Break Me One More Time [McLennon]

in which we take a closer look at george

Two days earlier...

John and George had sat across from one another for a long time — a really long time — before the crying had stopped, but eventually the crying did stop, and it was replaced with silence. Heavy silence, yes, but it wasn't so bad that it hurt. It was bearable. So they sat, and they didn't say anything. Neither of them ever spoke up.

Someone came looking for them eventually. Whether they were an original Unknowable or an ex-Shadow, John certainly did not know, but neither did George. He didn't recognize this person. But then, of course, George was not quite so well-acquainted with these people as Paul was; most of his involvement with the Unknowables was done through Paul.

Whoever it was standing in the doorway didn't really matter. They said, "Mr. Lennon, I was sent to come and fetch you because Mr. McCartney is out of surgery. You're allowed to come and see him now. Mr. Harrison, you've been asked to a meeting with Darren and Marbella."

So George followed to the room where he was to meet with Marbella and Darren. George entered the room that was set aside as a conference room. Marbella and Darren were there, as promised, but Barney was there, too. "Hello," George said, taking a seat beside Barney, opposite Marbella and Darren. "What's this all about? John shouldn't be alone right now."

"John is with Paul," Marbella said. "He'll be fine."

"Paul isn't exactly in an position to be offering emotional support right about now," George huffed. "He's borderline comatose. I don't see what good that's going to do John."

"He'll be looked in on," Darren said. "I promise you don't need to worry about John, okay? He'll be well looked after. We need you to focus now, George."

"Okay..." George said slowly. "Focus on what exactly?"

"Stuart Sutcliffe," Marbella said.

George frowned. "Has something happened to him?"

"Not exactly," Marbella said. "We took him away as soon as you arrived here. You and John were both too busy fretting over Paul to notice."

"Well... yes," George said. "So, where is he?"

"He's all right," Darren said.

"He's being contained," Marbella said.

"He's unharmed," Barney chimed in to reassure George.

"This is a lot to take in," George sighed.

"We want you to come in and question him with us," Darren said.

"Question him?" George frowned. "Why? What's he done?" And then it dawned on him. "Wait, there was that mess a few years back, wasn't there? Paul thought that the Shadows brought him back, but you said you didn't."

"Yes," Darren said. "Start Sutcliffe was supposed to die, and something stopped that from happening, almost twenty years ago. We noticed it, but we assumed that it was the butterfly effect. Paul had already been here for a little while. We thought it a reasonable assumption. But when Paul brought it to our attention that Stuart had told him that the Shadows were the ones to bring him back, we suspected there might be more going on than we were previously aware of."

"Okay..." George said. "I'm confused. Where do I fit into all this?"

"Well," Darren said. "We've been in there all day, and Yoko's been in there with us. But he's scared. Understandably so."

"I think it's an act," Marbella said.

"You think everything's an act," Darren scoffed. "Anyway, as I was saying. He's scared. We think it would be helpful to bring in someone who he knows."