Chapter One

Fog spread out over the town of Hill Valley, accompanied by a chilly breeze. It was only around four in the morning, and there was no light, save the dim street lamps. It was just plain eerie, and there was no one in sight on the sidewalks, nor the roads, and no shops were open.

No one except a teenage boy of around seventeen, riding a skateboard almost casually, as if he'd done it before at the same early hour. He was dressed in simply a blue collared shirt with long sleeves, and jeans. His white Nikes stood out as he glided along, and in his hands he held a shoebox, pressed to his side as if he had a fear of dropping it.

He, within ten minutes, reached his destination—the Twin Pines mall. He rode swiftly to the parking lot, where he stopped in front of a white trailer/truck marked Brown Industries.

A sharp hiss of compressed air being released caused Marty McFly to jump and snap his head to the back of it. It opened, and out popped a white haired man, smiling crazily. "Marty! Did you bring the stuff I asked for?"

"Sure did, Doc. Right here." Marty took the lid off the box and reached inside, retrieving a pair of headphones, an electrical adaptors, and several wires Marty didn't know what to call. He reached up and handed them to the man.

Dr. Emmett Brown nodded in thanks and turned to go back into the trailer. Marty hopped up onto the platform and followed him, raising an eyebrow when he looked around. It was like a workshop, with tons of either broken or failed inventions littering the floor, along with a ton of crumpled up paper.

"So…" Marty began, curious. "What're you trying to make?"

After a moments pause, the scientist answered, "You'll see."

Marty sighed and leaned against the table where Doc now had all of the things he'd brought, plus a remote control type machine. He took a pair of pliers and snipped off the end of the headphone's cord. Then, he ran it along the plastic until he could peel off the covering and leave only the wire. Marty watched, thoroughly confused, as he began somehow fitting it into the remote.

"Umm…" Marty shook his head. "Why couldn't you just have done this in your own lab?"

Doc gave Marty a look as if he'd broken his concentration, and then said, "Well…if it doesn't turn out to be exactly what I plan, it could quite possibly cause a small explosion."

Marty unintentionally—or, very intentionally—took several steps back. "Wait, whoa, Doc. You're joking, right?"

Either completely ignoring the question or unwilling to answer, Doc said, "Alright, let's see if this works…"

Doc pressed a button, aiming it at a flickering lamp post. Marty flinched as he did so, and then felt quite foolish when nothing happened. "Uh—" he began, but Doc waved his hand as if to stop him and pointed to the street lamp.

"What?" Marty didn't notice the fact that it had stopped flickering, or just didn't exactly care. After all the interesting things the scientist had built, he'd expected something more.

"It's an electrical pulse trigger." Doc said, smiling, obviously waiting for some sort of congratulations.

"Which means?" Marty waited.

"It'll fix, turn on, or turn off anything electrical within forty yards!" Doc finished, still grinning.

Marty slumped his shoulders, disappointed, sitting down on the edge of the truck. "Great. You just put electricians out of a job."

Doc cursed softly and threw the remote onto the table. "Oh, you're right. I just can't make anything…"

"Exciting?" Marty bit his lip. "Sorry."

"No, you're right." he repeated, sighing and kicking a wad of paper. He looked around at the inventions around, shaking his head. He sat down next to Marty and said, "Sorry I called you out here so late."

Marty shrugged. "Not like I had anything better to do." he said, almost truthfully. Except sleep, he added silently. At least it's Sunday. A sudden, loud crash coming from either in the trailer or behind it caused both to jump, almost simultaneously.

"What was that?" Marty asked, and got merely a head shake in response. Doc stepped into the portable lab and let out a laugh. "It was just the pulse trigger...it fell."

Marty breathed again and nodded. Why was he being so paranoid? There was no one here but them, and if there somehow was, who cared? They really couldn't do anything. And yet, he had a bad feeling he couldn't quite get over. He sighed. Maybe it was the fact that now, the fog had gotten thicker, and he could barely see three feet in front of him because of it. The wind whooshed softly, almost like a whisper, making everything just a bit creepier. Doc came back and took a seat again with a sigh. "I can't believe it. I haven't made a good invention since the steam engine time machine."

"Yeah you did." Marty offered. "You did rebuild the DeLorean. That counts for something, doesn't it?"

Doc looked pleased for a moment, but it faded quickly. "I don't know..." he continued. "I just...feel like maybe I've lost my touch."

"No way, Doc." Marty comforted. "That couldn't happen."

But Doc seemed not to here him, and moped on. "And that nothing I build will ever be anything as great as the thing I can't even let the public know about. I guess I've just been so busy with Clara and taking care of the boys..." he stopped. "It almost sounds like I'm blaming them." he said, shaking his head.

"Nah." Marty smiled. "You just need the right moment to think of something. Like when you invented the Flux Capacitor!"

Doc shrugged, finally seeming to come out of his depressed mode.

"Just, uh, don't go hitting your head on another sink." Marty said comically.

Doc chuckled. "Good advice."

Suddenly, a voice came from behind Marty, starting both of them. "Want some more good advice? Don't move." Something clicked, and Marty distinctively knew what it was. He'd spent too much time in the old west, and pretty much every where else to not recognize a gun cocking.

Doc stared past Marty, at the dark figure now holding something cylinder in his hand. He was masked, so his face could not be seen; not that he could have anyways through the cloudy mist hovering over the parking lot.

Marty went utterly stiff, panic-stricken, as the figure pushed the gun into his back. "Shit!" he whispered. He knew it'd felt like someone else was around! Maybe it had been one of those sixth sense experiences where you can tell someone is watching you. But who was it? What did they want? It must be something they knew Doc would have, Marty realized, or they wouldn't be in the same place at the same time we are. Who went on a robbing spree in a closed mall lot at 4:30 in the morning?

"Get up, kid." the gruff voice demanded. Marty swallowed hard and looked at Doc, who returned it with a silent but obvious order—'do what he says.'

The teen stood, hesitantly, and began to turn slowly, but before he could, the barrel of the gun was pressed harder into him. "I didn't say turn around."

Marty froze, whipping around so he was facing Doc again. His friend's face was expressionless as he continued to gaze at whoever was behind him.

"Alright, good." the man said (Marty could easily tell it was not a woman.) He heard more footsteps and he groaned inwardly. How many people are here? Marty wondered. This is ridiculous! Almost as soon as he had finished the thought, he was grabbed by his shoulders and pulled backwards. Another set of hands—no, two—grabbed him as the other let go, and he found himself in front of two burly men. He was forced to turn around, and watched, frightened, as the first man took aim with the gun at the scientist.

"Doc!" Marty cried. He hadn't had the best experiences with his friend and guns being pointed at him. He yanked one of his arms free, but as he struggled to get the other loose, one of the men formed a fist and struck the top of his head with it. "Uh!" His knees buckled almost instantly, and he men grabbed him before he could hit the pavement, holding his barely conscious form between them.

Doc opened his mouth to say something, horrified, but the man tightened his grip on the gun. He held out a hand. "Where is it?" he said, chillingly calm.

Doc only stared. "Where is what?"

"The sleep inducer!" The man said, losing his patience if he had any before.

Surprised, Doc shook his head. "How the hell do you—"

"Get it! Now!" the man said, swinging the gun around to aim at Marty. "Or the boy dies."

Doc took a step back, holding his hands up slightly. "No, I'll get it." he said, almost too softly to hear. He disappeared into the trailer, and came back a minute later, holding the dangerously powerful device in his hand.

The man grabbed it and nodded. He might have even been smiling, although Doc couldn't be sure behind the ski mask. "Good," he said, and then turned around. Marty was glaring at him, breathing hard and still dazed. "Just to make sure you didn't do anything to this..." the man took several steps over to Marty, and, before the teen could turn away, activated the device in front of his eyes, which slid shut a moment later. He hit the ground with a thud as the men dropped him.

Without hesitation, he whipped around and did the same to Doc. He didn't even get the curse forming at his lips out before he crumpled, unaware that he even collided with the concrete.

The man left the two figures where they lay, climbing into the black BMW parked several yards away.

"We will meet again, Dr. Brown." he murmured. His eyes went to the teen, and he hesitated, wondering if he should take him with them...He shook his head. He'd merely weigh them down. But he'd come back for him possibly, if he needed some...extra options of getting away safely and uncaught. Hill Valley wouldn't suspect them of what they were going to do, which was exactly how he wanted it. The last thing they needed was the newspapers to publish something about a kidnapping in the area.

He smiled wickedly. At least, not yet.

He slammed the door, and, in seconds, they were engulfed by the fog, and then gone.

The first thing Marty was aware of was a horrible headache, pounding everywhere, especially the top. He, for a few moments, had no recollection of any prior events. He thought simply that he was at home in bed. Then, with speed faster than light, the morning came flooding back: the men, the theft...why were things so fuzzy? He blinked open his eyes and sat up with a soft groan. When his vision cleared, he saw that he was no longer in the Twin Pines parking lot, but in Doc's actual lab, on a light brown couch in the corner. How had he gotten here?

"Doc?" he called out. A beat later, he saw the inventor poke his head around the corner and take a few steps towards him. "Yes. How are you feeling?"

Marty looked down at the blanket covering him and realized he must have been asleep for a long while. "I've been better," he said honestly, wincing as a bolt of pain shot through his head. He leaned against the couch, aching. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Doc said, a little worried. Had the teen been hit harder than he'd thought?

"The guys showed up, and then..." he trailed off, blinking hard a few times. "It's really hazy after that."

"They stole the sleep inducer," Doc answered, and then cursed. "And then tested the damn thing on us!"

Marty rubbed his head. His eyes caught side of a window, which he realized was pouring in light. He sat up straight all of a sudden, and stared at Doc, his eyes wide. "Doc! What time is it?"

Doc looked behind him for a second and then turned back to his friend. "Fifteen to eight." he told him.

Marty paled a bit and sank back "Three hours..." he murmured. "I was asleep for three hours?"

Doc nodded. "Actually, it's amazing that's all. You've got a nasty bump on the top of your head where they hit you, and combined with the effects of the inducer, it's no wonder.."

Marty's hand instantly went to the spot, and he groaned as he very distantly remembered that. "Damn..." he murmured, taking the cover off of him and standing. A wave of dizziness almost knocked him off his feet, and he stumbled forward, grabbing onto the wall, grateful for the support. Doc began to help him if he needed it, but he recovered quickly, walking over to the table Doc was in front of. He realized Doc had a wire in his hand, and figured he must be working on something again. "What...whaddya doing?" he asked, eyeing the wire.

"Oh." Doc said, as if he'd forgotten it was there. "My lamp." he stated, shrugging.

Marty nodded. He looked dazed, shocked. "Doc...what did those men want? I mean...why us?"

With another shrug, the scientist responded, "I'm not completely sure. Obviously, they wanted the sleep inducer, though I'm not sure how they came to know about it. When the effects of it wore off me, I brought you back here and found this whole place trashed. I have no idea of their motives, however."

Marty ran the back of his hand over his eyes and took a few steps towards the door. "I better go...before my mom starts wondering where I am, if she hasn't already."

"I don't think you're alright to walk..."

"I'm not gonna walk." he said. "I'm gonna..." he trailed off, as if he couldn't quite find the word. He instead asked, "Where's my board?"

"Right there," Doc pointed to beside the door. "But..."

"I'll be fine." he insisted.

"You can call your mom to pick you up, or I can drop you off—"

"I'm fine!" Marty said, louder this time. He hated being fretted over, especially about something that wasn't necessary. He grabbed his skateboard and made a move towards the door. At that very moment, though, dizziness overwhelmed him, and he dropped the board, very nearly fainting on the spot. Trembling and blinking to clear his vision, Marty turned around to see Doc looking at him, and he gave a weak smile. "Okay. Maybe I'm not."

As if satisfied, Doc gave a swift nod and grabbed the keys to his vehicle. In less than five minutes, he was home. Doc called out after him, "Rest, Marty. I'm serious."

Marty waved his hand in acknowledgment and grabbed his skateboard, not even bothering to bring it into the house and instead throwing it into the garage. He was surprised he actually made it to his bed before passing out. He didn't get up until hours later, feeling much better. The morning seemed like a distant memory by now, which may have been because he didn't remember half of it.

He got a glass of water and sat down on the living room couch, clicking on the television to the News. He had just taken a big drink when he heard what the woman was saying: "...Hill Valley bank was robbed at about 10 this morning, before they even opened, by at least eight men. They used some sort of unknown object, the manager says, to knock out all the employers while they robbed the place clean..."

Marty spat out the water, lapsing into a coughing fit until finally he could breathe again and listen.

"Police say over 300,000 dollars were stolen, with no lead on where to begin searching."

"Shit!" Marty shouted, jumping off the couch, all the fogginess in his mind evaporated, and ran out the door, grabbing his skateboard. He was off faster than he thought possibly, needing to tell Doc if he hadn't heard about it already.

This was definitely heavy.

A/N: So what do you think? This is my second attempt for a story (after deleting the other because of writer's block) and, to prevent that, I took a story I've already written several chapters for, so as to give me more time to think and write without making the readers of this story wait for months at a time. That is, if I continue this... Please please review! It's the one thing that helps me keep wanting to post, and please let me know if I should continue!