"It's official!" Dave McFly said, smiling to his family. "They've offered me the promotion!"

"Good for you, son!" said George proudly.

"Nice one Dave," Linda added.

"Well done," Marty told his brother. Dave looked at his father and siblings. Each looked happy for him. Just one member of the family wasn't.

"Well done Dave," Lorraine said to her eldest son. She was smiling, but Dave (and the others) all knew it was a fake smile. "When will you be moving?"

That was the problem. Dave's promotion meant he would have to move to Los Angeles. Lorraine didn't want her son to go. It had been bad enough when he had left to go to Hill Valley University and had moved onto campus, and then he had only been on the other side of town. Now he would be at the other end of the state! Lorraine knew her children would move away soon, but she didn't want them to go and had been secretly pleased when Dave had temporally moved back into the house in May after his lease on his flat had run out.

"Next week or so, I'll be in LA for Christmas," Dave told her.

"Oh, um, that'll be nice, the big city at Christmas," Lorraine said quietly. "Excuse me a minute." She got up and went into the kitchen. George followed his wife into the kitchen to comfort her.

"She cried and cried," Marty told Jennifer as they walked through the corridors of Hill Valley High School. "She really doesn't want him to go. I dread to think what will happen when I move out."

"Well, we'll probably be staying in Hill Valley," said Jennifer, remembering the future she had seen where she lived in Hilldale. "Maybe not Hilldale, but around this area."

"You're right," Marty replied. "All my friends and family are here. Well, except Dave."

"She'll get used to it, it's just that she's scared of the distance between her and your brother," Jennifer told Marty. "I read about that in my psychology book. It's the 'empty nest' syndrome."

The bell went for lessons.

"What have you got next, Jen?" Marty asked.

"English," she replied, "we have to hand in those essays. You?"

"Nothing, I have study period," Marty told her. "I'm going to get that maths out of the way so I can play guitar with the guys tonight."

"OK, see you later," Jennifer blew him a kiss as she entered her English class. Marty smiled as he walked to the library. He reckoned he could get some piece and quiet there to do his maths.

A bit further down the corridor, two of the smallest and youngest students at Hill Valley High were walking down the corridor. Crispin and Jeffrey were both very shy and had no friends apart from each other. This also made them prime targets for bullies.

Crispin and Jeffrey didn't like high school. They found the work easy, but almost everybody seemed to pick on them and make their lives hell. In a way, they were like George McFly in 1955, although of course they didn't know that.

"Hello gentlemen. Right on time, I see." Crispin and Jeffrey looked up. Standing in front of them was Doug Needles and his gang. The two took a step back.

"Oh, no, you don't," Needles said, grabbing the younger boys, "you owe me money."

"You took our money at lunchtime!" Crispin told him, but Needles obviously wanted more.

"Hand it over, pipsqueaks," he snarled. Despite only being a year older than Crispin and Jeffrey, Needles was about a foot bigger. Crispin and Jeffrey dug into their pockets.

"We haven't got any," Jeffrey muttered.

"Wrong answer," Needles told them, and grabbed Jeffrey by his collar. Jeffrey began choking as Marty stepped towards them. Marty saw what was going on.

"By the way," Needles said, "Don't ever tell on me again, or I'm gonna kick you so hard your clothes will hurt!" The two younger boys nodded their heads in fear. Marty came over.

"Hey Needles, leave those kids alone!"

Needles turned around. "The big M!"

"Put them down Needles, leave them alone."

"Why should I?"

"What did they do to you?"

Needles' gang noticed something and ran off. Needles watched them run off and then turned to see what had scared them. He saw Mr Strickland heading in their direction, he was reading a book and hadn't seen them. Needles didn't want to take a chance though. He dropped Jeffrey and as he left said, "Remember, don't you dare tell on me!" As Needles left, Marty went over to Jeffrey.

"Are you OK?" He tilted Jeffrey's head to see if the back of his neck was OK.

Strickland had by now seen Marty with the two younger boys. And to him it looked like Marty had just been choking the boys.

"McFly! What do you think you're doing?"

"Mr Strickland! I was, er...helping these guys! Needles was attacking them and..."

"Oh, really. So where is Mr Needles then?"

"He ran off, sir."

Strickland turned to Crispin and Jeffrey. "Is that true?" They wanted to say yes, but were too scared of what Needles would do to them if they did. So they said it wasn't, that Marty had hit them.

Marty's face turned to horror as Strickland said to him, "Well, well, Mr McFly, you're coming with me!"

"I will not tolerate this in this school, McFly," Strickland said to his pupil. Marty sat in front of his desk. "Bullying is strictly forbidden. You know that!"

"Mr Strickland, it wasn't me..." Marty tried to explain what had really happened once again but was interrupted.

"You will be in detention tonight until 4.30. Please phone your parents, tell them you'll be detained," Strickland smirked.

Marty tried to explain what had happened but Strickland's look made him do as he was told. Marty didn't want to get into any more trouble. He made his way to the telephone and dialled his home number. His father answered.

"McFly residence."

"Hi Dad, it's me. Listen, I'm in detention." Marty told his dad what had happened and how Strickland had jumped to conclusions."

"Well, that is a bit of a problem, we're supposed to be at the restaurant for 5 to celebrate Dave's new job," George said, "and Biff hasn't finished fixing your truck yet. I'll have to come and pick you up."

"All right Dad," said Marty. He was still cross at all that had happened.

"And Marty," George told his son, "I know you did the right thing helping those boys. Mr Strickland is obviously an idiot." He smiled, and even though Marty couldn't see his father he knew he was smiling. Marty smiled back.

"All right," he said, "I'll see you at half past 4."

"Marty!" George called to his son as Marty left the school. Marty ran across to his father's car and got in.

"We'd better hurry," Marty told his dad as they drove home, "or we'll miss the reservations."

"No, not in this weather," George said. "I can't drive fast in this rain. Anyway, remember that novel I handed in last Friday? They're printed off the first copy today. They expect it to be in the shops by Christmas."

"That's good news Dad," replied Marty as the first raindrops started to fall. George muttered to himself as the rain came down. Even though this George McFly was confident and brave, he was still very safety conscious like he had been before Marty had ever gone back in time. George did not like driving in the rain in this reality either.

He pulled up at some traffic lights. "I'll warn you now, son. Your mother is still very upset about Dave leaving, so keep telling her it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing."

"Bad things are being in detention for helping people," Marty muttered.

"Bad things happen for good reasons," George told him. "You helped those boys, that's a good thing. Your mother thinks Dave leaving is a bad thing, but over time she'll realise it was for a good reason. I think Dave will do well in his new job." The light turned green and George drove off, continuing his talk. "I hear you get paid lots in LA. Your mom and I nearly moved there after we got married, but then your mom got pregnant with Dave and didn't want to leave her family."

"Really?" asked Marty. Just as well George and Lorraine had stayed in Hill Valley, or else he would never have met Doc, which would have meant no "Calvin Klein" in 1955 etc.

George was about to turn left when an '82 Ford swerved around the corner at more than twice the speed limit.

"Dad!" Marty called. George tried to turn away from the car but it was too late. The Ford crashed into the driver's side of the McFly car.

"Don't worry Mrs McFly, your husband is fine," the doctor at the hospital told the sobbing Lorraine. "Somehow, he came out of that accident with only a broken leg. He'll be in hospital for the next few days. Your son was, luckily, unharmed." The doctor led Lorraine, Dave and Linda into the ward, where Lorraine saw George in his hospital bed.

"Hi honey," smiled George, waving. Lorraine ran over to her husband and hugged him, crying.

"I'm so glad you're OK," she said, smiling through her tears.

"I'm fine, and so is Marty," George said. "He's washing his face right now."

"Mr McFly?" said a voice. George and Lorraine turned to see a policeman enter the ward. "Good evening. I'm Officer Sinclair. I want to ask you about your accident. Firstly, what car was it that crashed into you?"

"A 1982 Ford, it was blue."

As the questions continued, Marty came into the room. He felt terrible. If he hadn't been in detention, his father wouldn't have been out then and wouldn't have gotten into that accident. Even thought he had been unhurt and had managed to call the police and an ambulance for his dad, Marty still felt very guilty.

If only it hadn't happened, he thought to himself. If only I hadn't...wait a minute! I can make it so I never happened. After all, I have access to a time machine.

"Drop me off at Doc's, Mom," Marty told his mother as she drove home from the hospital. "I have to feed Einstein." The Browns were on a quick holiday to visit Clara's parents. This was true - except what almost nobody knew was that they were going back to 1895 to visit Clara's folks! They had left earlier that evening and were due back Sunday evening, although they would spend a week in 1895. This way, Clara could see her parents regularly, and they would never know that their daughter in fact lived 90 years in the future, rather than in San Francisco as they believed.

"All right," Lorraine said. "Will you need a lift home?"

"Uh, no thanks," said Marty, "I'll walk." Marty didn't want to risk Lorraine seeing the time machine. She dropped her son off and she, Dave and Linda went home.

Marty waited until they were out of sight, and then let himself into Doc's. Einstein ran over happily.

"Hi ya Einie!" Marty said to the dog, hugging him. "You hungry fella?" Marty put Einstein's food in his bowl and Einstein happily ate it.

Marty went down into the basement housing Doc's lab. Inside was the new DeLorean (the Browns had taken the time train). Marty opened the door and got inside, followed by Einstein. He wanted to take Einstein so he could guard the DeLorean. He typed in 11 29 1985 14 15 (the new DeLorean used the 24 hour clock) and when outside drove the DeLorean up to 88 miles per hour. Marty made sure he was away from the Brown house before he travelled through time, since he didn't want Doc to see him when he entered the past. 86, 87, 88...

Marty entered the past - technically, earlier that day was the past - and drove through Hill Valley's back streets to avoid as much traffic as he could. He arrived at Hill Valley High School and put on one of Doc's coats that he had bought with him. Marty added a hat as well so nobody would recognise him.

"Stay here," he told Einstein as he exited the car, which he had parked behind the school where hopefully nobody would see it. He managed to get inside the school by following in a bunch of girls and saw himself and Jennifer walking down the corridor.

"She cried and cried," Past Marty told Jennifer as they walked through the corridors of Hill Valley High School. "She really doesn't want him to go. I dread to think what will happen when I move out."

"Well, we'll probably be staying in Hill Valley," said Jennifer, remembering the future she had seen where she lived in Hilldale. "Maybe not Hilldale, but around this area."

"You're right," Past Marty replied. "All my friends and family are here. Well, except Dave." Marty watched as his past self and Jennifer continued their conversation. Marty followed them down the corridor. The bell went, Past Marty and Jennifer talked a bit more, and then:

"OK, see you later," Jennifer blew Past Marty a kiss as she entered her English class. Past Marty smiled as he walked to the library. He reckoned he could get some piece and quiet there to do his maths.

Marty knew it was now or never. He had to stop himself from helping those kids. But no, that was too selfish. Suddenly Marty heard something.

"Slackers!"

Of course! All he had to do was stop Mr Strickland from going to his past self and seeing him with those kids! Marty watched as Strickland started reading the book he had been reading when he was heading towards Past Marty and Needles. It was because of this book that Strickland had not seen Needles and had thought Marty was responsible.

Marty walked over to Strickland.

"Hey, Strickland!" he yelled, disguising his voice, before hiding in an empty classroom. Strickland stopped and turned around.

"Who said that?" he asked. "Show yourself!" Strickland started to walk towards the classroom where Marty was hiding. "It's Mr Strickland to you," Strickland continued as he entered the room.

There was nobody there.

Strickland scratched his head. He was sure whoever had called him like that had come into this room. Maybe he had gone further down the corridor. Strickland went into the next classroom.

Marty had jumped out of the window. Luckily he had gone into a ground floor classroom! Marty climbed back into the room once he was sure Strickland had gone and ran to where his past self was helping those kids.

He was pleased with what he saw.

Needles had gone, he must have still seen Strickland or something. Past Marty was there, telling Crispin and Jeffrey about how they should stand up for themselves.

Marty was pleased. Now he would never be in detention, and George would never hurt his arm. Mission accomplished. He made his way back to the DeLorean, pleased to see nobody had seen it, and went forward in time to that evening to the exact minute he had left.

Saturday night in the McFly house was different this Saturday. Lorraine was still upset about Dave moving away.

Oh well, Marty thought. At least she's not upset about Dad's accident any more, since it never happened.

"Look Mom, this is the big chance in my life! I'm not going to say no and stay here just because you want me to!" Dave told his mother.

"Couldn't you stay in Hill Valley? I know you should have left home by now but Los Angeles is so far away..."

"Look Lorraine," said George, "he's 23 now! When we were his age we were married! You were expecting him when you were 23! Let him live his life. I know it's hard for you, but this day will repeat itself 2 more times, so get used to it."

Lorraine merely said, "At least I will still have 2 of my children at home with me."

George had been having this conversation now for the past couple of days and was tired of it. He decided to go through it for one last time. "Lorraine, come with me. Kids, we're going for a walk."

George and Lorraine exited the house and walked down the road.

"Why are you acting like this?" he asked her.

"I just don't want him to leave," Lorraine admitted. "I know all of them will be soon, but Los Angeles? It's too far away. He won't manage."

"He will," said George, "but I think this is because our children are growing up and won't need us as much any more. Am I right?"

"You know me too well," smiled Lorraine, before adding, "You're right. I should be happy for Dave."

"This is a stick up!" a voice from behind yelled. "Your money or your life!"

Marty, Dave and Linda were watching TV when the doorbell rang. Dave answered. It was Tom Tannen, Biff's son. He looked very pale.

"It's your parents!" he whispered.

"What about them?" Dave asked. By now Linda and Marty had come to the door.

"I saw the whole thing! They met a mugger, and...and...he stabbed your dad!"

"WHAT???"

"He stabbed your dad! I need to call an ambulance!"

Dave, Linda and Marty all sat in the waiting room of the hospital. They had learnt that the mugger had threatened their parents, and when George had refused to hand over his money, the mugger had stabbed him before taking his wallet and running off. Tom had been walking past and had seen it all, and Lorraine had sent him to tell the kids and call the ambulance whilst she stayed with her husband.

Lorraine came out of the ER with the doctor. She looked as if she had been crying. The doctor spoke to the McFly siblings.

"I'm so sorry, but your dad has lost a lot of blood. There's not much more we can do for him." At the news, Dave gasped, Linda muttered, "Oh my God!" and Marty felt sick. This was all his fault!

That was what the doctor had said about George after the car crash. That meant that in the normal reality, George would have been in hospital and would never have met the mugger. And he wouldn't...wouldn't... Marty couldn't bring himself to think the words.

George McFly died 20 minutes later, with his family by his side. Marty knew that history was changed. He knew that George should still be alive in 2015, so he shouldn't have died in 1985! This, plus the fact that George's death was Marty's fault, made Marty determined that he must go back in time again and change things back. Even if it meant a detention.

Marty experienced a feeling of deja vu as he and Einstein entered the past. He had, after all, been here twice already. That reminded him. He would have to be very careful not to run into his other 2 selves.

He landed the DeLorean in another alleyway and leaving Einstein guarding it once again, he made his way into the High School. This time had had on another of Doc's coats and a wig that Verne had worn to Halloween, to avoid recognition. He walked through the corridors until he saw his past selves.

"She cried and cried," Past Marty told Jennifer as they walked through the corridors of Hill Valley High School. "She really doesn't want him to go. I dread to think what will happen when I move out."

"Well, we'll probably be staying in Hill Valley," said Jennifer, remembering the future she had seen where she lived in Hilldale. "Maybe not Hilldale, but around this area."

"You're right," Past Marty replied. "All my friends and family are here. Well, except Dave." Meddling Marty, as Marty thought of his second self here, watched as his past self and Jennifer continued their conversation. Meddling Marty followed them down the corridor, this time followed by the Marty from November 30th. The bell went, Past Marty and Jennifer talked a bit more, and then:

"OK, see you later," Jennifer blew Past Marty a kiss as she entered her English class. Past Marty smiled as he walked to the library. He reckoned he could get some piece and quiet there to do his maths. Marty saw him walk off and Meddling Marty wonder what to do.

"Slackers!"

Mr Strickland was walking towards Past Marty. Meddling Marty followed Strickland.

"Hey, Strickland!" Meddling Marty yelled, disguising his voice, before hiding in the empty classroom. Strickland stopped and turned around.

"Who said that?" he asked. "Show yourself!" Strickland started to walk towards the classroom where Meddling Marty was hiding. "It's Mr Strickland to you," Strickland continued as he entered the room.

There was nobody there.

Strickland scratched his head. He was sure whoever had called him like that had come into this room. Maybe he had gone further down the corridor. Strickland went into the next classroom.

Now it was time for Marty to act. He went over to Strickland.

"Mr Strickland?" he said to the teacher. "There's something you should see here. Bullying."

"In my school?" Strickland asked, despite the fact that it wasn't his school since he was not the Principal.

"Yes sir," said Marty, looking at his watch which he had set for "local time". By now his past self would have seen Needles with Crispin and Jeffrey. "This way," he said, beckoning Strickland to follow.

They turned the corner. Needles saw them coming and decide he didn't want to risk getting caught. He dropped Jeffrey and as he left said, "Remember, don't you dare tell on me!" As Needles left, Past Marty went over to Jeffrey.

"Are you OK?" He tilted Jeffrey's head to see if the back of his neck was OK.

Marty pointed Strickland in the direction of Past Marty and then ran off before he was recognised. Strickland saw Past Marty with the two younger boys. And to him it looked like Past Marty had just been choking the boys.

"McFly! What do you think you're doing?"

As he watched his past self try to explain what had happened, Marty smiled. Hopefully everything was back to normal!

Marty landed the DeLorean outside Doc's house. He let Einstein out and after putting the DeLorean back in Doc's lab and checking the house was OK, he got into his truck and set off for home.

He was pleased to see that Dave's car was on the driveway. When he had left that other 1985, Dave's car had been at the hospital. Pausing to take a look around, Marty entered his house.

Lorraine was sitting in the living room looking sad. Oh God! Marty thought. Maybe I wasn't successful!

"Mom?" he asked. "You OK?"

"Not really," she said as he sat down next to her. "It's Da..."

"...ve," Lorraine continued. "I really don't want him to go."

Marty guessed that since George was in hospital, he never had the talk with Lorraine that he guessed they were talking about on their fatal walk.

"I'm really going to miss him," Lorraine told her son. "I know he'll cope, and he'll be happy, but as his mother I don't want him to go."

Marty remembered something his dad had said in the car just before the accident. "Bad things happen for good reasons," he told his mother. "That's something I definitely learnt these past few days."

"Huh?" Lorraine asked. Marty quickly changed the subject.

"What may seem bad to you will be good to Dave," said Marty. "Trust me, Dave moving away will make your relationship stronger." This was fact. When Doc had gone to 2015 to finish building his new DeLorean with the help of 2015 Marty and his kids, he had found out that the McFly family was still very close, even though Dave moved away to LA and Linda had also left Hill Valley by 2015 to take a job in London. "He'll still be around."

"You're right Marty," smiled Lorraine. "I've been very selfish recently, very out of character for me too. When he comes home I'll tell him I'm happy for him."

"That's great Mom," said Marty.

The McFly family stood waiting for the removal van to finish packing. The company Dave worked for were paying for a van, so Dave thought he might as well use it. He still had some furniture from his old flat anyway. As the removal van was closed, Dave turned to his family.

"Bye Linda," he said, hugging his sister. He then shook hands with Marty. "See you later, little brother."

"Bye Dave," Marty grinned. Dave turned to his parents and hugged them.

"Bye Dad, Mom," he said. "Thanks for being supportive. I'll call you when I get there!" He got into his car and waved to his family before driving off.

Once he had gone, the family walked back inside. George turned to his wife.

"You were quite happy about that," he said, "I was expecting a few tears," he grinned.

Lorraine grinned back. "Bad things happen for good reasons," she told her husband. "And besides," she grinned, "he's only a phone call away."

Last Revised: June 4th 2004

BACK TO THE HILL VALLEY TELEGRAPH FAN FICTION ARCHIVE

Visit the Hill Valley Telegraph Script Archive