Chapter Text
Marty hid behind a trash can as he carefully observed the goings on between the two scientists as they talked and discussed a number of terms that went sailing over Marty’s head. It didn’t matter, he decided—all that mattered was that Doc, his best friend, had asked him to accompany him…
********
“Marty, I’m sorry to drag you away from whatever plans you had today,” Doc had said, once Marty had stopped by at his request.
“It’s alright, Doc,” Marty had assured him. Sure, he’d hoped to drive to Berkley and visit Jennifer, who was attending college there, but Marty had assumed that whatever Doc had to ask of him involved time travel, meaning that there was no reason why Marty wouldn’t be able to pick up exactly where he’d left off. And he seemed to be right—
“I got this letter—from the year 2042—from a Dr. Witherspoon,” Doc had continued. “He obviously has some method of time travel at his disposal if he was able to get this to me, but he claims here that he has completed a successful temporal experiment ‘beyond all imagining,’ and wants me to give him a second opinion on it—and, to do so, I need to see him at his lab in 2042.”
“He’s heard of you, then,” Marty had commented. “And about your ability to time travel, if he’s expecting you to show up in the future.”
“That’s just it, Marty,” Doc had sighed. “You, Clara, and the boys are the only other ones who know about the Flux Capacitor. This isn’t information I want spread around!”
“…So, how did this guy find out about it?” Marty had realized. “Huh. Yeah, something doesn’t add up here.”
“And there’s this,” Doc had added. “Listen to this: ‘Above all else, Doctor, it is imperative that you come alone.’ …I don’t like it, Marty.”
“…Yeah, that’s sketchy.”
“But the thing is, I can’t refuse,” Doc had fretted. “Whoever this Dr. Witherspoon is, he knows where to find me, and he would also know where to find Clara and the boys—and you. But I know I shouldn’t go alone, either. …Marty, I know I’ve asked so much of you already by getting you involved in my time travel experiments in the first place—”
“I’m in, Doc,” Marty had assured him, with a grin. “You know I’ve got your back.”
And Doc had managed a smile at last.
“Indeed, I know. Let’s go.”
********
“This is why I sent for you, Dr. Brown.”
Dr. Witherspoon, the odd scientist from the future who had invited Doc to visit his lab—converted from an old reactor—gestured down into the reactor core. Marty frowned, unable to see from his vantage point, but he definitely didn’t like Doc being so close to the edge of the reactor core. Marty drew himself into a track starting position, ready to run into action if need be.
Doc, also suspicious, grabbed tightly onto the railing as he took a glance at the odd, swirling shape down in the reactor core. The shape had a strong suction to it—a gravitational field, no doubt; Doc had to grip the railing tightly just to brace himself against it.
“Great Scott…” he murmured. “Is that what I think it is?”
“A wormhole—in this case, I believe it is a gate to another, parallel universe,” Dr. Witherspoon said, with a nod. “It took years and years of reactions and experimenting to get it to open. At present, I can only get a wormhole to stay open for fifteen minutes at a time, but that is a feat in and of itself.”
Doc shook his head in amazement.
“Incredible,” he mused. “Have you tried sending anything into it? A probe or camera of some kind?”
“No. I have no way of knowing whether the wormhole is the same each time I open it. That’s where you come in, Dr. Brown.”
Doc froze, and Marty did, as well.
“I need someone with a mode of conveyance that would let him return from what is possibly a one-way trip,” Witherspoon continued.
“…My mode of conveyance isn’t that versatile!” Doc insisted.
“You have the genius to invent something that would be,” Witherspoon replied. “In fact, you probably don’t even need your flying time car—you could find a way back with whatever you found over there! Your genius is very well-known, after all!”
Marty’s heart leaped into his throat the moment Witherspoon removed Doc’s hands from the railing. He immediately got out from behind the trash can, heading towards them with a fire in his eyes.
“You can’t send someone into that without testing something first!” Doc protested, trying to push back as Witherspoon tried to push him into the reactor core. “That wormhole clearly has a gravitational field; it could have the tidal forces of a black hole—someone going through it might not survive!”
“Think of it as a sacrifice for science, then, Dr. Brown,” his rival replied, calmly. “You will be known across space and time for your dedication to science!”
“You can’t force a man to…! …Marty, no! Stay back—!”
Witherspoon froze, turning around to glare at Marty, who stopped and glared right back at him.
“…You didn’t come alone!” Witherspoon roared, turning back towards Doc. He drew a fist back, aiming it at Doc. “I specifically told you—ack!”
Marty jumped up, grabbing Witherspoon in a chokehold as he swore at him.
“Marty—!”
Doc tried to run forward to help Marty, but Witherspoon had anticipated this; the renegade scientist raised a leg and kicked Doc in the stomach, sending him flying backwards—over the edge of the reactor core.
“DOC!” Marty screamed.
He threw Witherspoon aside, running to the edge, dreading what he was about to see… but then sighed in relief as he saw that Doc had grabbed onto the rung of a metal ladder built in to the side of the reactor core with one hand. Doc was winded, however—he was struggling to catch his breath after having been kicked in the stomach, and with the suction of the wormhole drawing in most of the air, he was still gasping for air. What was more, the suction was actively trying to pull him into the wormhole; Doc couldn’t move his feet back towards the ladder, and all of his weight was one the one hand grabbing the ladder rung.
“Doc, hang on!” Marty yelled down. He winced—that had not been the best choice of words. “I’ll find a rope or something!”
Doc looked up at him, and Marty saw his eyes widen in fear; he was still unable to speak, but he used his free hand to frantically point behind Marty.
Marty whirled around, his heart nearly stopping as he saw Witherspoon towering over him with a look of unbridled fury on his face.
The renegade slammed his arm into Marty, sending him over the edge of the reactor core, as well.
“Dooooooooc—!”
Doc held his free hand out, grabbing for him in vain; he missed, but Marty did succeed in grabbing Doc’s hand—but now, Doc was holding his weight and Marty’s by just one hand. Marty could see Doc’s face growing paler from the strain, and his grip on the ladder rung was weakening.
Marty looked up, shuddering as he saw Witherspoon glaring down at the both of them for a moment, and then proceed to look around for something—Marty realized, in horror, that he was probably looking for a long piece of pipe or even a broom to prod Doc into letting go of the ladder rung.
Marty now looked down at the open wormhole once more—which seemed to be slowly shrinking as it closed—its fifteen minutes had to be up. He looked back at Doc now; the strain on him was tremendous, and Marty’s heart skipped a beat as he realized that Doc’s eyes were getting a glazed look in them—as though he was on the verge of passing out. He clearly would not last until the wormhole closed.
He can’t hang on, Marty realized, his hope fading. Well… if I’m going to go down no matter what, I don’t have to take him with me.
He would do what he had to in order to buy his best friend the precious few seconds he’d need to hold on until the wormhole closed.
I’m sorry, Doc, he mentally transmitted.
And with that, he let go.
Even through the mental haze that was closing in, Doc was aware of the sudden change in the weight he was trying to support. Frantically, he looked down, only able to utter the briefest, broken cry as he saw Marty hurtling towards the closing wormhole.
Marty had his eyes shut, trying to brace himself for the impact, but as he hit the edge of the wormhole, energy crackled all around him, and even through him, causing him to cry out in pain as he vanished within the void—which closed after him. There was one more crackle of energy, like a statement of finality, before the wormhole completely vanished, leaving no trace of it—or Marty—behind.
With the gravitational field gone along with it, Doc found the air returning—but he still found it hard to breathe now for a different reason as he finally got a foothold on the ladder in the reactor.
“Marty…!” he quietly exclaimed, knowing it was futile and that he would get no answer. His voice cracked as he tried again. “Marty…!”
“Well…” Witherspoon sneered. “This wasn’t the outcome I was hoping for, but, perhaps, it could work. That was your apprentice, Martin McFly, wasn’t it? Do you think the impetuous fool has learned enough from you to construct a means to return? …Assuming he survived, of course.”
The knife twisted further, but grief now mixed with rage as Doc glared up at Witherspoon.
And a look of fear now, finally, crossed Witherspoon’s face as he realized just how bad a mistake he had made.