Disclaimer: I don't own Back to the Future.

Author's Note: Latest chapter, detailing stuff that isn't all that well-written or deep but hey, some scenes call for deep psychological considerations, while others... don't. So I hope you enjoy anyway, please read and review!

Chapter Eighteen

Wednesday, March 24, 1920
08:40 AM PDT
Hill Valley, California

Marty blinked at the sight of Doc's parents, who looked back at him. It was still an odd sight to see two people who had died long before he was even born. He didn't know much about Doc's ancestry, but he knew the Browns had been rich. They had to have been to buy a mansion like the one Doc lived in when he was in 1955. Also, Doc had told him a lot about his past when he went to 1955 the second time, like how he had become a scientist at age eleven after reading Jules Verne, and how his father's family hadn't come to Hill Valley until 1908, then being the Von Braun's. Frederick Brown – formerly Friedrich von Braun – had obvious German heritage, speaking with a clear accent that Marty had had a little trouble to make out when they met earlier. Doc's mother, on the other hand, didn't look German, although Marty figured that could be a mistake of his.

"Well, good morning" the doctor said. "What are you doing here, young gentleman?"

"I'm sorry for interrupting you," Marty said, his voice tempo rapidly increasing. "Mr. Brown, Mrs. Brown – there's someone kidnapping your baby!"

Doc's father frowned. "Really?" he said. "Who'd want to do something like that?"

"Bi – I don't know" Marty replied. "An older man. It's just that he's kidnapping your Emmett right now, and you have to get out of here to prevent it!"

"Is this true, young man?" Doc's mom asked. She shivered. "I can't believe this! We had to wait so long to have our little Emmett, and now, someone's trying to steal him away from us!"

"Relax, Sarah" Frederick said. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine. I'll have a look at this." He stood up and walked out of the room, approaching Biff. "Sir! Excuse me, sir!"

Marty rapidly rushed behind a cabinet as Doc's father walked up to Biff. "Pardon me, but is that our Emmett you're holding?"

Biff shook his head. "Oh no, Mister…"

"Brown" Frederick helpfully supplied.

"Brown" Biff repeated, smiling. "This is just a baby I needed to take from here for my niece. The little boy had to stay in this hospital for observation, so…" He pointed at the room. "Your little infant should be right there."

Frederick nodded. "I thought as much" he said. "Would you mind me having a look at your baby?"

"That's quite all right" Biff said, displaying a smile. "Here, see?"

Frederick looked at the baby, and nodded. "He looks a lot like our Emmett," he said, "but I've only known him for a few hours, and I wouldn't want to get you into trouble just because I'm hard at distinguishing babies, sir."

"That's all right" Biff ensured him. "I'll just be leaving now, and let's forget anything ever happened."

"You're probably right" Frederick said. "It's a rather wild story anyway. Kidnapping little babies…"

Marty winced, looking at how easily Biff was deceiving Doc's father. He knew he had to do something now, otherwise Doc would still grow up as a Tannen. In frustration, he looked over at Sarah, Doc's mother, who seemed to share his concerns. "I don't trust that man" she muttered. "I don't know why, but there's something about this whole case that gives me the shudders."

"Then why don't you go check it out?" Marty said. "I mean, ask him for proof that the baby he's holding isn't your Emmett?"

Sarah shrugged. "I don't want to make trouble" she said. "I shouldn't rely on such irrational thoughts anyway. And Fred knows what's best for me." She looked at him with a smile. "If you're so interested in our baby, why don't you walk up?"

Marty sighed. "It's really none of my business" he said. "I know I started the whole matter to begin with… but I can't stand to see him take a baby who might be your Emmett out of the hospital."

The doctor blinked. "Excuse me?" he said. "Did you say that man was taking a baby out of the hospital?"

"Uh, yeah" Marty said. "What about it?"

The doctor shook his head. "That's illegal" he replied. "You can't take a baby out of the hospital, not without clear permission of the parents and the doctor in charge! We should take action immediately!" He got up and walked over, calling out to Biff. "Sir! Excuse me, sir!"

Biff turned. "Huh?" he said.

"You can't take this boy out of the hospital" the doctor told him. "We have strict rules about such things, and one of them dictates that no one can take a baby out of the hospital without consent of the parents or the doctor."

"But my niece really wants her little boy back" Biff said, trying to smile as nice as he could. "She'll go insane without seeing her child. And he's really all right, see?"

The doctor shook his head, taking the baby from Biff. "I'm sorry, sir, but we can't permit it right away. That just happens to be the rules. But don't worry, I'm sure we can arrange something. What's your niece's last name?"

"Uh.." Biff muttered.

"Never mind, I'll look at the baby" the doctor said. "We have a name tag, you see, and… wait. Does that say Emmett Brown?"

"What?" Frederick exclaimed. "Then it was our Emmett! How come I couldn't see that!"

"The name tag is hidden under some cloth, making it harder to see" the doctor said. "Sorry, Mr. Brown." He turned back to Biff, angrily. "What do you want with this child!"

"Um, well," Biff began, "I wouldn't… gosh, what's that!"

Marty winced at the apparent stupidity of the 1920'ers as they all turned to the direction Biff pointed at. Biff took the baby from the doctor and rapidly started rushing off with it. Marty immediately ran out of the doctor's room. He wasn't sure what to do, but had half a mind set on pursuing Biff already when his enemy, not looking where he was going, suddenly ran into a cart filled with clothes. He released Emmett upon impact, and as he fell back, the baby flew through the air.

"Emmett!" Sarah shrieked.

A stunned Marty managed to pull his senses together just enough to act. He surged forward and caught Emmett, saving his best friend from a premature death or handicap. He gawked, and stared with amazement at the younger version of his best friend. Emmett was about to cry, but stared back at Marty. Instead of crying, he giggled and smiled faintly.

"YOU!"

Marty looked up to see Biff, who had gotten up after his encounter with the cart and was staring at him. "What the hell are you doing here, McFly!"

"McFly?" Frederick said, stunned. "I thought you said your name was…"

"Never mind that" Marty muttered, as he saw Biff rapidly taking off. "We've got to stop Bi- uh, I mean your son's kidnapper!" He handed Emmett over to his mother, who accepted the baby with a grateful smile, and then ran off after his enemy.

Despite a certainty that he would easily manage to capture Biff, Marty saw little in terms of Tannens when he got to the bottom of the stairs. In fact, there was no sign anything was out of the ordinary. The doctor, who had rushed after him, was as bewildered as he was. "I'm sure that man went down here!" he exclaimed.

"So am I" Marty muttered. "He must've gotten out of the hospital. But where to?"

"I don't know" the doctor replied. "We must find him, though. Come on, I'll alert the authorities."

"That's not necessary" Marty said, remembering Doc's lectures about not messing up the past. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine. We don't need the intervention of the police."

The doctor frowned. "Are you sure?" he asked, skeptical.

"Positive" Marty said. "I've dealt with this guy before, and my, uh, my Dad and I are working together to deliver him to justice. We'd really like to capture him on our own, after all the trouble he's caused us."

"I can understand that," the doctor said, "though I'm not sure whether you should…"

"Everything will turn out fine" Marty ensured him. "Don't worry. We will find him." With that, he took off, walking out of the hospital and leaving the doctor bewildered.

Once he was out, Marty immediately activated his walkie-talkie. "Doc!" he exclaimed. "Come in, Doc!"

"Marty!" Doc replied. "What's the report?"

"I saved your younger self" Marty said. "However, Biff saw me and he managed to get away!"

"Great Scott!" Doc called out. "Marty, if he gets back to the time train with the knowledge that we're here, this could have disastrous repercussions for my family!"

"I know, Doc, you've told me" Marty replied, his tone of voice bored. "How's the work going in tracking them down, anyway?"

"Not a sign of the train yet" Doc said. "I picked up a detector from the alternate reality that should allow me to trace the kind of radio waves the train emits. They are unique to this era. I haven't had much luck, but if I just fine-tune it a little further…"

"Uh, interesting" Marty muttered. "Anyway, since Biff escaped from the authorities, he's probably going to his ancestors' house. Do you know where the Tannen family lives in this time period?"

"It should be on your description list" Doc said. "I wrote it on the back. They live in the poorer quarter of Hill Valley right now, because Driff has yet to make his money from his illegal alcohol dealing."

Marty frowned. "Biff's grandpa was an alcohol dealer?"

"One of the worst" Doc said. "The scourge of Hill Valley! But most of that is in his future right now. Anyway, you should be able to get over there pretty easy." He shook his head. "But we can't let Biff escape again. I'm afraid that I'll have to come with you."

"I thought you wanted to look for the train?" Marty asked.

"I did, but this is more necessary" Doc said, sighing. "Tell you what. I'll spend another ten minutes looking for the train, and then I'll head over to the address I gave you. I should be there in twenty minutes – try to detain Biff until then."

"Wait, how the heck am I supposed to do that!" Marty complained, just as Doc turned off the walkie-talkie. "Now Doc, wait a minute Doc, whoa Doc!" He sighed and shook his head. "This is just great" he muttered, as he started to walk in the direction of the Tannen house.