TURN ME ON, DEAD MAN

Chapter Five

After John led the others back from the tour, George Martin came back and the Beatles went back to work while the Doctor led Amy and Rory out in the hallway. The Doctor closed the door behind them and turned to Amy.

"I take it you were spending time with Paul while we were on the tour," the Doctor said softly.

Amy nodded.

"So, what happened?"Rory said.

"Yeah, did he say anything that might give us a clue about his death?" the Doctor added.

"Not really. We were just messing around and havin' a laugh. He's mainly tired and lonely, I think the fame is gettin' to him."

"I imagine so. It's rough for most bands but they're one of the greatest bands who ever lived," the Doctor said. "I think burnout was one of the factors in their breakup, that and I'm sure the three of them wanted to find a way to get out of their contracts and away from the fake Paul after he died."

"But why would they agree to that?" Rory said. "Why would they allow Paul to be replaced like that? Especially John. Paul was his best mate; I know I wouldn't want to work with some double after my mate died."

"That's what we're here to discover," the Doctor said. "I can tell you this much, I have a feeling that the other Beatles and any of Paul's friends and family were coerced into accepting this double into their midst."

"So someone killed Paul and threatened the others to accept him or they'd die as well?" Amy said.

"That's my thought. Seems like the best answer for why a band would accept some stranger who's passing himself off as your band mate," the Doctor said.

"So we just continue to hang out with them until the baddie pops up?" Amy said.

"Yeah, unless one of them has seen or heard something suspicious lately," the Doctor said. "The trick is asking without arousing their suspicions or panicking everyone. But..."

He shut up when he saw Mal heading their way. The three of them pressed themselves up against the wall when they noticed two men were following him. Both men were wearing grey business suits and had a haughty air about them. One of them was tall, lean with a chiseled jaw, hard cold sapphire blue eyes and short sandy blonde hair. The other was slightly shorter, skinny with an angular face and long chin with a dimple in it, short dark wavy hair and piercing brown eyes. Both men were glowering at Mal's back and they turned their angry gaze on the three of them as they walked past. Mal stopped them just outside the door to the studio and asked them to wait. He hurried inside and shut the door behind him. The two men turned and stared quietly at the Doctor, Amy and Rory. The Doctor gave them a cheerful smile.

"Hello," he said.

"You realize this is a place of business," the one with the blonde hair said to him coldly. "The Beatles are working."

"They also asked us to be here," the Doctor said just as coldly. "If you don't like it, take it up with them."

The blonde haired man glowered at him, the Doctor held his gaze without flinching and Amy wondered if it was going to degenerate into a fist fight between them. But blondie snorted and he and his friend turned their backs on them while they waited. The Doctor looked at Amy and Rory and spun his finger around his ear while they bit their lips and tried to keep from laughing. Two minutes later the door opened and the Beatles filed out before Mal invited the men inside. The Beatles backed away from the men and stood up against the wall with the others.

"Not again," George muttered as the door shut.

"Who are they?" Rory asked.

"Dunno," John said. "George, our producer, isn't sure. They look like they're from the record company but he goes up there from time to time and he said he's never seen them there before."

"They bother George all the time," Paul said. "Badger him with odd requests."

"Like what?" the Doctor asked.

Ringo snorted.

"They keep trying to persuade him to make us sing songs that they've written or someone's written," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Weird songs with far out lyrics," Paul added.

"Such as?" the Doctor said.

Paul scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"They showed George one. Something about monkey fingers and eyeballs and toe jam football or something like that."

The Doctor, Rory and Amy shared a look.

"Yeah," Ringo said. "And there was another one that had a lot of weird words and phrases in it and it was something about a walrus. Complete rubbish if you ask me."

"And they want you to sing these songs?" Rory said.

"Yeah," Paul said. "We told George we have enough songs of our own but they keep on coming back and having meetings like this where they try to get George to cave in. And it's always these two blokes, no one else. They give me the creeps."

"Do you know their names?" Amy asked.

"Not their first names," Paul said. "The blonde one is Mister Jones and the other one is Mister Brown. That's all we know."

"Generic sounding names," the Doctor said.

"Exactly. Something isn't right here," Paul said.

"They've never given George any sort of business card," John added. "He doesn't know their first names either and they won't say much about themselves, just come in and start badgering him about getting us to play their stupid songs. We've tried talking to them but they have about as much warmth as a rock in wintertime."

"They never smile either," George said. "They always look like they have a stick up their arse. We've tried to be polite and say hello but they'll either ignore us or tell us to piss off, depending on the sort of mood they're in."

"And they want you to record their songs while they treat you like dirt?" Amy said.

"Exactly," George said. "I'm not suggesting they treat us like Lord God Almighty but a little common courtesy would be nice."

"And George the producer just refuses them each time they come round?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, he's a close friend and we told him that we aren't interested in recording these daft songs of theirs so he's respecting our wishes, which is more than I can say for them," Paul said. "He gets an earful of their abuse but George stands his ground, he's more concerned about what we want to do rather than what they want."

The Doctor thought about that and suddenly got a sneaking suspicion about the men.

"Have they ever threatened to hurt you lot or George if you don't do what they say?" the Doctor asked.

The Beatles looked at each other.

"Um...not to our faces," Ringo said.

"And if they've threatened George, he's never said a thing about it," George said, shrugging.

"I wouldn't put it past em though," Paul said. "These men mean business, you can tell that much about em. George makes us leave whenever they come round and I'm glad to get the hell out of their way. I think George is also afraid they might do something to us and that's why he insists we leave."

"How long till they leave?" Rory asked.

"Depends," John said with a shrug. "Could be minutes or hours, lately it's been minutes since they know George is gonna say no. I think they love coming round and screaming at him. After that, I'm sure they go back to whatever rock they crawled out of."

Amy stared at the closed door, her heart tightening as she wondered if these were the men who would end up killing Paul. She didn't know if the Beatles were concerned for their lives but just from looking at them, she could imagine them doing something to Paul and threatening the others to comply...or else.

The door opened and the Beatles pressed up against the wall as Mister Jones and Mister Brown stomped out in a huff. The two men stopped in front of the band and the Doctor balled up his fist and tensed his muscles in case they tried anything.

"You lot are idiots," Brown snarled at them.

George Martin appeared at the door.

"Leave them alone!" he yelled. "Get outta here."

Brown smirked at him.

"You think you're gonna win? We will have our way, one way or another."

"I believe George just told you to leave," Paul said.

Brown and Jones looked at him and smirked.

"Oh look, Baby Face is trying to be a tough guy," Brown said. "How'd you like me to rearrange those baby features of yours?"

Amy stiffened when she saw Paul wasn't backing down and the look of anger in Brown's eyes at his defiance and refusal to be cowed by him. While they were staring each other down, John stepped up beside his best friend and glared at Brown.

"Get the fuck outta here now," he growled at Brown. "Before you're the one who gets the messed up face."

The other Beatles clustered around John and Paul giving Brown and Jones threatening looks. Brown scoffed at them.

"I'd watch it if I were you because very soon you're going to be working for our employer and you don't want to get on his bad side."

"And who exactly is your employer?" the Doctor asked.

Brown and Jones glanced at him, gave him a disdainful look and turned their attention back to the Beatles.

"We'll leave but just remember what we said. Enjoy your creative freedom while it lasts because it won't be long until you're taking orders from our employer," Brown said.

He looked at Paul.

"And I'd watch my tongue, Baby Face, because I can make the scars from your scooter accident look like nothing," he said with a sneer.

John balled up his fist but before he could do anything, the men turned. With one backward glance at the group who was glaring at them, they headed towards the front door and left the studio.

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