Break Me One More Time [McLennon]

in which paul is having a bad couple of months

   When Barney finally showed up, it was nearly Christmas. "Hi, Paul," he said nervously.

     "Hello, Barney," Paul sighed. "Listen, I'm willing to listen to what you have to say about this whole thing. I've had a long time to think so, you know, maybe I can come around to the idea... If they've really agreed to let John live and they want to help take down the F.H.O. then, I mean...that's a pretty good deal."

     "Yeah," Barney said slowly. "Listen."

     Paul frowned. "Oh, God. What happened?"

     "Well, many of the Shadows joined the Unknowables," Barney began to explain. "For a while we believed that the Shadows had, by all technicalities, been wiped out. They'd all become Unknowables. But then...a lot of Marbella's people rebelled, turned against her. They ran away, went into hiding, and we did the same. The Shadows are still a serious threat, though they have less than half the members they once did. All the same, there are still Shadows out there who need to be turned to our side, or wiped out."

     "This really is war, isn't it?" Paul said. "Everything was beginning to die down. It was all sneaking around, stealing information and what not. But this really is war. People are going to die."

     Barney nodded slowly. "There's more," he said.

    Paul frowned. "Do I want to know?"

     "No, but you have to," Barney sighed. "The people who turned against Marbella and refused to turn to the side of the Unknowables did so because..." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Because they think John should die in 1980."

     Paul swallowed hard. "Oh," he said, and he just stood there silently for a long while, his mind reeling, before he finally spoke. "Should he?"

     "What?" Barney asked, confused.

     "Should he die?" Paul asked.

     Barney frowned and he raised his eyebrows. "Paul..what the hell are you talking about? You're here to save John, you want to save John. How could you think for even a moment that maybe he should die?"

     "The prophecies were all fake," Paul frowned. "Does that mean that John's not meant to live? That he just died and he was just meant to die? Am I going to rip the universe apart because I can't bare to lose him?"

      "I...I don't know, Paul," Barney shook his head. "We can't be sure about anything anymore. Everything's gotten so messed up. But right now, as far as we know, saving John's life isn't going to tear a hole in the space-time continuum and until we are told otherwise...let's do it. Let's save John Winston Lennon."

     Paul nodded and he pulled Barney into a tight hug. "Thank you."

~~~

     Barney's words didn't really comfort Paul, though, and as 1966 turned into 1967 Paul was becoming more and more worried with each passing day.

     The Fall of the Beatles, as Paul was now labeling the band's breakup in his head, was just a couple years away. On top of that, he couldn't stop thinking about John's death -- was it going to cause a major paradox if he stopped John from dying?

     Early in February, not long before the band was going into the studio to record Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Brian came round to tell them that they'd be attending a very nice, very classy sit down dinner party.

      'Brian,' Paul thought. 'He dies this year.. What do I do?'

    He pushed that thought to the back his mind for the time being, though. He'd have to cross that bridge when he came to it.