Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Marty.”

“No.”

“Martyyyy.”

“Not happening.”

“Martin Seamus McFly!”

“Linda I-forgot-your-middle-name McFly, I’m not going to just spill everything that’s happened during my time traveling, especially not over dinner, so you can drop it.”

“Now Marty…”

“No Ma! This is the third night in the row!” And he was really getting sick of it. Seriously, you’d think after the first night of him dodging the same question over and over and over they’d have given up, but no! No, his siblings were still on his back about his other time travel adventures that he’d specifically not told them about.

“Well, it would be nice…”

“Oh not you too!” Marty groaned, burying his face in his hands. He was really out of cards to pull now. Dave and Linda already proved they wouldn’t let up, and judging by the stars in his eyes every time it was brought up his father would be no help either. His only hope had been his mother, praying that at least the unfortunate circumstances of the one instance of his time travel they knew of would keep her on his side, but apparently that would be too merciful and the universe just didn’t do merciful with Marty McFly. Go figure.

And see, he would turn to Doc for support in any other situation. He trusted his best friend with his life, literally in multiple cases. However, after the events that resulted in his family knowing the full truth about his trip to the 50s, any faith he had in Doc helping him get his family off of him for anything time travel related had disappeared. Really, who immediately turns on their friend the one time - in this timeline anyway - they ask them to help hide from a family confrontation?? Doctor Emmett L Brown apparently. Perhaps that was why, when Jules and Verne asked him about more of his personal adventures through time about a month later, he let his time working with the teenage version of their father in 1931 slip. Seemed a fair trade to him.

So here he was, left entirely on his own to plead his case as to why he didn’t want to explain his other time travel adventures to his family over dinner and, frankly, failing at doing so.

“Now Marty,” his father started in that way that adults do that makes it clear that they’re trying to be the bigger person, but are failing miserably, “you have to understand that while jumping through time may be normal for you, it’s still a very interesting concept to the rest of us! Of course we’re going to have questions.”

“I’m not shocked you have questions,” Marty grumbled through his hands, “it’s just that I don’t feel like answering them in the middle of dinner.”

“Or after dinner, or before dinner, or during the weekend when you claim you have nothing to do-“ If Marty didn’t know his sister, he might just think she was being sincere with her list. However he did know his sister and that comment reminded him all too much of a time when she would complain about having to act as his answering service.

“Oh shut it, Linda. I’d like to see you want to talk about spending a week in the old west over spaghetti.”

“I think it would make for great- you went to the old west?!” Just as fast as he had raised his head again Marty found his face buried in his hands once more. Him and his big mouth. First he confirms for Jennifer that their trip to the future hadn’t been a dream, now he reveals to his family that he spent a week in the old west. His own dumb mouth - 1, Marty McFly - 0.

“I suppose that makes sense…” his mother mumbled, “after all with Mrs. Brown being from then…and that odd outfit you came home in when you were supposed to be at the lake. Goodness, how didn’t we see it sooner?”

Frankly, Marty wishes they hadn’t seen it at all. If they hadn’t seen it he wouldn’t have been cornered at dinner a month ago. If they hadn’t seen it he wouldn’t have had to recall when his own mother had the hots for him in the 50s to her face. If they hadn’t seen it he wouldn’t be sitting here inhaling spaghetti to avoid answering questions about his past time travel mishaps. Sure, it was nice not having to walk entirely on eggshells when discussing it with Jennifer at home. It was nice not having to lie 100% of the time about why he was dressed like he was from a different time period. It was nice to be able to joke with his father about small things like Darth Vader from Planet Vulcan. Still, there were plenty of times where he still wished his family never found out. Instances like now, where dinner turned into an interrogation session.

“See! That’s the sort of thing we mean, right Dave?” Marty’s brother, the traitor, nodded along, “Marty’s been all over history and he hasn’t even told us about any of it! For all we know he’s been in our damn history books and we haven’t known!”

“Language, Linda.”

“Yeah Linda, language,” Marty hummed, grinning in that shit eating way only siblings are proficient in with each other, “besides, it’s not my fault you couldn’t recognize your dear brother in your history book.”

“Well sorry I wasn’t exactly looking for you in the pictures when I was learning about the old west years ago, Marty,” Linda rolled her eyes, poking back at her spaghetti. Approximately 30 seconds later she almost choked, her fork clattering on her plate as she stared at her baby brother. “Wait, are you saying you are in our history books??”

By some odd miracle, the phone chose that exact moment to ring. Before the first ear piercing trill was finished Marty was out of his seat, ramming his hip into the table in the process but that was unimportant, and racing to pick it up. Shouts from all four members of his family ranging from scolding for leaving to demands he get back there and answer the question fell on deaf ears as he practically yanked the receiver off the wall and held it to his ear.

“McFly residence, Marty speaking.” The rehearsed line flowed like water down an undisturbed stream, even despite the commotion he could hear taking place at the table just around the corner from where he stood. Perhaps growing up in the original timeline did leave him with some useful skills after all.

“Marty!” The moment the voice from the other end of the call registered in his mind Marty felt his grin shift from that of a petty younger sibling to simple joy. It was what his expression always seemed to shift to whenever a call concerned his best friend and, admittedly, second father figure. Aside from the odd occasion in which an outside force left his mood soured, like being late for school, he found it hard to be down when it came to a call from the scientist. Perhaps that was because a good number of calls lately have resulted in some sort of adventure, time travel or not, but who was keeping track?

“D- thaaaat is my name! How can I help?” Covering for his own slip ups was never Marty’s strong suit, but he truly hoped he sold it well enough this time. His family had gone quiet. They were listening to him. No doubt they were trying to figure out who was calling. The last thing he needed was them knowing it was Doc calling, considering the conversation he just ran from.

“…I’m going to assume someone is listening by that response,” Ah Doc, whatever would he do without their ability to wordlessly understand each other? “I’ll keep this brief then. So Marty, I know it’s been a while since you and I last…traveled together, and that the last two instances of such went…less than ideally.”

That sure was a nice way to say ‘I got stranded in the old west and both of us almost erased ourselves in the 30s.’

“However! I know that, despite our misfortunes, you still hold a strong desire for adventure. More so than me anyway. I can see in the way you speak to Jules and Verne about our past travels that you still long for it.” Damn, was he that obvious? “So I’d like to propose a little offer.”

“Hey now, hold on,” he tried not to sound too excited, but knowing his best friend he’d be able to tell no matter how controlled his tone was. He was always able to, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying? Because if you’re not, you should clear it up now.”

“I do believe in saying exactly what you think I am, Marty.” Oh the smile he could feel split his face- “Are you doing anything this weekend?”

“When am I doing anything besides helping in the barn?”

“Fair point…does Saturday evening at around 8 work for you?”

“No reason it wouldn’t.”

“Wonderful! Just make sure to clear it with your parents and-“ oh no. You’ve gotta be kidding him.

“Awwwwh cmon, since when have I had to do that?” A fair question if you asked him. He didn’t have to clear it before so why now? “I’m an adult! What does it matter to them?”

“You’ve only just turned 18, Marty. And now that they know about everything I believe they’d like for you to clear it with them.” Gosh, being a father has corrupted Doc. What happened to just sneaking out to the mall at 1:15 am?

“Still an adult! Besides, they’ve been asking questions non stop, Do-aaaaaaddy-o,” Daddy-o? Really McFly? Two years of time traveling and you still use that to cover up your fumbles? Might as well just say Doc at this point. “At this rate they’re going to tail me there! What do we do then?”

“Well, Jennifer handled it well…”

“You can’t be serious.” There was no way.

“So long as they don’t have the same tendency to run into your relatives and are able to stay on the down low it, theoretically, shouldn’t be an issue. Clara, Jules, Verne, and I handled ourselves just fine.” Clara, Jules, and Verne are all very good at slipping into the crowd when they need to! The McFlys are not! Just look at their history, they’ve always been involved in something!

“Who are you and what have you done with my best friend? Because there’s no way I’m now the cautious, worrying one.”

“Just make sure to clear it with them, Marty. I don’t intend to receive another distressed call from your father or mother because you vanished when they asked about all of this. Explaining is easier than hiding.” Easy for you to say, Mr. My-Mom-Didn’t-Try-To-Date-Me-When-I-Time-Travled.

“Yeah yeah. I’ll see you Saturday.” Saturday, three days. Oh that was exciting.

“See you Saturday, Future Boy.” And just like that the dial tone rang in his ear. He hung the receiver back in his cradle with a smile, returning to the eerily quiet dinner table as if nothing had happened. If you asked him, nothing had. Just a regular phone call between him and his friend planning a little trip for the weekend! Nothing weird about that at all.

The silence didn’t break. Not as he sat down, not as he went back to his spaghetti like nothing happened- it didn’t break, and, much like that first night when they found out, his family just stared. They stared him down for a solid five minutes in complete silence until he looked up and just shrugged.

“I’ve got plans for Saturday night. That's not a problem right?” Framed as if it was the most normal question in the world. Perfect.

“This Saturday?” The emphasis his father put on the first word meant one of two things: either he was genuinely making sure, or he knew. Marty was hoping for the former.

“This Saturday. What other Saturday would I be talking about?”

“Well, it could’ve been next Saturday, or a few weeks ahead…”

“Or a Saturday say- thirty years in the past.” Thanks Dave. Real smooth.

“Or…well, that.” Oh. So it was the latter. Perfect. Marty sighed.

“No, I meant this Saturday.” He wanted to end his statement there. He wanted to pretend like his family didn’t know about time travel. Frankly, he wanted them to stop all staring at him and just ask the damn question out right, but no McFly has ever been good at starting confrontation. Not without a push from their future son/grandson/great-great-grandson at least.

He tried to just go back to his dinner. He really did. The last two forkfuls of spaghetti on his plate were really tempting and he really just wanted to finish so he could excuse himself from the table but no. No, his family just kept staring until he, in a display that reminded him far too much of his first meeting with his father in Lou’s Diner in ‘55, dropped and abandoned his fork onto his plate with what was left of his dinner.

“Jeez, fine! I have plans with Doc that start on Saturday night but frankly I have no idea when they’ll take me. Happy?”

“Don’t you mean where-“

“Nope. When. May I be excused?” He didn’t wait for a response. Within five minutes Marty cleaned his plate and retreated to his room. No one bothered him further that night.

The same could not be said for Saturday evening.

Having woken up at 9 am, Marty had been allotted ten hours of peace. He’d practiced a few new songs he and the band were trying to work out, spoke with Jennifer for about an hour on the phone, and a multitude of other small tasks which had been forgotten by his mind as soon as 7 pm rolled around and dinner ended. His ten hours of peace were brought to an abrupt end almost immediately after dinner when Dave and Linda appeared in his doorway as he prepared to head out to Doc’s. He wouldn’t have thought anything of it to tell the truth, had Dave not asked the question he had.

“So, what do we need to bring?” Pardon?

“You two going somewhere? Sibling outing without me?” Marty laughed, trying to ignore the tug of dread that had settled into his chest as he removed all present day gadgetry aside from his watch from his person.

“Oh, no.” Ah, well, good to know he wasn’t missing another sibling event he’d need to remember later. “Family outing.”

“Aw man, that’s not fair-“

“We’re coming with you.”

“What?” There was no way he heard that right.

“We’re coming with you, Marty. Me, Dave, Mom, and Dad.” Oh no.

“Yeah, and I recommend you tell us what to bring soon otherwise Dad is going to find the camera.” Oh no no no.

Marty must not have responded for quite some time as before he knew it his watch was alerting him to the alarm he’d set to leave on time and his siblings were nowhere to be found. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts like some sort of living etch-a-sketch before quickly patting himself down. Deeming himself void of any noticeable technology, he made for the hallway in the quietest way he knew how: not at all. He instead took to his window, hopping out and making his way around the backyard as he had a million times before back when his father was a wimp and his family in shambles. He’d thought he’d made it through undetected, having even cut a few backyards before walking to the main street with his skateboard. That was until the honking of a horn directly behind him damn near caused him to toss his skateboard into a nearby tree. Imagine the shock and dread that weighed his chest down like a lead vest when he turned and saw his family there, piled into the car together and all telling him to just get in the vehicle without actually saying the words ‘get in.’

Never in his 18 years of life, including his four mildly disastrous instances of time travel, had Marty McFly felt the kind of dread he did in that car on the 25 minute drive to the Brown Family Farm.

He didn’t even wait for the car to stop. They were about halfway down the Browns’ driveway when Marty abruptly opened the car door to his left and bolted out of the still moving vehicle. The shouts of his family once again went unheard as he ran to the barn, ears focusing on the sound of gravel under his shoes and the faint tinkering in the distance. He didn’t wait to hear if the car had stopped yet, instead opting to barrel through the door to the barn in a way not unlike his ‘visit’ to Peabody’s Twin Pine Farm back in 1955. He slammed the door shut behind him, noting the way Doc jumped and whipped around at the sound as if his entrance had been any quieter, vaulting himself over the shining hood of the time machine with practiced ease. He had the passenger door open and one foot in the vehicle before his friend could so much as say hello.

“Hey Doc!” he spat out, breathless, “Good seeing you! Even better seeing this beauty again. Say, when are we going? Am I right to guess farther back because of your outfit? Ah, nevermind, brief me on the way there- then- whatever. Let’s just get going. Like now.”

“Now Marty, there’s no need to rush,” Doc’s tone was nothing short of amused, the kind a parent uses when trying to calm their over excited kid. Guess he’s had the practice between Marty and his own kids, “It is still a time machine. It won’t make a difference when we leave.”

He wished it wouldn’t. He really wished it wouldn’t.

“Well uh- yeah,” Marty sputtered, further cramming himself into the passenger seat of the DeLorean, “b-but it’s just- see, I’m just excited is all. This is the first adventure where one of us isn’t in immediate danger for me and that sounds fun! So we should leave. Right now. Seriously.”

There was a beat as the two friends simply stared at each other, one out of desperation and the other out of curiosity. Briefly Marty wondered if this is what germs under a microscope felt like - or lab rats - being watched and studied for their reactions to certain situations. He supposed it was fitting, considered the man across from him was a PhD in a scientific field. Maybe he spoke too soon all those years ago and Doc was testing science stuff on him, watching his reactions to his lack of expression beyond concentration. Ha! Imagine that.

“Marty…” Doc started, drawing the teen’s name out like one does when approaching a scared animal. Did he look like a scared animal right now? “You’re not trying to use this to run from something, are you?”

“No, I’m not.” Technically that was true. He’d made the plans with nothing going on, honest! Running from his family for time travel a second time was a recent development. “I’m just excited! Is that hard to believe?”

“No, it’s not.” Thank goodness. “It’s just your tone and body language suggest you’re nervous about something and the last time I saw you like this you had run across town hoping to hide from your family after they figured out that you and Calvin Klein were one in the same.”

Maybe, Marty thought to himself, he should take up an acting class or two, because if Doc could read him that easily there was no way he’d be able to avoid his family when it came to all things time travel. The teen sighed

“Look, I know it looks bad,” he started, as sincere as he possibly could, “but I really am excited. This will be my first time time-traveling without worrying that one of us is gonna die/disappear sometime in the next week and that just sounds really fun. Like- like back in ‘55! When I spent a whole day just wandering around the 50s and taking it in! That kind of exciting, you know?”

A beat of silence. His heart seemed determined to choke him with how high in his throat it now sat.

“So you’re not running from your family?”

“Just excited, Doc.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely certain.”

Doc sighed, his parental interrogation expression dropping into a warm, frankly excited smile. Marty could feel his own grin grow in response.

“Well then,” his best friend hummed, leaning on the open door of the time machine, “I suppose we could depart now and catch up on the way-“

“Martin McFly!”

“Oh God damnit!”

Resisting the strong urge to bury his head in his hands once more, Marty turned away from his family in the doorway and towards his best friend. He expected shock, confusion, and maybe even that dreaded disappointment from a parental figure that can crush a man’s dreams in an instant. Instead, however, he found…smugness? Almost like Doc was wordlessly telling him that he told him so- oh you’ve got to be kidding him.

“For a time traveler, you’re a terrible liar,” Doc whispered, clapping Marty on the shoulder before standing to full height and rounding the front of the DeLorean to meet the rest of the McFly family at the barn door, “George! Lorraine! What a nice surprise. I was told Marty informed you both of our plans tonight?”

“It’s great to see you again, Doctor Brown.” His mother smiled, ever pleasant as if her two elder children didn’t just kick in a door searching for their brother.

“Well, he told us that you two had plans, but that was about the extent of the explanation.” Way to throw him under the bus, Dad.

“Hey no!” Before he could even think Marty was out of the car and rounding it at the front to defend himself, “I told you that we had plans and that I didn’t know when they would take me. That counts! And besides, no one had any problems with it until about half an hour ago!”

“We don’t have a problem with it, Marty-“

“Then why was I cornered when I tried to get ready to leave??”

Marty decided in the moment to ignore the concerned look Doc was giving him in his peripheral vision in favor of staring pointedly at his two older siblings. His parents seemed to get the hint that it wasn’t them particularly who he was talking about and relaxed. Were they that scared of possibly upsetting their son? Or was it because they were remembering a time where they, specifically his mother, had cornered one Calvin Klein? Really, sometimes Marty wasn’t sure what to make of his parents. Yes, after he rewrote history, but especially after they learned about time travel. They just kept getting harder and harder to read.

“Okay, for the record, we’re not against this whole time travel thing either.” The way Linda said the phrase made it seem like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Marty would disagree. “It’s just that we, as your older siblings, worry for our baby brother here. I mean, he already doesn’t tell us about any of his past adventures! How are we supposed to know if he’ll be safe jumping around time even more?”

“You haven’t told them about your travels?” Marty couldn’t tell whether Doc was more confused or shocked. His tone fell somewhere in between, “I thought you said you could answer any questions they had? Marty, if you needed help answering something I would’ve been more than willing to help. I’ve told you this.”

“I know, I know, Doc. I did answer their questions though…” he paused, bracing for the impact that would be his best friend chewing him out for hiding things from his family. Again. “…about 1955.”

“Just 1955?”

“Yeah…but I had a good reason!”

That reason was the fact that he knew if he told his parents he’d been involved in a western duel and mob shootout he’d never be aloud to so much as utter Doc’s name again, a fact he knew Doc knew by the look in his friend’s eyes a second after he spoke, but his family didn’t need to know that. If he could help it, his family never would know. Then again, he said that about time travel and look where he was now.

“As do we to be worried, Marty,” Dave, for all his professionalism in the new timeline, was still the brother he knew from before. His moments of strong emotion still played out the same on his face. In this instance: worry. “I mean, who knows what you get up to in the past or future? For all we know you could be cementing yourself as a historical figure and we’d never know!”

“Hey, no, I told you about Calvin Klein!” His brother and sister blinked, he sighed, “The ‘Ghost of Hill Valley High’? Protector of the weak and a story for parents to tell their kids so they don’t bully each other? First showed up in ‘55, protected and mentored one pathetic loser George McFly - sorry Dad, but it’s true - then vanished without a trace? C'mon guys, you know this is awkward to talk about for me.”

“I’m sorry, ‘Ghost of Hill Valley High’?”

“I’ll explain later, Doc. Or Jennifer could. She had to explain it to me, you know.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Needles brought it up one day and she had to explain it. Actually that’s how she found out what I went by in the 50s.”

Doc hummed, a short sound somewhere between amusement and curiosity. He knew Jennifer was aware of everything, if not after his visit to them in the train for the first time then by her willingness to discuss his boys’ past adventures with them when she came over with Marty, but the extent of what she knew always seemed to waver. Now he knew why; Marty wasn’t telling the full truth. At least, not at first. Judging by the things he’d heard her say he had to guess she got it out of the boy eventually, even if it had been as difficult as pulling teeth.

As the two time travelers idly spoke, the rest of the McFly family debated the best way to approach the topic at hand. Although debate might not be the best way to describe it. More accurately Lorraine, Linda, and Dave were trying to get George to stop gawking at the time machine directly in front of him and lead the conversation as they had discussed prior. A task easier said than done when the person you’re trying to convince is a lifelong science fiction enthusiast. After little success showed itself Linda decided to take action, clearing her throat as she dragged her father to the front of their little group with her.

“Anyway!” she started, voice just loud enough to apparently startle both time travelers to attention, “we, as a family, came to a little decision. Isn’t that right, Dad?”

George practically tripped over his own two feet as he was nudged - more like pushed, Marty mused - forward. His eyes remained wide and locked on the DeLorean behind Marty and Doc. Had it not been for his clothes, graying hair, and other odd signs of aging Marty might have just believed that he was somehow back in the 50s again because the man in front of him barely looked like the successful writer he’d grown to know over the last year. No, he looked much more like the lanky, awkward, frankly weak and geeky boy he’d befriended back in 1955. The same boy who spoke about science fiction with stars in his eyes and seemed equally excited as he was scared when an ‘alien’ came down to tell him to take Lorraine to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. Clearly he wasn’t the only one who saw it either, thank goodness, as one look at Doc beside him showed the same look of recognition in his eyes. Guess some things never change.

“Right! Right, um…the decision-“ If it hadn’t been for how downright awkward and bully-able his father looked in that moment, Marty might just have smiled at how his eyes weren’t focused anywhere near him and Doc. No, no, they were much too busy roaming over the form of the DeLorean behind them while he spoke, “see, Marty, we- your mother and I, that is. Your siblings have much less to do with this than they want you to believe. We worry for you. We know your adventures have been rather…eventful, and that you’d rather not recall some events, but it would be nice to know that you’re okay. When you go on these trips, that is. After all, the intricacies of time travel are still quite a mystery to us, so some…reassurance would be nice. If that’s alright, that is.”

There was no way.

“Dad,” Marty whispered, although it came out as more of a hiss, as if Doc wouldn’t still be able to hear everything he said on account of him currently standing right next to the teen, “you can’t be serious-“

“Oh, he’s serious, Marty,” Dave smiled, as if he didn’t just shatter Marty’s entire grip on the situation at hand, “If it would be possible, and okay with the inventor of time travel and all, we’re coming with you.”

Marty, for a lack of better term, froze. His body did not move, with his eyes being the single exception. They flicked over each member of his family, studying every aspect of their expressions. Dave and Linda seemed nothing short of triumphant, proud of their success in the endeavor of screwing over their little brother. Typical of his siblings, no matter the timeline it seemed. His father still seemed entirely taken with the time machine in front of him, most likely trying to match what he was seeing to what he’d spoken about with Doc during one of their sci-fi discussion sessions. Truthfully, Marty couldn’t blame him. Sure, the man knew time travel existed and how it worked thanks to Doc, but this was the first time he got to lay eyes on the actual time machine. Well, one of them at least. Still, this was a science fiction nerd’s wildest dream come true. Of course he was going to be geeking out. Then there was his mother, the family member he could arguably read the best with his father being a close second. Unlike her two eldest children and her husband, her expression was rather tame; a small smile and eyes that seemed to speak words for her. They seemed to say ‘thank you’ in a way. Stranger yet, she seemed to be looking right through him. A quick squeeze to his right hand proved to him that he was still very much solid, thank you, so what on Earth could she be looking at? Curiosity got the better of Marty, he’ll admit, and he turned to follow her gaze. What he found can be described in three simple words: pure, utter betrayal.

“Doc!” Perhaps his voice came out just a tad shriller than he had intended, but could you blame him?? This went against practically everything he’d ever been told about time travel! And the man who told him those things was standing right in front of him, blatantly disobeying them himself!

“Now Marty, I did tell you that, if it came down to it, it would be possible to simply show your family that time travel is safe.” Ha! Safe. Tell that to the two separate times he’s almost erased himself from history! “And it just so happens that your mother phoned me the day after our initial call…”

“Doc, please tell me you’re joking.” The look he was given insisted that no, this was the truth. Great. “But- but what happened to ‘time travel is not a toy’? You chewed me out for like an hour back in 1955 for wanting to ‘treat 1955 like a tourist destination’!”

“I told that to you in the 50s, Marty. To clarify, the version of me from 1955 who had just been struck with the very idea of possible time travel and been informed by you that you might have just erased yourself from existence told you that. Of course I’m going to be cautious when it comes to possible outcomes neither of us knew of! At this moment, however, you’re speaking to a version of me who spent a year hopping the time stream with my family. Due to our own experiences, you and I know plenty about how to blend in to another time and do so safely.”

“So what, you and I are going to play babysitter to my family’s first time time traveling?”

“Babysitting is not the word I’d use. More so teaching,” Doc paused, appearing to think for a moment before laughing softly, “Babysitting would be more akin to what I did back in 1955.”

“Wha- I was panicking!!”

“Yes, understandably so, but it cannot be denied that it taught us both a valuable lesson in time travel. 30 years earlier than it should’ve been for me, but still a valuable lesson!” Doc nodded towards Lorraine again, who smiled, “A lesson we can use to teach others about the scientific phenomenon of time travel. Not that I intend for this to reach the public any time soon, but I digress.”

“Doc, seriously, listen to what you’re saying here. Do you really think it’s a good idea to decide on a whim to bring four more people somewhere in the past? I mean, jeez, remember Jennifer?” Marty winced as he heard his siblings verbally react to his little slip up, having forgotten that they weren’t aware of the whole 2015 situation. Whatever, he could play damage control later with that. Right now he needed to reason with his best friend. “And what about the boys? I know their bedtime is early compared to mine but still, are we really gonna just leave them alone?”

“Marty, think fourth dimensionally. Remember, time travel is instantaneous. We could stay somewhere for days - not that we will. Really this is a quick in and out - and come back to this exact time and no one else would know any better.” Doc paused, waiting for Marty to comprehend what he’d said in the way he always managed to without seeming condescending. When the teen sighed he laughed, gently patting him on the shoulder, “Besides, Clara is staying with them. She actually was the one to talk to your mother before me yet offered to stay behind. Said something about it being a good experience for one of us, or was it both?”

Marty just blinked at his friend. Good god, she set him up! Not her husband, but him! And with the help of his own mother too! Was the universe just out to get him or something?

…

Scratch that, the universe has been out to get him since day one.

“Now!” Between his best friend’s voice and the loud clap right next to his ears Marty was jolted back to reality rather harshly. At least it looked like his siblings jumped too. “If it pleases everyone, we should still get moving while the night is young. Not that it affects when we get there, but it’s better to have more energy than less when it comes to time travel.”

“Uh, Doctor Brown?” For the first time this night Linda actually looked unsure, concerned even. Gone was the confidence her and Dave previously wore as they, like their father, began to also study the DeLorean. “As much as I still want to do this, please don’t tell me we’re all going to have to fit in that.”

The two time travelers turned to face the time machine behind them, then to each other, then to the time machine again. It took everything in Marty to hold back his laughter. Admittedly, it was a reasonable question. The DeLorean was a two seater vehicle, with even less space inside due to the time circuits and other mechanical things Marty didn’t quite understand. Still, the fact that his sister even thought they were all going to try and cram into the car was just too funny to him. The gentle squeeze Doc gave to his shoulder helped him to keep his composure, sure, but it didn’t make turning back around to face his very confused family any easier.

“No, of course not.” Marty swiveled on his feet to follow Doc as his friend moved about the lab, a motion he was all too used to. No matter where, when, or how old Doc was, some things just never changed. “We’ll split off. Two people can go with Marty and two people will go with me.”

“But how are we going to split off? Wouldn't someone need to bring the DeLorean back for a second trip?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. Marty and whoever goes with him - I’m assuming it’ll be you and Linda, David - will take the DeLorean and whoever goes with me will take the time train!”

Gosh was Marty glad he’d turned to face his family as Doc explained the plan. If he hadn’t, he would’ve missed his family’s reactions to the giant, time traveling steam engine housed in the barn and, looking at them now, he wished he had a camera. His siblings and mother were all rather tame in their reactions. Sure, their jaws were practically on the floor and their eyes seemed to be bulging out of their heads like some sort of cartoon, but that was the extent of it. The real notable one was his father. His dear, geeky, science fiction loving father. His face bore the same expression as Marty’s mother and siblings, but cranked up to an 11. In his eyes sat a certain spark that Marty could last recall having seen as a teenage George explained to him his visit from the alien Darth Vader. Enough childish excitement to stop someone’s heart paired with the utter bewilderment of a man seeing the very thing he’s only ever dreamed of existing right before his eyes. Truthfully, seeing his dad so happy made Marty smile. It was strange to look back and think of a time where he never knew of his father’s love for science fiction. Yes, he may have changed history by telling his father to pursue his dreams, but it’s one of the changes he could say he was proud of. He loved his father, nerdiness and all.

“I’m sorry,” George’s voice shook, and were it not for his steadily growing grin Marty might have worried that he regressed back to his high school state of meekness, “there more than one time machine?”

“Indeed. Although it is just these two,” Doc grinned, all too happy to talk about his greatest achievement. If there was any good that came out of his family knowing about time travel, Marty figured, it was that Doc wasn’t confined to talking the ears off of his family or best friend. In fact, he had an audience that would happily sit for hours and listen to the intricacies of it all. A one man audience, sure, but an audience nonetheless. “There wasn’t exactly a DeLorean sitting around 1885 after we sent Marty back, so I had to make do with what we had. Turns out a train not only can reach the required 88 miles per hour, but it also can withstand the pressure of the time stream quite well! Of course, like the DeLorean we had to take it to get outfitted with the necessary power and hover technology in the 21st century.”

“You’re telling me that thing flies?!” Smooth Dave.

“Both the time train and the DeLorean fly, yes. It’s rather convenient to not need a stretch of road or open space to be able to get up to speed. Besides, roads don’t always stay the same throughout time. It’s important to have a versatile vehicle.”

As both parents and siblings alike now gawked at the train Marty took to leaning against the hood of the DeLorean. If it wasn’t already obvious that he wasn’t getting out of this situation, he was also simply ready to give up fighting it. Clearly his family was coming along with them, so why keep pouting like a stubborn child? That's not to say there wasn’t a part of him that wanted to still pout, because there was. A small little voice in his head and a tug in his chest that reminded him that this was supposed to be a time for him and Doc to just hang out, to time travel without one of them being in constant danger. That part of him wanted to state that fact out loud, remind his family of the original plan and maybe make them feel a little guilty for going behind his back like this, but he wouldn’t. Instead he ran his hand over the hood he leaned against, memories of his past adventures running through his mind. Either he was pulling some sort of face or Doc just knew him that well, because only a minute or so later he was being pulled to the side out of view of his family by the man.

“Marty,” he started, voice low as to avoid the attention of the entire McFly family only feet away, “what’s bothering you?”

“Nothing’s bothering me, Doc.” Ah, Marty’s classic technique for acknowledging what’s wrong: avoidance.

“Marty, I’ve known you since you were barely a teenager and technically since I was one too,” Marty couldn’t help but laugh softly at the memory of working with Doc’s teenage self. That had been a week, “I know how to see when something is bothering you. So what is it? Is it about your mother having called?”

“It’s not fair how you can just see through me, you know that? Not fair at all,” Marty chuckled, although the sound held no joy behind it. Just resignation to having to tell the truth. “Maybe, okay? I just…I was looking forward to exploring the past with you and not actively having to try and keep one of us from disappearing, you know? I mean, the 50s was an emotional whirlwind both times, the future was just unfortunate, the old west was terrifying, and the 30s was somehow scarier. I figured this would be a chance to have fun and not be terrified for once, yeah?”

“I understand. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to warn you earlier.” Marty just shrugged. It was fine, really. Doc was a busy man, he couldn’t blame him. The scientist paused for a moment before nudging his friend, trying to draw the teen’s eyes off the ground and to him. “But, you should know that I didn’t just agree to this entire thing over a five minute phone call.”

“Really?” Cause that’s sure how it seemed to have gone.

“Oh no. Marty, I haven’t forgotten how dangerous time travel can still be if not done correctly. In fact, both Clara and I explained that to your mother when she asked. However I also couldn’t just let her go on worrying that you were in danger every time you set foot in the DeLorean. The worry a parent has for their child can be an equally dangerous force, believe me, and we had already left her wondering for so long. So we agreed to a little deal,” A moment of silence passed between the two friends before Marty quickly motioned for Doc to elaborate, “if we could prove to her that time travel was - well, at least could be, but I have an odd feeling you haven’t told your family about the events of 1985A, the old west, and 1931 - safe, you’d be free to come and go on these little adventures as you please.”

“Wait, hold on Doc. You’re saying if this goes smoothly I don’t have to go through the awkward process of asking my parents, who were directly affected by said time traveling, to time travel?”

“Well, you are an adult. While you may still be living with them you can make your own decisions about certain things. Considering your experience I believe that time travel should be one of them and your mother agrees,” he paused, “given this all goes alright.”

“I’m guessing my siblings and father were all present for this phone call?” Seriously, where was he when his family all crowded around their main landline??

“Naturally. They worry for you. That and George wanted to see the time machine.”

“Not shocked. Sounds like Dad.” Marty peaked over at his family, all of whom were still taken with the two time machines in front of them. Slowly a smile tugged at his face. “Well, Doc, let’s give them the best time travel experience they’ve ever had!”

“It’s the only one they’ve ever had, Marty.”

“Then the best one I’ve had so far. No offense, but the past four have been kinda disastrous.”

“Well maybe if you didn’t have such a tendency to run into your relatives, future boy.”

“Hey, not my fault us McFlys are everywhere!”

The two laughed, with Marty playfully shoving at Doc and the latter swatting back. The mini war quickly ended as attacks turned into the younger of the two going in for a hug, one he found returned seconds later by his best friend. A silent thank you, reassurance that they’d have plenty of adventures to come. With little further hesitation Marty grinned, running out to meet his family with a tone that could only be described as a teen who just got their license.

“Alright, who’s riding with me?”

The ride situation worked out just as Emmett had predicted, with Dave and Linda sticking with Marty while George and Lorraine went with him. Marty had begun to slowly inch towards the driver’s door of the DeLorean as details of the trip were discussed, a fact which only Emmett seemed to notice. Not that he would comment on it. If there was anyone here he could have piloting the other Time Machine, he would pick Marty. Heavens know the kid was experienced enough.

“So Doc,” Marty hummed, leaning idly against the open driver door of the DeLorean, “when were you thinking for this trip? I mean, we never discussed it over the phone but I’m sure you have some sort of an idea.”

“Ah yes, of course. The matter of when.” Emmett nodded before crossing over to one of the two cluttered tables within the barn, rummaging through a drawer nearby. After a moment he stood straight, tossing a worn brown poncho at Marty. “How would you feel about being Clint again for a day, Marty?”

Despite how he tried to hide it, Emmett caught the flash of a grin that Marty had worn briefly. Perhaps the Old West grew on him a little more than the boy thought.

“Wait, really?” Marty ran his fingers over the fabric in his hands, seeming to think over what he just heard, “But wouldn’t they-“

“They would recognize you and me, yes, but as far as we would tell them we both just so happened to be in town while traveling with family. Simple. Also it’s the best option when it comes to trying to avoid accidentally erasing ourselves.”

“I guess,” Marty hummed, then paused, “wait, no, how did you come to that point? Seamus and Maggie-“

“Already have their son, remember? You physically cannot prevent the birth of your great grandfather so don’t worry. Also it’s the only logistical time to go back to. Go back any further and there will be no Hill Valley, go forward any more and we risk running into a relative who might recognize you - or more accurately, your father - in the future or my past self. Really it’s the most logical decision.”

“Wait, hold on!” When Marty heard a voice pipe up from the cluster of his family, he expected Linda or Dave again. He didn’t expect his father to be the one to speak, much less for him to be actually looking at them and not the time machines this time. “Marty, who is Clint? And does this mean you have been to the old west?”

The two time travelers turned to each other. One looked nothing short of unamused. The other offered the best sheepish expression he could, knowing there was no real way to get out of this situation.

“I….don't have a good explanation for that.”

“What you need is an excuse, not an explanation, Clint Eastwood. Not that it would help, as I believe I know exactly why you’ve withheld this information from your family.”

“I don’t know, it’s pretty complicated-“

“I was there for all of it, Marty.”

“…Right.”

“Clint Eastwood??” David’s voice shook through his laughter as he tried to comprehend just what he was hearing, “You went by Clint Eastwood?”

“Yeah, yeah- I know. Could’ve chosen better. Doc’s already chewed me out for it once before,” Marty rolled his eyes, although the action held no real malice behind it, “I’d like to see you come up with clever fake names when you just woke up to your great great grandmother talking to you!”

“Good god, Marty, just how many of our relatives have you run into?”

“Every single McFly in the history of Hill Valley,” Marty paused to think, “save for Great Grandma. Never ran into her.”

“What a miracle.”

“I don’t wanna hear it, Doc.”

Blue eyes met brown ones and for a moment the two friends found themselves in a standoff. The seriousness of said event lasted all of two seconds before they both were left to fight off laughter. The moment of simple silliness was cut short, however, by the realization of a rather important matter they’d yet to discuss: clothing. After all, they couldn’t just show up to the old west looking like they belonged to another time. Marty tried that once and every now and again his neck still burned with the memory of where that horrible outfit had gotten him. So of course clothing had to be figured out. At least, that’s what the McFlys thought until Emmett once again crossed the barn.

“Clara insisted that she help figure out clothing once I informed her of the plan,” he explained, pulling out four simple outfits from seemingly nowhere, “after having heard about what I sent you back in the first time she practically refused to let me try my hand at the period’s fashion again. Even though I believe I’ve gotten much better after a decade of living there- I have, Marty, don’t laugh. Anyway, these will help the four of you blend in. Marty, we still have one of your old Clint outfits that you kept here. I hope that’s okay.”

“Sounds like a plan, Doc,” Marty hummed, pushing off the DeLorean to go and change. He stopped briefly to pat his father on the shoulder, grinning at his family. “Welcome to time travel.”

To be entirely honest, it was hilarious to listen to his family try and adjust to 1800s clothing. Dave and George got used to it all rather fast, already being used to wearing suits thanks to their respective jobs, but poor Linda just didn’t seem to agree with the dress she had to wear.

“I am so thankful that society agreed to let women wear pants before I was born,” she’d said while fighting with her skirt, tripping over it in the process. Marty tried not to laugh, really he did, but it was simply too funny to ignore. At least it was until his siblings began chuckling at him. Then things quickly devolved into a good old fashioned McFly sibling brawl that had to be broken up by Emmett reminding Marty of why they were here. Of course, that didn’t stop the glares still shot between siblings as they went over the plan.

“Alright, let’s go over this one last time.” Finally, after three times through their cover story, Marty had hope that his family was getting the idea. Of course, that didn’t mean they were just gonna go. No no, that could only happen once Doc was confident, although his current tone gave the teen hope. “Clint Eastwood and I are traveling for business. We ran into you, Clint’s family, while you were…”

“Taking a vacation.”

“Right! Seeing as we were going the same way we’ve…”

“Stuck together, because safety in numbers.”

“Exactly! I think we’re good!” While Marty had been more noticeable, it was hard to deny that both time travelers had perked up upon realizing that they were set to go. The call of adventure was a strong one, and the two friends were no different than any other person when it came to answering it. Then again, neither were any of the other McFlys as they all boarded their respective time vehicle just as eagerly.

“Marty, can you hear me?” Doc’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie at Marty’s side, currently on top of the time circuits. The teen smiled, picking it up to respond.

“Loud and clear, Doc. Over.”

“Perfect. Go ahead and start the DeLorean. Over.” Marty twisted the key and the car sputtered to life.

“DeLorean: Started. Over.”

“Time circuits on? Over.” The handle twisted smoothly, lighting up all sorts of tubes and switches within the car. As the display lit up Marty couldn’t help but grin, a stark contrast to his two siblings currently crammed into the passenger seat. They seemed nervous, to say the least, eyes darting over the inside of the Time Machine while trying to take it all in. Good luck, Marty still didn’t know what half of the stuff did or meant, and he’s been driving this thing for a year now!

“Time Circuits on, Doc. Over.”

“Wonderful. I’ve explained to you how I’ve linked the time train and DeLorean before, correct? Over.”

“Yeah, Doc, but you should know most of it went over my head.”

“I’m sure you retained more than you think, Marty. Now, tell me the date you see for the destination time on the console. Over.” Marty nodded, ignoring the looks his siblings were giving him. They could be confused all they wanted, so long as they let him do this without interference.

“Looking like August 17th, 1898, 8:15 am, Doc. That sound right? Over.”

“Perfect, the vehicles are synchronizing just fine.”

There was a sudden sound from the left, similar to that of a jet taking off. Marty didn’t need to look to know that it was the time train starting up to leave the barn so that it could properly take off. In fact, he was much more content to watch his siblings’ reactions to said event. The train was out of sight before it even started hovering, but still their jaws hung open.

“Marty!” Doc’s voice crackled through again, “drive to the back of the property before getting up to speed, okay?”

“Aye aye, Captain.” His hand twitched over the gear shift, just waiting for the moment where he could finally take the car out of park.

“Well then, if all is good, we’ll see you shortly, future boy.”

“See you in the past, Doc! Over.” Marty reached over to place the walkie-talkie on the floor of the passenger seat, sitting up straight just to see the sky outside the barn light up blue through the doorway accompanied by three cracks and a sonic boom. He smiled wide, turning to his siblings who seemed a strange mix of confused and anxious.

“Well?” He asked, tone teetering on taunting, “don’t tell me you guys are rethinking this now.”

“We’re not!” Linda defended, eyes locked on the open barn door, “it’s just…strange. To think that we’re actually about to travel through time, you know?”

“Stranger still that our baby brother is the one leading us into it with a smile,” Dave added, turning to Marty, “how do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Smile! Isn’t this, yknow, terrifying?” Marty paused, looking to his siblings. His older siblings who, in this moment, were turning to him for guidance. He felt his smile soften, any hint of sass or snark leaving his words.

“It was. At first,” he hummed, drumming on the wheel, “I mean, I was already stressed when I time traveled for the first time due to…things. No, I’m not telling you what. What’s important is that I was scared. I was terrified, actually, when I looked at the picture of us I keep in my wallet and saw Dave fading from existence before my very eyes because of a mistake I made. I was terrified when Doc and I had to take the one in a million chance of the lightning bolt being able to send me back, when I saw a horrible alternate reality due to another mistake I made, and when I found out Doc was stuck in the 1800s. I’ve been scared a lot when it comes to time travel, but you know what? I always know it’s going to be okay in the end because I have Doc and you guys. I know that no matter what chaos I might see, or cause, I have someone I can go to.”

“Then why-“

“I don’t talk about what went on in my travels to other times besides 1955 because I don’t want to worry all of you,” he continued, “The 50s are easy because mom and dad already know the story and have told you guys it your whole lives. But things like the 1800s? I don’t want to worry you all by telling you about the week I spent there. I mean, cmon. You guys sat me down the other day after a botched audition and gave me an hour-long talk about how no matter what happens, you’ll always be there for me. If I just suddenly dropped a year’s worth of time travel things on you I don’t think you’d ever let me leave the house again, much less see Doc and I don’t think I could handle that. We’ve been through so much with and for each other, you know. I might actually lose myself to insanity if I had to cut contact with the one person who knew all of what I’ve gone through cold turkey.”

Marty sighed, looking at his hands. Solid, not see through, solid. He was here, he was okay, and his siblings were listening rather than going all over protective. That was a good sign, right? He better keep talking.

“After this I’ll tell you all more, promise. I mean, I might as well because otherwise you would all just go to the library and look up the Legend of Clint Eastwood of Hill Valley and I’d rather you hear the story from me. But, you need to promise me that you won’t go all crazy on me, okay? Because if you do I’m never going to tell you anything about this stuff again, and I think that would be scarier to you than the looming experience of time travel, yeah?”

His siblings looked at each other, then to the open barn door, then back to Marty. He knew he was making it obvious that he had somehow landed in danger during his time in the old west, but he’d rather have the line drawn now than then. They continued to think for a moment, studying their youngest brother’s face thoroughly, before Dave sighed.

“We won’t ‘go all crazy’ on you when you tell us, so long as you do tell us. The truth, too.” Marty smiled.

“Deal. Now-“ his smile morphed into a grin, a mischievous expression that seemed to warn his siblings to brace themselves for something insane, “I think we should catch up with Mom, Dad, and Doc, yeah?”

“Right, yeah, the others,” Linda mumbled, “I guess we’ve kept them waiting long enough.”

“Nah, they won’t know this ever happened. Time machine and all, we’ll arrive at the same time as them in the past,” Marty paused, chuckling to himself, “good to know I’m not the only one who doesn’t fully understand that fourth dimensional crap though. Makes me feel a little better.”

“Gee, how kind of you.” Ah, there was that sisterly sarcasm he knew!

“You’re welcome, dear sister,” Marty reached over and patted Linda’s shoulder before turning back to the path ahead and shifting out of park.

The drive to the other side of the Brown Farm was rather smooth, given the worn path from the barn to the unofficial landing pad. The DeLorean slowed to a stop a good ten feet from the set of tracks the time train usually followed, although the train was naturally nowhere to be found. Marty took a moment for his siblings to relax, watching as they processed all that they were seeing. He wondered if that was what he looked like back during his first two adventures through time. Must have been. They were related after all. When he finally deemed them relaxed enough to continue his confident smile returned.

“Hey, just relax. It’ll go fast,” he started as nonchalantly as he possibly could, barely containing his own excitement. It wasn’t every day you got to show off things like this. There was a brief pause as he flipped a few switches and shifted gears one more time, “oh, and brace yourselves~”

Without any further warning the DeLorean took to the air. Despite how slow as the initial ascent was, the two elder McFly children still spent it clinging to each other and stumbling over random words. Their eyes flicked between the windows around them and their baby brother, who seemed so incredibly at ease behind the wheel of a flying Time Machine. Seriously, where on earth did this confidence come from? Things only got worse as Marty laid into the gas, sending the flying car jolting forward and going faster and faster with each second. It was in that moment, far from town with only the stars in the heavens as witness, that David and Linda McFly began to wonder if they had walked willingly into their own deaths. Somewhere from behind them a bright white light began to glow, competing with the flashes of blue outside the windows for their minds’ attention. Things began to beep, different meters moving their needles in ways they didn’t understand the meaning of. The world flew by outside as Marty pushed the car faster and faster, a grin splitting his face. There were three loud cracks from outside, competing for loudest sound with the screaming of the two older McFly siblings. A loud boom drowned all previous sounds out and the windows lit up white.

Then there was blue. A light, pure blue with the occasional cloud and stretches of desert land beneath them. Untouched, undisturbed desert land. Well, mostly undisturbed. There below them was the Brown Farm, still standing although looking a lot less modernized. It was upon seeing the farm, faces pressed against the passenger side window, that Dave and Linda realized where they were. Correction: when they were.

Of course, they were given little to no time to process this information as they were quickly thrown into a, much too fast in their opinion, decent. Their, frankly, screaming picked up right where they had left off as they seemed to plummet towards the ground, and even once they were back on solid land the insanity didn’t seem to stop. To his credit, Marty was very skilled in driving the DeLorean. He’d outmaneuvered terrorists for Newton’s sake! Of course he was going to be a good driver! Unfortunately that didn’t mean that the sudden half donut he’d used to drift the DeLorean into place next to the time train scared his siblings any less, if their continued screaming even after he’d put the car in park said anything. It took 30 seconds before the shrill sounds even began to taper off, then another minute for them to stop completely. When they turned to him, Marty met his siblings’ eyes with a bright smile.

“Congrats, you survived your first jump through the time stream!” He pointed to the ‘current time’ section of the time circuits. Sure enough, it flashed the date August 17th, 1898, “Welcome, dear brother and sister, to 1898.”

“Marty? Come in, Marty,” Doc’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie on the floor before either Dave or Linda could gather their words. Marty reached over to grab the box without a second thought, smiling as he leaned to peer out of the passenger window at the time train next to them.

“Yeah Doc, I can hear you,” he hummed, looking around at the flat land surrounding them, “we parking these things in the barn or do I have to push the DeLorean behind another housing development sign? Over.”

“There are no housing development signs as you know them in 1898, Clint.” Clint? Who the hell was he talking to- Oh, right. Using the names, “We’ll park them in the barn. Over.”

“Whatever you say, blacksmith.”

Marty didn’t wait to listen for a response from his friend before throwing the car into gear and tearing off against the dirt. Both screaming and laughter could be heard from the DeLorean as the youngest McFly whipped it around and back into place within the barn. Funny how even almost 100 years in the past its spot in the barn was still there. Props to you, Doc. Props to you.

By the time the screaming and wild laughter calmed down the time train had pulled in next to the smaller vehicle, both time machines officially hidden away from the public eye. Marty was the first one out of the DeLorean once all aspects of the car were off, seeming to buzz with an energy that came out of nowhere as he slid over the hood of the car to meet the others. David and Linda were not gifted the same energy boost. Their legs seemed to shake beneath them as they stepped out of the passenger seat, still clinging to each other for balance as their brother closed the door behind them. Being back on solid ground seemed to help, but only time would fully shake the shock from their systems.

“Did everything go smoothly with your ride?” Doc asked, pointedly raising an eyebrow at the state of Marty’s siblings.

“Yeah, everything went fine. Those hover conversions really are something. Things good in the train?” Marty shot a similar pointed look towards his parents, who didn’t seem to be doing all that much better than his siblings. The exception had to be his father, who just looked in awe of everything. Nerd.

“No complications on our end. Simply a smooth transition from present to past.”

“Don’t let him fool you, Marty,” Lorraine chimed in, seeming to have recovered from her bout of shock rather well, “Your father spent the time pressed to the window and asking question after question. I had to pull him away so he wouldn’t be blinded when everything went white.”

“I don’t believe he would’ve been blinded. Perhaps briefly stunned being the first time, but not blinded,” Doc clarified, although more so for the other McFlys than for Marty. If time travel blinded someone, he would’ve been using a cane ages ago. “And I didn’t mind answering his questions. What’s the use of scientific study if not to educate others?”

Translation: he really enjoyed being able to ramble about the details of time travel, please don’t stop George from asking more questions.

“Right Doc, whatever you say,” Marty shrugged, nudging his friend with a playful grin, “Although I’m pretty sure you just liked getting to talk about time travel with someone who understood it.”

“Now Marty, you understand plenty-“

“Nah, I really don’t, Doc. You don’t have to pretend I do.” It was a genuine statement. Marty knew 90% of the time travel things went over his head and honestly that was fine with him. So long as he still got to go on these adventures he couldn't care less if he didn’t quite grasp fourth dimensional stuff. He allowed his eyes to wander briefly, chuckling to himself as he realized that time travel had once again brought him into a barn upon arriving. Guess history does repeat itself. “So, we going into town or what?”

“Depends on what your family believes is the best course of action.” Emmett shrugged, walking over to grab a tarp to cover the DeLorean. Marty followed quickly, helping to once again hide the vehicle. “It’s entirely up to them. I’m sure you’ll have fun wherever we end up.”

“I’ll have fun so long as Mad Dog is still in jail.” Marty paused, tarp halfway over the DeLorean, “he is still in jail, right?”

“Yes, he is.” Marty was sure he visibly relaxed. “He escaped briefly in 1896, about a month before Clara, the boys, and I moved back to 1986, but he was quickly apprehended again. Maximum security prisons might not be a thing out here yet, but he’s facing the closest thing possible.”

“Good, good. That oven door was heavy.”

“Well, it was cast iron.”

“Hold on, who’s Mad Dog?”

Both time travelers turned to each other, silently conversing on what to do. Either they both like and dig a bigger hole or they tell the, admittedly slightly altered, truth. It wasn’t a long time at all before they made their choice and Marty turned to face his family.

“Buford ‘Mad Dog’ Tannen, previously known and feared outlaw of the old west.” Marty watched his family’s faces, trying to gauge their reaction to the new information, “we put him in jail.”

“I’m sorry, did you say Tannen?” His father seemed to finally have connected the dots, confusion playing across his features. “As in ‘related to Biff’ Tannen?”

“Same one.”

“And you’re telling me a relative of Biff is some feared outlaw?” Linda didn’t seem to believe it. Actually, neither of his siblings did. Guess having known Biff in high school made the concept make sense to his parents.

“Was. Again, put him in jail.” If Marty saw the fond eye roll Doc had given him, he didn’t pay any attention to it. “Actually, most of the Tannens I’ve run into have all been sorta feared. Mad Dog, Kid, Biff back in 1955 before Dad kicked his ass- would you count Griff too? Because, I mean, that whole…uh, thing doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Well,” Doc seemed to think for a moment, taken with the question, “Griff was still a Tannen you faced so I’d say so. Besides, those events transpired after your trip to the 50s, so who’s to say Griff won’t still eventually be a problem?”

“God, I hope not.” Seriously, he hoped not. He's had enough of dealing with the Tannen bloodline for a lifetime. The last thing he needed was to pass on the McFly-Tannen curse to his kids. He turned back to his family, “Anyway, Mad Dog’s in jail cause we put him there and Hill Valley is safe to roam, so do you wanna go or are we going to spend our day here locked in the barn?”

The four less time travel experienced McFlys, now Eastwoods thanks to Marty’s brilliant naming abilities a year ago, turned to each other. Across the four of them a wide range of emotions was on display. Confusion, worry, excitement, awe- the full spectrum of positive to negative emotions looked back at itself over and over as each member locked eyes with another. This was it. They were actually just under 100 years in the past. They had, like their sweet Marty, traveled through time. A feat only previously thought possible in the realm of fiction turned real, added to their list of experiences. A literal science fiction story brought to life before their very eyes.

George hit the ground before anyone realized what was going on.

“Dad!” Marty, despite having been the furthest of the McFlys from his father, made it to his side first. He flipped the man over, eyes scanning for any possible injury or harm. What he found instead was glazed eyes and a stupid nerdy grin.

His dad had fainted. His father had fainted because it finally hit him that he had time traveled.

“Oh for the love of it all- Dad, wake up!” Marty groaned, shaking his father. He could just feel the eyes down his back.

“Did he…pass out?”

“Yeah, yeah he did. God, Dad-“ he shook him again, “George.”

And again.

“McFly!”

And again.

“Is there anything else he’d respond to, Marty?”

“Daddy-o?”

He was going to start slapping soon if the shaking didn’t work.

“Uh- hey, you on the bike!”

Don’t ask why that stupid name he’d called out leaving Lou’s Diner a year ago came to his mind, just understand that it did. Marty had wound up, arm fully pulled back and ready to strike, when a hand grabbed his wrist. He turned to see Dave holding his hand and Linda pointing down.

“He’s waking up!”

“Ugh…Calvin?” Sure as shit, George McFly was back to the land of the conscious. Called back by the stupid one off name Marty hadn’t even thought he’d heard back then no less! Seriously, the universe was getting real on the nose with the things it liked to pull with him.

“Nope, Marty.” Marty pulled his father up to a sitting position before standing and brushing himself off, “Well, Clint for now, but you get the idea.”

“I had the weirdest…” George stopped, pulling his hand away from where he’d been rubbing at his eyes. Slowly but surely he looked over every member of the little circle that had formed around him. Specifically their clothing. “…dream.”

“I don’t think it was a dream, honey.” Lorraine offered the best warm smile she could as she helped her husband to his feet, although the feeling of Deja vu she felt was not lost on her. At least it was her husband she was helping reorient and not- she’d rather not think about it. God, she felt sick even remembering-

“Nope, still very much real and in the old west.” Marty was right back to leaning against the now covered Delorean. “Weren’t you all discussing something??”

“Patience, future boy.”

“Well excuse me for being excited.”

“I thought you hated the old west?”

“It grew on me. Especially now that my life in 1985 isn’t on the line.”

As the two more experienced time travelers continued to throw playful, childish jabs at each other, the rest of the McFlys worked their way back to discussing, actually discussing, what their plan was now. Admittedly, no one really thought this far. So much for being prepared, huh?

“Alright uh…Dad, you okay?” Dave asked, watching his father’s facial expression closely. The concern of his two children and wife wasn’t lost on George. He offered a small, sheepish smile.

“Yes, I’m alright. Don’t you worry,” he reached over, grabbing David’s hat and tussling his hair before putting the hat back.

“The reality of time travel get to you or something?” Ah Linda, ever sharp witted and only occasionally out sassed by his youngest, who had of course learned the art from her.

“I guess you could say that.” His eyes wandered up again, to the time machines parked behind his family. Machines. Plural. There were two, and they did so much more than just travel through time. Oh the questions he had. “You do have to realize that this is sort of a-“

“Dream come true? Yeah, we’ve picked that one up.”

“Oh.” All at once George felt like he was back in high school when ‘Calvin’ had tried to get a look at his writings: exposed, embarrassed. He turned to Lorraine - gosh, she looked stunning in that outfit. Must have been Clara’s doing - for support, only to find her staring right back. He couldn’t help but tilt his head. “What? Did I get mud on my face or something?”

“No, you’re fine George,” Lorraine hummed, voice holding an almost airy tone to it. Sweet, loving- just the same as it had been 30-something years ago after he’d driven her home from the dance. “It’s just that you sounded an awful lot like you did when you told me about ‘Darth Vader’.”

“God, Marty really didn’t get your creativity, Dad.”

“Linda!”

“What? Mom, I’m right!” The chatter from behind their little family huddle seemed to die with the yelling, drawing George’s attention to the lack of sound from behind him. The lacy of sound everywhere to be honest. It was so quiet in the past.

“Alright, alright. We get it Linda.” He clapped his daughter on the shoulder, offering her an understanding look much to Lorraine’s amusement. After a moment he nodded his head in the direction of the youngest McFly with a smile. “How about we make our decision before Marty goes and runs off on his own, yeah? Because I have an odd feeling that’s what he’ll do if we don’t come to some sort of a conclusion soon.”

“Hey! I would not!” Marty’s protests fell on five sets of deaf ears as the other members of their little group, biologically related to him or not, chuckled at the truth behind George’s words. If there was one thing they were all familiar with, it was Marty’s incredible capability to wander.

“Okay sweetie, we’ll keep that in mind next time you wander into the house of another town’s local scientist.” Lorraine smiled, gently squeezing Marty’s shoulder.

“You know, he actually did just that on one of our adventures,” Doc mused, ignoring Marty’s groan of protest.

“Did he now?” Lorraine had to admit, her interest was peaked. Just what other scientist has her boy befriended?

“Of course. When he came to me for help back in 1955 I had no clue who he was! Thought he was crazy. Still he pestered me until I believed him and so began our friendship 30 years before it was supposed to.”

“Oh.” She really wasn’t sure what else she expected.

“What? Did you think your son really went and befriended another town’s nutcase?” Emmett laughed, “Isn’t one mad scientist in his life enough?”

“Don’t call yourself that,” Marty huffed, punctuating his point with a smack to Doc’s arm. The scientist simply smiled, laying a hand on Marty’s shoulder.

“I’m not, Marty. Just poking fun at the stereotype that’s been assigned to me, that is all.” He smiled brightly to prove his point. “After all, if they’re going to call me crazy I might as well have a little fun with it, right?”

The teen stared back at his friend, eyes narrow and calculating. He scanned over his friend’s expression again and again, looking for any hint of negativity. It was a habit he’d come to do years ago, but even more so now as Jules and Verne started to hear the whispers from the town. Those kids didn’t need that, neither did Doc. When he found nothing negative after his fourth scan he sighed, turning back to his family with a raised eyebrow.

“You make your decision yet or is Dad going to faint again before you do?” Blunt, straight, to the point. Ah, their teenage son was back to himself. How sweet.

“I think we’re ready to go, right guys?” George turned to face his family, finding smiles and nodding in return. Oh how exciting! “Sounds like we’re all good here.”

“Great.” A smile slowly crept back onto Marty’s face as he adjusted his hat. He and Doc stood at the edges of the barn door, sun shining down on their backs. It must’ve looked like a shot straight out of Hollywood to his family, two experienced time travelers backlit by the sun waiting for them. Actually, the more he thought about it, his adventures through time would make for quite the movie. Maybe even a trilogy, like Star Wars! Imagine that. “Look out, Hill Valley. You’ve got five more McFlys than yesterday!”

Hopefully things would be a little less crazy than last time.

The walk into town had been almost entirely uneventful. Linda had tripped a few more times on the skirt of her dress and Dave almost lost his hat to a particularly strong breeze but other than that, and their almost fighting their little brother for laughing at them, they’d made it into town without any incident. No walking square into an unfortunately timed battle between settlers and the natives, no bear chasing them, no knocking themselves out on a fence- just a casual stroll into town. Of course, there was still some confusion. For one, Marty and Emmett seemed determined to crack jokes with each other about what were most likely previous time travels that the McFlys were yet to find out about. They didn’t mind, not much anyway, but it really would be nice if they’d been able to understand why the two had laughed as much as they did while talking about Michael Corleone and Sonny Crockett. What on earth did they have to do with any of this?

Hill Valley had been, understandably, not at all what they were expecting. The town was small, practically a town square and that was it. Gone were the buildings and streets they knew, replaced with wooden storefronts that looked like something directly out of an old western film. Well, they supposed it made sense, but that didn’t make it any less jarring. This was real. They really, actually were in the past. Damn near 100 years before what they knew and a good 40-50 before the eldest of them would even be born. Good Lord was that something to think about. How on earth did Marty do it?

“Well guys? Thoughts on Hill Valley?” Marty asked, turning to face them as he walked backwards.

“It’s…it’s incredible, M- Clint.” Marty couldn’t help but chuckle at the far away, awed sound to his father’s voice, not that his siblings and mother were any better. Was that what he looked like all those times? “Really incredible.”

“Glad you think so. Gotta admit, looking back I didn’t mind my week here as much as I thought.”

“Could’ve fooled me, Clint,” Emmett mused, smiling as Marty swatted at him, “you seemed nothing short of determined to get out of town as soon as you could.”

“I had other things on my mind, Doc.” The two met each other’s eyes, a number of emotions that the McFlys couldn’t quite decode flashing in them before they both nodded, right back to smiling as if nothing had happened. “Besides, I’d like to see you try warming up to a place after being greeted with-“

“Well look at that!” Marty perked up almost instantly, whipping around to face the owner of the familiar, Irish accented voice, “Mr. Eastwood! Mr. Brown! We thought you left town!”

“Seamus! Maggie!” Emmett was quick to accept Seamus’s outstretched hand with Marty following shortly after. “We did, but I recently got called out here on work. Ran into Clint here by coincidence.”

“That or he was sent after me. Seriously, what are the chances?”

“Ah well, with your reputation, Mr. Eastwood, I wouldn’t be too shocked,” Seamus laughed, patting Marty on the shoulder, “After all, word spread pretty fast about what you did with Mad Dog.”

“Ah stop that,” Marty waved his hand as if to wave off the praise, although the pink tone of his cheeks suggested he was in fact quite proud, “it was nothing, really.”

“Mr. Eastwood, you single-handedly took out one of the most feared outlaws in the area. And with such incredible talent too!” Maggie spoke up, stepping towards Marty. “That’s nothing to simply ignore.”

“Ah, just another day for me I’m afraid, Ma’am.”

“Well then you must have some life! I cannot imagine a life so fast paced.” Movement behind Maggie’s skirt caught Marty’s attention, a fact which clearly he didn’t hide as well as he thought he did as Maggie was quick to continue, “at least, not now and all,”

“I can imagine. And who’s that hiding behind you?” He couldn’t help but ask, trying to peer at the small head he could see just barely peaking out.

“Ah! You remember William, right? William, come on out,” Seamus nudged the small form and out from behind Maggie popped a small boy. He looked no older than 12, more likely around 10 if Marty had to guess, and clung to his mom’s skirt with wide eyes. Yeah, he’d grow into the McFly awkwardness just fine. “This is Clint Eastwood and Emmett Brown. They were the ones who took down Tannen when you were just a wee boy.”

“Hey now, don’t give me any credit. That was all Clint,” Emmett protested, hands up in surrender, “If it had been a team effort I guarantee I wouldn’t have had to suffer the heart attack I did.”

“Yes, gave all of us quite the scare, Mr. Eastwood.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I won’t do it again,” Marty playfully rolled his eyes before crouching to the kid’s level, “Hey buddy, I don’t think you remember me but I met your folks a few years back. Knocked myself out on their fence.”

He mimed knocking on his head, letting his tongue lull out like an over dramatic dead animal. Within seconds he heard a small giggle, along with the kid version of his great grandfather stepping fully out to meet him. Marty beamed.

“That’s it. See? I’m not as scary as I’m sure the stories make me seem.”

“No, you’re not,” And he speaks! With the faintest little Irish accent too! “You’re also a lot shorter.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” specifically from Doc and his kids, “but you know what? Being smaller is great. Means you can sneak into all sorts of small spaces, slip away when fighting people bigger than you, and you always have the best places in hide-and-seek.”

“Oh now don’t go giving him ideas, Clint. As far as I’m concerned, our family was involved in enough chaos back during that week when you literally fell into our yard.” Oh Seamus, you didn’t know the half of what the McFlys would get up to in the next century.

“Actually, speaking of family, who else have you two brought with you?” Maggie asked, gesturing to the four other McFlys - not that she or Seamus knew it - who seemed to have clumped together again. Marty smiled warmly, standing to his full height and gesturing for his family to come over. This would be fun.

“Well, these would be my family!” Marty explained with a grin, “Doc and I ran into them while making our way up here and suggested they tag along! Power in numbers, right?”

“Right, of course,” Seamus smiled, offering his hand to George, “Pleasure to meet you! You have quite the son, Mr. Eastwood.”

“Why thank you, although we all wish he’d write us more about his adventures,” George smiled as he shook Seamus’s hand, although the jab at Marty didn’t go unnoticed by his son. “Please, call me George. This is my wife, Lorraine, our eldest, David, our daughter, Linda, and you’ve already met our youngest, Clint.”

The three waved.

“Youngest? Why I never would’ve guessed,” Marty stood a little taller, “Well this here is my wife Maggie and our little boy William, as I’m sure you’ve heard.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Maggie smiled, shaking Lorraine’s hand, “If you don’t mind me asking, what brings the whole family out here?”

“We’re- uh- looking to move. Kids wanted to stay close when they- um- go off to have families of their own so we’re all looking,” for as excited as George looked to be talking to someone in the past, he also looked downright terrified of messing up. Smooth, George, smooth.

“Ah, I understand the sentiment. I’m hoping that when William here grows up and flies the nest he’ll stay close by as well.” Maggie, your son won’t leave Hill Valley. Actually, no McFly in this line will.

“Yes, well, Clint here had nothing but good things to say about Hill Valley so we had already planned to come here. Then we ran into him and Emmett and our party grew from four to six.”

“My, Clint, you didn’t have to be so kind about our little town here. It’s really nothing special.”

“Ma’am, if I wasn’t born to wander, I wouldn’t rather live anywhere else.” Marty added a tip of his hat, ignoring the fact that Doc was no doubt going to ask him later where he learned to be so cordial and charming.

“We’d love to have you if you ever choose to settle down, Clint,” Seamus smiled, turning to George and Lorraine, “and if you all choose to move here, know that you could always come to us for help. Any friend or family of Clint’s is a friend of us McFlys.”

Oh the way the color drained from the faces of every future McFly. It took everything in Marty, and a rather pointed nudge from Doc, not to burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry- M-McFly? As in Seamus and Maggie McFly?” Oh dear, on second thought he might have to cover his family’s butts.

“Yes, McFly. That would be us. Is that a problem?” Maggie, bless her heart, seemed so very concerned.

“No! No, uh- not a problem,” Linda jumped in, placing a hand on her father’s shoulder to try and bring him back to reality. She couldn’t really blame him though, his grandfather was standing right in front of him at 10 years old. That had to be something, “It’s just that…see, of all the things Clint has written us about, you all are one of the few things he told us about his time here in Hill Valley! Thank you for your kindness, by the way. We know he can be a bit of a handful.”

“Oh it was nothing!” Thank the Lord that they believed that reply. Marty made a mental note that he owed Linda for that save. “Really he’s very sweet and we couldn’t just leave him out in the night, thrown over our fence like wet laundry!”

“Eh, he probably would’ve been fine,” Dave chuckled lightly to himself before Marty smacked him on the arm.

“I’m right here, David,” Marty huffed, but was otherwise ignored by his brother. Go figure.

“Ah, siblings. The harshest form of love you can get,” Seamus smiled, although it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Right. His brother, Martin. Before Marty could think of somewhere to change the subject to he did so himself, turning to Emmett, “say, how have your boys been, Mr. Brown? They been settling in good to the new area?”

“Right, yes, Jules and Verne have been doing quite alright.” For as off guard as he has been caught, Emmett did well to adjust to the sudden conversation. “They’ve adapted to the move rather fast. Jules doesn’t really mind where we are so long as he can read and study as he pleases, and Verne is more than happy to have the room to run around and explore. He’s a lot like Clint in that way.”

“Well, be careful with that one then. Would hate for him to go getting himself into the stuff this one did when he was here,” the tease was punctuated by a fond pat to Marty’s shoulder, one the teen didn’t swat away.

“Oh believe me, we know. I’ve already told him myself that while it might look cool, it’s also terrifying,” Emmett turned to Marty with a puzzled expression at the teen’s words. Marty just shrugged, “It seemed to work.”

“Maybe you should tell him that again for good measure next time you see him,” Emmett hummed, recalling the time just a few days ago he saw Verne trying to recreate Marty’s disarmament of Mad Dog. “Ah, but nevertheless they’re adjusting well. As is Clara. She’s found a comfortable rhythm and is quite happy with it according to what she’s told and shown me.”

“That’s lovely to hear! You’ll send them our best regards, yes?” Maggie smiled wide, Emmett smiled back.

“Of course, Maggie. I’m sure they’ll love to hear from you both,” William coughed, a pout sitting on his face. Emmett laughed, “apologies, from you three.”

That seemed to pacify the youngest McFly, as he was right back to grinning. Hm, perhaps he was wrong in questioning if Marty was truly, biologically a McFly back in 1955. That was most certainly something the future boy he knew would do.

“Well, I hate to cut this short, but we’ve got errands to run,” Maggie hummed, nudging William when the boy groaned, “Will we see you around again?”

“Unfortunately, we’ll only be in town for the day,” Emmett explained, trying to ignore the similarities between Marty and his ancestors’ subtle disappointment faces, “however there’s always the off chance we run into each other again. After all, it’s like he said himself, Clint is the wandering type.”

“A wanderer and town hero. And I most certainly hope we do. You’re a fine bunch,” Seamus turned to face George and Lorraine again, “all of you. If you ever need help, we McFlys will be there for you, understand George?”

“Y-yeah. We- uh- I understand.” God, he looked like he saw a ghost! Well, actually, that’s not the most incorrect thing Marty had ever thought.

“Good. You know, call me crazy but I’m really certain we’ll see each other again.” Seamus paused, seeming to think on the feeling, “huh. Funny, isn’t it?”

“Interesting indeed.” Emmett looked to Marty, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, for sure.” Marty just grinned back.

“Enjoy the day you all. Might be one of the last real nice ones before it starts getting all cold.” Maggie smiled, gently grabbing William’s hand, “come now, William. Say goodbye.”

“Bye Mr. Brown. Bye Mr. Eastwood’s family,” the kid paused, looking Marty square in the eye. For a second there almost seemed to be a spark of recognition, “Bye Mr. Eastwood.”

With a final wave and exchange of pleasantries the McFlys, at least the ones that belonged in 1898, were off, leaving the band of time travelers standing mostly awestruck in the middle of the town square. Unable to resist the chance, Marty turned to nudge his father, whose jaw was still hanging wide open.

“Pretty strange to see your relatives in the past, huh dad?” His tone was nothing short of smug and his expression was not any better. As if Marty didn’t already like to flaunt - when able to do so in a way that didn’t bring up certain events, that is - that he’d run into their parents when they were young enough, this was just overkill.

“That was…”

“Great grandpa? Well, I guess just grandpa to you,” he hummed, leaning on his father’s shoulder, “either way- yup. That was him alright. Adorable, right? Should’ve seen him as a baby.”

“That was my grandfather.”

“And our great grandpa, yes.”

“And Seamus and Maggie-“

“Great grandma and grandpa to you, double great to us.”

Marty watched as a number of emotions played out on his father’s face. All seemed to fall somewhere along the lines of emotions that would accompany the phrase ‘oh my god!’ but who was Marty to judge? After all, he’d been there before. Thrice, actually, if they were counting. That meant when his father’s expression fell to somewhere between ‘I’m going to scream’ and ‘I’m going to throw up’ he didn’t have to think before dragging his father, and subsequently the rest of his family and Doc, into an alley and out of the open. He sat his father down against the wall, hand over his mouth.

“Hey, listen, you can’t scream right now, Dad,” he hissed, waiting to see some sort of a spark of recognition in his father’s eyes before continuing, “it’s weird, I know- trust me, I know, but screaming is going to do nothing. Just breathe.”

While George worked on calming himself back down, whether from a crisis or excitement was yet to be determined, Marty snapped around to face the other members of his family.

“Anyone else want to try screaming in the middle of town?”

Three heads shook no.

“Good. Dad, you functional again?” George reached up to pull the hand off his mouth, revealing a grin.

“Yes, Marty, I’m quite functional,” George kept his voice as low and level as possible, although there was only so much one could do when they were already shaking with excitement, “it’s just- do you understand how incredible that is? I just spoke to my great grandfather when he was no older than I am! A man I barely got to meet, Marty! How unbelievable is that?”

“Very believable for me, Dad. Because in case you’ve forgotten,” Marty paused, looking around the alley, “I’ve done that already. Technically twice, although I already knew you pretty well.”

“Well, truthfully-“

“Doc? Not now. Kinda trying to keep my dad from freaking out here.” Marty pushed himself to his feet, offering a hand to his father, “c’mon, we’re burning daylight and as much as I don’t mind it here that doesn’t mean I don’t want to sleep in my own bed.”

“Okay, okay son. I’m getting up,” George chuckled as he stood, turning to Lorraine almost instantly, “well, let me ask this question to someone who hasn’t been doing this for the past year without us knowing; Lorraine, isn’t this incredible??”

“Like something out of your books, dear,” Lorraine smiled, planting a kiss on her husband’s lips. Seconds later she was met with all three of their children pretending to gag.

“Gross.”

“In front of us??”

“God, that was so cheesy.”

“Oh come on, kids,” she laughed, hanging herself off of George’s shoulder, “what is it about the sight of your parents in love that you can’t stand?”

“I can name multiple things,” Marty huffed as deadpan as he could manage, “namely my week spent in 1955.”

“God, Marty!”

“Low blow!”

“Stop, don’t remind us!”

With his family left reeling from his blunt reminder of the events his family didn’t like to remember all that much now, Marty made his way out of the alley. It was there he found Emmett leaning against a railing, watching the town he had spent 11 years of his life in. Marty all but threw himself to lean against a wall next to the man, hat hanging over his eyes. The scientist laughed softly at the sight.

“How are things going back there?”

“How do you think?” the teen groaned, moving his hat to run his fingers through his hair, “It’s like every five minutes someone is either going to pass out or freak out for some reason!”

“Is it now?”

“Yes! And don’t even get me started on worrying that someone’s going to run off! I trust them, yeah, but I’m constantly worrying that I’m going to turn around and one of them is just going to be gone!”

“Yes, that does sound like a cause for elevated heart rate.”

“Also people talk so differently back- well- now. What happens if they say something I can’t explain? I mean, it was great to see Seamus and Maggie again but did you see my dad? He looked like he was going to panic and blurt out the truth right then and there!”

“Now, give him some credit-“

“Doc, you saw him when they heard their last name,” he sighed, “God, now I owe Linda for that save too! Dang it!”

Silence fell on the two friends. For a brief period of time no sounds surrounded them besides that of the town and the distant chatter of the McFly family in the alley. Then, of course, a new sound hit Marty’s ears. At first it seemed like a trick of the wind, coming as quickly as it went. But it got louder. It got louder and more frequent until it seemed to be right next to him. Like someone was crying right next to him.

“Doc?” Marty asked, concern pulling at his chest as he turned to his friend, “Doc, what’s up? Is something wrong? Did something-“

…

“What the hell are you laughing at?”

Sure as shit, Doctor Emmett Lathrop Brown was not crying, but laughing.

“I’m sorry, Marty. I simply-“ he paused, seeming to try and catch his breath, “surely you understand how ironic your situation is.”

“Ironic?” The teen blinked, trying and failing to come to the conclusion being held just out of reach, “how on Earth is this ironic??”

“Hmm let’s see. Inexperienced…traveler runs into family on accident, fumbles over their story and words, almost exposes the truth of their travels, has a tendency to run off, and has to be bailed out by their slightly more anxious-about-said-travels friend,” he waited, simply smiling at Marty with that infuriating I-told-you-so smile, “sound familiar, future boy?”

Wait for it.

Come on, Marty.

“Oh, okay! I see how it is!” There we go! “Really, Doc? Really??”

“This situation is practically, on its base level, the exact same as back then! It’s just this time you’re in my role.”

“Back then I actually had a reason to panic!” Marty protested, throwing a hand for emphasis.

“True, but the concept stands the same,” Emmett chuckled, gently pushing Marty’s hat down further onto his head, “the main difference is that you are now in my shoes. Tell me, what’s it like to be the one worrying all the time.”

“It feels exactly like it did in ‘31, Emmett,” Marty challenged, eyes narrowing as he adjusted his hat. “Really, I thought you were a hurricane of chaos when I met you. That doesn’t even hold a candle to what you were like as a kid.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Emmett hummed, pretending to think, “those are bold words from the boy who, quite literally, came crashing through my garage window when we first met, Martin.”

“Ugh. Ew. Don’t call me that,” Marty may have been trying to sound disgusted, but his laughter betrayed him, “you sound like my dad. Or that weird version of you that was bald.”

“Is that so? Hm. Maybe you’re right and being a father really is rubbing off on m- wait, the version of me that was what??”

“Yeah. Before I went and fixed everything there was a version of you that married Edna and Hill Valley became like this crazy dystopia with mind control and whatever and you were in charge of all of it. Well, not really. Edna was, but you technically were in charge of all the mind control tech. And bald,” Marty raised an eyebrow, “I told you all that, remember?”

“You did not mention the bald part!” For emphasis, Emmett grabbed at a tuft of hair that stuck out wildly from beneath his hat. “What on earth was I thinking?!”

“I have no clue, Doc. I have no clue.” Marty grabbed his best friend’s shoulder, shaking it slightly, “Just promise me you’ll never, ever go bald technically again.”

The two stared at each other, a silent standoff between friends who knew each other far too well and would break the nature of time itself to save each other. The tension hung thick, a mist clouding around the two of them. At any moment one might snap, like a rubber band stretched too tight. Who knows what would happen then? What they’d say? What might be the outcome?

The rest of the McFlys soon made their way out of the alley, being promptly greeted with the sight of the two experienced time travelers cackling, occasionally swatting at each other like children.

“Harassment! This is harassment!” Marty yelped as he jumped a banister, he and Doc still blissfully unaware of their newfound audience.

“Consider it payback, Mr. Corleone!” Emmett shot back through fits of laughter, rounding a nearby post to intercept Marty’s escape route.

“Jeez, waiting 50 years for payback? What are you, some kind of cheesy movie villiaAAAAA DOC PUT ME DOWN!” Marty’s legs flailed as he was unceremoniously thrown over Emmett’s shoulder, a sight which left his siblings and parents alike laughing. Marty really had found a good friend in the supposed mad scientist of Hill Valley.

“Sorry, but I cannot do that. See, I’m here on a court order to retrieve you to atone for your crimes.”

“Says who? Your dad?” The two stopped dead in their tracks. It was almost like something possessed them as they turned to face each other, deadpan. The seriousness of the encounter lasted all of five seconds before they were both laughing again.

“Uh…” with all the grace of a man falling down a flight of stairs in a cartoon, Dave spoke. Almost immediately the two friends stopped. “sorry to cut this moment short, but I think it was Clint who said we’re burning daylight?”

Within seconds Marty’s feet were back on the ground, both him and Emmett brushing themselves off as if nothing had happened and smiling the world’s most awkward pair of smiles.

“Yes! That’s right! I did say that!” Marty spoke as seriously as he could, facade broken by small giggles that still crept into his speech. “Well, we’ve got a town to see and a day to kill! Let’s get going!”

Without waiting for any sort of proper response Marty turned on his heel and began walking deeper into town. David and Linda followed suit shortly after, both giggling as they passed the scientist who stood the most awkwardly he ever had during a time where the year started with the number 18. He expected George and Lorraine to follow in their children’s footsteps and walk right past him. Instead he found them both stopping beside him, watching the three siblings wander off.

“You know, I wasn’t sure what to think when our youngest son ended up breaking into the house of and befriending the local, supposedly mad, scientist who we happened to meet 30 years ago because of his nephew,” Lorraine thought out loud, “there certainly were a lot of questions we had. Why would he break into someone’s house? What are the odds it’s Calvin’s uncle?”

“Is the universe trying to get us to reconnect with Calvin somehow through our son’s part time job as a lab assistant?” George paused, chuckling softly, “eh, that one was mostly me. Especially after I remembered the whole Darth Vader thing. Either way, neither of us were really sure whether to make heads or tails of the situation.”

“Naturally everyone around us voiced their concerns. George and I both spent more time thinking back on the time we - well, mostly I - spent seeing you because of Calvin rather than listening to them, and that’s when we decided we’d let things play out. I personally couldn’t imagine how someone who’d been so nice to a stranger who’d followed his nephew to his house to ask him to the dance, then proceeded to continue willingly helping said stranger’s boyfriend with his science fiction interest could be dangerous,” Lorraine paused, “sounds crazy saying it out loud, I know, but I’m glad I did it. You’ve been nothing but a positive influence on our little boy, Dr. Brown.”

“I don’t-“

“Let us finish, please.” When Emmett didn’t speak again George continued, “you’ve helped him with school, helped teach him how to not care what others say, and supported him for as long as you’ve known him. Sure, you might say you had a heads up with him coming to you in the 50s, but from what Marty’s told us even though he changed history you did the same stuff before it all too. You’ve, quite literally, always been there for him. From what we’ve figured out, this whole…travel business has its ups and downs, and I’m sure there’s a whole lot that we still don’t know because he’s scared of what we’ll do if he tells us, but for what it’s worth we just wanted to say thank you. For always getting him home to us and all.”

Before Emmett could even properly process what he had heard a weight crashed into his torso. In that moment he didn’t see successful writer George McFly and his wife Lorraine. No, what he instead saw was the awkward pushover teen George and the sweet, young Lorraine Baines both crushing him in a rather impressively strong hug.

“Thank you for keeping our boy safe.”

Thank god for hats and their social requirement in the old west, because without it Emmett was sure every passerby would’ve seen the shimmering streaks down his face as he returned the hug.

“It’s nothing, honestly,” he spoke, barely a whisper, after a good 30 seconds of silence, “that boy of yours has done more for me than I’ll ever be able to repay. It’s the least I can do.”

“Be that as it may, you still could’ve turned him away that night 30 years ago,” Lorraine protested, hiccuping softly, “you could have called him crazy and refused to listen, to help, but you didn’t. You helped this strange kid claiming to be from the future and, from what we’ve heard, risked your life to get him home to us safe.”

“For the record, I did call him crazy. Several times, actually, before he managed to prove his words,” Emmett laughed softly as he recalled that night, “but what else was I supposed to do? Just leave him to suffer in the past which I sent him to? I couldn’t, not when I was the only one who could help.”

“You know, even though he refuses to talk about what happened before he was sent back, Marty always insists it’s his own fault,” George mused, “something about having not paid attention to what you were saying and in-the-moment thinking. Never has he blamed you.”

“He should-“

“He won’t. And, for the record, neither will we,” the two pulled away, smiling brightly as Lorraine continued, “yes, you built the machine, but Marty drove it. Circumstance led to disaster but no one person in particular is to blame here. So just let us say thank you for keeping our son safe, okay?”

Emmett sighed, wiping his eyes on his coat sleeve and leaving a small smile on his face.

“You raised an amazing boy.”

“Thank you,” a comfortable silence fell over the three, lasting all of four seconds before George suddenly blinked, “although we should probably go find said boy before he finds a way to get himself challenged to a duel. They may not be my genre of choice, but I’ve seen enough westerns to know how those go.”

So Marty hasn’t told them about that. Good to know.

Thankfully, the trio of adults found the kids not, in fact, in the middle of a western duel, but instead leaned up against the fence of a nearby horse pen. David and Linda were busy giving attention to a rather curious mare, while Marty had seemingly decided he was too good to just lean on the fence and was now perched on top of it. Upon seeing them Marty appeared to signal to his siblings, leading them to meet the other trio halfway.

“Geez, we were starting to wonder where you all went. Turn around and none of you are there,” Marty chuckled, lightly nudging Emmett on the shoulder, “so much for me being the wanderer, huh?”

“Clint, you were quite literally the one who wandered off first.”

“Ah, potAto potAHto, Doc. What did you three find that was so interesting anyway?”

“We didn’t find anything,” Lorraine hummed, pulling her son into a small side hug, “we just were reminiscing on how much you’ve grown.”

“We?” Marty turned to his friend, eyebrow raised, “please don’t tell me you were part of that, Doc.”

“I could tell you that, but I’d be lying,” Emmett hummed with a pat to Marty’s shoulder, “after all, you’ve come very far from the fourteen year old who came crashing through the window of my garage.”

“Wha- hey! I didn’t come crashing through! It was a graceful landing!”

“Ah yes, a graceful landing that ended with your foot in a bucket and you trapped under a pile consisting of papers and Einstein.” Really, how he had missed the initial crash was beyond him. Maybe he really did get too invested in his work.

“Alright, I don’t have to sit here and take this!” Marty threw his hands up, moving to stand between his siblings again as if they’d be some sort of barrier, “we came here to explore, not pick on me, right??”

“I don’t know, little brother, sounds kinda fun actually,” David hummed, leaning on Marty’s shoulder, “Hey Dr. Brown! Our folks ever tell you about the time Clint here spent a week pretending he was Chuck Berry-“

“DAVID!” Marty all but tackled his brother, hanging off him as he desperately tried to cover his mouth. The last thing he needed was Doc knowing even more of these stories. Especially this one after he went on to play with Chuck Berry’s cousin at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance in 1955.

“You know, it was so funny back then because we’d watch him playing air guitar in the living room and just think ‘wow, he’s just like Calvin.’” Lorraine sighed, playing the memory back in her head, “Guess we were more correct than we ever could’ve known.”

“I’ll say,” George laughed, patting Marty on the head, “our little rockstar.”

“Ugh Dad!” It was moments like these that it was painfully noticeable that Marty was, in fact, a teenager. From the groaning to the sass to the way he shoved away from his entire family to hide behind his best friend, he was a teen through and through. Although perhaps he could’ve chosen a better hiding place, as Doc was quick to pull him back out into the open.

“What’s the matter, Clint? I thought you were proud of your ‘Bard of Time’ title?” He questioned, smirking as Marty fought to hide behind him again.

“Not you too, Doc!” The teen huffed, “What happened to helping your friends??”

“I’ve known your parents longer.”

“You and I both know that’s a lie.”

“Linearly, then. Ignore the weeks you’ve jumped.”

“Ugh you’re impossible! All of you!”

For as annoyed as he acted, Marty still laughed at the situation when the rest of their little time traveling party began to giggle. He cared for the group far more than he’d ever admit out loud, not that he needed to. He had his ways of showing it, unique to each person in front of him. With his parents he showed the usual affection of a child, tight hugs and small jokes to events of the past. With his siblings it was tough love, roughhousing and exposing each other’s secrets. With Doc, well, it was changing the events of history over and over to make sure that each other were okay in the end. One way or another, he never failed to show how he cared for the group in front of him. In return, they did the same, whether it be comfort after a nightmare or simply giving him space with tough topics. They were a weird bunch, that much was for sure, but none of them would change anything about it if given the chance.

“All right, all right. I think we’ve all bullied him enough,” George laughed, finally offering mercy to his youngest, “Mar- Clint, is there anything in town you’d like to show us? You’re the one leading us here.”

“Woah, hey now,” Marty protested, hands raised, “Doc is really the one-“

“Not really. I’m more so here for supervision.” So that we don’t find out if the rest of your family has your same tendency to cause timestream chaos went unsaid.

“Oh.” Marty blinked, seemingly stunned by this new information, “well then, uh, there is actually a really nice view just a few minutes from here-“

Marty didn’t get to say much more before his family was pushing him forward, encouraging him to lead the way. When he looked back to clear the plan with Doc all he found was an encouraging smile. He beamed.

While most of the time he seemed sorely out of place, there was one part of the old west that Marty seemed built for: rough terrain. Whether it was a fact from before his week here or something he learned, the McFlys weren’t sure, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t still struggle to keep up with their boy when he went scaling a rocky hill like some sort of mountain goat. Really it was quite impressive. At least, it would be if they weren’t all tailing behind him much, much slower.

“Marty, I trust your judgment, but is all this climbing really necessary?”

“It’s worth it, promise! What? Can’t handle a few rocks, Linda?”

“You do this in a dress and tell me again that I ‘can’t handle a few rocks’!”

Marty didn’t speak again after that. He instead allowed himself to get lost in the view, only turning when he heard scraping and his dad start to yelp. That was enough for him to whip around and bolt to catch his father. Sure the tumble wouldn’t be all that dangerous, just disorienting really with a few bruises, but something in him was reminded of the last time he saw his dad fall - and almost get hit by a car, no less - and that was enough for him to spring into action.

“Geez Dad, give a guy a heart attack why don’t you?” Marty sighed, offering his free hand to Linda as she too began to wobble.

“Sorry, Marty,” his dad chuckled, trademark McFly awkwardness back in full swing. Guess seeing things out of your wildest dreams regressed people to teenagers in more ways than one. “I’m not as nimble as I used to be.”

“Not sure I’d call you nimble when you still managed to fall out of the dang tree,” a light hum of amusement, “you didn’t even have a good grip to begin with? How on earth did you not fall more?”

“Bold of you to assume I didn’t.”

“Oh so the car was a one time thing?”

“It was a no time thing because you took the hit, Calvin.” Both McFly men froze momentarily, laughter breaking their silence seconds later, “say, what is it with you and getting knocked out on these adventures of yours? So far we’ve heard of two different occasions, and I’m guessing there are more.”

“I don’t know! It just seems to happen no matter when or where I am!” Marty brushed himself off, turning to Emmett, “Doc, any thoughts on why I get knocked out like a Loony Tunes character almost every time we travel?”

“I wish I could say, Marty, but you seem to like to get knocked out before you can find me so really I’m at a loss.”

The teen rolled his eyes, although the action was nothing short of affectionate. If George and Linda had to commend Emmett for anything, it was more likely to be his ability to speak and tolerate sassy teenage boy than the whole Time Machine deal, although that was still extremely impressive. As David tailed their little climbing party up to the flat area of the hill the group found themselves speechless. Flat land. Acres and acres of untouched, natural land spanned as far as the eye could see. The occasional tree or bush broke the full desert appearance of California, but even without the rolling green hills of the Midwest or mountains of the inner West Coast the view was still incredible.

“Wow…Marty,” Lorraine’s voice was hushed, barely there as she laid a hand on her son’s back, “how on earth did you find this?”

“Oh come on guys, you know this place,” Marty smiled, eyes never leaving the vast expanse of land before him.

“I am almost certain I’ve never seen this patch of land in my life, Marty,” Dave deadpanned, Linda humming in agreement.

“You have! Trust me!” The teen turned to his friend, “Doc, you found me out here once. I told you why I came here, right?”

“I don’t recall you doing so, no.”

“Ah, guess I just have to tell it again,” Marty did not seem nearly as adverse to such an idea as his words suggested, especially with that smile, “So, during my week in the old west I wandered. A lot. It was kinda the only thing to do considering I was trying to avoid trouble - I was, Doc, honest - and helped me get my mind off of other things. On my second day here I found my wandering brought me to this spot. You know why?”

“We’ve already established that no, we don’t, Marty.”

“Humor me, Dave. See, in about 70 or so years this area of land,” he gestured to the land in front of him, “will be the home to Lyon Estates.”

Home.

Marty’s mindless wandering 100 years in the past had brought him back to the same place it always had: home.

“I guess it was a sort of comfort,” Marty continued, hands in his pockets, “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have a whole lot of faith in you, Doc, but…other things were making me real nervous. Apparently, no matter when in history, I return here when worried or whatever.”

One by one the four remaining McFlys came to stand shoulder to shoulder with the youngest, looking out to the land.

“You mean to tell us…”

“That this is where we’ll all live in just under 100 years? Yeah, Ma, that’s it,” Marty chuckled, “heavy, right?”

“Yeah…”

Silence fell, with only the sounds of the desert to keep the family company.

Behind them, Emmett kept watch. No one seemed to be interested in coming out here, so naturally his vision wandered back to the family. From where he stood they looked like a painting, or a shot out of a movie. The angle of the sun left them partially silhouetted against the landscape, small details of their clothing still poking through. While he had gotten used to 19th century clothing in his years spent then, it was still strange to see the McFly family decked out in the style. It fitted them, no doubt. In fact, if he squinted just a little it almost seemed like Seamus and Maggie had two more kids. Nevertheless it was still something he was adjusting to. The only one who didn’t stick out in his mind was, predictably, Marty. The boy adapted great to whatever decade of clothing he was thrown, which perhaps was part of what made him such an effective time traveling companion. Even now, a year after his initial week here, Marty dropped right back into Clint without stumbling. It was admirable.

Completely lost in thought, Emmett missed when Marty finally turned away from the view. Sometime after his family had joined him at the edge he noticed the missing member of their party and naturally turned, looking for his best friend. He found him leaning against a rock with the kind of smile only a father can wear. While not entirely sure just what his friend was thinking, Marty knew he was not about to let his friend miss this view, or get stuck in his own head as they both so often did. So he broke away, jogging over and taking Emmett by the wrist, completely ignoring the way the man jumped at the sudden contact.

“C’mon Doc, you’re coming over here too,” he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“No, Marty, really I don't-“ Emmett protested, trying to gently pull his wrist away. Unfortunately, Marty had quite the grip, “this is a moment for your family, Marty.”

“I said I wanted to show you all a cool view,” he turned to face Emmett for emphasis, “I meant you all. That includes you.”

“Didn’t you say you already showed me this before?”

“I said you found me here, probably sulking over that dumb photo,” Marty rolled his eyes, still pulling, “besides, it’s still pretty! Now come on. Even if you insist this is a family thing I’m going to insist you’re an honorary McFly.”

“That is not how-“

“You and Clara both constantly tell me I’m an honorary Brown with how often me and Jennifer are over doing something.” Emmett was starting to wonder if Marty had practiced these points before, “With how long you’ve known our family, linearly or not, you’re practically a McFly.”

“Marty, I don’t think-“

“Doc, you’ve literally known every single McFly in the history of Hill Valley. Seamus, William, Arthur, George, and my siblings and I.” Wow, he really did know all of them, didn’t he? “Sounds like grounds to be an honorary McFly to me!”

“I still don’t- Marty-“

“I swear, Doc, I will go to my grandpa and get his word. Don’t think I won’t!”

“Marty, the edge- MartyyYY-!”

The sound of two bodies hitting the dirt on the other side of the hill snapped the McFlys out of their admiration of the scenery.

Naturally, concern for the two missing individuals from their group led the family to peer over the side of the hill next to them. Sure enough, just as sound suggested, there on the ground were the two more experienced time travelers. Emmett had landed on his side, flopping onto his back as the tumbling finally stopped, whereas Marty seemed to have landed face first into the dirt. Were it not for the low drowning groan from the teen his family might just have assumed he knocked himself out again.

“So uh…” Marty grumbled into the dirt, “miscalculated how far away the ledge was.”

“I’d say,” Emmett coughed slightly, debating whether or not it was worth it to try sitting up right away, “you’re explaining to Clara why we’re covered in bruises.”

“Really? Sending me to face your wife?”

“You’re the one who led both of us off the hill.”

“Touche,” Marty briefly lifted his head to offer a playful glare, “but I’m telling her that your balance still sucks and that’s why we fell.”

“We fell because you walked right off the edge, Marty.”

“And you didn’t stop yourself from falling.”

“How could I with the vice grip you had on my wrist?”

“I dunno,” Marty shrugged, dropping his face back into the dirt.

“At least you didn’t knock yourself out this time,” Emmett offered with a small chuckle.

“Eh, no cars or fences in sight. Unless I get ambushed I think I’m in the clear for this trip.”

“Good to know that you know your biggest threats.”

“Marty! Dr. Brown!” Marty only groaned louder as he heard his mother’s voice and four pairs of footsteps approach. “Are you two alright?”

“I believe we’re fine, Lorraine. Thank you,” Emmett smiled, having pushed himself to a sit by the time she made her way to them.

“Yeah ma, we’re good,” Marty spoke, face still in the dirt out of most likely spite now but giving a thumbs up for emphasis, “believe me when I say a hill is not the worst thing Doc and I have had to face in our travels.”

“Still,” Lorraine huffed, flipping Marty and pulling him up to a sit to inspect him, “worst thing you’ve faced or not, that still looked rough,”

“Yeah, you two took quite the tumble, little bro.”

“It’s a hill.”

“Oh let your mother fret, Marty,” Emmett chuckled, patting Marty on the head as he stood, “she’s going to do so anyway.”

“I think I’m allowed to with how little he tells me,” she pointed out, looking over Marty’s face for any big damage. As expected from a tiny hill, there was nothing. “Speaking of, I expect to get the full story of your time in the old west after this, Mister.”

“Yeah yeah, I guess I can’t escape it now.”

“Damn straight you can’t,” Linda added, arms crossed, “after hearing what the past McFlys had to say we’re all curious.”

“Well if you’re that curious just ask the town,” Marty huffed, “apparently I’ve become a sort of legend or something.”

“You know what? That sounds like a great idea! Cmon, Linda. We have people to talk to!” Without further explanation Dave turned on his heel, he and Linda walking towards the town. George and Lorraine had never seen Marty scramble to his feet so fast.

“Hey guys wait, I wasn’t serious! Guys!”

“And there they go again,” George chuckled as he helped Lorraine up.

“I swear those three just go looking to cause each other trouble,” Lorraine hummed, fondness in her tone as she brushed herself off, “such is the way with siblings, I suppose.”

“You know, you’re starting to sound like Seamus,” Emmett mused as they began to follow the kids, “with the whole sibling love being the toughest idea, that is.”

“Oh no, Lorraine, do you know what this means?” George, for all his inability to act, was somehow rather skilled at melodramatic seriousness.

“No, George, I don’t,” Lorraine smiled, “enlighten me.”

“Us McFlys are rubbing off on you!”

“Oh my, what a tragedy! After a mere 30 years no less!” Lorraine did her best to keep up the overdramatic act her husband had started, but her own giggling betrayed her, “Dr. Brown, is there anything that can be done about such a terrible fate?”

“Well, I suggest you start by warning Miss Parker. With how much time she spends around your son she’s likely to fall to the same fate.”

“You’re right! That poor girl!”

They would go on to find the kids outside the town saloon, Marty leaning against a pole with his hat over his eyes and his siblings animatedly questioning him about something, albeit teasingly if their smiles said anything. Judging by Marty’s entire demeanor it most likely had something to do with his week in the old west.

“C’mon Clint, you can tell us what it was! We aren’t gonna judge.”

“Oh yes you will.”

“No, we won’t! We just wanna know how our baby brother took down a feared outlaw!”

Oh. So that's what it was.

“It was like I told Maggie and Seamus, nothing special,” Well, for someone who used an oven door as a bulletproof vest, Marty sure was good at being nonchalant about it, “playing with Marvin Berry at ma and dad’s school dance was cooler.”

“Ah yes, playing a song a year before it would be released to the public. Much cooler,” all three kids snapped to attention at George’s voice, although Marty looked away when the words registered fully in his mind, “What are you two pestering him about now?”

“People keep talking about how amazing it was when he took down Mad Dog but won’t tell us how he did so!”

Emmett raised an eyebrow at Marty. In his 11 years living in the 1800s people still talked in detail about how impressive the shootout had been. How on earth did Marty get them to be quiet about it?

“I already told you, all I did was stun him and turn him into the police! It’s not like I killed him.”

“Yes, but how did you stun him? Everyone makes it seem so-“

“Oven door.”

Silence.

“What?”

“Oven door. Weren’t you listening?” It was stated as the most obvious thing in the world.

“You…” There wasn’t a McFly that didn’t seem shocked.

“I hid a cast iron oven door in my poncho and smacked him with it when he got angry and tried to throw a punch.”

“Emmett, is-“

“It’s true alright, I was there.” And had the heart attack of a lifetime seeing the kid lie motionless on the ground, pretending to be dead. “I would’ve stopped him if I could have but the moment Tannen called him chicken any hope of that sort of…dwindled.”

Well that was a nice way to put it.

“Hm. Really? Tannen calling you chicken led to you knocking him out with an oven door?” Dave paused, thinking, “actually, that sounds exactly like something you’d do.”

“Hey, I’ve gotten much better!” Marty protested, “after the brawl with Mad Dog I’ve mellowed out a lot! Right Doc?”

“You’ve made excellent progress, Clint.”

“Thank you!”

“Well, I guess that solves the mystery of what you were hiding.”

“Yes, yes it does,” Marty hummed, squinting at the clock tower in the distance. “I’d say we’ve got at least a few hours left. There anything you guys wanna do before we hit the road?”

It would turn out that there were, in fact, a few things left on the family’s 1800s bucket list.

Linda unironically took to studying the fashion of the time as they wandered the town. Not necessarily a surprise considering her job at the boutique, but it did keep everyone on their toes as occasionally she’d stop, lost in thought while studying a certain dress or style of vest. She would always snap right back if tapped or addressed, but if left alone she probably would have studied the craftsmanship for hours as George tended to with his writing. Emmett had suggested she set up a day to speak with Clara about said things, as she had grown up in the time. Perhaps a few forgotten trends would be making a comeback in the years yet to come.

Lorraine had, in truth, spent most of the time inquiring about life back in the old west. It left Emmett to be the only one to really answer questions, with a few sarcastic remarks from Marty at certain points, but she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she seemed entirely taken with Emmett’s accounts of the 11 years he lived in the time. The different customs, norms, and traditions sparked her attention. She nodded along, occasionally addressing things she could understand such as how incredible modern medicine really was. It was a fun insight into the town’s history, as well as a way for her to get to better know the man her family’s known for years now.

George, shocking absolutely no one, had spent the rest of their day simply taking in the fact that they were in the past. This wasn’t a sort of reenactment or trick, but they had actually time traveled. They were quite literally in the past, a time before Hill Valley became the town they knew. A time where his grandfather was only ten years old, running around like any other kid would. It was incredible. Truly and utterly jaw dropping. Not to mention the ideas it gave him. Just watching his youngest son and the teen’s best friend lead their little group gave him an unbelievable amount of inspiration. Perhaps he could try his hand at a time travel short story again, just for the fun of it. After all, having time traveled for real now it would make writing the experience of a character who did so much more interesting.

Dave had been the wildcard, as Marty wasn’t entirely sure just what would interest the rewritten version of his brother. It would turn out to be music that drew him in. Music and dance. Sure, Marty had known that before he changed history Dave enjoyed playing around with a plethora of dance moves when he wasn’t actively behind the counter at Burger King (or maybe then too. He wasn’t sure.) but he so far had gotten no hint that said passion carried over into the changed Hill Valley. At least he didn’t until now, when his brother took to tapping his foot to the music coming from a nearby street band. That foot tapping continued, added to by a flow of movement that seemed so natural Marty could’ve sworn his brother grew up square dancing.

And of course, no time travel adventure would be complete without Marty somehow being dragged into the events in front of him. He wasn’t quite sure how, but one of the band members must’ve seen him also tapping his foot, fingers twitching against his sides as if he had a guitar in his hands because soon enough he was being hollered at between songs.

“Hey Eastwood!” The name called him to attention rather fast, “you play or something?”

“Me? Oh, no, I don’t-“

“Ah don’t lie ta me! I know a plucking pattern if I’ve ever seen one!” The guitarist laughed, pointing to Marty’s hands. He held out his guitar, “c’mon, show us what else our town legend can do.”

“No, no I couldn’t-“ Marty jumped slightly as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Go on. Show them how it’s done, future boy.”

“But won’t-“

“Stick to the time period and you’ll be fine. And before you say you can’t, your folks have let it slip that you’ve been learning music from every decade you’ve traveled to,” Emmett smiled warmly, “so go on, Bard of Time.”

The brightness of Marty’s smile alone could have produced the 1.21 gigawatts needed to power the flux capacitor.

It would turn out that Marty’s sudden interest in music of different time periods was, in fact, extremely useful. Despite the guitar being nothing like what he was used to, one of the earliest versions of the modern acoustic guitar thanks to its metal strings, Marty still found comfort in its hold. It felt close enough to the acoustic he had back home - another development from his changing history - that he was quickly able to fall into rhythm with the rest of the band. Of course, said rhythm only lasted for so long before he began to add his own embellishments, perhaps showing off just a little of his own guitar skills from his home decade while managing to stay within the style. It reminded George and Lorraine of his performance at the dance and how he’d gone entirely off on his own at the end, claiming that while they might not understand yet their kids would love it. How right he was.

To put it as simply as possible, Marty’s little performance was nothing short of a success. The small crowd they’d drawn had applauded, with his siblings clapping him on the back the moment he’d handed the guitar back.

“Wow, Ma- Clint. Is there any time or place you can’t play in?” David chuckled as they walked away, Marty still waving to the band.

“Nah, I don’t think so. I mean, as long as I can get an idea of the general feeling of the music its not hard,” Marty shrugged, smiling, “also it’s kinda a requirement for the whole ‘Bard of Time’ thing I’ve got kicking so.”

“Actually, speaking of, what is that?” Linda nudged at Marty’s side, “both you and Dr. Brown have mentioned it multiple times now so like- what’s the deal?”

“What, the Bard of Time?” Marty’s smile grew, “apparently I’m like- destined to end up playing music whenever I end up traveling. Spreading joy through it, yknow? So ‘Bard of Time.’ Pretty kickass title, right?”

“You, our baby brother,” David poked Marty in the chest for emphasis, “are destined to be a time traveling rockstar?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“That…is so…cool!” Marty let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. Was he worried they were gonna tell him no? He’d like to see them try. “When did you get so cool?”

“You saying I wasn’t cool before?”

“No, but like, you’re extra cool now.” Linda turned to their parents, “Mom! Dad! Did you hear that?”

“We heard it just fine, Linda,” George laughed, taking Marty’s hat to ruffle his hair, “another McFly in the history books.”

“I think every McFly in Hill Valley has somehow ended up being a notable part of its history, Dad,” Marty pointed out.

“That or you’ve just run into all of them, future boy,” Emmett mused.

“Hey, still counts to me! But even then-“ Marty began to count on his fingers, “Seamus and Maggie McFly, first McFlys in Hill Valley. William McFly, first McFly born in Hill Valley. Arthur McFly, helped take down Kid Tannen and his mob from the inside. George McFly, famous writer- you seeing the picture here? We're one hell of a family!”

“Wow, look at us-“ George froze, “My father was involved with the mob?!”

“Uh….no?” Way to go, Marty. Your own big mouth on this trip - 2, you - 0, “let’s get back to the train-“

“Involved with the mob…and took it down from the inside??”

“If it makes you feel any better, getting him that subpoena to appear was not easy. He was determined to not piss off Tannen at any costs.” Emmett winced, recalling the whole quest Marty and his teenage self had to go through to even get that damn paper to the man. A quest that included pissing of a literal mob boss right to his face.

“Well I can understand that if Tannen was a mob boss like you say-“ George paused, a small detail clicking behind his eyes, “hold on, did you say you delivered the subpoena?”

Okay, maybe Marty could now understand why Doc laughed every time the teen was caught with his foot in his mouth, because if he pulled a face like the one Emmett currently was he’d laugh too.

“Well, it wasn’t a matter of time travel,” technically, though he did get help, “just the work my father pushed me into.”

“Wow. So it’s not just Marty who’s been a constant presence in the lives of us McFlys. How funny, huh Lorraine?”

“Gosh, if only I knew what I was getting into showing up at your house looking for Calvin thirty years ago, Dr. Brown.”

“What? You saying you wouldn’t have married me if you knew my family history?” George teased.

“No, I would’ve, it just would’ve saved me a whole lot of surprises.”

As expected, the small kiss planted on George’s cheek brought forth a chorus of groans from their three adult children.

While his siblings complained about how gross their parents were, Marty slowed his pace to fall to the back of the group. He planted himself just far enough behind his parents that he should be able to speak without them hearing every little detail, something which Emmett seemed to notice as he too fell back to match Marty’s pace.

“Nice save back there,” Marty hummed, smirking.

“Well I figured it would be better than letting your parents know you’ve meddled around in the 1930s,” Emmett shrugged, “also I heard you laughing.”

“Okay in my defense you had the funniest look on your face-“

“Well then next time I chuckle because you make a weird face you don’t get to yell at me for it.”

“Alright, alright, fine,” Marty rolled his eyes, although the action held no malice, “it’s a deal.”

“I’m serious, I’m going to hold you to that.”

“I know! Geez, that’s why I said deal!”

“Just making sure.”

The rest of the walk to the, technically abandoned, Brown Farm was spent in comfortable silence. Every now and again it would be broken, be it by a joke or a musing about the decade they’d spent the day in. At one point someone, Marty thought it was his sister but it might not have been, spoke aloud about how strange the whole deal was. Why, their day spent in 1986 just 12 hours ago felt so much further back. Marty had audibally cackled at that. Yeah, one day made 1986 feel years away, sure. Try a whole week. Try three weeks in a row.

When they had finally made it back to the barn they found both the time train and DeLorean untouched, nothing short of a miracle in Marty’s eyes. Hell, he would’ve made a joke about it would it not have sparked a string of questions from his family that he really didn’t feel like answering. While the scientist and teen got to work uncovering the machines the remaining four travelers once again got to talking.

“So,” David started, keeping his voice low, “I think that went well? Thoughts?”

“Well I think we all know what Dad’s thinking,” Linda chuckled, patting her father on the shoulder, “but other than that I think yeah, successful trip. Even got a few things out of Marty on the way.”

“Who would’ve guessed that all you needed to get a time traveler to talk about time travel was to…well, time travel?”

“I hope it means he’ll be more open with us now,” Lorraine sighed, drumming her fingers on her crossed arms, “I understand why he was so…adverse to the idea at the start, but he seemed so open today. I don’t want to go back to pulling teeth.”

“Me neither, hun. Me neither,” George hummed, eyes wandering to where Marty and Emmet seemed to be engrossed in conversation by the time train.

Little did they know just how sound carried in the barn. Halfway through folding up the tarps Marty had stopped, listening in to his family’s conversation. He did his best to shake it off, going right back to folding the fabric, but Doc had already seen through him. He always had been able to.

“You’re going to have to tell them everything eventually,” the scientist whispered, utilizing his knowledge of his own barn to keep his voice from carrying.

“I know,” Marty returned, sighing, “I just- I don’t want to think about what they’d do if they knew, Doc. I mean, for weeks after they figured out the whole time travel thing I could barely look them in the eye because they’d just…stare. It was like they were trying to see through me, which is not a fun feeling when you’ve quite literally been see through.”

“I can imagine,” Emmett nodded, shivering slightly as he recalled the time he had almost been erased. Not fun, “but they’re just going to keep asking questions, you know.”

“I know, and I’ll answer them,” Marty ignored the pointedly raised eyebrow he was given, “there are just some details I’ll leave out. Simple as that.”

“And what if they find them on their own?” Marty cocked his head, confused, “Well, for one, if your father or siblings go to your grandfather about his business with Kid Tannen, they’re going to hear about more than just the judge's son who got caught up in mob dealings. He always had a friend with him, after all. And what about that page in your history book Jennifer and you showed me? Any of them could go and look up the tales of Clint Eastwood in Hill Valley’s history.”

And what a damn good point that was. Marty sighed.

“Then I guess I will explain it. The full truth. But only if they go looking for it.”

“You’re not going to run and hide again?”

“No, I’m not going to run and hide again,” Marty laughed, rolling his eyes, “not like you, Clara, and the boys were any help last time I tried.”

“I thought it turned out rather well.”

“Your kids kept me glued in place and you and Clara would’ve just picked me up and hauled me back into the house if I escaped. Besides, if I end up wrapped in bubble wrap that’s something you get to deal with,” Marty deadpanned. Doc didn’t even deny it, simply shrugging. Marty just shook his head and turned to his family, “Hey! Are we keeping the same carpool arrangement or did you guys decide to swap vehicles?”

“We were thinking of swapping if it’s all the same to you two,” Lorraine smiled, looking between the two ‘pilots’.

“Yeah, Dave and I think it’d be great for mom and dad to see how you drive that thing, Marty.”

“Geez, it was not that bad!” Marty groaned, rolling his eyes, “you wanna see bad? Ask the Peabody family how Twin Pines Farm became the Lone Pine Farm.”

“How the- that was you?!” Of all members of his family, Marty had to say that his father’s reactions to the things he revealed were definitely the funniest, “I talked to his kids for ages about the ‘alien’ that had crashed into their barn! How many times have you impersonated an alien, Marty?”

“Only twice! And only once was on purpose!” Marty couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory, “besides, I’d take aliens over other things. I think one of Biff’s goons back in the 50s called me a communist once, actually.”

“Now that’s quite the accusation. Especially for that time.”

“Right? Glad we agree, Doc. And all because of my outfit.”

“Well, you were rather out of place,” George chuckled, thinking back to that odd day in Lou’s when an even stranger boy came stumbling in wearing some sort of life preserver - what he now recognized as Marty’s vest - and proceeded to chase him down across town.

“My bad, Dad. I wasn’t exactly expecting to be thrown back to the 50s when I got in the DeLorean you know. Now are we going back to 1986 or what?”

“Always so eager to get back to 1986,” Emmett mumbled.”

“What can I say? It’s the best decade I’ve been to so far,” Marty shrugged, “If I ever don’t want to go back to 1986, or whatever year it is, that’s an imposter, don’t trust him.”

“Sure thing, Marty. David? Linda? Are you ready to go?”

“Whenever you are, Dr. Brown!”

“Excellent. I’ll radio you once we’re all in our vehicles, Marty.”

“Copy that, Doc,” Marty turned to his parents, beaming as he stepped to the DeLorean, “Mom? Dad? Ready to see the vehicle that changed history?”

“Ready as ever, son!” Oh George, you’re going to pull something smiling that wide.

“Well then, hop in,” with a level of flair that earned him a fond shake of the head from Doc, Marty swung open the passenger door to the car and stepped aside, “Heads up though, it’s kinda a tight squeeze.”

“I’m sure it’ll be okay, Marty,” Lorraine offered the sweetest smile she could to her son before he took off rounding the car and sliding into the driver’s seat. It would turn out that he hadn’t been kidding, it was a tight fit for the two adults in the passenger seat, but nothing unbearable.

“Alright, quick rundown because I can already see Dad wanting to ask questions,” Marty chuckled, starting to point to things in the car’s cabin, “Time Circuits are here behind the gear shift, that letter Y looking thing in the back is the Flux Capacitor - don’t stare at it when we jump - and these three displays tell you all you need to know: when you are, when you were, and when you’re going. Make sense?”

“Marty? Come in, Marty!” Doc’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie before either George or Lorraine could get a response out. Marty was quick to grab the box.

“Reading you loud and clear, Doc. Over.”

“Wonderful. Ready to make our way back to the future? Over.”

“Ready as I ever am. Over.”

“Alright! Vehicles on?” Marty turned the key and the engine of the DeLorean roared to life.

“DeLorean on, Doc. Over.”

“Time Circuits: on.” Marty reached for the handle of the time circuits, smiling as the dashboard and various other lights in the cabin flickered on.

“Time Circuits: on, and Flux Capacitor: fluxing, Doc.”

“Alright, syncing the vehicles now,” Marty prepared for another affirmative response, only for Doc’s voice to crackle through again, “Marty? Did you and your siblings leave later than us?”

“Oh yeah, sorry, forgot to tell you that,” Marty shrugged, keeping his voice as smooth as possible through the little white lie as to why, “they had a few questions and I wasn’t just gonna jump with them freaking out.”

“Ah, alright then,” a few seconds passed before a small noise indicated the setting of the time circuits, “Well, I believe we’re set. We’ll see you on the other side of the timestream, future boy.”

“See you in the future, Doc. Over.” When no more sound came from the radio Marty set it back down at his parents’ feet. They watched as the time train pulled out of the barn, disappearing into the night and the timestream with three sharp cracks and a boom.

“So that’s what it sounds like on the outside,” George hummed, breathless and starry eyed. Marty just chuckled as he threw the DeLorean into gear and pulled out of the barn.

“Yeah, loud right? Real jarring when you hear it out of nowhere.” His mind flashed to the number of times that had happened. Hopefully he wouldn't be getting any more surprises like that soon.

“I suppose so,” Lorraine watched out the window as empty desert passed them on all sides at a slow and steady pace, a smile creeping onto her face. “Isn’t it insane just how much Hill Valley has changed in the past century?”

“Sure it is, but I’m glad it has too,” Marty mindlessly rambled as he turned to prepare for the jump back, “I mean, the clear skies and air are nice and all, but I wouldn’t trade the Hill Valley I know for anything.”

Strange, coming from the boy who still occasionally cried over the loss of a reality that no longer existed.

“Neither would I, Marty,” Lorraine hummed, thinking over their little family, “neither would I.”

“Alright, I’m gonna stop this here before it gets any sappier because that’s exactly what led Dave, Linda, and I to leave for the past ten minutes later than you guys and Doc.” Marty turned to his parents, the same wide grin he’d given his siblings playing on his face. “Brace yourselves.”

Without further warning the car lifted off the ground, pulling a yelp from his parents as they clung to each other. Really, it was like the new timeline left them still partly their teenage selves sometimes! At least they were better than David and Linda, Marty thought. Those two had spent the entire time off the ground yelling. With his parents it was much quieter, his father being rendered speechless by the capabilities of the car and his mother not far behind him in awe.

Marty wasted no time hitting the gas, watching with a grin as the speedometer’s needle steadily climbed. Then it hit that magic number, 88 miles per hour, and everything lit up white. To any soul who might’ve looked up into the dusk sky that night in 1898, they would’ve merely seen two twin flaming trails, gone as soon as they appeared.

Landing came naturally, somehow managing to feel smooth no matter how rocky they knew it should be. If you asked Marty he’d say it was adrenaline. That stuff was a hell of a drug after all. The DeLorean crawled to a stop on the ground, right next to the time train as it had back in 1898. Within seconds the walkie-talkie crackled to life again.

“Marty? Are you hearing me?”

“Clear as crystal, Doc. Think we woke the boys?”

“Bold of you to assume either of them were asleep yet.”

“Ah, so they take after you in that department too.”

Marty didn’t get a response. Instead the time train simply began to pull into the barn. Marty just laughed as he threw the car back into gear and followed at a creeping pace.

It didn’t take long to get both time machines back to their proper place, the two drivers maneuvering their respective vehicles with ease. Time circuits were turned off, engines were cut, and soon the band of time travelers had reassembled in the main space of the barn.

“I think that was the most successful, non-chaotic time travel experience I’ve ever had,” Marty mused, grinning, “congrats guys.”

“It’s certainly good to know that you don’t share Marty’s tendency to accidentally write yourself out of history,” Emmett chuckled, ignoring the eye roll from the teen.

“Hey, we don’t know that yet!” Marty protested, “That was a safe year because William was born but not dating yet.”

“Well do you want to risk finding out if it’s a McFly thing?”

“…no.”

“Exactly, my boy.”

“Hm, now what do we have here?” Six pairs of eyes snapped to the entrance of the barn, briefly forgetting their return to the year 1986 and worrying about being caught. Instead of finding some bandit or random townsfolk though, they found Clara Brown, née Clayton, smiling back at them in a loose pair of jeans and a lavender top. Purple really was her color, wasn’t it? “I take it everything went smoothly? No hiccups or extra days spent?”

“Nope! Everything went smoothing, Ma’am,” Marty beamed, tipping his hat. Clara seemed to find it amusing, chuckling at the teen.

“Well, I suppose there’s a first time for everything,” she pushed herself off the doorframe, walking into the barn fully, “you all seem to have adapted to the clothing rather well, or maybe that’s just my having known Seamus and Maggie talking.”

“No, you’re right. They adjusted fast,” Emmett chuckled, pushing Marty’s hat over his eyes, “unlike someone else we know.”

“Hey! I’d like to remind you that you were the one who sent me back in that outfit, Doc! If anyone’s to blame for that it’s you.”

“Yes yes, you both have already scolded me for my apparently horrendous fashion sense,” Emmett shook his head, smiling fondly, “I’ll have you know Hawaiian shirts can be styled for any occasion.”

“Sure thing, Emmett. Sure thing.” Clara hummed, placing a small kiss on her husband’s cheek before turning to Lorraine, “they weren’t any trouble, were they? I know traveling with them can tend to get a little…unexpected.”

“No, everything truly went fine Clara. Thank you for helping set all this up,” Lorraine gestured around her for emphasis, “I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but it is a relief knowing that Marty isn’t running headfirst into danger like he used to.”

So you didn’t tell them about your duel with Mad Dog? asked the look Clara gave to Marty.

I told them enough Marty’s look said in return.

“Yes, I can hardly imagine what would happen if he still did, and apparently he was even worse before I met him.”

“I’ve gotten better, people! Focus on the now!” Marty groaned.

“Huh. Funny hearing that come from a time traveler, Cl- Marty.” Linda paused before groaning, “God, now I’m gonna start calling you Clint!”

“Hey, I’ll take Clint over Calvin,” Marty shrugged, “less awkwardness connected to it.”

“For someone who hates talking about your week in 1955 you sure are comfortable dropping the reminder on us.”

“Eh, your reactions are funny.”

“Wow. Okay. Mature,” Linda rolled her eyes, “Hey mom, start calling him Calvin. Just to see his reactions.”

The way Marty flinched at such a suggestion alone was enough to make Linda laugh.

“No, Linda, I’m not going to do that.” Lorraine shook her head, sighing, “didn’t you want to talk to Clara about setting up a time to discuss 1800s fashion?”

“Oh? Taking an interest in the fashion of the times?”

“Well, it’s just so different from what you see nowadays,” Linda started, going off into a ramble that Marty paid no attention to as he leaned against the hood of the Delorean.

It was strange, knowing that his family knew about the whole deal. Yeah, they’d known for months now, but it had really only felt like a month or two since that was how far back they started treating it like a normal thing rather than this spectacle. Hopefully learning about his time in the old west wouldn’t set them back to square one, because he didn’t know if he could handle another five or so months of just being stared at like a circus act.

“Marty?” The teen looked up hearing his friend’s voice. While he’d only said his name, a million unspoken questions hung in the air.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Still just kinda reeling from the fact that they know.”

“That we know what, son?” George smiled warmly, joining Marty in leaning on the hood of the Time Machine.

“Geez- warning, dad! Warning!” Marty wheezed, picking himself up from where he’d jumped after his dad appeared out of nowhere, “and everything. Time travel, me being Calvin, my week in the old west- all of it. It’s weird knowing that you know.”

Both teen and scientist chose to ignore that ‘everything’ in that context meant more like ‘under half of everything’.

“Well if it makes you feel any better, it’s weird knowing that Calvin Klein, Darth Vader, and my youngest son are all the same person,” George chuckled, Marty echoing the sound with scary accuracy. Carbon copy clone of his dad, he was. Sometimes.

“It makes it a little better, yeah,” the teen admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, “it’s nice to know that I don’t have to freak every time you guys bring up Calvin anymore. Seriously, that yearbook scared the hell out of me.”

“I thought you said no one took any pictures of you in the 50s?”

“They didn’t, Doc. At least, not with me as the focus…” Marty winced, “there are like, two that I’m in the background of, but I’m just as blurry in them as I am in the one Jennifer and I showed you a few weeks ago.”

“Right, the clock tower,” Emmett shook his head, laughing softly, “I still cannot believe we didn’t notice that. Really, you would think we’d be better at the ‘no pictures’ idea by now- well, then.”

“Hold on, Jennifer knows about all of this?”

“Marty, did you not tell your family-“

“Oh my god, I forgot to tell Jennifer,” completely ignoring the two concerned father figures at his sides, Marty groaned into his hands, “She’s gonna kill me. I told her I’d let her know the moment you all figured it out-“

“Woah, hold on, Marty,” George interjected, waving his hands to catch his son’s attention, “are you telling me that your girlfriend, Jennifer Parker, figured it out before us?”

“No, she’s known the whole time!” Marty groaned, the sound bordering on a whine, “She was with me when Doc came to get me for a trip and has been walking on eggshells around all of you trying not to give it away! She made me promise that once you guys figured it out that I’d tell her so she could relax around you- oh she’s gonna kill me.”

“Now Marty, Jennifer is a very reasonable girl. I’m sure she’ll understand if you just explain,” Emmett offered. He wasn’t wrong, Jennifer was very understanding, but it wasn’t like he just forgot for a day or a week. No no, he’d forgotten for months.

“Oh she’ll understand. She’ll understand that for the past six months she’s been freaking out, trying not to give me away to you guys, when you already knew!” Marty threw himself to the floor, head in his hands as he curled with his back to the car, “I’m so dead. I’m actually so dead.”

George and Emmett looked to each other, then to Marty, then back to each other. It was a unique situation, that was for sure. Not one someone could easily imagine themselves in. Just to try and feel what the teen was currently feeling, an act of empathy, the writer and scientist briefly tried to imagine themselves in a similar situation with the women in their lives. Two shaking hands met Marty’s shoulders.

“Son, you might just be screwed.”

“I cannot actually believe I’m suggesting this, Marty, but maybe hide for a bit.”

Another low, droning groan sounded from the teen as he attempted to curl up tighter, poncho flung over his head in an attempt to further hide. Despite the impending doom of the boy, both his father and best friend couldn’t help but chuckle. Oh Marty.

“I’m starting to think the universe just hates me,” the teen huffed.

“The universe does not hate you, future boy.”

“No, I really think it does, Doc,” Marty lifted his head and began to count on his fingers, “I almost erase myself twice, get stranded in the old west cause of a mistake I made - Doc, don’t start saying it was your fault, I ignored you telling me not to follow you - and after surviving all of that I’m gonna die to my girlfriend cause I forgot to tell her my family figured it out. Heh, heavy.”

“Well I guess if you want to look at it that way then sure, it is heavy.”

“Mmhm, but I’ll take that over the Biffpocalypse we saw,” Marty paused, turning to his dad with the most serious expression he could imagine, “never tell Biff about time travel. Just. Don’t.”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” George laughed, mind already trying to imagine just what that might cause. Wait- “hold on, what’s the Biffpocalypse?”

“I’ll explain it later,” Marty waved him off, throwing his poncho back over his head, “we all just technically spent 24 hours awake and I’m not gonna try and explain it when the jet lag hits you.”

“Jet lag?”

“Time travel lag, technically. Like jet lag but a million times worse.”

“Is that why you’re half asleep against the side of the Delorean right now?” Emmett raised an eyebrow, nudging Marty with his leg.

“Consider yourself lucky I didn’t lock myself in the Delorean to take a nap right away, Doc. You know I could,” Marty hummed, swatting at the leg nudging him.

“Ah yes, you and your strange ability to sleep anywhere. In the strangest positions no less.”

“They’re comfortable.”

Emmett turned to George with a questioning look. George just shrugged with a smile.

“I’ve been told I do the same thing so I don’t know, Dr. Brown. I really don’t know.”

“Hey!” The sudden shout was paired with David’s hat being frisbee thrown across the barn, hitting Marty dead on and causing the teen to jump, “sleepyhead, get over here!”

Marty rolled his eyes, pushing himself to his feet. Maybe it was the low lighting in the barn, maybe it was the fact that his adrenaline was starting to wear off. One way or another, though, he’d failed to notice when his mother, sister, and brother changed back to their 80s attire. That sinking feeling of looking out of place, the same one he’d felt in the 50s and old west, returned with a vengeance, but at least it didn’t mean immediate danger this time. That was certainly a nice change of pace.

“You called?” He raised an eyebrow, handing Dave his hat back.

“Yeah, we wanted to make sure you wouldn’t fall asleep against the time machine,” Dave chuckled, nudging his brother, “you looked half asleep over there.”

“That wasn’t sleep,” Marty protested, “it was dread.”

“Dread?” Clara hummed, “I thought you said the trip went fine? Don’t tell me you and Emmett really are trying to hide something that went wrong again.”

“No, no. We’ve been telling the truth, honest!” Marty sighed, running a hand down his face, “it’s just something I forgot to tell Jennifer, that’s all.”

“Oh I’m sure it’ll be okay, Marty,” the more he thought about it, the more it felt impossible to imagine Clara never having kids. Between her warm voice and understanding nature it just seemed natural. She must’ve been a hell of a teacher. “Jennifer is a very sweet young woman. I’m sure whatever you have to tell her she’ll understand. Is it about the whole time travel business?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” Marty sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Well, she’s been very well versed in the whole business throughout the time I’ve known her.” That couldn’t be more true. Jennifer had known about it for far less time than him and she got the whole fourth dimensional thinking thing down in a snap! Not fair. “I’m sure whatever it is you forgot to tell her won’t end nearly as bad as you seem to think it will.”

“Thanks, Ma’am.”

“Hey, uh, sorry to interrupt,” Linda did not seem very sorry at all, “but are you telling me that your girlfriend knew about your time traveling before us, Marty?”

“If it makes you feel better, she didn’t figure it out,” Marty sighed, “she got dragged along without any warning.”

“Dragged along is not the phrasing I would use.” Either Marty was getting really tired or everyone around him suddenly got very good at being silent because he didn’t even hear Doc approach.

“Well it's what I’d use,” Marty paused, holding up a finger while he cleared his throat, “‘well bring her along! This concerns her too!’ I think were your exact words.”

“Okay, you’ve made your point,” Emmett surrendered, fondly shaking his head at the frankly horrible impression of him.

“Alright, alright-“ thanks for keeping them on track, Linda, “so Jennifer’s known. For how long?? Like- a few months or-“

“Basically the start.” Might as well rip the bandaid off, “the whole trip with her happened the day we were leaving for the lake.”

Marty had been in standoffs before. Biff in the 50s, in 1985A, Kid Tannen in 1931- He, quite literally, had been in an old western shootout. He knew what it felt like to have a gun pointed at you. Yet, despite the multitude of occasions in which he had actually looked down the barrel of a gun, nothing compared to the looks his family gave him in that very moment. They held no actual weapon, yet the three pairs of eyes staring him down with emotions ranging from shock to ‘are you kidding me’ were plenty to make his heart sink in that familiar way. At least his dad had already heard, albeit maybe a whopping five minutes earlier than the others, and had time to process. He wasn’t sure he could handle his entire family staring him down like that. God he really hoped his grandfather never recognized him as that boy who ran around with Judge Brown’s son, because he would never hear the end of that.

“Marty, sweetie,” oh god, not the extremely soft mom voice- that was just cruel! “I’d like to request that, now that all four of us know, you tell us these things.”

“I will do my best, mom,” Marty sighed, knowing far too well what that meant; his mom and Jennifer were going to swap even more embarrassing stories about him. Great.

“You better. Or I’m just going to start asking Mrs. Brown when we meet up.”

The full chested, ringing, nothing short of cartoony groan that escaped the teen made it damn near impossible to take him seriously as he threw his hands in surrender.

“That’s it. I’m going to the car. Or maybe I’ll walk. I don’t know,” he proclaimed, turning to Emmett and Clara, “Doc, I’ll see you Monday. You can try and call tomorrow if you need me but I’m probably going to end up sleeping till noon after this whole deal. Clara, thanks for having an amazing fashion sense and refusing to let Doc figure these outfits out. I owe you one for that. If you ever need a favor that only a teen can accomplish just say the word and it’s done. Tell the boys I say hi and to stay out of trouble. I’m out.”

Marty was not, in fact, out. Marty stayed an extra five minutes to give hugs and more proper goodbyes to both Clara and Emmett.

“Twenty to one he’s asleep by the time we get in the car,” Dave chuckled, nudging Linda the moment Marty was out of sight.

“That’s a terrible bet and you know it,” Linda shot back. George and Lorraine just shook their heads.

“Thank you again for doing this,” Lorraine jumped in, hoping her two eldest children would get the hint and stop betting on their younger brother, “I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”

“Oh stop, Lorraine. It was nothing,” Clara smiled warmly, “I’m just glad that we were able to show you that Marty’s safe when it comes to the whole time travel business. It can be scary, I know, but anyway we can help we’d love to.”

“We appreciate it, really we do, but that doesn’t mean it was easy on your ends.” She gestured to the folded outfits that had been placed on a chair.

“It was actually a lot easier than you might think,” Clara chuckled, “there were a few bandages in the end but Verne has very nimble fingers. He makes for a great sewing partner and it gave us both something to do. In fact, I’m sure you and him would get along great in that regard, Linda.”

“Sounds like a great time, Mrs. Brown.”

“Oh please, honey. Call me Clara.”

“Well, I think we should- hold on.” George paused, squinting at his watch. According to the device it should be around eight in the morning and that just couldn’t be right. It looked exactly like when they had left at around eight at night so why- “oh. Right. Time travel.”

“I believe that would be the ‘time travel lag’ that Marty was talking about,” Emmett observed, laughing softly.

“Yeah, I think so. He's right, that is disorienting,” George hummed, staring at his watch for a minute longer before looking up, “Anyway, as I was saying, we should probably get heading home. They like to give Marty flack for it but David and Linda seem just as tired.”

“Right here, dad.”

“We can hear you.”

“Entirely understandable. If you have further questions our line is still plenty open, George.” Emmett held out his hand. George took it without hesitation.

“That’s great. I think Marty would throw another pillow at me again if I tried asking any more technical stuff,” he laughed, “he claims he, ‘doesn’t understand a bit of that fourth dimensional stuff.’”

“He understands it plenty,” Emmett sighed, “honestly, he needs to give himself more credit.”

“He does, but he won’t,” Lorraine hummed, shaking her head, “it’s been lovely. Thank you again for this experience.”

“Thank you for handling all of this so well.”

“Well what else would we do?”

“Slap Emmett upside the face,” Clara deadpanned, shrugging, “that’s what I did when he first tried to explain it to me.”

“I never would’ve expected that.” Lorraine blinked, turning to Emmett who shrugged.

“Neither did I, but I believe that’s a story for another time.”

“Certainly.” There was no way they could run from that story now. No, the McFlys were far too interested for that to happen. “We’ll see you around, yes?”

“For sure.” Just as they had with Marty, the usual pleasantries were exchanged and soon the sound of the McFlys’ car rolling over gravel faded into the night, leaving Emmett and Clara to begin the walk back to the house.

“Seamus and Maggie say hi,” Emmett hummed, looking up to the stars.

“Oh! Really? How lovely,” she smiled in return, “I hope they’re doing alright.”

“I’m sure they did fine.”

“Me too. After all, the McFlys as we know them are still here and well, yes?”

“Indeed they are, Clara,” he paused, looking out to the road where two tail lights could be seen in the distance driving towards town, and smiled, “indeed they are.”

As expected, Marty had been fast asleep by the time the rest of the family had made it to the car. Despite having had the entire backseat to himself initially, he seemed plenty content to have still contorted himself in the oddest way in the corner between the seat and the door. The sight had given the family a good laugh as they piled in, hitting the road without further stalling. For the first half of the ride they simply rode in silence, the soft radio being the only thing to break the otherwise full lack of sound. It was nice, to just be able to sit and think that is. They had had quite the day, after all, and a little downtime to simply relax and think was just what they needed. Only when they were around ten minutes from home did Lorraine speak up.

“We’re time travelers.” The phrase, so simple and plain, held so much weight to it.

“We’re time travelers,” George echoed, foot bouncing on the floor beside the clutch.

“We just spent a day a century in the past,” Dave added, eyes trained on nothing in particular.

“We rode in two separate flying time machines,” Linda spoke, voice barely above a whisper as she drummed her fingers on her knee.

“We’re time travelers.”

The radio took back over as the main source of sound in the car the rest of the ride back.

By the time the car finally rolled to a stop in the McFly’s driveway a chorus of yawning had begun to attack the still waking family members. David and Linda made short work of exiting the vehicle, bidding quick ‘goodnight’s to their parents before retreating inside and to their respective rooms for the night. Lorraine and George hung back, smiling softly as they opened the back door after a distinct lack of Marty had exited. Sure enough, the boy was still fast asleep, twisted up into a position only he could find comfortable. They both tried to rouse their youngest, from gentle shakes to calling his name, but nothing worked. If anything, each attempt only made the sleeping teen more determined than before to curl up tighter. They tried their very best, but in the end George simply resorted to scooping the boy into his arms while Lorraine closed the door and locked the car. It was nostalgic, in a way, carrying Marty into the house like that. It reminded both parties of Christmases years ago when their youngest would pass out on the ride home, only to wake up in his bed like magic. If they closed their eyes and just imagined, the teenage boy in George’s arms would become that rambunctious kid with a knack for trouble and a blinding smile, if missing a tooth here and there. How fast they grow.

Getting Marty into his bed was hardly a problem. The boy had melted into the mattress the moment he was laid down. His shoes slid off without issue, something George and Lorraine had to admit they were thankful for as only seconds later did Marty begin to wiggle himself into another one of those impossible positions. Two small kisses were placed on top of his wild hair, earning a small hum from the unconscious teen as his parents had turned to leave. They stood there for a moment longer, holding each other in the doorway as they watched over their boy.

Their little time traveler.

Marty would wake up a full twelve hours later to the sound of birds outside and the doorbell going off repeatedly. He had groaned, pulling his pillow over his head for an additional however much longer his body could sleep. He’d lose the hours later this week anyway. Might as well catch up while he could, right? Only he couldn’t catch up, because once the doorbell finally stopped its incessant ringing he could only hear the voice of his sister talking to someone. Peeking out from under his pillow sanctuary to glance at his clock, he resolved himself to the twelve hours he’d already gotten and rolled out of bed.

He’d almost tripped over his own two feet when he saw himself, still donning the old Clint Eastwood outfit, in his mirror.

He was still pulling a t-shirt over his head when he made his way out to the living room, brain barely registering the two forms he saw on the couch as he beelined for the kitchen. He’d gotten all the way into the room when his mind finally caught up with his eyes, leading him to whip himself around fast enough to send him tumbling into the counter in an attempt to backtrack into the living room.

“Jennifer!” He beamed, barely acknowledging the odd, almost dread-like feeling in his chest. Why on earth would he be anything but happy to see his lovely girlfriend?

“Hey Marty!” She hummed, smiling, “did you forget I was coming over?”

“No!” She raised an eyebrow at him, he sighed, “maybe. Last night was a lot.”

“I’m sure it was. Linda was just telling me about your guys’ little trip.” Linda was telling her- that didn’t seem right. Why didn’t that seem right? They both knew about time travel so what- oh. Shoot.

“Was she?” He asked, trying to look as not guilty as possible. Judging by the look Linda was giving him as she stood, it wasn’t working.

“Yeah, I was, but I think you’d do a better job, Mr. Experienced Time Traveler,” Linda laughed, clapping Marty on the shoulder as she leaned in to whisper, “have fun.”

Marty swallowed thickly.

“Marty?” Jennifer hummed, meeting her boyfriend on the other side of the couch, “I thought you said you were gonna tell me when your family figured it out.”

“Uh…” Marty bit his lip, offering the most awkward smile possible as he shrugged, “Surprise?”

Jennifer just sighed, playfully rolling her eyes.

Well, at least she wasn’t mad!