Thanks again, Allanon! (It finally went through!) ;)

Doc was awoken the next morning by something licking his hand. Groaning, he slowly opened his eyes, squinting against the light. Every part of his body ached.

Where was he? Why was he crammed into this corner and what was this dilapidated building? He glanced down, and saw Einstein licking his hand. Rubbing his eyes, he rubbed Einstein's head and got stiffly to his feet.

Sunlight was streaming through the gaps in the boards of the wall. Doc remembered now, the horrifying events of last night – the alternate 1895, discovering that his other self had been legally declared insane, his anger at Marty – who had now disappeared.

Doc swore softly, aware that it was his own fault that Marty was wandering around somewhere in this awful place. He would just have to search everywhere for the kid, and hope that he wasn't recognised as the mad scientist who had been locked away.

'You stay here, Einie,' he told his dog. 'I won't be long. With a bit of luck, we can sort this mess out, if we can find Marty…' And if Marty forgives me, he added to himself. He wouldn't blame Marty if he never so much as looked at him again.

You're my best friend, Doc.

In remembering Marty's last words to him, Doc felt a glimmer of hope. Marty had known what Doc was doing to him, yet still felt able to call him his friend. But with the hope came almost overwhelming sorrow. Doc had treated him so badly, but Marty was as good-hearted as he always had been. In 2015 he had just been a kid not thinking straight. Doc had been downright cruel.

It was up to him to set it right.

Giving his dog one last pat and hoping that the next time he saw him it would be in the normal 1985, he stepped out into the street. The sunlight was strong, but the street was as deserted as it had been last night. It was still early morning though, as many of the curtains in the windows were drawn.

Doc started determinedly up the street, making for the casino. Perhaps Marty had gone back to his mother, and was there; if Doc hung around for long enough, he might see him coming out.

He didn't have to go halfway up the street to find out where Marty was. His face was staring at him from a newspaper lying on a doorstep.

His heart hammering, Doc snatched up the newspaper and quickly scanned the article. Martin McFly…returned from boarding school in Switzerland…Kidnapped last night and demand for 500 million made… 'I won't give them a cent,' says Biff Tannen…

Marty had been left for one minute in this world and already he had gotten himself kidnapped. Kidnapped! Doc had thought things were bad last night…they were worse off now. How was he ever going to help Marty? He couldn't find out where Biff had hidden the almanac without him.

He threw the newspaper to the ground, trying to calm himself. Right. He couldn't rescue Marty, for the simple reason that he had no idea where he was. So if he could find out where he'd been taken…

The car! The car that Doc had seen driving away just as he'd come back from 1940…Marty must have been in it! If he'd only followed it in the DeLorean…but it was too late to worry about that now. It was too late to worry about a lot of things. But how would he find out where Marty was?

Wait – how stupid was he? He had a time machine.

He hesitated. Going back in time to follow the car would solve a lot of problems, but it was risky. He could very well end up bumping into himself – or this self, the person he was right now…

No, he would go back in time. If he were careful, he wouldn't see himself at all. Turning on his heel, he hurried back to the lab to fetch the DeLorean.

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Marty was woken up by someone coming into his cell. Squinting blearily, he saw it was one of the men who'd dragged him into the car last night. He was setting a glass of water down on the floor, but no food. 'Your old man says he's not paying,' he said, grinning nastily at Marty. 'Didn't even have to think about it. Just said no. Really cares for you, doesn't he?'

Marty sat up, sleepiness washed away by a wave of anger. 'He's not my old man,' he replied through gritted teeth. 'George McFly is my father.'

'If you like. Reckon you'll be joining him soon enough. You got two days left for Tannen to change his mind. Wonder if he will?' Chuckling, the man left, and Marty heard him lock the door again.

He flopped back down on the hard mattress. 'Perfect,' he muttered. He wasn't at all surprised that Biff had refused to pay up. He wondered what his mother would say. Would she give in to Biff, just as she had last night? Or would she fight for Marty's life?

She hadn't looked like Marty's mother at all – all revealing clothes and glitzy jewellery and fake…things; but she was still his mother, no matter what she said or acted. Even if she had married Biff.

'Well, Doc, I'm what your other self is now,' said Marty aloud. 'Locked away. Trouble is, I'm going to be killed in a few days.'

He couldn't feel anything about this. It was as if all feeling had been drained out of him when Doc had left him here. And when he thought about that again, he knew there was no point in living anymore when his best friend was gone and everyone else in this world was either a stranger or a crook.

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10 seconds after Doc had left Marty in the alternate 1985 and 50 seconds before he came back again, Doc arrived in the nighttime.

He had entered this time a few streets away from his lab, otherwise Marty might see him. He had thought about running to get Marty before he could be kidnapped, but quickly dismissed the idea – because his other self would be arriving in 50 seconds, and then Marty would have never been kidnapped and he wouldn't come back here – it was too complicated.

Doc drove quickly to the street where he had left Marty, keeping the DeLorean's headlights off so that Marty wouldn't see him coming. Just as he rounded the corner, he saw Marty being pulled into a car. He saw the teen hit hard over the head, and clenched the steering wheel tight in anger.

The car drove off, and Doc quickly followed them, still not turning on the headlights so that the kidnappers wouldn't see him coming after them. As the car in front started to turn a corner, Doc heard the three sonic booms behind him and a glint of light in his mirror that signalled the arrival of his other self.