A/N: Dedicated to my roommate
Marty yanked on the rope, causing the barrel of pickle juice to slide off the pallet and glide in place on top of the chandelier. The young teen peeked over the corner of the bar in the old western saloon and grinned at the barrel and sandbag hovering over their target; The barrel of pickle juice over Edna Strickland to douse the torch in her grasp and the sandbag over Biff's ancestor, Beauregard Tannen, to take out the shotgun aiming between her and Doc.
Marty was pretty exhausted over the events these past few days. After Doc had been gone for months, his DeLorean showed up with Einstein in it and a tape recorder telling Marty that he was in trouble and needed his help. Marty found out that Doc was stuck in 1931 under false arrest for setting a speak easy on fire and was able to rescue him. However, he had to go back in time and save his grandfather from Biff's father, Kid Tannen, to save his existence. After that, he had to get said man arrested to save his future in 1985 which accidentally resulted him into getting young Emmet Brown and Edna Strickland into a relationship that completely ruined not only Hill Valley but Doc as well. Marty had to save Doc or "Citizen Brown" from his bitch of a wife, return to 1931 to break them up, get young Emmet to be inspired by science again and all the while keeping him safe from Citizen Brown, whom changed his mind about wanting to become a scientist.
When Marty finally fixed everything, his Doc came back for him only, once again, Edna Strickland ruined everything by stealing the DeLorean and accidentally went back in time to 1876 and wiped Hill Valley from existence. So now, here they were, trying to stop Edna from burning the Saloon which caused the town to burn down and prevent Beauregard Tannen from shooting both Edna and Doc. Of course, it was up to Marty to, once again, save the day. He was so ready to get back to his time with Doc and take a much needed nap.
The teenager glanced at Tannen whom was pointing his shotgun between Edna and Doc. His fingers were itching to pull the trigger on one of them but he couldn't because if he shot her, the torch would fall and the whole saloon would go up in flames.
His blue eyes flickered towards Doc and saw a bead of sweat drip down his temple.
Hang in there, Doc Marty thought.
Doc seemed to have known Marty was looking at him. His brown eyes locked with blue then glanced up at the chandelier then returned to Marty. The boy nodded and slipped back behind the bar. He stealthy made towards the ladder then climbed up just as Doc made small talk with the two in the standoff. When he reached the top, he got on all fours and crawled over to the chandelier. He leaned down and tried to knock the sandbag over Tannen.
"Got any last words?" Tanned smirked. His finger twitched to pull the trigger.
Edna glowered but stood tall. She held the torch out, ready to drop it and set the place on fire. "I'll see you in hell, Tannen."
"You first, Lady."
"C'mon you sonnuva-" Marty's fingers brushed the top of the sandbag and finally managed to knock it over. "Yes!"
The sandbag fell on top of Tannen. His shotgun went off and he fell to the ground. The barrel of juice fell on Edna, instantly dosing her torch.
"What the frug?!" She cried out.
She tried to get the barrel off but ended up slipping and fell to the ground where the barrel rolled away with her inside.
Doc grinned and cheered. Marty had succeeded in creating a diversion to save not only his life but save Hill Valley's existence. He looked up to praise his companion but his smile fell instantly when he saw Marty collapse onto the hard floor beside Tannen, not moving.
"Marty?"
Panic and fear jolted through the scientist's body as he ran towards Marty.
Doc knelt down beside the teenager. "Marty, we did it. We stopped Edna from burning the saloon. You can get up now."
The boy was unresponsive.
Doc's eyes widened and he carefully, rolled the boy over and gasped at the sight before him. Blood was oozing down his right shoulder and around his chest, near his heart, soaking his clothes.
Marty McFly had been shot.
"Marty! Marty, no!" Tears burst through his eyes like a broken dam. He shook his head back and forth while his chin quivered. He brought his hands together and applied pressure to the wound. He looked at the boy through blurred vision and cried, "Stay with me, Marty! Damn it, stay with me!"
This couldn't be happening. Not Marty. Please God, not his Marty. Not his ever so faithful companion. He couldn't be dead! No! Not Marty!
This was all his fault. He never should've made Marty do something so dangerous and foolish. He never should've endangered the boy's life. That's all he ever did; force Marty into performing dangerous stunts and tasks for his own foolish sake. Now because of that foolishness, he lost his dearest friend.
The tears spewed down Doc's cheeks like a waterfall. He couldn't help the loud cry that escaped from his throat. He brought his bloodied hands to his face and covered his eyes as he cried out loud. His body trembled and his throat was sore. He reached for Marty's body and held him tightly against his chest, not caring in the least the blood was soaking into his clothes. "I'm so sorry, Marty. This is all my fault. You were the greatest person I had ever known. Even before you changed the events of my past, you were always my inspiration. I wouldn't have been able to complete any of my inventions without you and now I've lost you forever. You were the meaning in my life…how will I ever-" Doc suddenly gasped. "Great Scott! I'll go back in time and stop you from creating the diversion!"
"T-then you'll get shot and Hill Valley will be in ashes."
Doc's eyes widened at the sound of the soft hoarse voice. He glanced down and saw Marty's blue eyes half-lidded and looking up at him.
"Marty! You're alive!" Doc hugged the boy tightly as fresh tears cascaded down his cheeks. "I thought I lost you."
"I'm okay, Doc. That bastard shot me in the shoulder then the chandelier hit me on the head and knocked me out." Marty replied, weakly. He brought his left hand to his head and winced at the bump. "Nothing serious."
"Nothing serious? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Doc smiled and scooped the boy up in his arms then got to his feet. "We need to get you back to our time and treat this wound."
"What about Edna?"
"I'll deal with her shortly." Doc said and glanced over at the unconscious woman.
Doc walked out of the saloon, towards the DeLorean. Tears were still streaming down his face and he couldn't help the absolute relief that washed over him when Marty opened his eyes.
"Hey, Doc?"
"Yes, Marty? Are you in pain?"
"Well, yeah, getting shot kinda hurts but I was wondering."
Doc looked down at him. "Yes?"
"Did you really mean all that you said? Y'know," He started to blush. "About me being your inspiration and the meaning in your life?"
Doc smiled and nodded. "I meant everything I said."
Marty's eyes widened. "Whoa, pretty heavy."
Doc chuckled and leaned down and pressed their lips together. "Heavy indeed."