IT WAS 20,000 YEARS AGO TODAY

Chapter Fifty

Paul rose early and made himself breakfast. His dog, Martha, stood beside him in his kitchen while he fried some eggs and bacon. He looked down at her and smiled as he rubbed her head. The past six months had been Hell on Earth for him. Ever since the death of his three best friends, his life had taken a tailspin and the only solution was to hide away on his newly purchased farm in Scotland. Away from London and EMI Studios, away from every close friend and associate, anyone who reminded him of his life as a Beatle. The farm was still very rundown; it needed a lot of work. The house, barns, sheds, fences, chicken coop, it all needed repair but Paul was looking forward to that. He figured if he threw himself into renovating his farm, it would give him something to do besides think about what happened to him six months ago.

He froze when he heard someone knocking on his door. He turned and looked across the room at it.

"What the fuck?" he muttered as he put his spatula on the counter beside the stove. "This better not be a fucking fan wanting an autograph."

He walked over, opened the door and stared at the crowd of people in front of him. He did a quick onceover and saw only three teenagers in the group, the rest of them were in their twenties or older. He sighed angrily.

"Look, whoever you are, you're trespassing on my property and if you don't go back the way you came, I'm gonna ring the police!"

The Doctor stared at Paul and felt a twinge of sadness. The man before him was gaunt; pale with a beard that resembled the one Bill wore during the Let It Be sessions. His eyes had dark circles under him and he looked tired and haggard. It was a stark contrast to the Paul he had been traveling with for the past few weeks. Martha came up beside Paul as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Well, are you gonna leave voluntarily or am I gonna have to call the police?" he asked them.

"Just hear us out, Paul, we can help you," the Doctor said to him.

"Yeah? How? Can you give me back my murdered band mates?"

"Yes," the Doctor said.

Jeremy winced when Paul give him a murderous look and he figured his brother was seconds away from being knocked on his ass. He came up beside him and held up his hands.

"I know it sounds like we're having you on but…"

"Jane?"

Paul finally noticed Jane who was standing behind Rose and Amy. Jane quickly came up to the front while Jeremy and the Doctor parted so she could speak to him.

"Jane, what the hell's going on? Who are all these people? Is this some sort of joke?"

"No, Paul," she said, her eyes misting over at the condition he was in. "If you'll just hear us out, we can help you."

Paul gave everyone a dubious look but with a sigh he nodded and let them all inside. The interior was very rustic with minimal decoration on the walls. The wallpaper was white with flowers on it but it was peeling in some spots, showing the wooden wall underneath. The smell of the eggs and bacon permeated the air and a few stomachs growled while Paul went back to his food and turned his eggs and bacon.

"Okay, what do you have to tell me?" he said, glancing over his shoulder while he cooked.

Paul listened while Jane tried to explain but halfway through, he held up his hand just as he finished putting his food on the plate.

"Stop, Jane, this isn't funny," he said, whirling around. "If this is some sort of sick joke, I'm not amused! I don't find the whole I'm from another universe and we brought you alternate universe versions of your friends funny in the least. I think it's incredibly cruel and heartless. Now please leave and take your…showbusiness friends with you!"

"Paul, wait, hear me out," Jane said, rushing over to him. "We have proof. We have John, George and Ringo as well as the Paul from the other universe. It's no joke, I swear."

"So you hired lookalikes to impersonate them?"

"No!" Jane yelled.

Paul was taken aback and the Doctor sighed when he saw the pain in his eyes. He excused himself and hurried out the door. He went back to the TARDIS and opened the door. The Beatles were sitting on the steps in the console room chatting. They looked at the Doctor as he came inside and shut the door.

"Well?" Ringo said.

"It's not going good at the moment. The other Paul looks like he's been through Hell and he doesn't believe us. Jane's trying to explain everything and he thinks it's a sick joke and now he thinks you lot are most likely impersonators she hired."

"He hasn't stopped to think that Jane wouldn't be so cruel she'd do something like that?" Paul asked.

"Apparently not. I think grief has consumed him."

"I know just how he feels," John said.

"I don't know if this will work. We may have to go to another universe and try another Paul, but I'm going to show him you lot and see if he will believe before giving up, so be prepared for a very angry, distraught, gaunt, hirsute Paul."

He opened the door and nodded to them. The Beatles stood up, came down the steps and followed him out. They froze when they saw the rundown farm.

"Christ, he lives here? I wouldn't let a dog live here," John said as he noticed a broken down, rotting barn and the rundown farmhouse.

"Apparently, he got it for cheap as a fixer-upper," Ringo said as they followed the Doctor.

"Sod the fixer-upper," George said. "I'd dynamite the place and start over."

The Doctor stopped them behind a shed and told them to wait a moment before he continued on to the farmhouse. The Beatles winced when they heard Paul inside the farmhouse yelling at Jane to get out.

"I'm beginning to think we may have to go somewhere else," John said. "And quickly before Paulie really does grab a shotgun."

Paul peeked around the corner and saw the Doctor going inside the farmhouse, telling the other Paul to calm down while he shut the door. He sighed and turned back to his friends.

"I don't fancy meeting my other self if he's gonna rant and rave at us," Paul said to them.

"Yeah, well, wouldn't you do the same thing if you lost your three best friends and someone comes along and says he has three copies from another universe. It does sound bonkers, yeah?" John said.

They stiffened when they heard the door opening up.

"Alright, where are they then?" they heard Paul say.

Paul turned around and stood with the other Beatles. The Doctor was around the corner first and nodded at them a few seconds before the other Paul came around. He froze and stared at them in shock. Then Jane came up beside him while the others hung back. The alternate Paul stared at himself.

"How can this be?" the alternate Paul said, shaking his head. "This can't be real. It has to be makeup, four people wearing really good disguises. It has to be some sort of joke."

"It's not a joke, mate," Paul said to him. "You know Jane; would she ever do something like this as a joke?"

"No, she…wouldn't…but…it can't be…you can't be from another universe," alternate Paul said.

John smiled and walked up to him. Paul slowly raised his hand up and touched his face.

"Johnny?" he said, his eyes misting over.

"Paulie, it's true," John said. "The Doctor brought us here because in our universe our Paul was murdered. You lost your bandmates and we lost ours and the Doctor thought perhaps we could merge together and make ourselves whole again."

Alternate Paul was speechless.

"We're only trying to help you, Paul," Jane said, laying a hand on alternate Paul's arm. "They left their universe but I don't think we can find the one they came from and I don't think they wanna go back now anyway since they lost not only their Paul but their Brian as well. You need them and they need you so we decided to come here and give them a home."

"We can help heal each other, Paulie," John said to alternate Paul, "We would go with this Paul, but the Doctor saved him from death and he has his Beatles and it wouldn't be fair for us to ask him to go with us when his Beatles are still alive."

Alternate Paul gazed at his double.

"You were kidnapped as well?" he asked.

"I was, is that what happened to you?" Paul said.

"Yeah. Um…well, you probably know what happened," alternate Paul said to him.

"Actually, our stories might be different. Some of the universes are the same but some have differences and the way their Paul was killed is different from what happened to me. What happened to you?"

"Um…well, come back inside, I was having breakfast and perhaps I need to sit down," alternate Paul said.

He beckoned to everyone and they all followed him back inside. Paul sat down and Jane gave him his food and she finished making tea for him while everyone stood in the kitchen around the table. Paul smiled as his double's Martha came up to him and wagged his tail. He rubbed her head and back while she licked his arm. Jane finished the tea and poured him a cup. Paul smiled and thanked her and she kissed his cheek before she started making some more for everyone else.

"Well…" alternate Paul said with a sigh, "in your universe did they have the Illuminati."

Paul snorted and nodded.

"Um…you'll have to bear with me, this will be hard to talk about," alternate Paul said.

"Just take your time, Paul," the Doctor said gently.

"Well…it started out as just a few men coming to EMI studios demanding we do what they wanted and play songs they had written. Did that happen to you as well?"

"It did," Paul said while the Beatles nodded in agreement. "They badgered George Martin and he kept refusing to do what they wanted so eventually they tried to kill me and replace me with Bill here."

Alternate Paul looked at Bill when Paul pointed to him.

"Which also happened to us," John added. "Except our William was too far gone and he ended up being a dictatorial tyrant. Bill here was rescued in time so he's a decent bloke."

"Funny, they never mentioned an impersonator but then again, I was a hostage so I'm sure they only had me on a need to know basis."

"Did they try to run you off the road when you were driving?" Paul asked.

"Um…no, they came to my house and kidnapped me," alternate Paul said. "One of the reasons I came here…besides the need to get away from London and all the memories there. They came round one night after I got done at the studio. They waited till I was asleep, broke in and grabbed me. They made me get dressed at gunpoint, threw a hood over my head and drove me somewhere out of London. For about a fortnight or so, I'm not sure how long it was even now, they held me hostage in a windowless room while they threatened my band mates to comply with their demands or else I would die. They said nothing about bringing someone like Bill into the band although I s'pose that could have been part of it. I'm not sure exactly what all the demands were, just that they wanted the rest of the band and George Martin and Brian to do what they wanted…or else. For the time that I was there, I was beaten, fed very little, humiliated and kept awake until I literally passed out from lack of sleep."

He paused while Jane made tea for those who wanted it. He smiled when Jane kissed his cheek and squeezed his shoulder while passing him with a tea cup for Jack. When she was done, he accepted another cup of tea from her and then continued.

"Um…anyway, I was kept abreast of what was going on from my captors who supposedly had put a 10 million pound ransom on my head. They had spies at EMI, a couple of the techs there worked for them so they knew what was going on and they would taunt me saying, oh, they're still working with Scotland Yard on a rescue attempt because they won't pay the 10 million, apparently you're not worth it and other shite like that. They kept me updated every day and then one day, they didn't come in at all with any food, information or to change my chamber pot. Then the next day it was the same thing. I started to think that they were gonna let me starve to death. Then on the third day, the main bloke that was holding me captive came in, ordered me to stand up and tied my hands behind my back. They put the hood over my head and walked me through the building…"

He paused and swallowed hard. Jane, who had taken a seat next to him, put her hand on his shoulder when he saw tears coming down his cheeks. Everyone waited while he took a couple of sips of tea and got himself under control enough to continue.

"Sorry, um…what happened next is vividly etched in my mind and it will be till the day I die. Um…I found out that in those two days that no one came to see me that my mates had took it upon themselves to rescue me. Must have had someone at Scotland Yard who sussed out my location or something, I don't know, but somehow they found me and tried to find me inside the building and were captured. They basically beat and tortured them and when they pulled the hood off my head I was standing behind a one way mirror looking into a large room and at the back the three of them were tied to large posts with firewood around their feet and legs.

Everyone stared at him in silent horror while alternate Paul picked up his cup with a trembling hand and took another sip.

"As…as you can imagine, they…well, they made good use of the firewood and I was forced to watch and listen to their screams while it happened."

"Jesus," Rose muttered while everyone else was shocked into silence.

"They made me stay until the flames consumed them from head to toe. By that time, I was nearly insane with grief and rage. Then one of the bigger, burlier chaps hit me on the head and knocked me out. They must have kept me sedated after that because the next thing I knew I woke up in hospital. According to Brian, they phoned him and told him where I was and basically dumped my body out on a hill in the middle of the countryside. As for my mates, they put their remains in little shoeboxes and tied the shoeboxes neatly with string and put them beside me. They left a note saying that they had no more use for us since they were forced to destroy 3/4ths of the band and all of us were free to go about our lives. After that, they tried to make me go to therapy but I didn't want help, I just wanted to get away so I told Brian and George and Jane and all my friends goodbye and not to call me, I would call them and I took Martha and came here. That was six months ago and my life has been sheer hell since. I haven't had much contact with anyone and I saw that the press is speculating whether or not I've been murdered and frankly, I really don't care if people think me alive or dead. I feel dead inside anyway. I haven't been able to sleep much as you might have guessed. Nightmares and all and I have to take valium just to get through the night. When you first knocked, I figured you were fans trying to get my autograph. I know that our fans are probably concerned about me, but again, I don't care right now. I just want to be left alone."

"Then let me ask you this," the Doctor said to him. "Because this is entirely up to you. We came here to try to reunite you with your band mates since they need a Paul and you need them. But if you don't want to start the Beatles back up again, if you want to live here in peace, we'll go somewhere else and see if another Paul wants them."

"Jesus, Doctor, you make us sound like stray puppies," George said.

Alternate Paul burst out laughing at that which made everyone smile.

"Actually, that's exactly what it sounds like. You're a bunch of stray dogs in need of a home," he said. "Your Paul, he died in a car crash then?"

"Not exactly," John said. "He was in a car with Brian and they forced him off a road into a tree, Brian was killed instantly but our Paul was thrown from the car and injured. They took him to a shack in the woods and were gonna kill him. Our Paulie tried to make a break for it and they shot him in the shoulder and then shot him through the head. Then they went and got me and made me watch him die so I also had to go through the pain of watching a band mate die."

"Jesus," alternate Paul said. "So then how do you feel about this? Do you want to start over after losing your Paul?"

"At first I would have said no," John said. "But after traveling with Paul here and having adventures, I've basically been pulled out of the depression I was in and I wouldn't mind going back to being a band."

"Yeah, you haven't lived until you've been chased by a bunch of demonic looking aliens," Ringo said.

Paul noticed his counterpart's confusion.

"I take it you didn't see the Diablons then, just their lackeys."

"No, I didn't see any demonic looking aliens," he said to him.

"They may not have been in this reality, mind," Jeremy said. "The Illuminati could have just been evil men here."

"Demon aliens? Now I really am intrigued," alternate Paul said.

"So how 'bout it? Wanna give it a go?" John asked.

Alternate Paul thought about that.

"I don't know, if we start again, the Illuminati might come back for us a second time," he said.

Paul snorted.

"I'd count on that if I were you, mate," he said.

"Then what do we do? I don't wanna start up the Beatles again only to lose another set of friends or even my own life."

The Doctor began to pace back and forth, thinking about what to do for them.

"Hey, what about taking them back with us? Perhaps my Beatles will stay in the future and they can take our place if the Diablons have been defeated."

The Doctor stopped and smiled as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"That might work, actually," he said. "That way no one would be none the wiser that you lot have disappeared. I'll have to check the time lines but…now, if I did this, would you like your Jane to come with you? Because I believe that George Martin and Brian are still there, yeah?"

"As far as I know they are and Mike is there as well, he didn't want to go with us so you wouldn't have to bring your brother along. You could bring along your dad though since mine is in the future but see, if you lot went back to the '60's and make the switch with us, no one would know and you'd be safe since we got just done trying to get rid of the Diablons who were behind the Illuminati in my universe."

"This is daft but I'm actually wanting to do it," alternate Paul said. "It would be funny to make the switch and not have anyone know about it."

"And," Jack said, "since you quit being a Beatle here, your Brian and George Martin wouldn't wonder about you when you didn't show up for work."

"Yeah, but I should tell them something," alternate Paul said.

"Like what? That you went to another universe?" John said. "Just let them think that you swanned off somewhere and vanished. Leave a note here that says something like I'm sorry, I need to live a life away from the public eye and away from my old friends and family. I'll be safe so don't worry about me and leave it at that. They'll think you immigrated to Rio and lived out your life there incognito. We left all our friends and family behind when we followed this lot. You'll be in another universe keeping busy so you won't have time to worry about what happens here, just go get Jane and your dad and take them with you…and Martha, of course," he added, when Martha came up beside him.

Alternate Paul thought about it and then nodded.

"Alright, you lot talked me into it," he said while everyone cheered and Jane gave him a hug.

"Right, then you'll have to come with us because I need to go back to my universe for my ship to access the time line and check to see if the Diablon are still around in the twentieth century. And…if you'd like, while you're in there, I can put you into a deep sleep, Paul. A deep, dreamless restorative sleep. I can also remove the memory of watching your friends burn alive so even though you'd remember what happened, you wouldn't remember that specific memory and be tormented by it."

"You can do that?" alternate Paul said.

John chuckled and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Mate, you're gonna find out that this chap here is a miracle worker," he said.

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