Chapter 8

Sunday, April 6th, 1986

Hill Valley

4:48 P.M.

Doc breathed a sigh of relief as the flux capacitor began to flux normally again. Finally! Now all that remains is to--

The world shimmered again, making Doc blink. He sighed and picked up the notepad resting on the DeLorean's hood. "Another memory changed," he murmured, slightly amused at how little time it had taken him to get used to the phenomenon.

He scanned the notepad for a moment, until he located where he had left off the last time. Reading it over, it appeared that, once again, little had changed. Marty had simply followed him into the woods, as opposed to him going by himself. Wonderful, now I don't have to go back and retrieve my luggage from Lucy's house. Marty will be happy to learn that he hasn't altered the space-time continuum as much as he probably thinks he has. Doc set the notepad down and clapped his hands. Well, he'll be in the woods near Riverside Drive. Time to go pick him up.

Friday, September 2nd, 1938

Hill Valley

6:41 P.M.

Marty finally caught up to Emmett, following a trail of broken branches into a large clearing. Emmett was sitting on a rock with his back to Marty, his shoulders shaking. Marty stood there for a moment, not sure what to say. "Emmett?" he finally ventured.

"Go away!" Emmett's voice was hoarse, confirming what Marty had suspected -- he was crying. "You got what you wanted from me, now go away!"

Marty set Emmett's suitcase down, feeling guilty. "Okay. I know how you feel. It's like I've caused nothing but bad luck for you ever since I showed up. I'm sorry." He turned to go, but something made him pause and look back. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Emmett turned, eyes red and puffy. "What do you care?" he choked out. "You're just like the rest of them! You only put up with me because you can use me! Go away!" He sniffed and shivered more violently.

Marty frowned. That shivering seemed different from regular crying shivering. And he had just noticed Emmett was in his shirt sleeves. "Are you cold?"

"I forgot my coat," Emmett said flatly, wiping his nose with his hand.

Compassion overwhelmed sense. Marty slipped off his oversized coat and held it out to Emmett. "Here. It should fit you."

Emmett stared at the coat for a moment. Then he looked Marty straight in the eyes. "Who are you?"

"Huh?"

"Who are you?"

"I told you. I'm Marty Jackson, inventor's--"

"That can't be right."

For one horrific moment, Marty thought he had given himself away. Then Emmett continued. "I mean, it might be true, but it's not right. You know how Holly said that she was getting this strange feeling when she looked at you? I'm getting it too. Something -- something about you is -- is saying that I should know you. That we're -- related somehow. But I've never seen you before in my life!" Emmett shook his head. "I don't understand it. I just don't understand it. . . ."

Marty stared at Emmett, unable to answer. What could he say? Oh, Emmett, that's just because you're my future best friend, and I can't help but like you and want to do stuff with you. And besides, he was rather scared by the way Emmett had described things. That's like how the Doc in 1955 suddenly knew my name without hearing me say it. Does Doc have some sort of weird sixth sense when it comes to me? "Do you want the coat or not?" he asked, for lack of anything better to say.

"Yes," Emmett admitted, taking it and slipping it on. Marty sat down beside him. "I'm sorry, Marty, I shouldn't have said anything. You probably think I'm crazy now. Hell, maybe I am crazy. How many normal people would say they feel like they're related to a total stranger?"

"Anybody who's fallen in love at first sight, I bet," Marty said, trying to cheer Emmett up.

Emmett snorted. "Love at first sight. There's no such thing. I thought I had that with Lucy, and look where that got me."

Marty winced. "Sorry. But I don't think that was love, just -- infatuation mixed with desperation. Love at first sight does exist. I've been there with my own girlfriend."

"Really?"

"Really." Marty put a hand on Emmett's wrist. "I don't think you're crazy. Lonely, maybe, but not crazy."

Emmett looked at him. "Do you feel it too? That sort of -- brotherly connection? That closeness?"

Marty nodded, figuring Emmett could use the pick-me-up. "Yeah, I do."

Emmett smiled a little. "Maybe we're just a couple of eccent--"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The trees shook with the force of the triple sonic blast, sending down a spray of leaves and needles. Marty let out a deep sigh, relieved. Finally! What took you so long, Doc?

Emmett leapt to his feet, staring at the sky. "Great Scott! Marty, did you see that!"

"I certainly heard it," Marty said, playing innocent. "Is a storm moving in? Would be the perfect ending to your crappy day." Hey, I bet that's why Doc remembered the day as overcast!

"No! I saw something up there, over the treetops! Something silvery! It -- you're not going to believe this, but it looked like a spaceship!"

Some of the color drained from Marty's face. Oh, shit, it's the Peabodys all over again! "Uh -- Emmett – there's no way it could have been a spaceship. Are you sure of what you saw?" he asked, fidgeting nervously.

"Of course I'm sure! Jules Verne described spaceships in From the Earth to the Moon! Come on, it went this way!" And with that, Emmett was off.

"Emmett, wait!" Marty was forced to chase after him again. "Shit, I never knew Doc could run this fast! God damn it. . . ."

He finally caught up with Emmett just as they reached the time machine. Emmett looked like he was about to start drooling at any second. "Emmett! Don't get--"

"Marty, what -- are--"

Doc froze, halfway out of the car. Emmett froze as well, eyes fixed firmly on his older self. There was a tense silence as they stared at each other, dumbfounded.

Then, with a faint, "Great Scott," they both fainted dead away.

"Doc!" Marty raced up to the older version of his best friend and began shaking him. "Yo, Doc, wake up!"

Doc groggily opened his eyes. "Ugh -- Marty?"

"Yeah, Doc, it's me. Are you okay?"

The scientist sat up with a slight groan. "New rule," he said. "If you meet yourself while time traveling, don't look your other self in the eyes." He shook his head and glanced in the direction of his still-unconscious younger self. "Especially if you're completely unprepared to see him. Great Scott. . . ."

"Doc, I'm really sorry, I know I shouldn't have been with him," Marty said, gesturing wildly, eyes darting between Doc and Emmett. "It's just that -- damn it, Doc, you're my best friend, and he wouldn't leave me alone--"

Doc held up a hand, silencing Marty. "I know. You're not in trouble, Marty. You wouldn't even have been put in this situation if I had preformed a few more preliminary checks of the time travel systems. You were right, Marty -- in my sleep-deprived state, I made a mistake in rewiring the flux capacitor. As a result, it was steadily losing power -- and our time travels didn't help matters. It took me a few hours to fix it, that's why I'm so late."

"I see. Still, Doc, I've probably shitted up history in a big way."

"Actually, Marty, you didn't alter the space-time continuum as much as you think."

"Really?" Marty asked, relieved.

"Nope. I've been comparing my new memories to my old ones, and they're mostly the same."

"So you've got two sets of memories now, like me?"

"Not quite." Doc got out of the car and examined his younger self, who was starting to snore slightly. "Incredible, simply incredible. . .although we'll have to do something with him shortly to keep the time-line on track. You see, Marty, since I wasn't time traveling and thus out of the normal time stream, I was directly affected by the temporal changes you made. I have no memory of performing the actions I did today without you along for the ride."

Marty looked baffled. "But -- you said--"

"I know, I know. It's a bit hard to explain. First, we have to get -- him -- over to Holly Handlen's house. That's where I remember eventually going after Lucy so unceremoniously dumped me."

Marty scowled "She was a real bitch to you, Doc."

"I agree. I knew the true nature of our relationship on some level, but I wanted so desperately to have a girlfriend that I ignored all the warning signs. My luggage is still in that clearing we were just in, right?"

"Yeah. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to her?"

"She married Rex -- they had a child, but it died of rubella at six months. Rex was killed in World War II, and Lucy lived out the rest of her days as a wealthy widow. She died at 62 from lung cancer." Doc hefted Emmett's shoulders. "Could you grab his feet?"

Marty did so, nodding as something clicked in his mind. "You know, I thought I recognized the name Childs. She's got a plaque in the band room at school. Apparently in her will, she donated all her money to the school music program. I guess she mellowed out in her later years."

Doc shrugged as he began leading the way back to the clearing. "I don't think it was 'mellowing out' so much as the fact that she always loved music. Then again, I wouldn't know -- we never spoke again after today. She left a pretty raw wound on my heart."

"Yeah, I can imagine." Marty sidestepped to avoid a tree root. "So, what's the deal with your memories?"

"Well, Marty, during our conversation over the broken time talkie, I discovered that, although I remembered taking you home with me, I didn't recall your presence at the dinner where my father disowned me. I was initially determined to put the issue aside -- fixing the DeLorean was my top priority -- until I saw what looked like -- like some sort of ripple going through the air."

"You mean like that ripple our doubles described last December, during that whole other realities mess?"

"Precisely! After seeing the ripple, when I went back through my memories, there you were, playing cards with me and my friends before that fateful dinner." Doc picked up his suitcase and pointed Marty to the southwest. "However, you were still not present at said dinner. Apparently when a person changes the past, the future changes in stages, reflecting how long the person was there, and how much they changed."

Marty looked thoughtful for a moment. "Sorta like how my brother, my sister, and me vanished from that photograph one by one instead of all at once?"

"You've got it, Marty. There are a lot of variables at work when you change the past, and I suppose that allowing for more frequent, gradual changes helps to take all of them into account."

"But if you only remember the version with me in it, how do you know I didn't do any damage to the space-time continuum?"

"I suppose that for the earliest parts of this memory, I don't. I only noticed the ripple after I talked to you. However, considering no dinosaurs started walking down the street, I don't think you did anything too drastic. As for the rest of it -- simple. I wrote it down. Each time I caught sight of another ripple, I'd consult my notebook and compare the old memory to the new one."

"Wouldn't your writing change, though?"

"I was a little worried about that too, but no, it didn't. I'm not exactly sure why yet, though." Doc looked thoughtful. "Did your photograph of you, Dave, and Linda ever change?"

"No, actually. It looks the same as it did in the old reality." Marty frowned. "Weird. I mean, it was taken when we were on a vacation, but still. . . ."

"It's something that warrants further study. I'll look into it once we fix things here."

Marty nodded. "So your dad was going to throw you out whether I was here or not, huh?"

"Yup. With or without your presence, I was still going to punch him. And Lucy was still going to cruelly dump me, and I was still going to run into the woods for a good cry." Doc shifted more of Emmett's weight into Marty's arms. "I have to admit, it was kind of nice to have a friend with me this time around." He gave Marty a severe look. "Don't go using that as carte blanche to interact with people in other time periods, though. My rule still stands."

"Oh, hell no, Doc, don't worry. I put myself through hell while I was with -- him. It's just -- you're my best friend, Doc, no matter what age you are."

Doc smiled again. "I know. And I admit, my younger self was rather pushy." He looked thoughtful. "On that note, my 1955 self is probably going to recognize your younger self now. Let's hope that I have enough sense to keep my mouth shut about this visit."

"Don't you know yet? I mean, wouldn't you remember the new 1955 visit?"

"Great Scott, that never occurred to me. I was so concerned with how this current visit would affect the space-time continuum. . . ." He concentrated for a second. "It appears that I made a slight mention of the incident after you showed me the time machine -- since you didn't pick up on it, I dropped it. Whew."

"Yeah." Marty grunted as they maneuvered around a tree. "Hey, Doc? About the whole memory thing -- do you think my parents saw it coming?"

"It's possible. But unlike myself, who has experience in time travel matters, they probably wouldn't even remember seeing it after the new memories were in place. And if you're worried about a pain response similar to the one you experienced while being erased from existence, that's unlikely as well. The ripples never caused me any pain anyway."

"That's good. I wouldn't want Dave or Linda to have to go through what I did at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance." Marty frowned, wondering if he should ask Doc something that had been bothering him. "Hey Doc?"

"Yes?"

"Speaking of siblings -- whatever happened to Jack?"

Doc went stiff and stopped walking, forcing Marty to stop short. "He's probably somewhere in California. I don't know where exactly." He looked Marty straight in the eye. "I know it seems odd that I never told you about him, but Jack -- Jack--" He stopped and closed his eyes. "I hate him."

Marty winced. "Sorry. He take after Elias?"

"You could say that. All that matters to me is that he's out of my life. You'll never meet him, luckily. He's horrible." Doc sighed. "I don't like talking about him."

"Okay, Doc. I was just wondering. I didn't mean to make you upset."

"It's all right, Marty. I can't blame you for being curious. All you have to know is that he was an asshole on par with my father." Doc grunted loudly. "Great Scott, I never thought an unconscious 17-year-old boy could be this heavy! Especially when he's -- me."

"Yeah, my arms are starting to ache," Marty admitted. "How much farther to Holly's place?"

"Not too much farther, I don't think. At least, I didn't remember walking for too long." They took a quick breather. "Remind me to lose some weight."

Marty smirked. "I'm glad we're taking him to Holly's. You were right, Doc, she really is a great gal."

"I knew you would like her. I don't think I would have gotten through this time without her. She and her family let me stay at her house for a few months, until I was able to find my own place." Doc sighed in relief as they finally emerged back onto the street, next to a little wooden house. "Finally. Set him down here."

They gently dropped Emmett onto the front step. Emmett turned his head and groaned loudly. "Appears that he's coming to," Doc said, setting the suitcase down next to him. "We'd best get back to our own time."

"You'll be all right here?"

"Yes, this will set the space-time continuum back on track. Come on." Doc started back into the woods. With one last glance at Emmett, Marty followed.

Friday, September 2nd

6:52 P.M.

Ugh. . . .

Emmett groggily opened his eyes. He could feel cold stone under his back, and his view of the sky was unblocked. What happened? he thought, slowly sitting up and putting a hand to his head. Where am I?

He looked around, trying to gauge his surroundings. He was sitting on the front step of the Handlen house, his luggage by his side. How in the name of Sir Isaac H. Newton did I get here? he wondered, baffled. Did Holly somehow manage to teleport me here? And how did my luggage get here? The last thing I remember is being in the woods with Marty, and that spaceship streaking overhead -- and I chased after it, saw it land -- and I saw --

I saw myself.

Emmett blinked and shook his head rapidly. No, that's not right. There's no way I could have seen myself. It's outside the range of rational thought. I must have dreamed that part. I must have -- tripped, or something, and knocked myself out. And I bet Marty took me here when he couldn't revive me! He looked around, puzzled. So where's Marty now? And why didn't he take his coat back?

Emmett snapped his fingers. I bet that inventor friend of his finally showed up while Marty was finding his way here. Ten bucks says he convinced Marty to leave me here and whisked him away. I guess Marty just forgot his coat. He sighed and fingered a piece of the material. Well -- goodbye, Marty. It was nice knowing you. He frowned. Although this coat of yours kind of itches. . . .

He heard the door open behind him and got quickly to his feet. Holly was standing there, looking puzzled. "Oh, hi Emmett. What are you doing here?"

Something about seeing his only real friend in the world made Emmett tear up again. "Holly, I -- I've been disowned. Father and I had one last row about my obsession with science, and he kicked me out. And Lucy's dumped me on top of that. Can -- Can I stay here with you for a little while? Please?"

Holly wrapped him in a hug. "Of course, Emmett. Of course."