Happy 2015, Back to the Future fans!

Saturday, August 7, 1981

1:18 pm

Marty McFly was thirteen when he meet the infamous Doctor Emmett Brown. Dr Brown was sixty three when he almost literally ran into young Marty McFly.

It was a steamy saturday in early August, just before school started for the year. All the children were out playing in the streets and driveways and cafes of the little town, their parents out buying new clothing for them and arranging haircuts and picking up school supplies. The teachers were preparing to start another year, choosing new classroom calendars and extra pencils and detention slips.

Dr Brown usually tried to avoid going into town at this time of year - the streets were full, the stores were full, the diners and cafes were all full of people. Most of the adults seemed fairly ambivalent to his presence, but kept their children away. They had heard the rumors and told themselves they didn't believe them, but to many of them, the rumors remained lingering, like a thought that could never quite leave once it was heard. As for the children themselves... the young children were blatantly terrified, having heard stories from peers who had parents that blatantly mistrusted and hated the Doctor. The teenagers were cruel in their fear and youthful rebelliousness, and never missed chances to call insults, throw rubbish, or defile his home. So Dr Brown tried to avoid town as much as possible when the teenagers were around.

But right now he needed groceries and a few small parts from the hardware store, despite the overpopulation of the center of town.

He left the store as quickly as possible and climbed into the tan Packard, Einstein in the back. They drove back to the large garage where Dr Brown was living and working and unloaded the food and parts, Emmett carrying and Einstein running along and pushing his nose against the bags.

He scooped up the final bag in his lanky arms, calling for Einstein and going in to put the groceries away. After, he rushed back to his oldest project, which was currently very tedious - scraping a coat of black paint of of a DeLorean so he could have only the stainless steel. But where was the rod he needed to fix Einstein's breakfast machine? He must have left it in the car...

Thirteen year old Marty McFly was skateboarding down the road when his skateboard hit something and sent him flying. The brown-haired teen moaned and picked himself up off the pavement, looking around for his longboard and the source of the accident; a small piece of metal rod. Marty turned it over in his hand, then looked around. The house - garage really - immediately to his left had a large van in the driveway: Dr E. Brown Enterprises, 24 hr. Scientific Services.

Dr Brown's house! Marty would have bet a million dollars that the rod belonged to the Doctor. His parents didn't ever talk about Dr Brown, but Marty guessed that they shared a least some of the fears that other parents had about the older man. Marty had grown up on a steady stream of rumors and tall tales of Dr Brown's crazy experiments and dangerous ways from the other kids.

Marty hesitated, then scooped up his skateboard in the rod-free hand and walked up the driveway. If the Doctor wasn't crazy, then at least he'd know and if the Doctor was then Marty would have a great story to tell. He walked up to the garage's side door... only to be knocked over by the long-haired scientist flying out to find his missing part.

Doctor Brown stopped short. The door to the driveway had met a marked resistance and now there was a groggy-looking young teenager lying in the drive. His heart nearly stopped - the last thing he needed was another reason to be hated, and now he had gone and assaulted someone; a young someone at that. He rushed over and knelt by the short teenager. By the looks of him, he couldn't be older than thirteen or fourteen. "Great Scott! Are you alright?" He offered a hand, which, to his mild surprise, the teen took and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

"Sorry about that," Dr Brown rambled on. "I was coming out to look for a part for an invention that I may have left in the Packard and I didn't think anyone would be outside the door. Most people..."

The kid cut him off. "It's fine, I was actually coming to see if this was yours. It must've rolled into the street and I got tripped on my board," he said, holding up the metal rod.

"Precisely the piece I was looking for!" Dr Brown snatched it and held it up triumphantly, then looked at the teenager again. "You say you fell over it? Any injuries?"

The teenager shook his head. Marty hesitated. "Look, I know it seems rude, but can I come in and see what its for?"

It was Dr Brown's turn to hesitate. "Some of the experiments are rather delicate..."

"All right," Marty nodded acceptance, but looked crestfallen at being denied entrance.

"But I suppose if you don't touch anything that looks breakable, we will be fine." Dr Brown turned towards the door, the swung back around to the teen, who looked startled at receiving permission and at Dr Browns sudden movement. "It seems we haven't been introduced. I am Doctor Emmett Brown, scientist and inventor, and also local nutcase and lunatic. And you?"

Marty looked at him, surprised at the grin on the scientist's face that said he was all too aware of what rumors Marty would have heard about him.

"Marty McFly." He held out a hand and the Doctor took it.

"Nice to meet you, Mr McFly." Dr Brown opened the door again and ushered Marty into the workshop.

"Wow."

"I take it from your monosyllabic utterance that you are impressed?"

"Impressed? Dr Brown, this is fantastic!" Marty's face was full of awe at the projects before him. The mind reading headset lay discarded in a corner,a pile of beakers and test tubes took up a counter, the Packard was off to the front in a neater section of the garage, one wall was covered in clocks and below it was a counter covered with a large machine that seemed to be trying to open a can of dog food. There was the DeLorean in the middle, half cleared of its paint and a cot and sofa could just be seen behind it, pushed up against the wall.

"Now this over here is what I needed the rod for, the balance of this whole section of the machine is off and it needs a counterbalance..." Within a few moments, the pair was happily embroiled in the machine, Doctor Brown explaining all of its parts with Marty asking questions.

Suddenly, all the clocks began to ring. "Oh no!" Marty exclaimed. "I was supposed to be home almost half an hour ago! My mom's gonna be freaking out."

"I can take you home, if you like Marty," Dr Brown offered.

"I can't ask you to do that, Dr Brown," Marty grabbed his skateboard off the floor.

"Nonsense! It will get you home faster and I can explain your absence to your parents."

"Are you sure?"

Dr Brown's answer was to grab the Packard keys off a hook on the wall and slide into the car.

As they pulled out of the driveway, Dr Brown asked "Marty, how would you like a job?"

Marty hesitated. "What kind of job?"

"Nothing strenuous. Odd chores at my house, taking care of Einstein if I'm ever away, lending an extra pair of hands for a project if I ever need a set. Of course, your homework will come first, and I would pay you ten dollars a week."

"Sounds great, Dr Brown! I'll have to clear it with my parents, though, and they'll probably say no, you know? Because..." Marty trailed off.

"Because I'm the town lunatic?" Dr Brown gave a wry smile. "I will present the proposition to your parents and we'll see if we can't get them to agree."

"Okay, Dr Brown." Marty couldn't believe that only an hour or so ago he had believed that the man beside him was crazy.

"And you won't need to call me Dr Brown, Marty. It sounds so formal! You can call me whatever you wish, within reason."

Marty nodded and they pulled up into the driveway. A woman came running out of the house, smelling like alcohol and cigarettes. "Marty! Where have you been! I was this close - this close - to calling the police..." She trailed off when she saw who her son was with.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am. I am Doctor Emmett Brown. I was wondering if you would object to my employment of your son." Marty's mother waved Marty away and he was only able to hear parts of the conversation: "... homework...light work, mostly...able to drive him home..."

Dr Brown finally shook hands with Mrs McFly, giving Marty a small wink. Marty ran back out as his mother went back into the house. "Did she say yes?" the thirteen year old blurted out.

"Of course, Marty! What did I tell you?" Dr Brown smiled. "See you Monday, then. At the garage... oh, three o'clock or so?"

Marty grinned. "You bet. See you there, Doc." He gave a wave and ran back into the house.

"Doc?" Dr Brown asked the air, then smiled and shook his head, getting back into the Packard. It seemed that that was his new name.

"It does have sort of a ring to it, doesn't it, Einstein?"

HELLO! I recently rewatched BTTF for the first time in nearly six years. I remembered the plotline and the Delorean (of course) but this time I was really taken by the dynamics between characters, especially between Doc and Marty. This is going to be a series of a dozen or so one-shots beginning before the first movie and coming all the way through present day.

I will finish it by the end of 2015, the very year Doc and Marty go to the future.

I have several scenes (and potential scenes) already worked out, but if you have ideas, I would gladly take them!