Chapter Text
Plenty of people wanted to get their hands on Emmett’s work. The government, on various occasions. Certain Libyans. Even the odd rival scientist. These were the sorts of people he expected to break into his house at 1:15 in the morning.
So what the hell was a teenage boy doing in here?
The scientist walked toward the young man, eyes wide. Einstein trotted over, nudging the stranger. The boy obliged him with some pets.
“Who are you?” Emmett asked.
“Um, McFly. Martin McFly. Marty.”
“I see. Well, ‘Marty,’ what exactly are you doing in my lab?”
“I didn’t mean to freak you out, or anything,” Marty told him. “I was just…I needed some tubes.”
“Tubes?” he repeated.
“Yeah, for my amp.”
“An amplifier? What for?”
“My guitar,” Marty explained. “I figured, since you bought ‘em all, I’d have to get them here. But I also figured that you wouldn’t wanna give me any, so I…”
“You thought you’d take them,” Emmett finished.
“Yeah. I did,” Marty admitted. “Look, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. I just really needed to fix my amp so I could get playing again, and— ”
“So you stayed up past 1 in the morning, broke into my home, and managed to hide from me in a relatively small room…all because you wanted to fix your guitar amplifier?”
Marty looked down at the floor and nodded. He mumbled some more apologies under his breath. Einstein whimpered and gave the boy’s hand a few licks.
“Well, there’s only one thing to do, really,” Emmett said.
“Look, if you want to tell my folks, that’s fine. But can it wait until morning? Once Mom finds out about this, she’ll yell at me loud enough to make everyone’s eardrums explode within a ten mile radius.”
The scientist searched through his supplies, finding exactly what he needed. He returned to his uninvited guest and presented him with the tubes.
“Here you are, Martin. Take what you need,” he said.
“Wait, what? Are you serious?” the boy gasped.
“Completely.”
Marty stared at him for a moment, eyes darting between the scientist’s face and the tubes. Eventually, he smiled.
“Thanks, Doc!” Marty said. He grabbed as many tubes as he needed, then put them in his jean’s right-front pocket.
“You know, Martin—”
“Marty,” he corrected. “Nobody calls me Martin, not even my parents.”
“Alright. Marty,” Emmett said. “You’re awfully resourceful for your age. You can’t be older than, what, 15?”
“14, actually.”
“Precisely my point! Not many 14-year-olds would be able to sneak around my house like that.”
“You make that sound like a good thing,” Marty chuckled.
“The way in which you applied that skill may not have been the best, of course,” he continued. “And considering my, er, reputation, it took some guts to come in here.”
“Reputation? Get outta town, what reputation?” Marty asked, clearly exaggerating his surprise.
“I know what the people of Hill Valley say about me, young man. There’s no need to pretend. It suits my needs just fine, to have people think I’m a ‘crackpot scientist.’ They’ll be less likely to stick their noses into my inventions that way.”
“Wait, you’re not?”
Emmett raised an eyebrow at him.
“That came out wrong,” Marty said. “I mean, you’re really an inventor?”
“Indeed I am,” Emmett confirmed.
Einstein yipped in confirmation.
“Heavy…” the boy whispered.
“Are you interested in science?”
“Ask my C- in biology. It’s not that I’m not interested; I’m sure whatever you’ve got goin’ on in here is great! I’m just no good at it.”
Emmett was sure the boy was clever, even if his grades didn’t reflect that. He was also curious, brave, and when push came to shove, honest. And, most importantly, Einstein liked him. That settled it.
“How would you like to be my assistant?” Emmett asked.
“What?!”
“I’ll admit I’m a bit strapped for funds, so the pay won’t be much. But I can promise you’ll never run out of tubes for your amplifier ever again.”
“Wait, wait, wait, hold on. You want me to help you?”
“Isn’t that what I just said? I could always use an extra hand around here. And I’m sure we can do something about that C- of yours.”
“But I’m—”
“The perfect fit for the job!” Emmett finished. “Einstein thinks so too. Don’t you, Einie?”
Einstein barked, then wagged his tail. A ringing endorsement if Emmett had ever seen one.
“You sure about this, Doc?”
“Absolutely! Einstein is an excellent judge of character.”
Emmett held his hand out for a shake. Did kids still do that? Apparently so, because Marty accepted the offer. The boy had a strong grip.
“Alright, I’ll take it. Is there a schedule I’ve gotta follow, or…?” Marty asked.
“No, no, just drop by any time you like. But for now, I think you’d best head back home. Get some rest. We can work out some more details as we go,” Emmett answered.
“Yeah! Yeah, great. I’ll, uh, get going then. Catch ya later, Doc.”
Marty left, stopping to pet Einstein one last time before closing the door and putting the key back under the mat.
“About time we get to bed too, Einie,” Emmett said. “C’mon, boy!”
Einstein woofed.