Homecoming
A BTTF: Trilogy Story
By Flaming Trails
Disclaimer: I don't own BTTF. If I did, I'd make sure to get my hands on all of Chris Lloyd's costumes.
Note: This comes before "Abominable Doc" and "True Hero."
Chapter 1
Sunday, October 27th, 1985
Hill Valley
12:04 P. M.
"Where ya goin'? Back to the future?"
Doc smiled at him, leaning out the window. "Nope. Already been there!"
As if to underscore his point, the Jules Verne-ian train rose into the air. Marty and Jennifer waved at it as it chugged away, finally vanishing in a flash of brilliant light and with a loud whistle. Marty stared at the spot where it had gone for a moment. Then he sighed. "Bye Doc," he whispered. "Have a nice life."
Jennifer gave his shoulders a reassuring squeeze. "Don't talk like that. He'll be back. Even if it's just to visit."
Marty gave her a small smile. "Yeah." His smile flip-flopped into a frown of concern. "Are you okay? I mean, with all that's happened?"
"Well, I'm kinda pissed at being left out of the loop," Jennifer admitted, scowling. "Doc sent me to sleep -- what? Five seconds into the trip?"
"He was worried about you knowing too much about the future. I don't think he was thinking all that clearly either, he seemed kinda frantic." Marty chuckled. "Although I guess his plan kinda backfired on him, huh?" Jennifer laughed and nodded. "Hey, what did you see in our future house? I've been wondering, since we lived in Hilldale and all."
Jennifer made a face. "Well, first of all, it looked like we had eloped. Our wedding picture was from the Chapel O'Love."
"What?!"
"Yeah. Your mom and your dad were visiting -- they'd brought dinner -- and she was being really mean to you behind your back. She said she'd ruined your life in an auto accident, and that you just gave up on life, and that I married you out of pity." Jennifer shook her head. "I couldn't believe Lorraine could be that catty!"
"Wonderful. What was I, a one-hit wonder?"
Jennifer dropped her eyes. "Uh -- actually, you worked at some sort of Japanese company. For Needles."
Marty gaped at her. "Kill me now, why don't you?"
"But Marty, that's all over with!" Jennifer showed him the blank fax she had shown Doc before. "See, I got this fax from the future. Needles had just gotten you fired for doing something illegal. But when you didn't race him, it erased. Doc just told us the future's whatever you make of it, right? That means you didn't get fired, and with any luck, that you didn't work there in the first place." She frowned at Marty. "I don't want to make our future a clone of the one I saw."
Marty smiled and kissed her. "You're right. I want to make a great future for us." He looked around nervously. "Come on, we'd better get the time machine stuff picked up. I'm surprised the police aren't swarming around here."
"Would you take it seriously if someone told you they'd seen a DeLorean riding on the train tracks?" Marty conceded her point, and together they cleaned up the remains of the flux capacitor and the time circuits. They vacated the scene just in time to see a couple of police cars going toward it. "Whew, close call," Marty muttered. "I'd better get home and out of these clothes."
"Yeah, it is weird to see you dressed up like a cowboy. What have you and the Doc been doing?"
"It's a really long story, Jennifer. After Doc put you to sleep, he told me about a problem with our future son Marty Junior. Turns out the kid is a total wimp and gets involved with Biff's grandson. . . ."
Marty was still trying to explain when they pulled up to the McFly house. The rest of the family was nowhere to be seen. "Guess they left for brunch without me," Marty said with a shrug. Sure enough, a note on the door read:
Marty
We'll be back in a couple of hours. Put your cowboy costume in the wash, it looks like it needs a bath.
Love Mom and Dad
Marty chuckled. "Oh, guys, if you only knew," he muttered. He looked over at Jennifer. "Can you tell me anything I'd have to know about this version of the McFlys? The ones I remember were nerdy losers -- Dad worked for Biff, Mom drank a lot, Dave worked at Burger King, and Linda whined about having no boyfriends."
Jennifer was surprised. "Wow, you did change stuff back in the 50s," she commented. "Well, George is now a pretty famous author -- he's written a ton of short stories over the years that have gotten pretty popular. Just came out with his first novel."
"Right, I got that."
"Lorraine works at a tennis club I think. I know Dave works at an office job, but I don't know the details. Linda works at a fashion boutique."
"Doesn't sound bad. I guess I have a job now too. . . ."
Jennifer grinned as they walked to Marty's room. "Cashier at Roy's Records. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, three to six."
Marty grinned back. "Cool." He grabbed some clothes from his closet. "Anything else?"
"Well, George is a pretty generous guy -- you've complained to me about him making frivolous purchases. I think he just bough a case of peanut brittle from some kid to help their baseball team."
Marty groaned loudly. "Oh, no! At least he didn't buy it because he was too weak to say no, but still. . . ."
Jennifer patted him on the back. "Sorry. But it's really nothing to get upset about, is it?"
"Nah." He smiled and kissed her. "Just let me change and we'll go to the lake. My weekend's not totally shot. And I'll try to explain the rest to you then." Jennifer smiled and left him to change.
As Marty pulled on a pair of fresh jeans, he heard a knock at the door. "Hey, Jen, who is it?" he yelled.
"It's the police!" she yelled back.
"Shit," Marty mumbled, yanking up his zipper. He jogged down the hall to see a policeman standing at the door patiently. Okay, I can handle this, he told himself. It's not any worse than getting back to 1985. He took a deep breath and went to the door with a smile. "Hello officer."
The policeman gave him a stern look. "You're Marty McFly, right? George's son?"
"That's me. Can I help you with anything?"
"I believe you can -- I'm Officer Stephens, by the way. We just found what appears to be your friend Dr. Brown's DeLorean on the train tracks, totally destroyed. We were able to round up a few witnesses, and they reported seeing a teenager that matched your description, dressed in a cowboy outfit, inside before it was hit by a train. Can you tell us what happened?"
Marty thought fast. "Yeah, it was -- one of Doc's inventions. A literal kind of railroad car. He thought actual cars that ran on railroad tracks would be the preferred mode of transportation in the future. He asked me to take a look at it this morning, check out if it worked. Doc wasn't thinking about it getting hit by a real train, I'm sure." Marty shivered as he recalled seeing that mammoth diesel engine coming at him.
"I take it that's why it was decorated so strangely."
"Yeah. Once it got hit, I picked up all the invention stuff. I didn't want any vandals stealing it. Doc would want me to save his work."
"Where is Dr. Brown, anyway? Shouldn't he have been there for his own test run?"
Marty smiled a little. "He left to see an out-of-town friend, a schoolteacher. This wasn't supposed to be a test run, just a check of everything."
"When will he be back?"
"I don't know," Marty admitted. "He left in a hurry. All I got were the instructions and a note not to worry about him or his friend."
"Well, when he does return, have him call us. There's nothing explicitly illegal about putting a car on the railroad tracks, but we'd appreciate an explanation."
"Sure, no problem."
"And -- just out of curiosity, what was with the cowboy costume?"
Jennifer came to Marty's rescue. "That was my fault. Marty wanted to go as Clint Eastwood to a Halloween party with me. I picked up the costume early and had him try it on before he left."
"Yeah, exactly," Marty nodded, shooting her a grateful look.
Officer Stephens nodded, satisfied. "Thanks a lot. This is the first story that's actually had some evidence to it. We've gotten a few strange calls about DeLoreans lately. One person even reported he'd saw one flying."
"Really." Marty forced a laugh. "Well, you guys know Doc and his inventions."
"We do indeed. Besides, most of them were from cranks." He touched his cap. "We'll keep in touch."
Marty nodded and closed the door. "Whew!" he said, shaking his head. "I'm sick of all these close calls. Thanks for covering for me, Jennifer."
"No problem. You bullshitted him beautifully yourself," Jennifer told him. "I doubt he's gonna investigate. Everybody pretty much thinks Doc's a little nutty."
"Yeah, lucky for him for once." Marty looked around for a minute, still marveling over how much things had changed. "Man, I feel ten years older. Being a time traveler puts a new spin on everything."
Jennifer kissed his cheek. "I know. I'm already thinking of what's going to happen to us when we have kids and get jobs. . . ." She frowned. "Can we not name our kids after you? Marlene's not that bad, but Marty Junior. . . ."
Marty chuckled. "Jen, we've still got a few years to decide what we're going to call them." He put his arm around her shoulders. "Come on, let's get down to the lake."
