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

Author's Note: Next chapter, hurray! Deals with the sort-of-cliffhanger from the end of the episode, and takes place mainly in 1885, where it sets up the final subplot of the story. Or should that be subplots? You'll just have to wait, see, read and review.

Chapter Thirty

Monday, September 7, 1885
06:30 AM PDT
Hill Valley, California

Their return to 1895 went relatively smooth. Although there were some problems with getting the train engine started, those were soon resolved and the time machine made the journey of sixty years back in time easily. After setting Jules and Verne loose in the house, putting baby Griff safely in the garage – he could be returned to the 1990s as soon as this whole business was over and they were absolutely certain the future was there again – and telling Marty to wait in the train, Doc and Clara went over to the bathroom and tried out the pregnancy test.

The result, as Doc had silently feared, was positive – for, of course, a relative value of positive. Clara was overall quite cheerful after hearing the news – although she was happy with Jules and Verne, she didn't really mind having another baby, especially knowing that in her husband's time, it was quite possible for 40-year-old women to have children. Doc couldn't really share in his wife's happiness – he didn't mind having another son or perhaps a daughter either, but the thoughts of the damage yet another Brown child could cause to the space-time continuum would be certain to keep him up at night – not to mention that, considering Clara's age, they might need to travel to the future to have a safe delivery – and how on earth would he handle that?

Although he hadn't planned on telling Marty the news, Clara had let it slip, and the teen had taken it well – after all, Doc getting married and having kids was news to him at all, so this was just an addition to the surprises. Nevertheless, he stayed quiet and remained waiting patiently at the train until at 9 PM, an hour and a half after they had returned from 1955, Doc entered the time machine and piloted him and Marty back to 1885.

If he expected that the return to the 1880s would loosen his friend's tongue, Doc would be disappointed. Even as the train touched down on the hard soil near their campsite, the teen remained quiet. It was only when Doc gestured for him to leave that Marty shook his head.

"We need to talk" he said, quietly.

Doc frowned. "About what? You know we don't have much time."

"I know" Marty replied. "This shouldn't take too long, but it's important."

Doc sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win. "All right" he said, a look of resignation in his eyes.

Marty stared at him for a while, clearly unsure where to begin, and then he pulled out a newspaper. Doc recognized it instantly as the one he'd given his friend a day ago – or thirty-five years in the future – the newspaper that now read 'Martin McFly Appointed Rocker of the Year'. "Look at this" his friend said, quietly.

The inventor frowned, but nevertheless took a look at the newspaper and the picture in it. "Look at what?" he asked.

"Doc, look at my picture" Marty said. "Can you see anything… weird, about me? About my mood?"

Doc frowned, but as he looked closer, he realized the musician had a point. Future Marty looked unusually solemn, with a fake smile that showed not all was well for him. The inventor smirked. "Let me guess – you want me to tell you what's going to happen to you in the future to make you so upset?" he asked, ready to remind the teen for once and for all that no man should know too much about his destiny.

To his surprise, Marty shook his head. "No, Doc – I've already figured it out" he replied. "I – he – is sad about you, Doc. He misses you."

Doc blinked. "What makes you think that?"

"I know myself, Doc" Marty replied. "I can look at my own picture in a paper and see when something's wrong, and I'd hazard a guess that's it. I-" He sighed. "Doc, why did you stay in the past?"

It was a question he could (and should) really have expected, but it nevertheless hit the inventor hard – not in the least because it was one he'd asked himself several times over the last few weeks. He shrugged. "Marty, you know I like the Old West" he replied. "When I got trapped here, it was like a dream come true for me in many ways. Ever since the earliest days of my youth, I have always wanted to be a cowboy, and now that dream – a modified version of it, at least – came true."

"I know, Doc" Marty said, thoughtfully. "You told me in '55."

Doc frowned – he didn't remember doing anything of the sort, and he was sure he'd recall a thing like that. It was presumably part of the timeline created after he and Marty went back to 1955 the second time, the memories of which still hadn't caught up with him. "Well, then you know that until you came back, I was perfectly content with the thought of staying in the past for the rest of my life" he continued. "Of course, with Buford Tannen threatening my life, I agreed to leave with you – but Buford is in jail now, and with the exception of one breakout in 1888, he hasn't posed trouble since. I've got a wife and children… my home is in the 19th Century, Marty. I can't just abandon all that."

"I know, Doc" Marty said again, now solemnly. "But if you're so happy in 1885, why did you build the train?"

"To aid in our continued safety" Doc immediately said. "I knew that, living in 1894 as we did, when neither of us did before, we posed a threat to history. With the train, we now have the means to see a potential disaster coming, and to undo it. And of course, there were a lot of my belongings in the present that I wanted to have with me in the past – Einstein among others."

Marty nodded, but he suddenly looked sad – even sadder than before. "And… and what about me?"

"What about you?" Doc asked before he could stop himself.

Marty stared at him angrily. "Oh, nothing – it's just that I've been your friend for ten years and that I saved your life at least twice the past weeks, but I guess that's nothing important!"

"Marty!" Doc replied, shocked. "I – I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you would take it that way. I didn't want to hurt you – not now, not by staying in the past. I just thought that you would be happy in the present, and I didn't want to impose on you. You know how much stress you've gone through the past weeks with time travel and all, and unless I'm very mistaken, you're happy in 1985 now, Marty. Your life improved, you've got healthier and more loving parents… I'm sure you've got better things to do than to bother with some old man."

"Doc, now you're putting yourself down for no reason" Marty said. "We've been friends for ten years in both timelines – I'd never ignore you or want for you to leave. My new parents are much better than they've been before, but you've still been an extra Dad to me even in the new timeline, and I want you to be there for the rest of my life. That's why the other me looked so sad in the picture." He sighed. "Doc, I don't want to be a spoiled kid who doesn't care about your life – I get that you're married now, you've got kids, and you're happy. I'm not asking you to move back just for my sake. But don't stay here for my sake either."

Doc sighed. "Marty," he said, "I'm touched that you care so much about me. And it's true that I've missed you. But, well, there are a lot of issues – issues I can't really explain right now – that have blocked me from pursuing such a course myself thus far."

"Like what?" Marty asked, insistent.

"Like… like Clara, for one" Doc finally said, sighing. "Just two days ago from your perspective, back here in 1885, I resolved that we couldn't take Clara with us. I still stand by that decision today, because I wouldn't dare to move Clara and the boys a century ahead just for my sake. I love her, I married her, and I can't just take her to a time so far ahead of her own – I haven't visited the 2070s yet, but I'm sure you'd have major problems adjusting there, too. And of course, I can't leave her behind."

"Of course not" Marty agreed. "I'd never ask that from you now, not now that you got married and had kids and all. But… have you asked her any of that, yet? Asked her to make up her mind?"

"No" Doc admitted. "It's just… well, I can't tell her to contemplate something like that. Just imagine the complications such a move would have. How could I fit in a 19th Century woman and her kids into the present day – a present day that knows me as a bachelor and, in the case of some people, as a crackpot inventor? It would be so immensely complicated, take so long to adjust…" He sighed. "Marty, I want to see you again and I'd really like to go home. I must admit that, for all my talk of the Old West, I do miss our old Hill Valley – and you, of course."

"The grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it?" Marty said.

"It certainly is" Doc agreed. "Marty, I… I can't make a decision right now. I need to ask Clara, Jules and Verne what they think of it, and, well… I'm reluctant to do that. Who knows what Clara will say when I pose that question to her? What if she hates the idea, or feels like she has to move for my sake?"

"Hey, if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything" Marty reminded him. "And I can imagine that it was just as difficult when you asked her to marry you."

Doc winced. "Horrible" he admitted. "You're probably right, it can hardly be worse. But…" He sighed. "I really shouldn't talk to you about this. You're still from my past, and we don't have time…"

"Then why don't we talk some more about this in the future?" Marty suggested. "You've got a time machine, you've got all the time you want. How about you go to the future, to the me of the newspaper for all I care – I'd have had time to see how I feel about not having you around, too – and we can talk some more about it. Me and Jennifer, and you and your family. What do you say?"

Doc contemplated it. "Clara and the boys won't like going on such an adventure again right away."

"Then wait a month or two" Marty said. "You can still go forward to the same date, right?"

"That's correct" Doc agreed. "Good fourth-dimensional thinking, Marty." He stuck out his hand. "All right, consider that a deal."

Marty smiled, and hugged him. Doc hugged his friend back. Yes, it would certainly be hard to leave Marty McFly behind – harder than he'd thought it would be before this trip. But somewhere he knew that there was a reason that he had thought that. It was because he hadn't allowed himself to meet up with Marty again… because somewhere he knew he'd miss the kid more than ever, and he'd want to move back… but he couldn't do that.

Or could he?

Marty released him, and smiled faintly. "So, what exactly am I supposed to do now?"

Doc blinked, but recovered remarkably fast. "You need to go back to your camp site and take your horse" he recounted. "I don't care what you do in the meantime, for all I care you can go play some cards, but just make sure you reach the saloon at 7:45."

"7:45" Marty repeated. "Got it."

"Good" Doc said. "Afterwards, just act naturally, and try to forget you ever met me. Try to imagine what you would have done and act that way." He sighed. "Marty, you know as well as I do that this is extremely important. If you think you're changing history from how it would have been had I never come here, then just stop doing it. And by no means are you allowed to prevent me and Clara from being trapped in 1885! I understand you'll be tempted to delay the scene because you know you're saying goodbye for a long time, but you can't. Marty, I beg you, don't do it."

"Check, Doc" Marty replied. "I'll try. I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best. You're right – I know it's important."

Doc smiled. "Then that's it. If all's fine, you won't see me again until you meet up with my younger self in the saloon – and if it's not, then I'll probably come back here the second after I left to berate you on having altered history."

"I'll look out for you" Marty remarked. "Don't forget our appointment in 1994."

"I couldn't even if I wanted to" Doc said. "You've given me a lot to think about, Marty McFly."

"That was my intention" the teenager said, before walking off in the distance. Doc stared after him, and then got back into the train. He'd had quite the conversation with his friend, and it had rattled a lot within him. Just a few months ago, the situation had been easy, because then he'd been trapped in the past. Afterwards, he'd no longer been trapped, but considering his low amount of interaction with Marty he had been able to keep himself from getting the thought that he should move back. Now, however…

Sighing, he twisted the levers so that the primitive time circuitry read '1895', and lifted the train into the pre-dawn sky. It accelerated swiftly, and before Emmett Brown knew it, he had left 1885.