and mouthed, "I'm sorry," to him. Eleven nodded and mouthed back, "We're here if you need us," to her. Jane nodded and turned her attention back to William who had finished with his seizures and was staring at her in shock.

"The reason I'm wearing this ring is because it was given to me by the man I truly love, the one you bastards murdered!" Jane said to William.

William chuckled at that and smirked.

"Your so-called true love isn't half the man I am," he said as he sat up straight in his chair.

He gave her a look of contempt and Jane noticed that he wasn't being submissive. She guessed that Andre had been a slave master and he had been taught to be submissive with him. She, however, was a different story but she wasn't about to be intimidated by him.

"What happened to him? What happened to Paul?" she demanded.

William giggled a high-pitched giggle, made a gun with his hand and pointed it above his right ear.

"Bang!" he said while Jane stared at him in silent shock. "Some friends of mine gave little Pauly a hole he couldn't fix and now the rain's getting in it along with the worms, the bugs, the maggots…"

He sniggered when he saw tears come to her eyes.

"What? He was a waste of space, a little goody two shoes scouse who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. I'm far better than he is. Face it, Janey, you traded up the moment Pauly snuffed it. If I were you, I'd just forget the little bastard and shag me. Don't worry, lamb, I'll give you a nice little comfort fuck to help you get over the ponce."

Jane couldn't stand it anymore, she lunged at him and smacked his face as hard as she could. She immediately knew she made a wrong move when she saw the drug crazed expression on his face.

"That's it, bitch, you're about to join your husband six feet under, Strawberry Fields forever, bitch!"

"No!"

Everyone looked over when they heard a yell and saw Paul running in, Tya in his arms. William reeled back and all the color drained out of his face. He let out a high-pitched scream as Jane ran to him and took Tya into her arms. Paul walked over to William who was trembling.

"No, it can't be, you're dead! You're fucking dead; they put a bullet through your fucking head! You can't be here!" he yelled, panicking.

Paul jerked his head around when he heard voices from the kitchen and saw the kitchen staff running out to see what the commotion was about. He took Jane by the arms and guided her and Tya away while the staff ran over to William who was ranting and raving about Paul being alive and haunting him.

"Mister McCartney, please calm down," his waiter said.

"What are you talking about? That's not Paul McCartney," the waiter who served Paul said. "I waited on Paul, he didn't have a mustache."

"PAUL IS THERE!" William said, frantically pointing Paul's way, "HE'S FUCKING THERE! HE'S BACK FROM THE DEAD! PROTECT ME BEFORE HE KILLS ME!"

"Someone call the hospital," the head waiter said to everyone. "The man needs medical attention."

"I DIDN'T DO IT! I WASN'T A PART OF IT!" William screamed at Paul. "I JUST TOOK YOUR PLACE! I DIDN'T SHOOT YOU! DON'T KILL ME!"

Eleven walked over to Paul's side.

"I think we better leave so they can get this situation under control. We can come back later and sort this out before the staff sees you. Besides, Tya and Nog need to calm down as well," he said softly while William continued to scream and rant and rave about Paul being alive.

Paul nodded. Eleven beckoned to everyone to follow him and Paul put his arm around Jane while she held Tya close.

"What's happening?" Tya asked as they headed towards the exit.

"Nothing, sweetie, it's nothing, just ignore it," Jane said to her as she held her close.

"Serves the bastard right," Bill said, shaking his head. "It was all I could do to stay in my seat."

"Why? What'd he do?" Paul said. "I came in just as he was threatening to kill Jane."

"Let's go back to the ship and tell Pepa we need to spend the night," Eleven said. "We'll tell you what happened on the way there and…"

They froze when they walked out of the restaurant and saw John Lennon heading towards them. They hoped that they stopped in time so he wouldn't see Paul but they could tell from his anguished look that it was too late.

"Paul?" John said with a trembling voice as Paul groaned silently.

Back                         Home                              Doctor Who Main Page                          Next

Your Name or Alias:      Your E-mail (optional):

Please type your review below. Only positive reviews and constructive criticism will be posted.