Back to the Doctor

Go West, Young Man Part 2

"So…" Marty cleared his throat. "When that alien said you weren't human…"

"Yes?" The Doctor's head popped up from beneath the consol. He was trying to fix something, something with a long name Marty wouldn't be able to remember if someone had a gun to his head and told him his very life depended on knowing what it was called. What Marty did know is that its only purpose seemed to be to explode and that the TARDIS didn't work without it.

"Well… what did he mean?"

"That I'm not human," his head disappeared again.

"Now, Doc, I get what you're saying," he walked around the consol until he was standing over the Doctor. He didn't like this side of the consol, this was the side Jennifer was on, and it took every ounce of will power for Marty to concentrate on the Doctor and not the flimsy sheet that hid Jennifer from his view. "But, you are human, right? I mean. You look exactly like me. Well, exactly, but human anyway. You look human."

The Doctor looked up. "You look Time Lord."

"Of course," Marty said slowly, uncertainly.

"No, you do. We came first."

Marty scratched his head. "So… you're an alien. From the planet…?"

"Gallifrey."

"Ah, so not in Australia after all," Marty wanted to laugh.

"You think it's weird that you hitched a ride with a very clever alien who owns a time machine?"

"I didn't hitch a ride. It's not like I stuck my thumb out and you beamed me up."

"Beamed you up? Don't be ridiculous and hand me the wonrangle."

Marty looked at the incomprehensible tools strewn about the consol.

"Uhh…"

"The long one with the three semi-circles."

"Whatever," Marty picked up the wonrangle and handed it to the alien in the blue pinstripe suit. "And no, you being an alien is not weird. You being an alien makes sense… a lot of sense. What's weird is that there's an alien race that looks exactly like humans."

"We're nothing like humans."

"How are you not like humans?"

"We're much cleverer," the Doctor got to his feet, finishing his work on the TARDIS with a triumphant smile. "And we have two hearts. Now, let's go grow with the country!"

OOO

The dust on the street kicked up as a whirl of wind disrupted the calm day. It was early in the morning, the streets were mostly empty, and no one was around to hear the struggled breathing of the TARDIS or witness it apparate in the alley next to the saloon.

The blue doors opened and the Doctor stepped out, taking a deep breath in and digging his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Ah, the old west! Can you smell that Marty? Adventure awaits."

Marty poked his head out. "It smells like manure, Doc."

"Well, whoever said adventure smells like daisies?"

They both stepped out into the warm morning. "Should we change or something?"

The Doctor looked at Marty in his jeans and jean jacket and himself in his long brown duster. "Why? We'll fit in well enough."

"What about the TARDIS? That definitely doesn't fit in."

"No one will notice. It has a perception filter around it. People only see what they want to see, and a perception filter makes people not want to."

Marty almost started to ask how a perception filter worked, but stopped himself before the Doctor could begin yet another techno-babble tangent. Then he remembered the locator trinket he had bought in the Final Marketplace. He had nearly forgotten about it after the insanity of escaping from the Cyberman. Finally he could test it out.

"What's that?" The Doctor asked as Marty pulled the golden charm out of his pocket.

"A location charm, or something."

"A location charm? Ugh, those are so boring. Where's the fun in exploration when you always know where you are?"

"And where am I?"

"Hill Valley," came the sweet voice of the charm as the Doctor opened his mouth to answer.

"Charm wins," Marty smiled and pocketed it again.

"Charm does not win. Charm is boring. Can't even tell you the time!"

"What time is it, anyway?"

"1885, some time in October."

"I think you mean 1895," a young woman's voice interrupted.

The two men turned their heads to see the girl leaning against the saloon staring at them inquisitively. She was slightly shorter than Marty, but looked to be the same age. She wore a long faded purple gown with a silk purple ribbon in her jet-black hair. She looked tired, her eyelids hung low, as though she had been up all night, but they made her look as though she were giving them a sheepish grin with her eyes.

Marty wanted to say something, tease the Doctor, say hello, something, anything, but he saw her soft brown eyes he couldn't even breath anymore. Those were Jennifer's eyes. That was Jennifer's face. Jennifer's body. Jennifer's cleavage threatening to burst out of that dark corset with every breath. Marty felt dizzy.

The girl laughed. "You boys lost?"

"Nn," Marty managed to choke the sound out.

"What my eloquent colleague means to say is, yes," the Doctor moved towards her, holding out his hand to shake, a winning smile on his face. "We're new in town."

"I can tell," she took his hand, amused by the gesture. "You sound like Brits."

"We are, and we're looking for a doctor-"

"A blacksmith," Marty found his voice, though it sounded weak and strained.

"A doctor of blacksmithing. Emmett Brown."

"Oh," she narrowed her eyes slightly, and her smile faded. "Mr. Brown?"

"You know him?"

"Sure, everyone knows him. He's a little… Well, different. Does he know you?"

"Old friends. I'm the Doctor, this is my companion, Marty. You are?"

"You can call me Daisy."

"Daisy, can you tell us where to find him?"

"Buy me a drink and I'll tell you whatever you want to know," she turned her back on them and nodded with her head towards the saloon. "C'mon boys, don't keep a gal waiting."

She started walking away and for a moment they could only stare at her and she walked away, her hips swaying with every step.

The Doctor looked at Marty. "You look pale."

"I feel pale."

"Come on, adventure beckons."

"I thought adventure smelled like manure."

The Doctor grinned. "Sure, but sometimes, adventure does smell like daisies."

"That's not funny."

"It's a little funny," the Doctor started walking towards the main street.

"No, Doc, that's Jennifer."

"Huh?"

"I mean: that's not Jennifer. It must be her grandmother or great-grandmother or something."

The Doctor saw Daisy disappear into the saloon.

"How can you tell?"

"You can't see the resemblance?" Marty peeked around the building, but Daisy was gone.

"Can't say I got the best look at Jennifer's face."

"I don't think we should talk to her Doc. What if we're talking and she's supposed to meet her future husband, and then she falls in love with the wrong guy and they don't kiss at the dance and I- Jennifer's never born."

"Uh… I'm sure it'll be fine," he walked away.

Marty grabbed for him but he was already out of reach.

"Doc. Doc!" Marty sighed. He had already decided he wasn't going to lose the Doctor again. He would have to take his chances in the saloon.

When he opened the brown washboard doors Marty was surprised how little had changed since he had walked through there 10 years ago – though only a little over a month had passed for Marty.

There was no one at the bar, though the same bartender, now with grayer hair, stood behind it cleaning glasses. Most of the tables were empty, but a few had drunks passed out at them.

Daisy had gone to a table by the window, she sat sideways in her chair, her legs pointing towards Marty and the Doctor, her right arm on the table, her chin resting on her hand as she grinned at them.

"I'll have a whiskey," she said softly.

The bar tender began pouring her a glass without even looking towards them.

"What about you?"

"I think we'll pass on the drinks," the Doctor sat down at the table across from her. Marty just stood there, unable to look away from Daisy.

"And your companion, was it?"

Marty cleared his throat. "We just need to find Doc Brown," he muttered.

"Is he really a doctor?" She turned towards the Doctor until she was sitting in the chair properly.

"So I've heard," the Doctor replied.

"Well, either way him and his family left here about a month ago. Just, up and disappeared one day. The whole town was talking."

"He's gone?"

"We've missed him," the Doctor frowned. He had really been hoping this wouldn't happen. He had entered the timeline now and going back on it could be disastrous. But what choice did they have? They had no way of knowing where else Doc Brown might be.

The bartender came over with the drink and whispered something into Daisy's ear.

"Yeah boss, I know," she sounded slightly annoyed.

He walked away and Marty sat down. "What, do you work for him or something?"

She laughed. "Yeah."

"Doing what?"

"About Mr. Brown-" The Doctor tried to interrupt.

"You don't know what I do?" Daisy purred.

"Are you a… dancer or something?"

"Marty, I'm not entirely sure-" The Doctor was cut off again.

"I'll tell you what, if you want to give me 10 cents I'll take you to a back room and show you what I do."

Marty felt like she had just kicked the chair from underneath him. "Are you a prostitute!"

"Oh dear," the Doctor sat back.

Daisy's mouth hung open in shock, and just as she was about to retort the door suddenly burst opened and a short, red-haired, distressed looking man ran in.

"McFly, what's the matter?" The bartender asked.

"McFly?" The Doctor raised his eyebrows. The man who had run in was practically the spitting image of Marty.

"Seamus?" Marty turned around.

"Is there a time rift around here I don't know about?" The Doctor asked no one in particular.

Seamus looked Marty over, half-recognizing him from somewhere, but then turned back to the bartender.

"I just came the Hochstrasser farm," Seamus began, speaking with an Irish accent.

"And?"

"And they're gone."

"Gone?" The Doctor chimed in.

"Not just them," Seamus turned his attention to the Doctor. "All their livestock. And… I think I saw blood in the house, but the door was locked, I couldn't get in. I came here for help."

"Two families vanishing in one month?" Daisy spoke up. "Hill Valley's gonna get a reputation."

"This is hardly related," Marty interjected.

"It isn't?" The Doctor asked.

"You think this is related?"

"You don't?" The Doctor stood up and walked over to Seamus. "Where exactly is this farm?"

To Be Continued…

(I'm not entirely sure how familiar you guys are with the titular quote, though I'm sure a couple of you put it through google. The full quote is "Go West, young man, and grow up with the country" and it was the title of an editorial written by American journalist named John B.L. Soule in 1851. History lesson over. Also, how excited was why to finally have the Doctor call Marty his companion? The answer is: very. The bit about the time rift is an inside joke, I guess. Go watch the last episode of Doctor Who series 4 and you'll get it. I hope you guys don't dislike Daisy. Despite her being a relative/clone of Jennifer, she is essentially an OC, and my first human one – which can generally generate contempt and hatred. I needed Daisy, because I need to find ways to keep Jennifer an actual character and one way to do this was to create a Shemp Jennifer. Why is she a prostitute? Well other than making Marty uncomfortable I also wanted to make Hill Valley a little dirtier. The Old West was not a family-friendly place most of the time, and Back to the Future Part III really overlooked that.)