YES IT IS

Authors: pennylane_fic, jenny_wren28 & lovelyrita_mm

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.

Chapter Seven

Everyone headed over to Paul's house after the Beatles had muddled through the recording session, none of them really getting much done that day. When they had finished up their last attempt at Taxman, Paul offered that they all just stop at his house for dinner, as it was the closest to the studio. They all suspected that it was an offer given simply because he wanted to keep an eye on Maggie and John. It seemed that with her presence thrown back into the mix, the old jealousy came flaring up all over again.

"I have something for you guys." Maggie said as they entered the front foyer of Paul's house. She dug through her bag as they settled into the living room. Her hands wrapped around her iPod and she smiled broadly, bringing it out to show the four of them. There was silence as they looked at it in confusion, each and every one of them glancing at one another, almost as if they were afraid to touch it.

"Alright, I'll take the plunge," Ringo said. "What is it?"

"It's an iPod."

"Is that some form of alien life?" John asked craning his neck over her shoulder to look at it closely. Maggie pressed a few buttons, her fingers running over its surface and John laughed in astonishment. "Look, it's a miniature picture of us!" he exclaimed, squinting at the picture. He rummaged through a pocket and pulled out his glasses to have a better look.

The other three scrambled over, looking down on the screen to see the cover of Hard Days Night looking back up at them. Paul frowned, bringing his nose closer to try and get a better look at it, while George only raised a brow. Ringo, on the other hand, backed away quickly.

Maggie laughed at Ringo's trepidation. "It's not going to take your soul and it's not an alien life form. It plays music. Listen." Clicking the play button, the opening chord to 'A Hard Day's Night' came through the little mini headphones, causing all of them to jump back. "See?"

"It has horrible sound quality," Paul frowned, sitting back on his haunches.

"That's because you don't have those things in," John said, and on cue, took up one of the earpieces and placed it in his ear, grinning slightly.

"It sounds different. It's really clear. Amazing!"

Maggie smiled, forgetting how all of their music had been re-mastered over the years. "It's meant to be portable," she explained as they all marveled over the thing. "You can take it with you wherever you go and listen to any of the songs you want. It's not like the record player where you have to be at home to listen to it. And, you don't have to get up and move the needle every time you want to skip a song. You just press this button and…" She pressed down on the tiny button, changing the song in the blink of an eye. "Viola!"

Paul grinned greedily, "I want one!" Maggie, hoping that it would maybe be a bit of an icebreaker, handed it over to Paul, watching as he tried to figure it out. He smiled in glee as the songs changed.

"If you want to get to another album, just go to the menu."

"Wait," John said, looking at her hopefully. "Do you have all of our albums on here?"

Maggie smiled innocently, "That would be cheating, so no."

"That's a shame, because I say we get ahead of the game and start listening to what our future selves created," Ringo said, getting up from his position on the floor and going straight for the liquor cabinet. Maggie flashed him a stern look almost the second his fingers touched the bottle. Ringo laughed a little, giving her a slightly guilty look. "I've cut back. I swear it. Ask any of them."

"He really has," George said. "You've put the fear in all of us. I've stopped smoking, er, well, mostly, anyway. Ringo's drinking less, and Paul's already made Jane go and get checked out for breast cancer. We're all taking precautions."

Maggie smiled, settling down on one of the sofas. "And it's paid off."

George looked at her. "You're serious?" Maggie nodded a bright smile on her face. Even Paul looked happy that disaster had been averted. Maggie was tempted to tell him that Jane wasn't the one he had saved, but didn't know if she should let on to the future any more than she already had. Besides, he would figure it out in time.

"I'm serious," Maggie smiled. As John fidgeted by her side though, it caused her smile to slip. She looked him uncomfortably.

"You haven't said anything about me," he said quietly. "Come on, Miss Margaret. Tell us the good news there." He tried to keep his voice light, but everyone could hear the fear hidden just beneath the surface.

The room grew silent and cold as the weight of death sat heavy on everyone's shoulders. George and Ringo both settled down in chairs across from John and Maggie, while Paul set down the iPod and sat on the piano bench in the corner of the room. All stared at Maggie expectantly as she focused uncomfortably on her hands.

Swallowing thickly, Maggie took a deep breath. "It's why I had to come back. When I got back to my time, I looked you all up, and I was so happy that you were all fine, but then…John…as soon as I learned…" she shook her head and tried again. "You tried, John. You did what I told you, you went to the police but they didn't believe you." Biting her lip slightly, Maggie cleared her throat, trying her hardest not to let the tears pricking her eyes fall. "You went home and tried to fight him yourself but he still…" She swiped her hand across her cheek, feeling the wetness beneath her fingers.

"What about the bullet proof vest?" George asked her anxiously, knowing that John wasn't going to say it any time soon.

"His wife talked him out of it," Maggie said bitterly.

Gritting her teeth, Maggie felt the lump rise even further in her throat, pushing its way upwards and threatening to burst forth violently. Warm arms wrapped around her, pulling her into a tightly held hug as John rested his chin on her shoulder. Her body shook with chills as she let herself go, resting her head against his chest. How strange that he should be comforting her, when he was the one that was going to die. Violently. Horribly. Tragically. Maggie closed her eyes against the thought.

"They can't do that," George muttered. "Why wouldn't they believe him?"

"When do they ever listen to us?" Ringo countered. "We're too counter-culture for them."

"When someone comes and says that they expect that they're in danger, you bloody well would think that they would at least take that seriously," George said, on the verge of yelling.

Maggie felt her stomach roll as she listened to both George and Ringo make plans on how they would stop all this in the future. Despite their adamant declarations now, Maggie couldn't help but feel like it was too no avail. Yoko would just talk John out of it again. Cinching her eyes shut, she leaned harder into John, trying to block out the rest of the world and only take comfort in his warmth.

As George and Ringo devised a plan to hire plainclothes bodyguards to take John's killer down on that fateful day, vowing that they themselves would force John to wear his bulletproof vest, Paul sat in the corner with a bland look on his face. It was as if they were talking about what they would be doing tomorrow instead of the impending death of his best friend. With his arms crossed, he only stared coldly at the entwined figures of Maggie and John.

Calming down slightly, taking comfort in John's arms locked firmly around her, Maggie pulled away, little bits and pieces of information nagging at the back of her head. Suddenly recalling the failed attempt at George's life, she turned to him. "George, I just remembered. Someone is going to try to stab you-" But before she could get into the details Paul snorted in disgust.

Quirking an eyebrow towards his friend, John looked at Paul. "Got something to say, Macca?"

Paul stayed silent for a moment, weighting his options here and wondering if it was better to keep his mouth shut or not. But this had gone on long enough. While he had no doubt in his mind that Maggie was from the future, as crazy as that was, he couldn't help but sit here and wonder why she was doing all this. The well-known fact that fans would do just about anything to get on their good side kept playing throughout his mind. How did they know that she wasn't just telling them this stuff to keep them close? Nothing surprised him anymore when it came to fans. Even time-travel.

"Yeah, I do," Paul finally said, looking at John with an amused expression on his face. "This all seems a little too convenient for my taste. That's all." Looking at Maggie out of the corner of his eye, trying to gauge any reaction of guilt or being caught red handed that she might have, Paul continued. "I mean, seriously, John. Don't you find this all just a little ridiculous? Honestly, how much bad luck can happen to one group of people? Stabbings? Assassinations? Cancer? What's next, aliens abducting us?" Paul laughed derisively, shaking his head and knowing he had the room's full attention. Getting up from his seat he looked at them all. "You lads can go ahead and believe the shite that she's spoon feeding you. I'll be in the kitchen." And with that he brushed by both George and Ringo, stalking haughtily out of the room.

The room remained silent as they all looked after Paul, who banged around in his kitchen, probably both for the sake of something to do and to assert that even though he was out of sight, that he was still there.

No one was willing to speak at the moment; George and Ringo were starting to feel more than a little foolish from Paul's chiding them. After all, Paul was right; it was a lot of bad luck. But they still couldn't shake off the "what if's." Turning away with hurt-filled eyes, they looked towards Maggie, willing her to confirm that this was all real once more, to tell them that Paul was wrong.

Dully Maggie remembered that not only was George attacked in his home by a knife-wielding crazy person, but that Mal, their roadie, had come to a bad end as well. Not to mention Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager. His death was a few short years away. Then there was Maureen. It was all too much. Maybe Paul was right and this band did have a huge cloud of bad luck following it around.

While she had come here with good intentions, it was only now that she realized just how big of a mistake she had made. She had been foolish. She couldn't change the past and she had no right to meddle in it either. Who was she to decide who lived and who died? Besides, she hadn't even paused to consider what the ripple effects of changing the past might be. And yet, it was hard to resist trying to save Mal while she was here, since she seemed to have saved George and Linda. And John? What of John? She hadn't saved John at all. Sadly she realized that maybe she wasn't meant to. Maybe he was supposed to die, and no amount of mucking with the time stream would change that end result.

Swallowing thickly, Maggie extricated herself from John's arms and moved to retrieve her iPod, shoving it into her bag quickly as she ran her fingers through her long hair. George and Ringo were still looking at her expectantly. "Never mind," she told them, "It was a mistake to come here," she said softly as she made her way out of the living room, heading towards the door. John was by her side before she could protest though, grabbing a hold of her wrist and stopping her retreat.

"Don't be daft," he said, trying to keep his voice light while keeping the desperation he felt at the thought of her leaving at bay. He had just gotten her back. He couldn't bear the thought of her leaving him yet again and so soon. "Look, Paul just has his knickers in a twist. Don't listen to him. I don't…" He paused, amending himself quickly. "We don't want you to leave. Stay for just a little while longer."

From the corner of the room, both Ringo and George agreed, voicing a chorus of approval at the thought of her staying. "Besides," George called out, "you still haven't told me the details about me getting stabbed. You can't just leave a bloke wondering if some nutter's going to try to knife him!"

That brought a slow smile to Maggie's face, and looking back and forth between all of them, she swallowed. It was late. Even if she went back to the studio tonight, she doubted she'd be able to get in. Nodding a little, Maggie looked up at John.

"Only for tonight," she said quietly. John grinned, happy that she would be here for just a little while longer. If he could make her stay tonight, then he had more time to work her into staying longer. Letting her bag slip form her shoulder, Maggie suddenly felt the weariness creep over her. "Does Paul still have that flat? Do you think…" Maggie asked quietly, not sure if she should be asking such favors of the man who obviously loathed and mistrusted her.

"Of course," John said, giving her a little squeeze. "Let me get my keys, and we can go." As he left the room, Maggie slumped down onto the sofa and closed her eyes. She didn't care about food anymore; all she wanted right now was sleep and a warm bed.

From across the room, George and Ringo exchanged knowing looks.

* * *

A/N:

Hmmmmm....I wonder why George and Ringo have exchanged knowing looks? ;) Find out why in the next installment of the story.

This is a complete story, so you won't be left hanging! We are planning on post approximately 2 chapters a week.

Also, we'd love to know what you think so far, so please drop us a line. :)