Tomorrow Never Knows - Alternate Ending
Authors: lovely_rita_mm, jenny_wren28, & pennylane_fic
Starring: The Beatles and Maggie Sue
Rating: M for language, implied sex (though none of it is explicit) & implied drug use. Characters used in this story are either our creation, or are historically-based (ie, The Beatles).
Disclaimer: We don't own any of the Beatles, this obviously never happened, and is a complete work of fiction.
This story picks up the story at the end of Chapter 32, but goes in a totally different direction than we ultimately went. This is just an ALTERNATE ending. The real one is the first one. This was just an exercise in "what if".
Maggie Sue sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor, feeling sorry for herself, and attempting to drown her sorrows in alcohol. "It's just not right! I gave up everything to be with him! How could he leave me for that Japanese bint?" She took another swig. "What's she got that I don't have? I'm smart! I'm great in bed! I single-handedly turned Apple into a profitable business!" She took another swig, and choked as it burned down her throat. "And the worst part is SHE'S NOT EVEN PRETTY!"
A light rap at the door caught her attention and George walked in. He took one look at her, and rushed forward to cradle her in his arms. "Shhhh, Mags, it's okay, it'll be alright."
"No, it won't." Her nose started running and she rubbed it on her sleeve.
George pulled away and kissed her on her forehead. "Hey, whatever's wrong I'm sure we can fix it. Where's the confident future girl I know? The one who has the answer to everything? Who takes charge and faces conflict without hesitation?"
Maggie stopped crying. "What did you say?"
"I'm sure we can fix whatever's wrong…"
"No, after that."
"You take charge and face down conflict?"
Maggie capped the whiskey bottle, stood up, dusted off her bottom, and wiped her tears away.
"Thanks George. I needed that." Then she stepped swiftly out of the room leaving a very puzzled Beatle sitting on the floor of her living room, the bottle of whiskey beside him. He glanced it and then helped himself to a thoughtful mouthful.
The door to Paul's flat flung open and Maggie strode boldly inside, catching John and Yoko inflagranti. Unpreturbed, she simply crossed her arms across her chest, and stared with an eyebrow raised. Yoko just smiled languidly at her, but a look of panic spread across John's face.
"My, don't you look just like two virgins."
"Maggie, I…"
Maggie raised a hand cutting him off. "John, I just stopped by to say goodbye. Best of luck living past 1980." Then she looked pointedly at Yoko. "Especially with her in your life."
She tossed her ruby engagement ring on the floor and addressed Yoko. "That's for you, since it seems I won't be needing it any more."
Maggie spun on her heel and strode confidently out of the flat, leaving the door wide open behind her.
It wasn't until she reached her car that she began to shake all over, and felt the tears start to stream down her face again.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" Paul asked, the concern in his voice easy for her to hear even over the phone from an ocean away.
"Yes. Of the four of you, you're the only one who seemed to have any real business sense or care for what happened to Apple." She looked over at George, who was now sitting on her couch hugging the bottle of liquor, having abandoned the floor. He just shrugged, un-offended. It was the truth. In vino veritas.
"Alright," Paul conceded. "But only if you are sure. I mean really, REALLY sure."
"I am. I can't stay. I've left detailed instructions as to how Apple is to be run in my absence, and when I get there I'll meet you at the time I indicated on my letter."
"Okay. See you then." Paul paused, as if to weigh his words. "What should I tell Linda?"
"The truth."
"She won't believe me."
"She will. I know her. You have to be the one to save her, now. Don't forget."
"I won't. I'll miss you Maggie Sue."
"You wouldn't have said that a year ago," Maggie laughed. "Don't worry, we'll see each other again. Perhaps sooner for me than for you." Maggie rang off and turned to George.
"You ready to go, then?" he asked solemnly.
Maggie took a deep breath. "No. And yes." Tears pricked her eyes and she plastered a smile on her face. George leaned over and pulled her into a huge bear hug, and she started shaking again, fighting the sobs that threatened to take over.
"Shhhhh, Maggie Sue. It'll be okay. Eventually."
She took a deep breath. "I know."
Then releasing her gently, George took her hand, and led her out the door.
The world seemed to spin around her and strong hands caught her as she started to fall.
"Thank you."
"No problem, luv. Though you nearly gave me a heart attack popping out of thin air like that," a very familiar voice answered.
It worked! Maggie thought. But when am I?
Maggie opened her eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the harsh florescent lights overhead of the now familiar EMI hallway. Looking to her right she saw a familiar smile and mop of dark brown hair. Though his face was lined, he was still as good-looking as he ever was. He was to be the "cute one" forever it seemed.
"You took your dear sweet time getting here, you know." Paul's eyes looked relieved. "Still, I'm glad you're back. Mostly because Lin's been dying to see you for about the last forty years or so."
"What year is it?"
"2006. And if I remember correctly, only a few days after you left the last time."
"Oh." Maggie thought about this. That meant she still might have the NASA job she'd been hired for. The thought actually scared her – her post-graduate work in this time line was only completed a few weeks ago, while to her it had been years since she'd seriously studied astrophysics of any sort.
"Anyways luv, I've got your old office at Apple just as you left it, and the old president just retired, so she's all yours."
Maggie breathed a sigh of relief. At least she still had a job. She took Paul's proffered arm and they headed up to the roof, so Maggie could get some air.
Time travel always made her nauseous.
"I'm glad to hear that Linda is still alive, and that she believed you about me."
"Yes well, she'd actually always suspected you were a bit different." Then Paul paused and looked her in the eyes. "I never properly thanked you for saving her life. I can't imagine what my life would have been without her in it."
I can, Maggie thought gravely.
Maggie was afraid to ask about everyone else, but there was a reason she'd asked for Paul to meet her and not George. There were no guarantees that George would be…
"George?" she squeaked.
"Alive and well. Never got cancer. And was ready when that bloke tried to knife him."
Maggie let out a sigh of relief. They were on the EMI roof now, and the wind ruffled her hair softly.
"Ringo? Mo? Mal?"
"Ringo is doing well as always. Mo still passed on, but things between her and Ringo weren't bad in the end. Mal just retired." Paul said this last with a grin. "Per your orders, we made sure he had a good pension."
Maggie smiled, but it was hollow. She felt the bile rise up into her throat. This was the hardest part.
"And…"
"Ah yes, our favorite philanderer." Paul frowned. "He died in 1990. Car accident. He always was a terrible driver. Thankfully he'd divorced Yoko by then, so she has no control over his estate. Julian and Sean have been much easier to work with than I think she ever would have been."
Maggie's head was a swirl of thoughts and emotions and she nodded her head numbly.
He's dead.
She bent over and gave into her stomach's need to vomit, while Paul patted her on the back soothingly. "It'll be okay luv, it'll be okay. You just need time."
Maggie turned on the light switch in her old office and marveled. It looked exactly the same as it had when she'd left. It obviously wasn't un-touched since there was no dust; someone had been into clean, and a shiny new iMac sat on her desk, along with a modern-day phone.
She sat in her old wooden swivel chair and twirled around in it a few times. It was how her mind felt – dizzy.
She was certain she'd made the right decision, but that didn't make any of it hurt any less. The betrayal, his death, all of her friends older, much older now – and she was a mere twenty-seven. It was all so surreal and she wouldn't have believed it was real, except for all of the associated pain. That was real.
There was a light rap at the door, and a young man – apparently her secretary – walked in.
"Ma'am, this is for you."
He placed a heavy white envelope, starting to yellow with age, on her desk and walked away.
She picked it up with shaking fingers, knowing intuitively who it was from. She opened it up, and sure enough…
Miss Margaret, December 8, 1981
I won't ask you to forgive me, since there is no forgiveness for what I did. I've had several years to think about my behavior, and in hindsight, I find it appalling. I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry.
Hopefully you've noticed the date. I made it! Thanks completely to you. I owe you so much and can never ever repay you. But let me at least thank you for allowing me at least one more year of my life to spend with my sons.
I know you probably won't believe me, but I love you. Even after all this time, space, and distance, I love you. Please remember that.
And please do me one more favor… no matter what, do NOT come back to where/when you left. It's taken me the better part of twenty years to figure all this out. If you went back… well, let's just say that I don't think you'd like the person I became around Yoko. You were right about her. You were always right.
All you need is love,
Winston
Her tears dotted the surface of the paper, and she carefully folded it up and slipped it back in the envelope.
The party was in full swing. She'd been back for a few weeks, and had fallen into management of Apple as if she'd never left.
A hand slipped around her waist and a husky voice whispered in her ear. "Fancy a shag in the loo, luv?"
Maggie chuckled, rolled her eyes and slapped at Mick's hands. "I don't know - can you even get it up anymore?"
He had a playfully wounded expression on his face, and put his hand over his heart. "That hurt, Maggie! Really, you hurt my very soul!"
Maggie smiled at him. "I didn't think you had a soul. And don't you ever get tired of hitting on women?"
"Never!" Then his smile turned into a frown. "I thought I recognized you. But I thought to myself, that can't be Maggie. She should be as old as the rest of us, with her tits hanging down to her knees. But it's you. It's really you. How?"
Maggie smiled mischievously and crooked a finger. Mick leaned over obligingly and she whispered softly in his ear. "I'm a vampire…" she said and then let her teeth graze his neck gently as she stepped away.
His face was frozen in fear, and she waggled her fingers playfully at him as she went to the bar to get another drink. She wasn't worried. Mick was either too scared to say anything, or if he did, no one would believe him anyways. He'd done a lot of drugs over the years.
"Maggie? Do you remember me?" Maggie Sue turned to see Julian towering over her.
"John!" she gasped. But no. "Julian?" she said tentatively. "You've grown up. And I missed it. I'm so sorry." She paused. "You...you look so much like him."
Julian put an arm around her. "That's what they tell me. They say I sound like him too. But I'm trying to do my own thing and not let Dad's legacy weigh me down."
"Did Yoko .... keep you apart from him?"
"She tried her best, and sometimes she succeeded, but Dad was persistent about keeping in touch with me. It wasn't ideal, but I know he cared."
"And you and your mum – you're both taken care of?"
"Yes. Dad split things evenly between Sean and I."
"Good."
George and Olivia interrupted their conversation. She was happy to see her best friend settled with such a nice woman. She beamed at both of them and Olivia pulled her into hug. "It really has been amazing to finally meet you - if a bit surreal and odd. I'm not sure if I'd ever really believed George, even with his eerie knowledge about that intruder who tried to stab him!"
Maggie smiled. Of course George had told Olivia about his best friend. Maggie was glad that he did.
Olivia was about to say something else, when a young man, the spitting image of George in his twenties materialized at her shoulder.
"Mum, I'm heading out with Zak and James. I'll see you tomorrow."
George reached out and grabbed Dhani's arm. "Hang on, son. I've got somebody I'd like you to meet."
Dhani turned towards Maggie and their eyes locked. It was as if an electric bolt jumped between them. Maggie smiled shyly, as did Dhani. He extended his hand to shake hers, and when she took it, it was as if they were the only two people in the room.
"Pleased to meet you, Miss…"
"Susan, Margaret Susan. But you can call me Maggie Sue."
He raised an eyebrow playfully. "What kind of a name is Maggie Sue? It's rather boring isn't it? Not creative at all."
She grinned, and suddenly she knew that, just like Paul had said, in time, everything would be all right.
A/N:Thanks for reading! We have a couple of stories which we'll post every few weeks to keep you entertained while we work on the third book. We're working on writing it now, so it will be a little bit before it gets posted! If you follow us, you'll get notified when we start posting it! Also, like Yes It Is (7443398), Tomorrow Never Knows (8541872) is now available on Lulu dot com.
Also, if, for some reason the stories disappear from here, you can always find us on Livejournal at yesitis_fic dot livejournal dot com. We love comments, so please tell us what you think!