Jess and Renee had set out in the direction they thought the guys had gone. That was nearly an hour ago.

"Probably found a snack machine along the way." Kara mused as she watched the hospital's mini TV hanging from the ceiling. "Or, knowing Jess... another cute guy."

Andrea still hadn't shown any signs of coming around. And this was after spending a good ten minutes of gentle nudging, speaking to her, and even offering her the only good thing in her hospital dinner-- the pudding cup. Nothing had worked.

"YOU need to buy Cartoflin's Potato Salad today!" The insipidly peppy announcer blared from the television set.

"Hmmm. Not really, no." Kara licked the pudding spoon clean, then reached up and clicked off the set. A quick glance at the clock revealed that it was nearly 7:00pm. Visiting hours should have ended a while ago, she realized. But no one had come in to say anything, so she decided to stay until someone told her otherwise.

Frankly, the thought of leaving Dree here made her shiver. She knew the girl already hated hospitals, so staying overnight was unheard of. "Of course, if you'd just wake up, I wouldn't have to worry about this." Kara muttered and began searching the room for something to make her stay a bit more comfortable--- a pillow and a blanket, namely.

Coming to a closet, she attempted to yank it open, but the handle wouldn't budge. Another tug. Still nothing. "Third time's a charm." She decided to back up and try charging at the door when she heard a thud against the wall behind Andrea's bed. "What the hell....?" Pillow and blanket forgotten, she walked out into the hallway.

A man in hospital scrubs looked up anxiously at her. So that explains the all-night pass. He must be one of Paul's guys. Kara chuckled. Returning to the task at hand, she approached the door to the adjacent room. Time to find out what all that thumping was about.

"Get off me!" She distinctly heard someone mutter from behind the door.

Whew. Hold on. Is this---- Well, it was a private room, right? It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that--- Gross. You have one really sick mind. Kara shook her head and tried the knob. This one, fortunately, turned.

Or perhaps, 'unfortunately', as moments later Kara was flattened by a battering ram of four men making a run at the door.

* * * * *

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Kara exploded as she scrambled up off the floor. "Who---"

John was the first to surface from the mosh pit of four. "'Ey Kar. Thanks for lettin' us out an' all."

"'Ow'd ya know where we were?" Paul asked.

"I didn't. Guess you guys were just lucky---" Kara stopped suddenly, a burning question on her mind. "What were you doing in there in first place?"

"Long story." George explained, grabbing Paul by the arm to pull him up. "We were lucky?"

Kara motioned for the four men to follow her into the next room. "Dree's room. I heard knocking on the wall, went to check it out, and the next thing I knew I was smack on my back in the middle of the hallway."

George settled down in the chair next to Andrea. "This 'er, Kara?"

"Yeah."

"She feelin' talkative?" Because George had a lot to ask. She needed help, it was obvious from her actions.

The girl played with her long red hair and shook her head. "She, uhm.. she hasn't woken up. The doctor's say she should be fine, but... she's..." Kara cast her eyes downward. She jumped as John put his arm around her shoulder. Don't cry. Not on John.

He squeezed her shoulder gently. "S'alright." John glanced over at George and mouthed, "Anythin' ya can do?"

"Ah'll try. Gonna need some quiet for a while----" George began.

Which was when Jess and Renee returned. "We're baack!!"

"So much for that." Ringo wore an amused expression on his face. "Such timin'."

Renee, who had yet to meet any of her friend's new pop star acquaintances, jumped a little. Growing up listening to her dad's record collection, she never thought she'd actually be face to face with-- "Ringo Starr." Renee blushed a bit as he shook her hand. She snuck a glance at Kara, making sure her friend saw her embarrassment. "You didn't tell me they were still here."

Ringo smiled. She was certainly a shy bird. Which didn't match her style of dress. He noted her straw-blonde hair, done in tight braids down her back, covered partially by a denim bandanna headband. She wore jeans with cuffs rolled up to just below the knee, and a black T-shirt studded with faux-diamonds outlining the shape of a tiger. Well, appearances can be deceivin', can't they? He figured he'd expected a more outgoing personality. More like the girl that Kara girl John had spent all that time with.

Kara pulled away from John, seeing an opportunity to get everyone out of the room so George could meditate for a while to try and reach Andrea. The longer Dree stayed under, the more dangerous things became. "I figured they'd gone!" Kara shrugged. "Didn't hear anything from Paul for a while, so I assumed those girls had chased them out of the building." She turned to Paul. "Which brings up a good point. Why didn't you try to call someone to get you out of that room?"

"Ah tried!" Paul defensively grabbed up his cell phone. "But after practically runnin' the Boston Marathon we were all pretty tired... an' Ah tried ta get Ben... an' then..." He spluttered. "Batteries are probably dead anyway!"

As if specifically to prove him wrong, the phone rang loudly in his hand.

"Christ!" He leapt nearly a mile in the air as everyone else laughed at him. "That's right. Laugh it up, but Ah tell ya it wasn't workin'!"

"Just answer it, Paulie." John winked. "We believe ya."

"Paul 'ere..." He waited a beat. "NOW ya tell me." He hung up. "That was Ben. Apparently there was a school group in 'ere. They were told they'd be gettin' a surprise, an' well.... they got one, didn't they?"

"All four Beatles. Right in front of their eyes. No wonder they chased you through half the building." Kara shook her head. 'Such timing' She echoed Ringo's sentiments with a shake of her head as everyone headed out into the hallway. Casting a quick glance backward, Kara prayed quickly that George would get through to Andrea.

* * * * *

After everyone left, George closed the door slowly and deliberately. He was measuring everything-- down to his every single breath. What he was about to attempt would require a level of concentration that he himself was unsure whether or not he could reach. Also, it would require a degree of willingness of Andrea's part as well. She would have to let him into her mind, he couldn't force. He wouldn't force it, he amended. In the past he'd only communicated like this once before. John might remember it since 'e was there. George thought to himself, focusing on that time. The successful meeting of minds on a spiritual plane.

Of course that last time, John had been dead. Things were different now. Still, Andrea was close to death, so he assumed that would be enough. Death. He thought to himself. So many different definitions of death. The physical sense is thah only one people pay any mind to, though, isn't it? He imagined that he was walking. Walking beside a peaceful stream. He could feel the energy flowing from within him, reaching out as if Andrea were lost in the forest beyond. There's also death of thah spirit. There. A rustle in the bushes. That's when someone completely gives up livin' for somethin'. They just drift through life. Oh 'is 'eart's goin' alright, an' 'is brain's thinkin' thoughts... but the drive... the passion... it's gone.

George became aware of the sky clouding over. He could still hear the stream gently trickling and skipping over rocks beside him, but the light was dimming. She's 'ere. Turning off his path, George passed into a thick patch of trees...

When he came through on the other side, George found himself standing in the middle of a graveyard. Clearly, this represented something very specific in the girl's recent past. Just like the stream and the path did to George. For his first meditation, the Maharishi had placed the image in his mind. The path represented his life: twisting and turning, sometimes blocked almost completely so that one had to blaze an alternative path around it, over it, even through it.

This was her spot, however. As he wandered from granite headstone to granite headstone, he became aware of something else as well. It was a heavy feeling of sorrow and pain. If he had to put the feeling into a tangible thing, he would have had to compare it to a musk. Or thick fog rolling off the harbor.

It's my fault...

A thought passed by. Not his own. This was Andrea, and as he suspected, she had curled into herself out of a heavy sense of guilt. Survivor's guilt. Especially rough since it was her little brother... He remembered John and Kara's quick background on Andrea's past. It was what had driven her to cast the spell in the first place.

Who's there?

Must've forgotten ta shield my thoughts. He shook his head. That's what he got for letting his mind wander off on tangents. "Ah'm George. Ah don't want ta hurt ya. Please... come to me."

"No." Andrea's voice came from somewhere out beyond his range of vision.

"Alright... then Ah'll come ta you." He began walking through the cemetery. A crow flew by, perched on a headstone and cocked it's head to look at him. "'Ello."

The bird flew up in his face, fanning it's wings in the direction of Andrea's voice.

"Show the way." George took the bird to be a guide. He was proven right as the crow let him to another part of the cemetery.

When George found her, she was curled up, leaning back against the rock surface, eyes closed. She wore a black dress, billowy and flowing off her frame in waves.

He cleared his throat and she started. "I told you no."

George closed his eyes briefly to center himself again. "But ya let me come."

"Only because you forced your way. What are you? A warlock or something?"

"Far from it."

"Keith was. He used to come in here. Talk to me. Say things."

Red flag. Dark magic. Mind control. George dared to reach out for her with his hand. To his surprise, she allowed him to place it on her shoulder. "What things?"

"Does it matter?"

"Could. Ya tell me."

It was Andrea's turn to grow silent for a moment. Opening her eyes, she was almost ready to explain when, taking in his appearance, she backed off. He was... "What are you? An Angel or something?"

"Ah'm a friend. Ah'm 'ere ta 'elp if ya want it."

Andrea evaluated him with her eyes for a moment. He wore white slacks, button up coat, and sandals. Adding in the long hair and thick beard, Andrea was convinced she was being visited by some divine being. Why would an Angel want anything to do with me?

"Believe what ya will, then." George felt a breeze blow up. Their link was weakening, he could feel it. Time ta get the message across before she pushes me out. "But Ah've come with a message--"

"From God?" She scoffed. "Riiiight. What would God want to do with me? He already screwed me over when he let my little brother die. I prayed then. He didn't listen. He didn't care."

"That's not true."

"Oh, right. I forgot." Andrea spat bitterly. "This is the part where you preach to me about repentance for my evil ways and how only this old guy in the sky can save my soul." George tried to interrupt, but she pressed on, "Then comes the part where if I go to this little building every week, fork over my cash, and read a little book, my life will be swell again."

"Is that all faith means ta ya?" George tried to move his hand to her's, but she pushed him away.

"Don't touch me. I sin! I'm filthy and only the devil wants me now!"

Irrational bird too. He, however, sympathized. "Ah was like that, ya know."

"You worshipped the devil?"

"No. I was raised Catholic."

"Thin line, you ask me." She chuckled at her feeble attempt at a joke.

"Irrational an' un-PC." George pressed on. "Anyroad, thah point is, Ah didn't think religion was anythin' more than sittin' in old dusty pews an' listenin' ta old ladies sing... then Ah discovered somethin' important. The most important lesson of my life." He grabbed her hand, this time hanging tight in spite of her struggling. "God isn't in a buildin'... in one single book... 'e's all around... An' Ah didn't learn that in church. That came ta me when Ah was free. Sittin' and meditatin' in India."

"Great. God's in India. News flash-- I don't care."

"Oh, Ah think ya do." He reached over the top of the tombstone, returning a moment later with a small yellow daisy cupped in his hands. "'Ere's a question..."

"I suck at charades."

"If--" George said sharply, "If Ah could point out somethin'-- just one little thing ta prove ya've still got that good in ya-- what then?"

Andrea was uncertain for a moment. Some old man can't possibly know more about me than I do. "Fine. Here's the deal. You show me this 'thing' and I'll," She sighed. This was so insane, she might as well risk the whole pot. "I'll go back."

"Back?"

"I'll wake up. Do a jig! Possibly tap dance on the coffee table!" She walked away from him to the crest of a hill.

George laughed. "Ya 'ave a sense of humor."

"Surprised?"

"You're that certain Ah'm wrong, eh?" George pointed. "Look up."

* * * * *

Flashbulbs exploded in Paul's face as he spoke to the assembled press outside the hospital.

"Never been better." He smiled, Heather by his side. "We'll be continuin' the tour next week, so Ah'll see ya then!" Waving, he ducked back inside. Whew. One press conference out of the way. He didn't voice his concern, even to the lovely Heather Mills, soon to be his second wife, but he had been waiting for someone to come forward with a picture of him and John.

"Is it true that John Lennon is alive?!" The overzealous reporter would ask, shoving the evidence in everyone's face.

"What would Ah do then?" He muttered.

"Hmmm?" Heather looked up into his eyes. "You say something?"

"Nothin', luv. Don't worry." A forced smile spread across his face. "Just a lot on my mind. Now don't worry about me an' ya go on ta that benefit dinner t'night. Give everyone my best."

"You aren't coming?"

Paul shook his head. "Wish Ah could, but there's more ta take care of. That fan Ah told ya about who was grazed by a bullet. Gotta make sure she'll be alright."

Heather reached up and kissed his cheek. "That's why I love you, Paul. You're so concerned for others." She looked away for a moment. "You even took pity on a half a woman and made her feel wonderful again."

"What? Now, don't start that again. Ah'd love ya even if ya 'ad no legs." He enfolded her in a warm embrace. "Yer smart, an' funny.. an' it works both ways, ya know. You made me feel wonderful again too."

As they hugged, Paul caught sight of John sticking his head out the waiting room door. Paul's eyes went wide. Damnit, John. What're ya tryin' ta do? He pulled Heather back after a moment. "Now Ah gotta go."

Heather kissed him on the cheek, then headed for the back exit. A giggle escaped as she spun suddenly. "Tell Ringo and George.. and John... that I said hi!" Then she was gone.

Paul stood with his mouth hanging open. "'Ow did you... 'Ow..." That woman!

* * * * *

Andrea gasped at the starscape above her head. Thousands of points of light glittered down on her from the crystal clear evening sky. The depth and the feeling that she could get lost in it... she had only experienced such a thing once before in her lifetime.

It was the summer of 1992. She and her brother had wound up having to share one tent since her mom and Rick, the new boyfriend, had wanted to sleep together and forgot to pack a spare tent.

Shortly after settling down for the night, her brother had slipped out of his sleeping bag. Andrea awoke to a tapping on her foot.

"What is it, Jimmy?"

"Pretty stars!" The four year old proclaimed proudly. "Come see, Drea! So itsy bitsy!"

Andrea unzipped her warm sanctuary, silently cursing the day they taught Jimmy 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider'. Ever since then, he wouldn't stop saying 'it' every chance he got. 'Itsy bitsy! Itsy bitsy!' Stepping into the chill night air, she couldn't help but stare up as well. Living near the city, one hardly ever saw the evening stars.

"Is God up there?" He asked suddenly. "And.. and... and... does he take care of everyone ever for all time who's died?"

'Must teach this child grammar'. Andrea smiled. "Mom and Dad say he does." She answered quietly. She didn't know what she believed herself, but for her brother's sake---

"Will he take care of me?"

"Of course." Andrea replied.

"Let's make a promise. A wish on the stars!"

Andrea's only wish was that she could crawl back under the covers, but she agreed. Hopefully her reply would speed up the return time to dreamland. "Alright. What?"

Jimmy's little face grew grave as he spoke, "Promise that whenever we feel upset and scared, we'll look at the stars. I'll think of you, and you can think of me!"

Nodding quickly, Andrea tried to make a hasty retreat. Jimmy blocked her path before she could. "You have to promise!"

"Yes." Andrea smiled and squatted down to his level. "I'll look at the stars and think of you."

"Even when I'm not beside you to remind you? Like, like... like if I was away at camp! Then would you?"

"Of course."

"Pinky promise?"

Laughing, Andrea offered her right hand. "Pinky promise."

He jumped into her arms happily and wrapped his arms around her neck. "Yay!"

She sighed and stood up, little brother's bulk still dangling in front of her. "Okay. Time for bed."

Jimmy giggled as he swung from her neck. Climbing back into the tent, Andrea could have strangled him. "JIMMY! NECK!"

"Sorry. But it was fun----"

"Jimmy baby." She continued to stare up. "I promise I'll never forget." Tears slid down her cheeks.

Pinky promise?

A lump formed in her throat. "Pinky promise."

"So that's why..." George mumbled to himself. Readied with a triumphant, "I told you so", he now instead felt his throat constrict along with the girl. Slowly approaching her once again, he placed his hand back on her shoulder where it had been before. Immensely surprised, he saw her turn and bury her face in his chest. "Ah can 'elp ya keep yer promise. There's lots of pain, Ah know.... but...."

"You saw it? My memories? But how....?"

"You let me see it." George replied. "So, ya comin' back, then?"

She closed her eyes for a moment. If I trust him, I'm putting it all on the line again. It was so hard to trust anyone... Still, he knows stuff. And he wants to help. That's more than anyone else before. Plus, there's still the chance this is all a dream, so what have I got to loose? Opening her eyes again, she looked up again. "Fine. Then help me, okay? But if you want out, do it now. Now before I get attached." She could hear his heart beat against her ear. In spite of her skepticism, just being around this mysterious guy made her feel safe. "I go crazy without someone to talk to. Already have been."

"Ya may not believe this, but Ah think you'll be good for me too."

They walked out of the cemetery as the sun rose, back through the trees and into George's forest.

"It's really nice." Andrea's eyes wandered all over the landscape. "Man. You thought this all up by yourself?"

George smiled. "Mostly."

"Okay, now this is hokey." She pointed to the path. "Reading too much Maya Angelou lately, huh? The path of life in the literal sense?"

"Ya'd be surprised 'ow much that metaphor can apply." He had a lot to teach her, he realized. But ya were rather skeptical yerself at first. "Now close your eyes like this." He demonstrated.

About to oblige, Andrea cast a quick glance down the path to see where it led. Prepared to see a long winding dirt path leading off far beyond where she could see, she was shocked to see a stone wall a rather short distance ahead. What---

"Close yer eyes." He repeated.

I'll ask him later. She sighed and closed her eyes.

* * * * *

"An' she just knew?!" John bellowed.

"How?" Kara's eyes were nearly as wide as John's. "It's not possible!"

Paul shrugged. "Heather 'as 'er ways."

"That's no answer, mate." Ringo crossed the room, stopping at the window to glance down at the street below. "If everythin' ya tell me is true, there's no way she could know."

Jess tossed down the tabloid she had been holding. "Actually, guys?"

Everyone gathered around the tattered copy of the Sun, laying open to the gossip column. There, under the screaming headline: LENNON LIVES!! COMES TO McCARTNEY'S RESCUE!!, was a photo of John colliding with Paul seconds before the gunman fired.

"Aw, hell." Kara threw herself down in a chair. "Well, this is just fantastic."

Shaking his head, Paul tried to play the part of optimist. "People don't pay attention ta those things, anyroad. Except Heather... an' she was just teasin'... Ah 'ope."

"I second that 'ope." John picked up the paper to get a closer look at it. "They didn't even get my good side." He cracked.

"Aw, Ah dunno Johnny." Ringo leaned over his shoulder.

"It's me ass, Richie!"

Ringo gave him a cheeky grin. "Like Ah said---"

"Don't make me 'it ya."

The phone rang, nearly drowned out by three Beatles carrying on rather loudly. Jess rushed over and picked up, waving for everyone to be quiet while she spoke into the receiver.

"Lucky it's from yer backside." Paul reasoned. "Not a clear shot of yer face---"

"What? Is me mug that offensive ta look at?"

"Hey! Listen!" Jess moved for the door. "Dree's awake."

Everyone stopped in the middle of their debate.

"Come on."

* * * * *

Her head hurt. Badly. "Feels like the world's worst hangover." Andrea mused as she touched her bandaged skull gingerly. "The last thing I remember was Keith and the gun..." She glanced around her surroundings. Hospital. That meant someone was hurt---- "What's going on?" She noted the heart monitor hooked up to her chest. Aw hell. Glancing around frantically for anyone who could explain what was going on, her eyes suddenly met with his. George. "You weren't a dream."

"A'course not." He touched her hand carefully, avoiding the IV needle. "Didn't Ah tell ya Ah'd still be around?"

This is too weird. Some old guy shows up in my dreams who I figure is just the product of eating too many gummy worms, only now he's actually here and... wait just a minute... "Harrison. I know you. Kara has this poster in her room and---"

"You're awake!"

Speaking of Kara. "Hey you. I'm assuming I have you to thank for this." Andrea raised the tubing protruding from her arm to demonstrate.

Kara bounded across the room to her bedside. "Yeah. I know you hate hospitals, but you were bleeding pretty badly and---"

"Thank you."

"You're welc--" Wait. Had Andrea actually just thanked her for something? Time for me to check myself for a concussion. Usually even if someone had done a favor for her, Andrea would shrug it off with a nod, and possibly a smile. But never an out-and-out thanks. "You're.. uhm, welcome." Kara realized she'd left her half of the formality unfinished.

Eyes darting now from face to face as other people entered her room, Andrea was pleased to see her other two pals-- Jess and Renee-- and then, moments later, was absolutely agog at the other three. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and--- "JOHN LENNON?" The shock echoed heavily in her voice.

John looked at her with a half grin. "Surprised to see someone back from the dead?"

Andrea nodded vehemently.

"Shouldn't be."

What was he--- Had the rules of the universe changed while she was under? Had she now landed in a world where celebrities visited you in dreams and came back from the dead on a daily basis? "Back from the dead.." She echoed.

"Yer sure 'er brain didn't get scrambled?" John turned to ask Kara. "Because Ah just said that."

The spell! The herbs! The desire to bring someone back from the dead! The words to her incantation echoed cruelly in her mind. '.. one cut down in his prime.' So the spell hadn't tanked after all. It had still been active when she left Kara's house. All it would have taken was Kara to apply just the right stimulus-- some image of a person. Plus, it would have had to have been someone who died an unnatural death such as a poisoning or... Or a shooting. Damn. The odds were slim, but not nonexistent. Andrea felt her mind swim. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

John sighed with frustration. "Maybe not, but it did and now---"

"Now I feel 'I'm sorry' is grossly inadequate." She sighed. "Everything I do goes wrong."

George eyed her, a glance she met guiltily. Negative thinkin' again.

I know, I know. It's hard though. Especially with him standing right there in front of me.

Sensing they were missing something, John's eyebrows raised. "What're you two doin'?"

Johnny isn't mad, Drea. Ah've known 'im longer than many members of my family. He was just lookin' for some answers as ta why things 'appened the way they did.

Yeah. If I were in his position, I would too. But I can't give him any.

S'alright. Just focus on gettin' better. Take as long as ya need. We'll all still be around for ya.

"'ELLO?!" John bellowed. "What is this?"

"They're talkin', Ah think." Paul chuckled.

"Since when did George go psychic hotline?" John was beginning to hate being the last to know things. Of course, it was a natural side effect of being dead for twenty one years, but still...

Ringo chuckled and slipped out quietly, Jess and Renee close behind.

"Come on, ya two. Let's leave the Vulcan Mind Meld in peace." Paul motioned to Kara, who took the hint. John remained standing, however. "John!" He grabbed his slack-jawed songwriting partner by the arm and pulled him out the door.

"But 'ow's 'e doin' it?" George and Andrea laughed, hearing John's protests as he was dragged off down the hall.