Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is really important.

Author's Note: Well, it's kind of obvious what this chapter's about, isn't it? Sorry about the ending, though. I couldn't find any other place to end the chapter - I had to cut the scene in two, no matter how. That's also why this chapter is rather short.

13: Chapter Thirteen

"GREAT SCOTT!"

Marty McFly held the steering wheel tight as he re-entered 1985. He hadn't expected this. Sure, he knew the transition would be violent, but nothing like this. He felt like he had almost been burned alive.

Coming to his senses, the teenager saw what he was heading towards: Essex Theatre. Panicking, he attempted to turn around, but no avail. The truck crashed into the old theatre and came to a halt. "Whoa" Marty couldn't help but say. "That's going to cost me some money."

"Well, never mind that right now" he muttered, backing up and returning to the street. "Let's see… my intentions were to go to the shop, buy a bullet-proof vest and prepare Emmett for getting shot by bringing it to him. It's still early now, but I shouldn't waste any time and carry on immediately. Thus, I should turn the car around, and go up to the shop."

Determined, Marty did just that. The car turned around, and raced towards the shop. After fifteen minutes of hurried driving, it came to a halt in front of Lester's Self-Protection Shop.

Lester's Self-Protection Shop had been around in Hill Valley since 1962. Marty knew that the owner, Michael Lester, was an old friend of his father's. However, they had lost touch over the years, and given that Marty didn't visit the shop very often, he wasn't sure whether the guy would recognize him. Marty himself had a very clear idea of who Mike Lester was. Part of that was that Marty had a good memory, but part of it was because of the fact that Lester had been around as George's friend in the week he had just spent in 1955, and Marty had met the guy a few times then.

"Oh, perfect" Marty groaned, as he walked up to the door and failed to be able to open it. "It's locked! How am I ever going to get on the other side of this entrance portal now!"

For a brief moment, he contemplated just ringing the bell. He immediately rejected that, though. He didn't want to wake everyone inside, make them angry, and eliminate his chances of getting in entirely. And because he needed that vest, and there was no shop anywhere near where a vest was around as well, Marty would have to think up a different option.

Well, it was no use to just stand there and do nothing, the seventeen-year-old figured. He walked past the building and tried to find another way in. And indeed, luck was with him. In the back, a small window was opened roughly a feet above the ground, being just enough opened to let a slim person in. Smiling, Marty carefully crawled inside.

Or at least, he intended to. As he was half-way inside, the teen noticed that he had entered the cellar – and that the other side was far lower than the outside. It was at least five feet down from the window. The teenager winced, unsure what he should do now. He had just managed to crawl inside and had nearly gotten himself loose from the window. He couldn't get back easy now. As a matter of fact, he was nearly falling down anyway – only his legs were still outside. He had to do something…

Maybe if he held onto the window carefully, he wouldn't fall down. That could be an option. As cautious as possible, Marty crept forwards, holding on tight. Already, his legs were slipping…

Suddenly, Marty's legs slipped through the entrance, pushing away his hands while at it. The teen fell down. A final thought flashed through his head before he hit it on the ground and lost consciousness.

Maybe I should have rung the bell.

oooooooo

"Mother…"

"Is he stirring? I think he's stirring."

Whose voice is that? Is that my female ancestor once removed?

"Mother… are you present?"

"Shut up, Mike. Marty?"

Mike? Who's Mike?

"…yes? Mother?"

"…no, not your mother. It's Valerie Lester."

Ah, Valerie Lester. Things cleared in Marty's brain. He remembered now. Going into the Lester shop… to buy a bullet-proof vest… for Emmett.

EMMETT!

Marty's eyes opened wide, and he sat up, startling the two other persons present. Michael and Valerie Lester were sitting in front of him. As Marty looked around, he noticed that he was on a couch in an unfamiliar room. Judging from the surroundings, it had to be the Lester family living room.

"Where am I?" he asked, bewildered. "When am I? Why am I here?"

"You're at our house" Lester said. "A noise in the cellar woke us up, and we saw you there, unconscious. Since you're my best friend's son, my wife and I decided to take you in and put you on the couch here until you woke up."

"Ah" Marty said, understanding. He had fallen from the window, hit himself somewhere, and entered unconsciousness. One question remained though. "What time is it? What's the day?"

"It's October 25th… no, October 26th, 1985" Valerie replied. "And it's 1:19 A.M."

For a few moments, Marty almost fainted again. Then, he shouted: "One-nineteen? I'm late!" and jumped up.

"Marty!" Lester shouted. "Calm down! Isn't it not good for one to walk so fast after having been knocked out? I think it's not good for one to…"

Marty simply ignored him, and ran into the shop part of the house, digging through the various objects to find a bullet-proof vest. "Gun… rifle… bullet proof vest! Got it!"

"What do you want with that vest?" Valerie asked.

"I need it" Marty replied. "I'll pay you later. Trust me. Goodbye." With the vest on him, he ran off to the door.

Luckily, the time truck hadn't been stolen in the past hour, and he was able to get in easy. "Left it unlocked" the teen muttered to himself. "I can't believe I possessed that little intelligence." For now, he could care less, though. A quick look at the time circuits told him that it was 1:20 A.M. He didn't have much time. After a few quarrels with the engine, he raced off towards the mall.

Even though he did what he could, time was not on his side. When he arrived at the mall – which was oddly called 'No Pines Mall' for some reason instead of 'Twin Pines Mall' and thus gave Marty his number 2 on List of things which I have changed by travelling through time, number 1 being Lester's mention that George was still his best friend – the police agents were already there. Marty exited the car after parking it as inconspicuously as possible behind a tree, ran up, and stared at the scene in front of him, unable to take his eyes off the parking lot even if he knew what was coming.

"We should've expected this" Marty heard one of the policemen saying. "Open fire."

"No!"

Marty shrieked as Emmett jumped in front of the gun and was shot down. He wanted to shout in horror, but before he could say even a single letter, he could hear his own voice, coming from another direction, already doing the task. The teenaged scientist looked down, and saw his younger self – Past Marty – yelling down at the parking lot. "Great Scott!" Marty whispered, turning pale. Knowing that it was possible to see oneself was one thing – actually doing it, though…

"Descendants one generation removed of a male and female human who are engaging in an illegitimate relationship!"

"What?"

"He means bastard. Not that big words are going to help him though!"

Marty groaned, as the familiar scene played out before him. The gun misfired, as he remembered it had, and Past Marty dove into the truck, which he drove around the parking lot. Marty then took a step forwards, intrigued and eager despite himself to see it better.

He shouldn't have done that, though. When he took the step forwards, he discovered that there was no ground to set his foot on. He stumbled, and fell downwards, moving rapidly down the hill. "Oh, great" he groaned. In the name of Sir Isaac H. Newton, don't let me be knocked out for the third time in three hours…

Luck was with him, though. He managed to come down intact, if a bit shaky, and watched on as the truck raced away from the parking lot and accelerated. He could see it light up, and as a sonic boom shattered, it vanished. The police van came to a halt soon afterwards. Marty then hid, as the two officers exited from the car.

"Did you see that?" the first officer said.

"Of course I did" his companion responded. "The guy and his car just vanished into thin air. Must have been one of his mad experiments again."

"A vanishing machine?" the first officer speculated. "Or maybe the car just exploded…"

"If it exploded, we would be able to see the remnants, wouldn't we?"

"Not if it exploded into really little parts."

"Do you see any really little parts? When there's a lot of them, then at least something should be visible." The second officer shrugged. "Whatever he did, we should track the case down later. It's obvious that he isn't anywhere now and that it's pretty pointless to remain here waiting for him."

"What about the trash?" the first officer replied. "We came here to check that for a microchip, so just leaving it there…"

"…wouldn't harm it at all" the second officer said. "We only got here because of our commander's paranoia. I don't know about you, but my shift ends at 1:30, and that's ten minutes ago. If he wants to have those bags and seek the microchip, he can do that on his own."

"Yeah, you're probably right" his colleague agreed, sighing. "Let's go then."

Marty peeked over the hill, as the two officers got into the van and drove off. He then walked up over the parking lot, where he neared Emmett. He hadn't really been intending to – his goal had been to collect the remaining bags of trash, drag them over to the truck, reload and begin a second attempt to fix the mess. However, he was inevitably drawn towards the dead body of his best friend. Marty kneeled down, and sighed deep.

"Why" he muttered, drawing his eyes away from Emmett's lifeless form. "Why did this have to happen. Those officers were out for me after all." He sighed, and closed his eyes, as he was on the verge of crying. Better go away now and change it, or I'll really get too sad.

"Hey."

Marty blinked. Did he just hear something behind his back? Someone saying 'hey'?

"Marty? Is that you?"

The teenager swiftly turned his head around, and gasped. Emmett's eyes were open, and he was sitting up. Surprised, Marty fell back. "But… how… you…" He gawked, unable to do anything but stare.

"How I survived?" Emmett said, coughing a bit. "I'm wearing a bullet-proof vest… just as you suggested."

"I… I never told you" Marty managed to point out.

"Your parents did" Emmett revealed. "Apparently, they had gone up to watch the lightning strike, and shortly after you went back in time, they went up to with your letter, which they had found. I initially didn't want to read it, but they finally convinced me." He smiled at Marty, then frowned as the teen remained quiet. "Marty? Are you all right? You seem kind of qu…"

"YOU'RE ALIVE!"