Chapter 7

Sunday, October 27th, 1985

Hill Valley

1: 45 A. M.

Doc sighed as he returned to 1985. Much as traveling through time intrigued him, it felt good to be home again. He landed the car and drove home, formulating his plan of attack for the upcoming daylight hours. The all-important fax still rested in his pocket, his measure of success in helping his friend. If all went well, the fax -- or at least the words on it -- would fade away, much as Marty's siblings had faded in the picture. He had briefly considered getting his fate on hard-copy, but decided that he should focus on helping Marty first and avoiding that second. Things would probably go differently now that Marty would be able to argue for him.

Once he arrived at his home, though, his thoughts about the future were momentarily banished. As he flicked on the light, he noticed what he had not seen before -- Marty's amplifier, totally destroyed. "Great Scott!" he gasped. "How could I have missed that when I brought Marty here? That kid. . . . He must not have listened to my warning. He had the decency to clean up the mess at least." He made a mental note to mention it to Marty. Actually, talking about the amp might make a good lead-in for warning him about his future.

He warmed up some food for himself and Einstein, then lay down on the bed to think. How was he going to explain to Marty his highly hypocritical actions? I suppose just tell him the truth and offer to cut him a break if he ever does anything like that, he decided. Reduce the lecture or something. He yawned. Why do I feel so tired? I had a nice long nap at the RevitaClinc. Maybe it's a reaction to stress, God knows I had a busy day, what with being nearly killed and finding out my best friend's life didn't live up to expectations. He blinked. A short nap wouldn't hurt.

Sunday, October 27th

9: 10 A. M.

Doc awoke some hours later to the sound of his door being unlocked. He sat up just as Marty McFly walked in. The teen greeted him with a big smile. "Doc! You're back!"

Doc smiled back. "Indeed I am, Marty. How are you?"

"Doc, it's a miracle. Everything's better. Dad writes for a living. Mom's thin and plays tennis. Linda's popular; Dave's a businessman. And Biff waxes cars! It's like I'm in heaven!"

Doc looked at him, confused. "Marty, do you mean to tell me things weren't always like this? I knew you had changed the future when you told me about that punch back in 1955, but it appears people and events have changed drastically."

"No -- Yes--" Marty got the strangest look on his face. "I don't know," he whispered.

Doc immediately got concerned. "Marty? Is everything all right? Your time traveling experiences aren't having an adverse effect on you, are they?"

"No, not really. But remember how you said I'd get new memories?" Doc nodded. "Well, they're coming in, but my old ones aren't moving out! I remember things both ways!"

"You mean your history before you changed the time-line and your history after?" Doc asked.

"Yeah."

"Hmmm, interesting. It could be due to the fact you were not directly impacted by the changes. I'll have to examine that phenomena later. Do you mind if I use your memories?"

"As long as you don't melt my brain in the process, I'm cool."

Doc grinned, then recalled the amp and his mission. He set his face and tone to "stern" and began. "Marty, when I give you a warning, I expect you to listen to me. I saw what happened to the amplifier last night. Didn't I tell you not to hook up to it?"

"Yeah, you did," Marty said, looking guilty.

"So why did you anyway? Didn't you trust my judgement with one of my own inventions?"

"Of course I do! It's just that -- the call came too late."

"Too late?"

"You called me after I blew up the amp," Marty said, embarrassed. "I'm sorry for wrecking it. I tried to clean the place up so you wouldn't notice right away. Standing that bookcase back up was a bit of a b*tch, though."

"What does your exploding the amp have to do with one of my bookcases?"

"It exploded me right into one. Listen, if you need help getting all of your shit back in order--"

Doc wasn't listening as a horrific thought occurred to him. Had the car accident merely aggravated a previously-sustained injury? If that was true, preventing the car accident might have no value at all. "Marty, are you injured?'

"Had a backache for a while, but that went away fast. I'm fine, Doc."

"Good. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, past, present, or future."

"Hey, how was the trip to the future? What's it like? You see anybody I know? You checked up on me, right?"

"One question at a time! The trip itself was amazing. There are technological improvements the people of this decade would not believe. Computers are everywhere, the cars fly, and there's a restaurant dedicated just to this decade."

"You're kidding."

"I'm serious." Doc paused a moment as he wondered the best way to start relaying his information. He couldn't reveal Marty's exact future to him, after all. "Marty, you take my advice, right?"

Marty was thrown for a moment by the change in topic, but quickly recovered. "Sure Doc, all the time."

"Then I want you to listen to me very carefully right now. Sometime today, Needles is going to ask you to drag-race him. I want you to refuse."

Marty blinked, thinking this was a rather strange request from Doc. "Okay, sure. I'll just ignore him."

"I'm serious, Marty. You must not give in even if he calls you 'chicken.'"

The teen looked surprised. "But Doc, if he calls me 'chicken' and I don't race him--"

"Everything will be fine," Doc finished for him. "You can't keep getting so upset every time someone calls you that name. One day it's going to cause you to involve yourself in a trouble-causing business."

"I just don't want to be a coward, Doc."

"You won't be! You'll be sensible. Besides, street-racing is illegal. So there's no reason to perform the action."

Marty suddenly frowned at him. "This has to do with my future, doesn't it?"

"Yes. . . ."

"What happens if I race him, Doc?"

"I can't tell you. At the time it happens, the decision has to be yours. All I can do is offer my advice."

"I want to know what happens! What's wrong with my future? It is mine, Doc!"

"I can't give you details. No man should know too much about their own destiny, even if said destiny is changeable."

"Can't you just give me a hint or something?" Marty begged.

"Let's just say that your future wouldn't be as you'd expect."

Marty looked frustrated, but gave up on wrestling the information from his friend. He knew that there was no chance in hell Doc would tell him his specific future, for fear of harming the space-time continuum. He changed the topic instead. "You got anything from the future you can show me?"

Doc grinned. "Actually, I can answer that one with a yes." With that, he started peeling off the face mask he had put on before reentering 1985. Marty's eyes went wide with shock. "You'll have to excuse the disguise, Marty. While in the future I received an all-natural overhaul. They changed the blood, replaced my spleen and colon -- added a good 30 to 40 years to my life." He pulled the rest of the latex off his face and grinned. "What do you think?"

Marty didn't seem all that impressed. "You look good, Doc."

Doc frowned. "I was expecting a better reaction than that." He felt his face, wondering if the RevitaClinic had tried to rip him off. He didn't think so, but you never knew.

The teen suddenly laughed and nodded. "I don't think I'm the best guy to ask, Doc. I lived with that face for a week, so I think I'm used to it! Seriously, you look good."

Doc nodded, pleased. Marty's experience in 1955 was probably affecting his perceptions in 1985. It would be a natural result of time travel. Heck, he was doing the same thing with now and 2015. "I'm glad you think so, Marty."

"Hey, anything that lets you stay around longer is okay with me." He glanced at his watch, then shook it. "Jesus, this thing is shot. What's the time, Doc?"

Doc checked. "9: 32 and 12 seconds."

"Okay, I got time. I'm supposed to pick up Jenny in the truck and go for a ride before tonight. I want to test it out."

"Just remember my advice, Marty."

"I will, I will." Marty shook his head again. "This is weird, having double memories. The new truck's great, but I can't remember whether I've had it for a month or since yesterday."

"I imagine it would be tough, dealing with two conflicting sets of memories. Would you mind telling me what you remember of life before?"

Sunday, October 27th

11: 21 A. M.

After riding around for about an hour and a half, Marty pulled up to the intersection that led into Hilldale. He looked appraisingly at the development, just built. "I bet that's where we live someday, Jennifer. Hilldale. I'll be a rock star, and you'll be whatever you want to be, and we'll have kids and a great life."

Jennifer smiled at her boyfriend, quite pleased with his vision of the future. "I hope this place isn't one of those flash in the pan neighborhoods. I want us and our kids to be happy."

"How could we not be?" They kissed.

As they waited at the red light, another truck pulled up. "Hey McFly! Nice wheels!" a familiar voice yelled.

"They're new," Marty yelled back, looking over at Needles in his pickup. Fred Jacobson, Needles's girlfriend Cathleen, and two guys Marty didn't know were all crowded in, grinning.

"You wanna race, McFly?" Needles challenged, revving his engine. "Next green light."

Marty got thoughtful, remembering Doc's warning. "No thanks. Jennifer's in here with me, I don't want her to get hurt."

"Ah, come on, McFly. Nobody's gonna get hurt."

"The truck's brand new too. I don't want to wreck it."

"It's just one race, McFly. What could happen?" Then, more venomously, "Are you chicken?"

Marty's body went tense. He hated "chicken" with a passion. If he passed this opportunity up, he'd be teased for being a coward until the end of the school year. He opened his mouth to say yes.

Then he stopped, remembering Doc's words. He had been really dead-set against him racing Needles today. But why? All he knew was it involved his future somehow, and Doc had refused to provide him with details. What could giving into "chicken" now possibly do to his future? He might hurt the truck, but that wouldn't be much to his future self, he didn't think. Damn, Doc, why didn't you give me more?!

Then a thought occurred to him. Maybe there wasn't any more. What if Doc had refused to tell him -- because he had died as a result of the race? A lot of things could go wrong at street-racing. They could hit or be hit by a car, smash into a pole -- anything could happen. And all would lead to a future in a grave.

He looked at Needles, making his decision. "Okay." Needles grinned and revved his engine again. Marty did the same with his.

Jennifer gave Marty a nervous look. "Marty, you really shouldn't," she said quietly.

Marty gave her a reassuring grin. "Be prepared, Jen."

The light turned green. Needles and company speed off with a loud whoop. Marty started off too -- only much, much slower. Jennifer stared at him in shock. "Hey, do you really think I'm gonna race that asshole?"

"He did call you chicken," Jennifer pointed out.

"Yeah, but I talked to Doc before this about the chicken-calling thing -- mostly because he forced me to. He told me I could totally screw up my future if I kept--"

He was cut off by the beep of a car's horn. They looked to see a Rolls Royce pulled out in front of them, the driver looking furious. "Watch where you're going, hooligans!" she screamed at Needles's truck as it disappeared around the corner. She then proceeded to finish running the red light.

"Geez, take your own advice, lady," Jennifer grumbled.

Marty pulled over and stopped, stunned. "Jesus Christ! If I had raced him, she would have crashed right into us!" He grabbed his girlfriend's hand tightly. "On your side, too. Holy shit, I might have killed you. Or the both of us." So that's what Doc meant. I'm so glad I listened.

"I know. It's scary to think about all those possibilities. At least you finally took Doc's advice. I'm so glad you did."

"Me too, Jen. Me too."

Sunday, October 27th

12: 33 P. M.

After dropping Jennifer back off at her house, Marty returned to Doc's place, intending to get the full story about his "advice." He found the scientist doing a little dance, waving a sheet of paper in the air. When he saw Marty, he laughed and gave him a hearty slap on the back. "You did it, Marty! You did it!"

"Yeah, I -- I did," Marty agreed, completely lost. "Did what?"

Doc gave him the sheet of paper to examine. On top was a company logo: Cusco Industries. On the bottom was a signature by someone named Mr. Fujitsu. Marty looked at it a moment, then turned his attention back to Doc. "Doc, what's this?"

"A fax from the future. The message that was previously printed on it was a communication firing you from your job. But now the words are erased, so that future no longer exists!"

"Fired?? You mean I didn't die?"

Doc stopped dancing and stared at him. "Die? What's this about dying?"

"Doc, the whole reason I took your advice and didn't race Needles was because I thought I died. I figured you didn't tell me anything about the future because there was nothing to tell." The teen went pale as a different possibility forced its way to the front of his mind. "The car was going to plow right into Jennifer! Doc, don't tell me I killed Jennifer!"

"No, no, both you and Jennifer originally escaped the accident with more minor injuries," Doc assured him, understanding his fear. "But I have to admit, I'm glad you thought of it in those morbid terms. Death was a definite possibility, I'm sure. And even with those minor injuries you would have suffered, your future would have turned out to be very sad."

"Can you tell me about my future now? 'Cause as far as we know, it's gone."

"I don't know if I should, even now. The future is always in flux; we can't guarantee it won't happen."

"Come on, Doc! You knew your future for 30 years without a hitch!" Noting Doc's sudden unease at the mention of the letter, Marty asked suspiciously, "Did you look up what was going to happen to you too?"

"I -- um -- well -- it wasn't without a hitch! I nearly went crazy wondering about how I was going to invent the time machine!"

Marty grinned. "You caved, didn't you?" Doc nodded, embarrassed. "Okay. Spill it to me. You knew, now I wanna know."

Doc gave in. "I'm going to be as general as possible," he warned. "I have to admit, I would have probably never found out about my fate had I not looked up yours. My death in a hospital from an murder over my wallet--"

"WHAT?!? Start at the beginning, Doc! What's this about getting killed?!"

Doc told Marty almost everything about his trip to the future, leaving out only personal details about the teen's own future. Marty was open-mouthed as he concluded. "So basically everybody's lives turned out like shit. Especially yours, Doc. I can't believe I'd fight with you like that. And that you'd get yourself killed over me."

"Stop right there, Marty. It hasn't happened yet, and there's no certainty on whether or not it will happen. No matter what, it was not and will never be your fault. When I saw your future self, it looked like he was somewhat obsessed with me. I don't want that fate to be yours."

Marty shook his head. "What do you think the future's like now?"

"With any luck, much better for all of us. The car accident seemed to be the event that triggered the whole chain reaction leading to that future. Now that it doesn't happen, things will improve. As for myself, well, let's hope you never get injured so badly only a future doctor could fix it, and that I have the sense to keep away from neighborhoods where I could be mugged."

"I'll keep working on the 'chicken' thing," Marty promised. "After hearing what getting mad at it did to everybody, it doesn't seem worth it."

"I'm glad to hear that." Doc felt something break inside him. "Marty, what I can't believe is that I told you I hate you. You're my best friend, and I had no right to say that to you. No matter what happens in the future, I promise I will never hate you. Ever," he said, his eyes filling with tears.

"I know, Doc," Marty rushed to assure him. "Same here with me. Best friends forever, remember? Don't cry."

Doc blinked away the wet. "Sorry. I considered that extremely cruel of my future self. I had no right doing that to you."

"Hey, with any luck all that's over, right?"

"With any luck." Doc felt his eyes stray to the door leading to the garage. Now that the fax had erased itself, he had the urge to go back to the future and make sure all had turned out well. Stop thinking about it, he told himself firmly. Your mistake has been corrected. Don't go and make it all over again.

"Hey Doc? Can I ask you a favor?"

Doc snapped his attention back to the present. "Of course, Marty."

"Could you go to the future again and look me up again? I don't want specifics, just to see if things have improved. Besides, you owe me for looking up your future."

"I think I paid off that debt when I told you about your previous future. And I would hope that you would take my experience as a warning not to look yourself there. I'm going to regret doing that for the rest of my life."

"Come on, I don't want much. Just a thumbs up or a thumbs down. I want to make sure I can keep my life away from the crapper. Please Doc?"

"Oh, all right. I had the urge myself, I confess. But I'm making no attempt to gather specifics on either of us."

"Gotcha Doc. I'll see you in the future."

"And in present time, I'll return in about five minutes." He led Marty into the garage and hopped in the DeLorean. "Could you check what sort of traffic's out there for me, please?"

"Sure." Marty disappeared outside. Doc typed into the time circuits:

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21ST, 2015, 7: 01 A. M.

He wanted to see how the future had changed on that date, and if his slightly younger self was still running around the time-line. He doubted it, but it would be interesting to see if he was.

Marty came back in. "You're not going to believe this, but Burger King is practically empty. I guess everybody's home or something."

"How fortunate. Now I can show you another piece of future technology I acquired." He started up the engine and flipped on the hover conversion. Marty let out a gasp as the wheels turned into hover thrusters. "Way cool, Doc!"

"Thanks! I'll return shortly!" With that, he floated out and gunned the car quickly into the sky. Within seconds, he was gone.

Wednesday, October 21st, 2015

Hill Valley

7: 01 A. M.

Doc flew easily to the Town Square and parked in an available alley. From what he could see, the square looked exactly the same as it had during his previous trip. That didn't worry the scientist too much. After all, he thought to himself, walking out onto the streets, Marty is but one inhabitant of Hill Valley. There might be some minor changes reflected by his new life, but on the whole, life here should remain--

"Hey Doc!"

Startled from his thoughts, Doc spun around to see Marty Junior and Marty, standing on the sidewalk opposite of him. Both grinned at his reaction. "Didn't mean to startle you. I thought you were at home working on your experiment!" Marty called.

"I needed some fresh air," Doc called back, very pleased by what he saw. Marty Junior's clothes all fit, his hair was combed, and he had an air of confidence about him. Marty himself possessed a full head of hair, up-to-date clothes, and a healthy, happy look. "What about yourselves?"

"Just a quick breakfast before school starts," Marty Junior explained. "Wanna come?"

"I'll take a rain check," Doc said. "Already ate."

"You sure, Doc?"

"Positive. I'll see you after school, Junior."

"Okay. See ya later, Doc." They both waved goodbye. As they turned to go though, Marty winked at him. Doc nodded and winked back, then went back to the DeLorean.

Sunday, October 27th, 1985

Hill Valley

12: 53 P. M.

Marty was waiting for him eagerly in the garage as he pulled back in. "Well?"

Doc gave him a thumbs up. Marty sighed in relief. "Great! I hope it stays that way."

"Well, the future is always changing based on the choices we make today. So let's leave the future alone and make it a good one through our own free will."

"You bet, Doc. I've had enough of time-traveling for a long while."

The End