Disclaimer: We both own the Back to the Future DVDs, but neither of us own the rights to Back to the Future.
June 9, 1990
6:00 AM PDT
Trilogy Universe (bttf4444)
The rain just kept pouring.
"Doc" Emmett Brown turned away from the window with a sigh. The ongoing rainstorm Hill Valley was suffering from had taken its toll on him as much as it had on the other citizens of the town. It had been raining for two weeks now and it didn't look like it was going to stop. Everyone was getting depressed these days, and many wished that they could be some place sunny. Of course, for most, that was too expensive and they didn't have time anyway.
However, when one had a working time machine that could take a person to any place and any time they wanted to go, that did not have to be an issue. Doc and his family had been preparing for the event for the past few days, and today they were going to leave Hill Valley in 1990, taking the station wagon one year into the past to sunny Jamaica. Or at least, that had been the plan before it turned out that Marty was impossible to wake.
Emmett let out another sigh, this time angry. He should have known, of course. Marty was hard to wake in the morning, and especially when it was just 6 AM. Well, it wasn't his fault - he'd made clear to the teen that if he didn't want to go to bed early, he would suffer the consequences. By now, though, it was looking more like the others were suffering the consequences, as they had been trying to wake the teenager up for almost half an hour.
Well, just standing and staring out of the window did not help much. Doc gave one final glance to the miserable weather, then started climbing up the stairs. He'd let Marty and Jennifer stay over that night just to avoid this problem, and the fact that it still plagued them was not doing wonders to his mood. It was therefore a good thing that Marty was finally awake when he got to him - Doc might have been tempted to slap him awake otherwise.
"Can't I just have a few more minutes" the teenager groaned. "It's not like anyone is out right now."
"We planned for 5:30 AM" Doc said. "It's now six o'clock, so you have already had a few minutes. It's not my fault the invisibility device on the station wagon is broken. Also, Jules and Verne are eager to leave." He smiled. "If it makes you feel better, I'll set our Destination Time in the afternoon."
"Yeah, fine" Marty muttered, as he stood up with a yawn. "At least there are places to sleep in Jamaica, too."
Doc smiled. "Well, that should be everyone" he said, half to himself and half to Marty. "At least you slept with your clothes on last night. I wouldn't have wanted to wait for you to get dressed, too."
Marty just gave him a look. Doc nodded in acknowledgement, before they started to walk down to the station wagon.
"Oh, c'mon, Marty," Jennifer chided, as walked up to Doc and Marty. She playfully slugged her fiance, as she added, "It's gonna be a lot of fun. I mean, we'll actually be someplace where it's warm and sunny. We'll could go swimming, lie out underneath the stars, and do all that other stuff."
"I suppose you're right, Jenn," Marty replied, sighing. Then with a small smile, he asked, "Are we gonna be able to eat something, before we go?"
"I made pop tarts for everyone," Doc replied, gently. "I know it's not very healthy, but it's a quick treat that should tide us over. Once we get to Jamaica, we can..."
"He's up! He's up!" Verne started chanting - as he and his brother, Jules, began to jump up and down. "Why do you sleep so late, Marty?"
"He doesn't have a bedtime, like we do," Jules pointed out, softly. "That's said, I'm also glad that..."
"Oh, good, he's up!" called our Doc's wife, Clara - as she was carrying young Haven, who was three and a half years old. "Well, just think. We'll be spending a week away from Hill Valley - but, when we get back, it'll be like hardly any time has passed."
"Well, for me, that is not a strange thought" Doc replied. "After all, I've been time travelling for several years now, and Marty has made quite a few temporal journeys as well. Each time, we could come back the minute after we left."
"Doc is right" Marty said, stretching his arms. "And it'd not even be like hardly any time has passed - it really wouldn't have. We could even come back before we left, though that would probably present us with some problems."
"Yeah, that's true" Clara said. "You can put your belongings there, and then eat your pop tarts. Meanwhile, Emmett will take a quick look at the computer components of the station wagon."
"Why?" Jules asked, a bit worried. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing major" Doc ensured him. "It's just that the destination locator is in need of an update. Many of the components haven't been replaced since I first installed them, and, well, it looks like the energy supply has run out. Theoretically, it shouldn't pose any trouble to a time travel journey, but..." He shrugged. "You can't be sure enough."
Marty nodded, as he took one of the pop tarts. "Yeah, suppose so. Good luck, Doc."
As the others started to eat their pop tarts, Doc went into the station wagon. He'd already eaten his tarts before Marty woke up, which gave him the opportunity to do his work without wasting any time for the others. He quickly typed in the necessary coordinates for the examination of the circuitry, and leaned back in his chair.
oooooooooo
Marty stretched, as he bit into his pop tart. He really tried his best to keep from falling asleep. Of course, he was looking just as much forward to the trip as the others - but he wished that it didn't require him getting up so early.
"Just think of all the fun we'll have, Marty," Jennifer pointed out, softly. "You should consider how lucky we are, that Doc has a time machine."
"I can't argue with that, Jenn," Marty replied, smiling slightly. "It won't be so much like the other time travel trips that I've taken. It'll just be going back in time by a year, and we won't even have to worry about into our other selves. And nobody we knew was in Jamaica. I just wish I wasn't so tired."
"Well, Doc did try to warn you," Jennifer pointed out, softly. She placed her hand on Jennifer's shoulder, as she added, "I'm not meaning to lecture. It's just that..."
"When will we go, Mommy?" asked Haven, eagerly. Marty turned to the small girl, as he thought of how pretty she looked. She looked like miniature version of her mother. "I wanna go swimming."
"We'll be able to go soon, sweetheart," Clara responded, gently. "Daddy just needs to take of something. It shouldn't take long."
"Well, knowing Doc," Marty replied, "it might take some time. He doesn't like the idea that there is something he could overlook, resulting in us being trapped some place far from Jamaica." The teen shrugged. "Although on the other hand, Doc did mention wishing to get out of the rain as much as we do." He frowned. "That constant sound of rain pouring onto the roof is getting on my nerves."
"That issue should be solved very soon" Doc said, as he exited the time machine. "I've given the time machine a look, and nothing appears to be out of the ordinary. Of course, there are a few minor issues - but with a bit of luck, they will not spoil our fun."
"Then we can go now, Daddy?" Haven asked. She obviously didn't get much of what Doc had been saying, but the general message was getting through.
"Yes, we can" Doc said. "Before we go, though - is everyone sure that they have everything they want to take with them packed? Although we could theoretically go back to Hill Valley for it, I would prefer not to waste time on errands like that."
"Check, Doc" Marty said. Jennifer nodded next to him, and as Marty looked around, he could see Jules, Clara, Verne and Haven do the same.
"Then we're off!" Doc proclaimed, as he went back inside the time machine. Clara took the position next to him, pulling Haven close to her. As a result, Marty, Jennifer, Jules and Verne were forced to squeeze into the back. Though the car had quite some room inside it, their end position was still relatively tight.
"I hope this won't cause problems" Jennifer said. "We're not sitting on any circuitry, are we Doc?"
As Doc shook his head, Marty smiled. In the past five years, Jennifer had finally caught on to his habit of calling the inventor 'Doc' instead of 'Doctor Brown'. It had always been a minor nuisance to him, and he was glad it was removed. In a way, it cemented the fact that Jennifer wasn't merely Doc's friend's wife, but Doc's friend on her own as well.
"All right, everyone," called out Doc, as he started the engine. "Are you all ready? Are you all buckled up?"
"I am, now," Marty replied, just as he fastened his seat belt. He turned to Jules and Verne, and saw that both were also buckled. "I think we're about ready to blow this popsicle stand."
Everyone laughed, as Doc began to pull out of the garage. Marty hoped and prayed that the trip would go without a hitch. While he still wished that he did not have to get up so early, he figured that the trip was worth it.
He really loved the fact that he and Jennifer would be spending the week with Doc's family. It felt so strange to think of how the children were growing - even though he had met older versions of all three of them. In fact, he had met older Haven before she was even born. Indeed, it was one of the oddities of time travel.
Marty sighed, as he really hoped that nobody would spot them on their departure - especially the Tannens. He shuddered, as he still remembered the nightmare of when Jennifer was kidnapped by Cliff Tannen, and then his future daughter and daughter-in-law were kidnapped. Then they kept hopping between dimensions, really hoping to rescue the girls that Cliff kept kidnapping. He remembered the feelings of desperation and agony - and, not to mention, exhaustion.
Granted, Marty did not remember much of the specific details of the trip - and, in fact, his memories were rather fuzzy. Still, he remembered enough to know that he did not wish to relive that nightmare - and, as such, he and Doc had taken some precautions. At least, Jennifer seemed to come out mostly unscathed.
"Just relax, Marty," Jennifer whispered, softly. "I know what you're thinking - but it is early in the morning, and we're headed to Hill Valley Park. Everything will be fine."
"I suppose you're right," Marty replied, quietly. "Also, it is raining like hell - and it's so foggy. I'm so glad that I'm not the one driving in this weather. However, it does help to prevent us from being noticed. So, it is sort of like a... a blessing in disguise."
"Can we put some music on?" asked Haven, sighing. "I'm getting so bored."
"Not right now, sweetie," Doc replied, softly. "We can, after we get to Jamaica." Doc then drove into Hill Valley Park, as he added, "Well, folks, here we are."
"How long until we get there?" asked Haven, somewhat impatiently.
"Not long at all, dear," Doc replied, as the station wagon began to lift off the ground. He then began to accelerate the vehicle, as he added, "All right, folks! It is now time. Brace yourselves for temporal displacement."
Marty swallowed, as the car quickly began to reach 88 miles per hour. There was a sudden jolt - which caused Haven to scream, and Jules and Verne to gasp in panic. Marty then glanced out the window, and saw that the car had crashed into a tree. Suddenly, the station wagon hit the 88 miles per hour mark - and entered another dimension.
