Chapter 6:

Marty and Nix drove through the dark town of Hill Valley in silence. Nix was in wonder, looking at the clean town she thought she knew. Despite the wee hours of the morning, she could easily see all the similarities and differences from '12 and '85. The main difference, how clean the town was. No graffiti, streets were fresh with no pot holes and everything seemed to gleam in the moonlight.

"Where we headin, Marty?" Nix asked.

"Doc's," he said, "He should still be up at," he checked his watch, "2:26 in the morning."

She smiled to Marty.

"What?" he asked.

"Hm? Oh, nothing," she said.

"So, for tomorrow's band rehearsal, I'll be picking you up from Doc's at around ten or so. The show is going to be at eight-ish. Sound good?"

"Sounds awesome," she said.

She looked out the window of the DeLorean into the town again. It was a calm night, clear sky with no clouds. The stars were just sparkling bright outside. The silence just made the whole night almost perfect.

"Are you ok?" Marty asked to break the silence.

"What? Oh, I'm fine. Just, I dunno, excited."

Marty smiled, "You're in for the ride of your lifetime. Have you ever been in a band before?"

"Want me to lie or be truthful?"

"So what you're going as is no…?"

She sighed and looked to the floor, "No, I've never did before."

Marty took his one hand off the wheel and slowed the car down. He lifted her head to be looking at him. He smiled, and that made her smile.

"Hey," he said with a charming smile, "Don't worry about it. You're in for the thrill of a life time."

She smiled and bit her lip. Marty smiled back and returned his gaze back to the road and kicked up the speed again. The rest of the ride was silent on the way to Doc's house. Marty had told her that Doc had moved to one of his parents other estates in the area and was going through paperwork there and such. Marty also went on to say how Doc's niece had stayed with him for a few months before she moved and went on to college, so Doc would have an extra room. He said he wouldn't mind.

The two had finally reached Doc's house on the edge of the town. Marty parked the DeLorean in the driveway and the two got out, minding the car body for it was still cold.

The duo walked up to the house and Marty knocked on the door. In a few quick seconds, Doc was at the door and pulling the two inside.

"Keep quiet and don't speak," he said to Nix.

"Doc, this isn't the time-" Marty began, but Doc cut him off.

"Marty, keep quiet, I'm trying out my new invention."

He had on a huge metal hat on and sat Nix down in a chair. She was mostly used to being a lab rat to one of her crazy experiments.

"Don't say a word as I try to read your thoughts," Doc said, "Marty, make sure my calculations are correct."

"Sure, Doc," Marty said rolling his eyes.

"Now, you're from a far distance?"

"Yup," she said, bored.

"You- you're here for a school funding trip?"

"Nope…"

"Doc!" Marty called.

"Not now, Marty," Doc said, "You're trying to sell me magazine subscriptions?"

"Nope…" Nix said again, annoyed.

"Doc, you're calculations are off completely."

"Great Scott! So you're saying that this thing doesn't work?"
"Right, Doc."

Doc took off the metal headgear and set it on a near by table. He looked at Nix and then to Marty. Marty was standing by one of Doc's desks; he was shifting uncomfortably, waiting for him to ask questions about Nix.

"Who's the girl?" Doc asked.

"Well, to put it lightly, she's your assistant from the year 2012. Her name is Nix and she's on a mission to help her dad."

"Nix? That's an odd name for a girl," Doc said looking at the girl in the chair.

"It's Nicole, but everyone calls me Nix."

"Nicole," Doc said, "This was probably a bad idea to come back."

She shrugged, "It's not for a personal matter, and it's more of a family matter."

"Doc, she's one of you're brilliant assistants from the future, and she needs a place to stay for a few days while we win a contest. She cool to stay with you? She has a cool mind that I'm sure you'd like to toy around with."

He shrugged, "I don't see why not. As long as she doesn't talk about the future."

"I can do that," she said.

"And," he began.

"Here we go…" Nix sighed.

"I get to toy with her mind."

"Thanks, Marty," Nix said to Marty.

Marty crossed his arms over his chest and smiled. He shrugged and stayed out of the conversation.

"Fine," Nix said.

"Then we have a deal."

Doc and Nix shook hands twice. Then Doc began to look her over.

"Strange," he said, "I would've thought you'd be dressed differently."

Nix looked down at what she was wearing. A black and grey baseball tee and a pair of black sweat pants and a pair of black flip flops, the normal outfit of a Fox half the time.

"How so?" she asked, confused.

"Are you sure she's from 2012, Marty?" Doc asked.

"Positive," he said.

"If you say so, Marty."

"Listen, Doc, I gotta get home. I'll be back over tomorrow morning to pick her up for rehearsal then."

"Alright, Marty."

Marty walked over to Nix before he left. He gave her a quick hug and went to the door. "See ya tomorrow," he called over his shoulder before leaving for the night.

"Night, Marty," Doc said.

Marty smiled again and left the house, leaving Nix and Doc alone. Doc went to go check his mind reader helmet. Just a pup, Einstein came over and jumped up into her lap. She giggled and patted his head.

"Hey, Einstein," she said to the puppy.

The little puppy barked happily in her lap as she petted him. The puppy seemed to have an attention span of about thirty seconds, and soon jumped off her lap and ran to Doc, wanting attention. Nix laughed at the little puppy.

The clocks in the lab began to ring and go crazy. The noise made little Einstein run off and hide. Doc looked from clock to clock and nodded. Probably one of his successes.

"Perfect! All of these clocks are twenty three minutes slow exactly!" Doc exclaimed.

"So you're saying it's passed three AM?" Nix asked.

"Precisely!"

Einstein hopped back up into her lap once more. She giggled and pet the little puppy in her arms again. She loved pet-sitting Einstein. He was such a good dog.

"It's late, I'll show you to the extra room. Marty must've told you about my niece?" Doc said, gesturing to the main hallway leading to the upstairs.

Nix put the puppy on the floor and followed Doc through the house.

"Yeah, Marty said how she went off to college."

"Oh yes, for a degree in science. She had such an excellent mind, perfect for science."

"Medicine, engineering, physics?" Nix asked.

"Medicine," he said, "You'll be staying in her room."

"Cool," she said.

"You're free to use whatever's in her room. She's most likely not to return in the next few days."
"Thanks Doc," Nix smiled, "In the future, this wouldn't be the first time stayin over night with you. They set a curfew time and a good portion of the time, I'm over at your lab in the wee hours of the morning, working."

"I don't want to hear about the future, Nicole. It could mess up the space time continuum."

"Right, sorry."
Doc stopped her in front of a bright neon green door, "This was her room."

Nix opened the door into a neon green and black room. Just up her alleyway. She walked in and looked around and turned back to Doc.

"Thanks, Doc."

"Anything for a future assistant. Now tomorrow-"

"Yeah, you can see what goes through my mind," she said with a smile.

"Splendid!" he exclaimed, "Well, good night."

"Night," she smiled.

Doc closed the door and left Nix alone in the room. She went through the closet to find something to sleep in besides her sweats and baseball tee. Nix pulled out a pair of blue plaid sleep shorts just her size. Curious, she checked most of the sizes in the closet. All her sizes. Odd…

Nix had a tendency to pick out her clothes before bed. She threw a pair of light blue acid wash jeans and a neon blue shirt on top of her flip flops on the floor. Once in the pj pants, she turned off the light. She fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow.