Chapter 2

Thursday, February 19th

5:52 P.M.

"Ya da da da, ya da da da!"

Doc swept into his house, carrying Mystie in his arms. "Welcome home, Mrs. Brown."

"Oh Emmett." She kissed him. "I have to say, those were some of the sweetest vows ever written."

"And I meant every word." Doc gently lowered Mystie onto the bed. "So, now that the wedding's all over, are you looking forward to the honeymoon?"

Mystie giggled. "Got the tickets right here," she said, pulling them out of the night table drawer. "Two round trip tickets for Hawaii, and our hotel reservation for six days, five nights." She pulled Doc onto the bed. "This is going to be so fun. We can lounge on the beach and nap during the day, then take in the night-life." She stroked his leg. "Among other things."

"Rowr," Doc said, his eyes beginning to lighten.

"Emmett, it's not like we haven't done it before," Mystie said playfully.

"I was a virgin for 65 years. Any sex is cause for celebration." He nipped her neck. "We leave tomorrow, right?"

"Bright and early."

"Great. That lets me see something." He got up and headed toward the garage.

Mystie sat up, looking puzzled. "See something?" she repeated. "It's your wedding night. I thought all you would be interested in seeing was me."

Doc smiled at her. "Trust me, Mystie, this is something important. It has to do with the Temporal Displacement Locator."

"The CB radio-type thing that lets the DeLorean go through space as well as time? You haven't talked about that since this summer, after the Vacation From Hell."

"Well, we've been busy, as you know. But I've still been working on it, and I finally finished the design two days ago. But naturally I wasn't able to take it on a test run."

"So - you're going to do that now?" Mystie asked, getting up.

"Just a quick, five-minute thing. Just to see if I can get to, say Seattle, in the year 1993."

"Emmett, we just got married! I don't want you to go gallivanting off on another adventure so soon! Especially considering all we've already been through." She put a hand on his arm. "Can't you wait until after the honeymoon? The DeLorean won't be going anywhere."

"I suppose I could, but - I did work the entire summer on it. I really want to know if it works." He grinned at her. "Besides, if it does, we could get another week of honeymoon out of it. We'd just have to go to a different island."

"Well, that is kinda tempting. . . ." She put her head on Doc's shoulder. "But I'm just worried something's going to happen that's going to throw all of our plans out of whack."

Doc embraced her. "Don't worry, honey. I promise you that I'll be gone for no more than five minutes. If I am, you have permission to yell at me until you turn blue." Mystie giggled. "Please let me try it out. It'll be preying on my mind all during our honeymoon if you don't."

Mystie sighed. "All right. But I'm holding you to that five minutes."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." Doc saluted. "I shall return, my love." He kissed her and headed into the garage. Mystie heard him play around with the DeLorean. The system's set for April 9th, 1993, Seattle, Washington, he informed her mentally. Just so you know where I'm going.

Thanks. I'll see you in five minutes. She felt her husband nod, then moments later heard the DeLorean pull out, take to the sky, and hit 88 mph with a sonic boom. Mystie collapsed back down onto the bed. Please, let him come back safely. I don't want to lose him, especially not now.

Friday, April 9th, 1993

Seattle, Washington

5:04 A.M.

"Great Scott!"

Doc hung on to the steering wheel for dear life. He couldn't believe how much the DeLorean was shaking! It was so bad, Doc could swear he saw ripples going through his body and the car. What in the name of Sir Isaac H. Newton is this!

Finally, the DeLorean stabilized. Doc took a moment to get his bearings and to check for bruises. Ouch, he thought, finding a tender spot. How odd. I wonder if I hit some sort of airstream. Or maybe, while installing the TDL, I managed to wreck the suspension. But the car made it out of the garage all right. . . . I'll have to investigate further later. First, to see if the TDL worked.

He opened his window and looked below him. Dark rain clouds covered the area. Doc closed his window and ducked under them. The city below was getting drenched with rain. Doc circled for a moment, then spotted the famous Space Needle. He grinned widely. "Yes! It works!" He wiped his brow. "Thank God. Now back to Mystie and to-"

Abruptly, Doc's smile vanished. He became aware of something else for the first time. Something that completely negated all the joy he felt from his successful experiment.

He couldn't feel Marty's heartbeat.

He sat frozen for a few seconds. Then one hand slapped itself against his chest and pressed down hard. Only one set of pulsations came through - his own. There was no sign of Marty's. But - how can that be? Marty's blood-linked to me. We know from experience that time travel doesn't affect the bond. What's different about time-space travel? Just to be sure, he sent out a message. Marty? Can you hear me? Say something if you're there.

Nothing. There was dead silence in his brain. This isn't right, Doc thought worriedly, chewing on his nails. This simply is not right. The telepathic connection might not be able to function beyond a certain distance, but I highly doubt Marty's heartbeat would just disappear! Unless. . .something's happened to him. . . . He frantically attacked the keypad. I have to get home!

After three tries, he finally input the right date and place. He swung the DeLorean around and hit the gas, accelerating to 88 miles per hour in record time. The trip through time and space was mercifully normal, and Doc quickly found himself high above Hill Valley's Town Square. Everything here seems to be in order. I'll get home to Mysteria, tell her what happened, then call the McFlys. Great Scott, I hope nothing happened. Today's supposed to be the happiest day of my life. I don't need this stress!

He flew over to the Burger King, fully intending to land behind it and drive up into his house. But as he looked out his window, he got another shock.

His house was gone. Completely gone. Another structure stood in its place, taller and skinnier. Doc circled around to the front. A large sign read "Gifts-N-Things," the same company that had tried to buy his land after his "death."

Doc had no idea what to do. He flew in circles, panicked thoughts racing through his mind. What in the name of Sir Isaac H. Newton is going on! Mystie! Mysteria, where are you? Talk to me sweetie, say something! Let me know you're all right! Marty, please, talk to me! Where is everyone? Where's my house? All I did was travel to Seattle and 1993! This shit shouldn't be occurring! I didn't do a thing to alter the past. Something obviously went wrong - but what!

It occurred to him that he was going to attract attention, flying around like this. He landed behind the Burger King, trying to think of something to do. He finally decided his best plan would be to contact the McFlys and ask them if they knew what had happened to Marty and Mysteria. He pulled out onto the road, praying that he hadn't somehow erased the two people he loved the most out of existence.

The route to the McFly house was the same, he was relieved to see. And the house was the same as well. Feeling his hopes rise a little, he went up to the front door and knocked.

George answered the door, dressed in a yellow turtleneck and blue jeans. He must have changed right after the reception, Doc figured. Not that I can blame him. "Oh, hi Dr. Brown. Guess you're here to see Marty, huh?" he smiled.

Doc blinked. George hadn't called him "Dr. Brown" since the early days of their relationship. He shook it off as a mere lapse in speech. "Yes, I am. He's in, right?"

"Yeah, I'll get him for you. Will you come in?"

"No thanks, I'm in a hurry," Doc declined politely. George shrugged and vanished inside, calling for his youngest son. A few minutes later, Marty took his place. "Hey, Doc, what's up? How'd your experiment go?"

Doc grabbed him and felt him all over. Marty gave a little jolt. "Doc?" He tried to squirm away. "What the heck are you doing?"

"You seem to be okay," Doc muttered. "How are you feeling, Marty? Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah, fine. Never been better. Are you okay?"

Doc didn't answer. "Marty, I need your help. Something's very wrong, and I can't figure out what happened. Where's Mystie?"

"Who?"

"Mystie, Mysteria!" Marty just stared blankly at him. "My wife?" Doc said, getting frustrated.

"Mystie? What kind of a nickname is that for Clara?"

Now it was Doc's turn to say, "Who?"

Marty frowned. "Clara. Clara Clayton. That gal you saved from falling into the ravine," he said sarcastically.

"Saved from falling into the ravine?" Doc was getting more confused by the second. "When was this?"

"Back when we were in 1885? Don't you remember?"

"I - never mind. Where do this 'Clara' and I live? I can't find my garage."

Marty began to look worried. "Doc, are you feeling okay?" he asked. "You're acting really strange here."

"Please, humor me."

"Uh - When you came back with your family, Dad and I agreed to help you sell your garage so you could buy a house. We sold it, and you insisted we keep five percent. Dad made me put most of my share in a fund for college, but I spent the rest on a trip with Jennifer." He looked into Doc's eyes. "You don't remember any of that?"

Doc slowly shook his head. "No, Marty. I don't. Not a thing."

Marty looked at him a moment, then backed up into the house. "I'm gonna call Clara, okay?"

"If you think that's a good idea," Doc said, following Marty inside.

"Yeah! I mean, she and the kids-"

"Kids! I have kids too?"

"Don't tell me you don't even remember Jules and Verne!"

"No, but they certainly sound like my kids, at any rate."

Marty managed a weak chuckle. "Cute, Doc. Do you even remember why you were in the DeLorean?"

"I was testing my latest invention. The Temporal Displacement Locator. Lets you travel in space when you travel in time."

"Whew. For a second there, I thought you had forgotten everything." He picked up the receiver and dialed. "Hello, Clara? Yeah, it's me. Listen, Doc just got back from his trip - well, that's the thing, he's acting pretty damn weird. Like he's got amnesia or something. Yeah. No, I don't know. He doesn't seem to remember you or the boys. Got me, I'm not good at that sort of stuff. Okay, I'll bring him over in the DeLorean. Yeah. Bye." He hung up. "She wants me to bring you over there. See if seeing her helps jog your memory."

"All right." Doc was absolutely baffled. What in the name of Sir Isaac H. Newton is going on here! I've never met a Clara in my life! And the only Clayton I know is Clayton Ravine. What happened to Mysteria and my garage and the Darkness Falls vampires? How could testing one invention by going into the future change all of this? On an impulse, he pulled Marty into an embrace. "Great Scott, I'm confused."

"Me too," Marty admitted. "But I know we'll work this out. It's not the worst that's happened to us."

"I'll take your word for it." Automatically, one hand slid over Marty's heart to feel the pulsations. Marty glanced down at it, puzzled. "Yeah, Doc, my heart's still there."

Doc closed his eyes. No, it isn't.