After regaining control of his arms and hands, Marty stood up from the bench and began to pace, nervously. Not nervously, he was too far gone for just nervousness. No, he was in full blown panic mode. How was this happening? Why was this happening? And if he wasn't Marty McFly, who was he? Where did he live? What became of George and Lorraine?

'Oh god,' he kept shaking his head as more and more questions popped into his head.

He just couldn't understand any of it.

'Tell me again, Doc,' he said. 'How did you figure it out?'

'I expected you to have not been born since you didn't get your parents together back in 1955. But a few years ago, I saw a kid that I thought looked like you on the street - or what I remembered of you. I did some digging.' Emmett shrugged. 'I looked through the newspaper archives at the library for any birth announcements from 1968. And sure enough, on June 12th, there was a baby boy born at Hill Valley General.'

'Well… yeah. I was born at Hill Valley General,' said Marty.

'Marty.'

'Yeah.'

'If you'd got Lorraine and George together, there would have been two baby boys born that day,' said Emmett, carefully explaining it. He didn't want to tell Marty outright, he wanted Marty to come to the conclusion himself.

Marty stopped his pacing and looked at Emmett. 'Wait a minute - Doc… are you saying…' he opened his mouth but couldn't bring himself to say it aloud. 'Are you saying that I was-was switched at birth?'

Emmett didn't react. It took every fibre of his being not to react, but he didn't. He clenched his jaw and tried his best to keep all emotion off his face.

'Oh my god, Doc!' Marty dropped to his knees. 'Who… who am I?!'

Emmett shook his head. 'When I read your birth announcement, you had not been given a first name. You were simply "Baby boy born to the Davis family",' he said.

'Davis family - the Davis family?' Marty shook his head. Davis was not what he expected. Then again, he didn't know what he expected. 'What - who are they?'

'I don't know,' said Emmett. 'You changed the timeline. I've never met you. Of course, I met you, but your 1985 self from the Davis family, I never have.'

'Holy shit. Holy fuck.' Marty had messed up a lot worse than he even realised he had.

'Your parents are Susan and Stephen. You have an older brother named Richard,' said Emmett. 'You may well have younger siblings. But your parents and brother were named in the birth announcement.'

'They're not my parents! George McFly and Lorraine Baines - they're my parents! And-and Richard? The only big brother I have is Dave!' Marty had resumed crying and wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his denim jacket.

'Marty, I'm so sorry,' said Emmett. 'I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now.'

"Can't you change it? Please, Doc? You have a time machine!'

'I can't - Marty, I don't know what to fix. So until I do, you will have to live with the Davis family.'

'Live with - no!' Marty shook his head furiously. 'No I can't! Doc, can't I live with you?'

'You can't,' said Doc. 'For numerous reasons. You have a biological family. You must live with them.'

'The McFlys are my family, not these people I don't even know! Doc! I don't even know where they live!'

'You snuck off tonight,' said Doc. 'Davis family you. And you stole my DeLorean to go back to 1955. Your family - sorry, the Davis family. They're probably looking for you. So maybe you should go to the police station.'

'But, Doc -'

'I can't go with you, Marty. I've just escaped from Libyan terrorists at the mall. So just meet me at my lab on Monday after school and we'll have more time then to discuss how we can possibly correct this situation for you.'

Despite all his reservations, Marty nodded in agreement. 'Okay, Doc. I-I trust you.' He wiped his eyes again.

His whole body shaking with nerves, guilt, confusion, and abject terror, Marty stepped into the police station.

'Um… I… I…' The words wouldn't come out no matter how much he wanted them to. What would he even say? He didn't even know his first name. His first name in this alternate timeline. 'I r-ran away f-from h-h-home earlier.' His voice was trembling and quiet. Almost like Piglet from Winnie the Pooh. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. 'I don't know… what's going on. But I want to go home -.'

Marty tried to keep all his emotions inside, but some of them spilled out and his eyes got teary.

'Carl! Oh my goodness! Carl, we were so worried about you!'

A strange woman Marty had never seen before came rushing over to him and wrapped her arms around him. She kissed him on the head.

'Oh, Carl. Just because you got into an argument with your father, does not give you the right to just run off like that.' She pulled herself away from him. 'And just what are you wearing? It doesn't matter. You can get into your pyjamas when you get home. You had me and your father worried sick.'

'Uh…' Marty didn't know what to say.

'Come on. You're safe now, Carl. You can come home with us. I promise, your father and I aren't upset or angry at you.'

'I'm Carl?' asked Marty, before realising he probably shouldn't have asked that.

'What's the matter, honey? Did you hit your head?' asked the woman. 'No. It's two in the morning. You're probably just tired is all.'

'Um… yeah. Very tired,' said Marty.

'Come on, then,' said the woman. 'Let's get you home.' She put her arm around him.

Marty said nothing. He simply walked alongside the woman, wondering what was going on and would this be his life now.

He stepped outside with the woman and down the police station steps.

It was dark outside, and quite cold. The only light came from the stars in the sky and the warm electric glow of the streetlights. The familiar streetlights that looked oh so different since coming back from 1955. Everything looked different. Everything felt different. Especially since learning about his true parentage. His life had been a lie - why not Hill Valley?

The woman stopped by a station wagon and rummaged through her handbag for her car keys.

Marty took a look at the car. It was probably worth more than his parents - his old parents - could afford. These new people were clearly well off. He didn't care. He just wanted his mother - Lorraine - to tell him he was just having a terrible nightmare.

'Aren't you going to get in?' asked the woman.

'Oh. I'm… yeah.' Marty pulled the rear car door open and went to sit down.

'I thought you liked the other side?' said the woman. 'That side makes you car sick.'

'Yeah,' said Marty. 'I'm just… been through a lot.' Not a lie. He got out of the car and walked over to the other side and sat down.

'Wouldn't you rather sit in the front with me, Carl?'

'Uh… no. Nope.' Marty shook his head. It was going to be so weird answering to Carl. Then again, Carl wasn't that different to Calvin and he'd used that particular alias for the past week. 'I'm happier in the back.' He didn't know the woman who was claiming to be his mother.

Marty looked down at his hands. They were solid, tangible. But still trembling somewhat, though that was likely the adrenaline. His heart was beating very fast and he thought he was going to throw up - he blamed that on the adrenaline too.

'Carl, I'm not leaving until you put your seatbelt on.'

'Uh. What?'

'Your seatbelt. You didn't put it on,' said the woman. 'I know you didn't because I didn't hear the click. You know the rules, honey.'

Honey? Marty swallowed and reached for his seatbelt, putting it across his lap.

'Thank you. Now, I know there's no law about wearing your seatbelt, but you know what happened to your Uncle Robert.'

Marty did not. 'Yeah.'

'So it's best you - it just gives me peace of mind.'

'Okay.'

The woman started the car and reversed out of the parking space. 'Honestly, Carl, where did you even find those clothes?' she asked. 'I've never seen you wearing them before and I had no idea you liked jean jackets and puffer vests.'

Marty looked down at his clothes, but said nothing.

'What happened to your shirts and sweaters? You left the house wearing that nice blue sweater your aunt got you - where is it?'

'Don't know,' said Marty. He really didn't. He didn't know the sweater that woman was talking about, or the alleged aunt. He only had one aunt, and that was his aunt Sally.

The woman shook her head. 'It's fine, honey. You must be tired. We can talk more about this in the morning.'

Marty nodded. There was nothing to say. Nothing he could say. He couldn't say "I'm not Carl, I'm Marty McFly". No, that'd be weird. And counterproductive. And would probably earn him an involuntary stay in a mental hospital. So he kept his mouth shut.

'Oh, the whole neighbourhood must be out looking for you - we were worried sick.'

'Are you - are you gonna ground me or something?' Marty asked. He had to know. He'd planned to meet Doc on Monday so it was better to know if a grounding was going to interfere with those plans.

'We can discuss that in the morning,' the woman said. 'When we get home, I want you to stay with your sisters, while I go around telling the neighbours you've been found.'

'Okay,' said Marty in a small voice. He looked out the window and recognised the houses he was passing. He was on the other side of town, the side his school was at, and he knew this because he skated through these streets often.

The woman drove in silence, and Marty just stared out the window at everything passing him by. It didn't take long for the woman to slow to a crawl and pull up in a driveway of a house Marty didn't recognise.

'It's okay to be quiet,' said the woman. She turned around in her seat. 'But you're not usually this quiet.'

Marty shrugged. 'Tired and scared, I guess,' he said. 'Sad. Confused.' He really was all those things.

'It's okay. I'm just glad you're safe,' said the woman. She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her car door.

Marty did the same, though far less enthusiastically than the woman. He was about to be thrust into a whole new family dynamic with people he didn't know. He wasn't ready for this - but really, was there ever a time to be ready for something like this?

'Mom!' a girl around Marty's age came running over. 'You found Carl!'

'I did indeed,' said the woman. 'Now, April honey, Carl is a little bit shaken up by what happened. And he's tired. So it's best to just leave him alone until morning.'

'Lori's inside. She won't stop watching CNN, just in case Carl comes on,' said the girl, now identified as April.

'Well, she doesn't have to worry anymore. Carl is here. He's okay.' The woman turned to Marty. 'I want you to go inside with your sisters. I'm going to inform the neighbours you're home safe.'

Marty said nothing. He just nodded and stared as the woman hurried down the driveway to the next house over.

'Carl,' said April.

Marty turned and looked at the girl.

'Come on. Let's get inside.' April walked briskly to the front door and through it.

Marty, though deeply confused and upset by this whole experience, followed her.

Inside where the light was better, he got a clearer look at April. Then he realised he knew the girl, or at least he recognised her - she was in the grade below his at school and he saw her face almost every day. And it was only now he was realising that she kind of looked like him.

'What are you wearing?' asked April. 'That puffer vest doesn't suit you at all.' She raised an eyebrow. 'Though you're really pulling off that denim jacket. I hope you keep that. I mean, you can't keep wearing sweaters and lumberjack shirts. Oh - you're taking my advice! You're branching out your clothing!'

Not knowing what else to do, Marty simply nodded. 'Yeah,' he said.

Another girl came from somewhere. This one, though clearly a teenager, was younger than Marty and April were, and she less resembled Marty with her black hair.

'You know Mom and Dad are out looking for you,' she said. 'They even called Rich home from college. And you know isn't going to be happy he was called home for no reason.'

Rich. Doc mentioned an older brother. Rich must be the older brother.

'Oh, come on, Lori,' said April. 'Carl was missing.'

'He wasn't missing, he ran away from home. That's different.'

'How?'

'It just is.'

Lori, the younger girl, turned back to Marty. 'You know I was watching CNN just in case your body turned up.'

'What?' was all Marty could bring himself to say. Were young teenagers always that rude and forward, or was that just this Lori's personality?

April folded her arms. 'Leave Carl alone.'

'Make me,' said Lori.

The front door burst open. A man burst in and threw his arms around Marty.

'Oh god, Carl!' he exclaimed. 'Don't ever do that to us again.' He pulled away and looked down at Marty's clothes. 'Where did you get this puffer vest?'

'The… shop,' said Marty.

The man's eyes widened. 'Oh. You're trying new clothes! That's-that's great, son.'

Son? So if that woman was Marty's mother, then this guy was his father.

Marty looked up at the man. And… he couldn't help it. He was shocked. More than shocked - he was astonished. And disturbed. This man looked the mirror image of him, except with a few more wrinkles, crows feet, a receding hairline, and a pair of glasses. This man was literally just Marty in thirty years. Had he accidentally taken Doc's DeLorean to 2015 instead?

No. This explained why Marty didn't resemble either George or Lorraine. Doc was right. These people were his biological family.

But he didn't want them to be.

The woman came in through the front door and closed it. In the light, Marty got a better look at her as well, and recognised in her eyes, his own.

It was making him sick, so he turned away.

'I'm going to bed,' he said.

'Wise idea,' said the man. 'We'll all go to bed. But Carl, don't think we won't talk about this running away business in the morning.'

Marty nodded. He didn't want to speak to the man who looked almost his mirror image.

He also had no idea where the hell his bedroom was. Or Carl's bedroom. Whatever. Even though he was clearly supposed to be Carl, he wasn't Carl. He was Marty McFly. That's how he knew himself. That's how he always would know himself.

'But, Dad -' said Lori.

'No buts,' said the man. 'Your mom and I will wait up for Rich. You three should go to bed.'

April nodded. 'Okay.'

Much like Marty's old house at the Lyon Estate, this house was also a bungalow. Everything was all on one floor. Which made it harder to slip off and try to identify which bedroom might belong to a teenage boy. So Marty just observed the girls and watched which rooms they went into.

His plan was scuppered when they both went into the same room, so Marty was left just trying to guess which room was which. He opened the door on one to find it was the bathroom. He'd need to remember that for when he went crying in the shower.

He didn't go in and brush his teeth - he didn't want to. He'd rather go and get a new toothbrush than not know which one was his.

Marty opened another door and it looked to be the parents' room. And he closed it immediately, when he heard the front door slam shut.

He opened another door, slowly and carefully. This room looked like it belonged to a teenage boy. So he figured this was his room.

'Hey. What are you doing in my room, you little jerk?'

Marty turned around - it was yet another person who looked just like him. Only he was wearing a shirt and braces with a blazer, and had his hair greased slick into the wave hairstyle synonymous with…

Yuppies.

The guy standing before Marty was a Yuppie. That meant guy standing before Marty must be Carl's older brother, Rich.

Then a thought occurred to him - what if this Carl guy was a Yuppie? Marty just could not live with pretending to be a Yuppie. They were pretentious and entitled jerks who looked down on everyone. Marty at least treated most people with respect. That is to say everyone who wasn't an authority figure - though as a teenager, he was practically expected to rebel against them.

Marty looked at the doorknob in his hand and pulled the door closed. 'I wasn't doing anything,' he said calmly.

'Go back to your own room,' said the guy Marty assumed to be Rich. Though if he was a Yuppie, Rich probably was rich.

'Oh, yes sir,' said Marty sarcastically.

'Did you just sass me, you little punk?' asked Rich. 'You do not sass me. You know your place in the pecking order. I am the oldest and therefore I am authority. You are not authority, so you must respect mine. Got it.'

Marty nodded. 'Got it.' He did not respect this Rich or his authority. He didn't even know this guy and yet he was already starting not to like him.

'Good.' Rich opened a door opposite his bedroom door and pushed Marty inside. 'Stay there and think about what you did - running away from home and all that.' Then he shut the door.

Marty was left in darkness. He didn't know where the light switch was and he didn't care either. He sat down on the floor and pulled his knees to his chest, desperately trying to stop himself from crying because if he did, everyone would hear and ask questions and he couldn't answer their questions and that only made him panic worse.

Why couldn't Doc have let Marty stay with him?

No. He knew why.

But it just wasn't fair.

A/N:

I don't know what there is that I can say about this other than, again, I really love hurting fictional characters.

And of course Marty's getting ragged on for his puffer vest. It's practically tradition.