Break Me One More Time [McLennon]

in which we are introduced to barney

     It took all of Paul's self control for him not to bolt out the door and run as fast as his legs would carry him to the car when John pulled into the driveway. He forced himself to slow down. He calmly pulled on his jacket and walked out the door, containing his excitement as he walked to the car.

      He slid into the passenger's seat. "Hey," he greeted.

      "Hello," John said. He was looking at Paul somewhat curiously. He was obviously still puzzled by Paul's sudden outburst earlier that day. "Ready for a big night of fun?!"

     "As I'll ever be," Paul laughed. "Come on, then! Let's go!"

     John put the car into drive and Paul found that he wasn't quite as horrendous at driving as Paul had remembered. When they pulled up and parked at The Cavern Club, John turned the car off and they got out of car.

       "This is weird," John said. "Coming here to hang out and not to perform."

      "No kidding," Paul laughed.

      They walked into the club, side by side, and found two empty seats at the bar. They ordered their drinks and turned around on their stools to watch the stage as a small group of young men walked up onto the stage. After quickly evaluating them and deciding that they were no good after the first song, they turned back to the bar.

      "Pete had better be feeling better by tomorrow," John sighed. "Because I don't know who the hell we could ask to drum with us on such short notice."

     "We could call Ringo," Paul suggested with a smile. "Maybe he can get to Liverpool by nighttime."

     "Ringo!" John said. "Now there's a name I haven't heard in a little while. Have you been in touch with him?"

     "No," Paul shrugged.

     "Do you even have his phone number?" John said.

     "No, but I'm sure we can look him up in a phone book somewhere," Paul said. "Or maybe George has got his number. Let's just wait and see how Pete feels in the morning and then we'll worry about calling him, yeah?"

     "Alright," John nodded and took a long sip of his beer. "We should write a bit soon. Maybe a new song or two? We could start performing some more original stuff when we perform here. It would be something different."

      "Good idea, Johnny," Paul smiled and John smiled back. Paul thought that John's eyes may have lingered on Paul's face for just a little too long, but he quickly shook the thought from his head — he was sure it was nothing, just a figment of his imagination. "Why don't we get together on Saturday and write some songs?"

      "Perfect," John nodded.

~~~

      2:30am found Paul sitting on a park bench waiting for the mysterious man called Barney who left a note on Paul's bed...somehow. He was still seven minutes early and he'd already been there for nearly a half hour.

     Paul hoped to God he was at the right park. Whoever had left that letter obviously knew about him, enough to sneak into his home somehow, so Paul thought that the park that this Barney guy had chosen just had to be this one. This park held so many great memories for Paul. Writing with John, cloud gazing with George, building snowmen with Mike in the winter when they were young.

     Paul was lost so deeply in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the man that was now sitting beside him. That is, until the man cleared his throat loudly and Paul jumped in surprise.

      "Hey, Paul!" The man grinned, flashing a set of perfect white teeth. His hair was platinum blonde and his long, slender body was dressed in a very nice, extremely expensive looking suit. "How's it hanging?"

     "Who are you?" Paul narrowed his eyes at the man, spotting as far away from him as he could get on the bench.

      "Barney," the man said and Paul noticed that he spoke with an American accent. "Duh. I did put my name on the letter I left you, you know."

     "Yeah, but, who are you?" Paul said. "And how do you know how I got here?"

      "That's simple," Barney laughed. "I brought you here! I thought that was kind of obvious but I guess not."

     "What do you mean you brought me here?" Paul frowned. "How is that even possible?"

     "I have magic," Barney grinned proudly.

     "No, seriously," Paul deadpanned.

     "Seriously!" Barney exclaimed. "Watch this," he held his hand out and there, in his palm, a plate of ribs appeared. "You hungry? Here, have some. Would you like some bleu cheese dressing on the side? Maybe some ranch?" Two small cups of dressing appeared on the edge of the plate beside the ribs.

      Paul sat there, mouth agape.

     "So, not hungry, then?" Barney said and shrugged. "More for me," a napkin appeared in his hand and he tucked it into the collar of his shirt. "So," Barney said through a bite of the ribs. "I'm sure you're wondering why I've brought you back here."

     "Uh, yeah," Paul said. "Kind of."

     "Well, you see, Paul," Barney said. "You've made some decisions in your life and while at the time they seemed like perfectly good decisions, they were not. And in the long run they will have catastrophic consequences."

      Paul crossed his arms. "Oh, yeah? Like what?"

     "Like in the year 2076, aliens will come to the earth in search of music," Barney said. "They will decide that they like the sound of Beatles music but they will be angry, you see, because you only ever made thirteen albums while you were together. That starts a war that wipes out a fourth of the world's population."

      "You're making that up." Paul scowled at Barney.

      "Okay, fine, maybe I am," Barney sighed. "I can't tell you what the consequences area, but I can tell you this; you didn't make the right decisions. You didn't see things that need to be seen." Barney took another bite of his ribs. "Are you sure you don't want some of these? They're delicious."

     "I'm sure." Paul rolled his eyes. "What things do I need to see?"

     "Never mind that," Barney said. "I'll make sure you see them when the time is right. For now, just spend some time with your friends and wait until I contact you again. Oh, and for God's sake, would you keep John Lennon alive this time around?"

      "Excuse me?" Paul said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

     "It means that the world needs John Lennon alive," Barney said. "So keep him alive. This time around, you're going to save John."

      "Seriously?" Paul grinned. "Wait, that won't cause a paradox or something?"

     "God, no," Barney said. "It's going to save so many people!"

     "You're not screwing with me, are you?" Paul frowned.

      "No!" Barney said. "Just do me a favor and pay really close attention everything around you, alright?"

      "Alright," Paul said and smiled.

      "Well, see you," Barney said, and with that he disappeared into thin air.

      Paul didn't even sit there and wonder at what had just happened. He stood and made for home with a huge grin on his face. He was going to save John Lennon!