I do not own Back to the Future
Marty had been ten years old.
Everybody knew about Doctor Emmett Brown. His reputation preceded him. Children would giggle behind their hands and make up mad tales about the man, which would change in drama and scale depending on who was telling it.
Needless to say, nobody actually dared go to his house. Amongst school children, Doctor Emmett Brown had the reputation of Boo Radley. Many young children had dared to put a toe on the front lawn and had then gleefully run back to their friends with yells of, "I did it! I did it!" but nobody had ever knocked on the door. That was just asking for trouble.
Dave had told Marty stories about the mad doctor. He would tell his younger brother in hushed tones about the mad experiments that he made and the evil glint in his eye.
"But how do you know he's evil, Dave? You've never seen him."
"Have so! He was in front of me in the queue at the shop. He was talking to himself. Probably some kind of weird spell. Maybe he was trying to curse me"
"Did he say anything to you?" Marty would ask in awe.
At this point, his mother would usually break up the conversation and tell them both off for spreading rumours against a harmless old man.
Marty would give his mom a sharp look, hating her for interrupting the story.
Still...all these stories spread round Marty's head. Which is probably what led Marty to agreeing to do what he agreed to do next.
It was a simple dare. Follow Doctor Brown home from the shop. It had been noted by the neighbourhood children that the scientist appeared to do his weekly shop on a Thursday afternoon. So therefore, the task was given to ten-year-old Marty to follow the doctor home without being noticed. If Marty was to believe all the tales his brother told him, this would be no simple task...
...But nobody was going to call him chicken.
The following Thursday, Marty packed fifty cents, a notebook and his hat into a backpack. He told his Mom that he was going over to a friend's house to work on a science project...which wasn't a complete lie. It was kind of a science project.
Marty feld oddly nervous making his way down to the local shop. He told himself, trying to remain calm, that his house wasn't too far from the shop. If Doctor Brown tried to curse him he could always make a run for it.
It had been planned that Marty was to wait outside the shop until the doctor arrived. He would then follow him round the shop, tracing his movements in a notebook. Looking back, Marty would find the whole 'plan' laughable. Still, at the age of eight, playing detective never had much intelligence or logic behind it.
The 'plan' didn't get off to the best start for young Marty. The shop looked very quiet. In fact, the loudest noise came from the soft wining of a puppy tied up outside the shop, its eyes fixed on the door.
Marty felt a bit stupid, standing by the doorway. After ten minutes he wondered if the doctor was even going to arrive. He was also trying to avoid fussing the puppy. His mother had always taught him not to go near strange dogs. He was also aware that his friends could be spying on him somewhere and fussing a puppy was going to do nothing for his street cred at all.
The puppy was certainly trying his best to get his attention though. Since spotting Marty it had intensified with its whimpering sounds and even began letting out small barks. Whenever Marty looked over the puppy wagged its tail madly, crouching on its front legs before leaping up. Marty glanced around, wondering if his friends were watching right now. He wanted to fuss the puppy. His lolling tongue and whimpering sounds were beginning to make him feel sorry for the animal...surely one little stroke wouldn't hurt?
Marty gave another quick glance around and then walked over and bent down. The puppy gave a joyful leap and bounded onto Marty's knee, licking his hands and face, his tail wagging madly.
"Hello!" Marty laughed. "Hey!"
"His name's Einstein."
Marty jumped a mile, the puppy tumbling off his knee. The puppy yelped slightly before resuming to his tail wagging. Marty had not noticed the man watching from the shop doorway.
"He seems to like you."
Marty scrambled to his feet, his face red, feeling very quickly terrified.
"I'm...I'm s...sorry. I didn't k..kknow it was your dog..sssir"
Yet the doctor continued to smile warmly at him.
The poor boy appeared close to tears. Doc had a sudden impulse to draw the boy into a hug but he held back. He may know the boy but to the boy, he 'Doc'...was still a stranger.
How strange it felt.
"It hardly matters." Doc crouched down so he was at the same level as Marty "In fact, it doesn't matter at all. The opposite. Like I said, he likes you."
Marty looked at him, eyes wide, waiting to see what he would do next.
"My name is Emmett. Emmett Brown. Your name is Marty, isn't it?"
Marty stopped gaping for a moment.
"How...how did you know my name?"
The doctor appeared lost for words for a moment.
"Your backpack!" The doctor seemed relieved. "Your name... It's on your backpack."
"Oh." Marty made a comical move at trying to look at his backpack whilst it was still on his back. He got up and span around a couple of times before giving a shy smile and sitting back down.
"My Mom put my name on my bag. I forgot."
Doc smiled warmly again. "Mom's are kind like that."
"Kind?"
"Yes. Immensely so. You just don't realise it yet."
"Oh."
An awkward silence fell between the two.
"Well... I suppose I better be going. Mom will be wondering where I am."
"Is this yours?"
Marty's face turned red.
The doctor was holding his notebook.
"Yes." Marty's voice was small.
"Science experiments? Could I have a look? I'm a man of science myself, you know."
Marty, once again, looked at the doctor fearfully.
Doc, still smiling, opened up the notebook.
Marty picked up the wriggling Einstein. Maybe the doctor wouldn't harm him whilst he was holding the puppy.
He watched, too scared to move, as the doctor flipped through the pages. He saw as the doctor stopped, too long, on a double page.
"The freak at the shop. Thursday afternoon."
Marty put his head down. A long silence fell between the two once again.
"Is this..." Doc looked carefully at Marty. "Is this about me?"
"I'm sorry!" Marty's words blurted out before he could control or understand them. He clutched Einstein closer to his chest. "I didn't set that table out! I swear!"
The doctor began to try to speak but was quickly interrupted by the young boy.
"I don't think you're a freak! I don't! It was a dare! My friend, well, he's not really a friend, but my friend George did that table. It was only a dare. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. You're not a freak. I know now. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
Doc realised, shocked, that young Marty was crying. Big, fat tears fell down the small boys face.
"Marty. Marty, please...it's okay..."
Marty had put Einstein down and slowly at first stood up, before racing as fast as he could away from the doctor and back to the safety of his home.
Doc Brown was left holding the notebook, Einstein yapping at his heels. Time was an odd thing. Knowing too much was always a dangerous business. The Doc knew that he shouldn't intervene with the natural cause of time...but he could certainly fight for what he wanted to happen next.
Marty lay in his bedroom, his heart still beating. He had ran without stopping from the shop to his house, flung the door open, avoided his mum asking what was the matter and headed straight to his room.
He felt sick. It wasn't so much that he was frightened of the doctor anymore. It had seemed to him that he had been nothing but kind- he even had a puppy! This was what was upsetting Marty the most. The doctor had been so kind to him and Marty had chosen to believe whispers and rumours...and the doctor had had to read that terrible 'experiment'. "Freak". Marty's stomach lurched again and he buried his head in his pillow.
He was never going to leave this room.
...
The Doc stood outside the McFly house. He knew the way, of course. It was only a short walk from his house but it took him at least half-an-hour because he kept stopping and considering what he was about to do. Human emotions were so far away from what he usually concerned himself with. Yet, he had the insight of already knowing how greatly the young boy would become a part of his life. Maybe he would have to play with fate a little bit. After all, one day, it could save his life.
Taking a deep breath, Doc knocked firmly on the door. There was a pause in which lots of shouting and running about could be heard from inside the house. He smiled slightly. The sound of family life...he missed it.
The door was suddenly flung open and Doc took a small step back. A woman, who he recognised to be Marty's mother, stood facing him, a slightly confused expression on her face.
"Oh, hello, Mrs McFly." Doc cursed himself for how faltering his voice sounded.
Lorraine frowned again slightly and then gave a curious smile.
"Hello, urm... Mr Brown, isn't it?"
"Emmett, please."
"Emmett...right."
"Sorry to disturb at this hour but..." Doc reached inside a plastic bag, "but I believe this belongs to your son, Marty. I thought he might need it...for school."
"Marty's science book!" Lorraine reached out. "Thank you! Where did you find it?"
"Oh, well. I ran into your son outside the corner shop earlier. I believe it...fell out of his bag. My apologies. I believe I may have scared him."
"Oh, I'm sure you didn't."
"It's okay, Mrs McFly." Doc's voice was gentle. "I do hear the rumours that go round the neighbourhood. I don't blame Marty for being startled."
Lorraine didn't quite know how to respond to this. She was relieved when Doc continued to speak, avoiding an awkward silence.
"Anyway. Please pass on my apologies to Marty. I hope you don't think me to be rude but I noticed a few mistakes in his last piece of science homework. I have corrected them but if in the future...please tell Marty he is welcome to drop by. I would be happy to help and Einstein would be pleased to see him, I'm sure"
"Einstein?"
"My dog."
"Oh. Well, thank you, Emmett. That is very kind. I will pass that on."
"Thank you." Doc bowed his head slightly and excused himself.
Lorraine watched him leave the front porch, smiling...althought she wasn't quite sure why.
The Doc poured another cup of tea, flicking through an old science magazine. It had been a week since he had had his encounter with Marty. Still, no word from the boy.
You should never have interfered. Why on earth would Marty want you as a homework helper? What utter madness.
A knock at the door.
Doc smiled.
The beginning.
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