Comfortably Numb

Chapter Seven - Outside The Wall

Reverend Peters was sitting cross-legged on the ground, mopping his brow and feeling rather faint, when Ron, Reg, Phoebe, Yvonne, Michael and Gary appeared out of nowhere. Ron and Reg were holding a struggling character in peculiar clothes who was shouting, "You can't do this! Let me go!"

"What happened?" Peters spluttered. "Where did you go?"

"I don't think you'd believe us if we told you, Reverend," said Ron.

Yarn made a grab for Michael, to try and push him back through the time portal while holding on to him. "Oh no you don't," shouted Phoebe, moving between Yarn and her son, while Yvonne kneed Yarn in the groin. He collapsed onto the ground, his eyes filling with tears.

"So, now you know the truth about Gary," said Ron quietly to Reg.

"I'd already guessed it," replied Reg.

"What?"

"Since that bang on the head last night I've been able to piece things together. Lots of little details that suddenly made sense. How Gary seemed to know what was going to happen in the war. Some of the little gadgets he had - they weren't just Secret Service things, they were too advanced for that. The bottles of wine with dates in the future on them. He was no MI5 man, he didn't have the backbone. He's from the future, and so are you. And Yvonne." Ron stood with his mouth open, amazed. "How far in the future are you from, by the way? Not as far as our body-snatching friend here, I suppose?" He indicated Yarn, lying on the ground, whimpering.

"Oh no, only just over fifty years. We'll all be born about ten years from now," Ron added with a laugh.

"So, I suppose you're going to take Gary back with you to your marvellous future?" said Phoebe bitterly.

"No," said Yvonne.

"No?"

"He belongs with you now. I still love him, and I still want him back. But Ron never told me you'd had kids. They belong here with you, and he belongs with all of you." She turned to Gary. "At least we can say goodbye properly this time." She kissed him on the cheek. "And do pop into the 21st Century for a visit now and again? If you can."

"If I can," said Gary. He burst into tears and hugged Yvonne. "Oh Yvonne, I'm so sorry."

Yvonne smiled. "Don't worry Gary. If none of this had ever happened, if we'd just been a normal Nineties couple, we might not have stayed together forever. But we've had a real blast together. Brother and sister, that's what we should have been."

Phoebe went white. Donald had said something like that to her the last time she'd seen him.

Reg dragged Yarn to his feet. "Now, listen to me, sunshine. We can't take you to the police, as the crime you've committed hasn't taken place yet. But if you come anywhere near Gary and his family again, I might just get a teeny bit angry. Understand?"

Yarn nodded dumbly and ran off.

"Well, this is goodbye," said Ron. He shook Gary's hand, gave Phoebe a kiss on the cheek and Michael a hug. Yvonne kissed Gary, Phoebe and Michael.

"You never know, you might meet an elderly couple on the bus. Or a middle-aged man from New Zealand," said Gary.

"New Zealand? What about New Zealand?" asked Phoebe.

"I'll explain later," said Gary with a grin.

"Come on," Yvonne said to Ron, "let's get back to the future."

"Roads?" said Ron in a fake American accent. "Where we're going, we don't need roads."

"Yes we do, you great pillock," Yvonne retorted, and she and Ron went to find a taxi to take them to Duckett's Passage.

"Can you ever forgive me?" Gary said to Phoebe.

"Can I forgive you? For being a bigamist, and eleven years of lies, and all those secrets... Hmmm, maybe, one day. But I'm glad there are no more secrets now. I finally know you, Gary Sparrow." She kissed him.

THE END