Author's Note: This is something I whipped up for Archive of Our Own's Yuletide Exchange.

Also, if you're following "Libélula", know that I am still working on it. I know I haven't updated in a year ; ; but I am sooo busy these days. But I haven't forgotten about it, and it will be updated.

November 5th, 1955.

It was the date that would change Dr. Emmett Brown's life forever. It was the day he had fallen, hit his head, and perceived a vision of the flux capacitor.

It was also the day he had first met Marty McFly.

After saying his goodbyes to Marty, Emmett spent his entire family fortune working towards his dream of building his time machine. Knowing that he had actually invented something that worked provided him with the encouragement to continue working towards his goal. There were times he wanted to give up. Selling his house—the home he had grown up in—had proven to be an especially difficult decision. It was, after all, the home where his mother had spent years teaching him every dance under the sun because she was convinced that dancing would be the key to wooing the woman of his dreams. It was the home where his father had first given him 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It was the place where he had spent all of his young life discovering the works of Jules Verne, the author who had inspired the scientist to think about time travel.

It was not until 1968 that Emmett finally decided to sell his house. Coincidentally, it was the same year that Marty was born. Prior to that, he would run into Lorraine and George McFly around Hill Valley from time to time. On one particular occasion, Emmett was at the grocery store doing his weekly purchases and had run into Lorraine. She had a baby in her arms and was in the middle of paying for her groceries.

Emmett stood staring at the woman holding her child, noting that this baby was Marty's oldest brother. He recalled the photograph of Marty and his siblings, understanding that this child may not have ever come into existence.

Lorraine looked up at Emmett just then, and her face brightened.

"Dr. Brown! It's so good to see you!"

Emmett shook himself out of his nostalgic stupor.

"Ah, yes, Mrs. McFly, I see you're a mother now. I had heard from my neighbor of the news and haven't had the chance to congratulate you personally."

"Please, call me Lorraine! It's really alright. George and I are so happy!" Lorraine glanced lovingly at her son and said, "His name is Dave. We named him after George's father."

She looked back up at Emmett and stated, "It's so funny that I ran into you today. George and I were just talking about Marty the other day. We were wondering how he's doing. Have you heard from him at all?"

Emmett's eyes narrowed a bit, "Ahhh, yes-he's decided to pursue a career in music," he quickly lied, remembering that Marty had talked quite a bit about his band during his week in 1955.

"Oh, really? Does he have any good records out?"

Crap.

"No, not yet, but I'll be sure to keep you updated on the matter when I hear about it!"

"I really do hope he makes it. His style was...interesting, but I really enjoyed the earlier parts of his performance when he played at our school dance. Time sure does fly, doesn't it?"

"Indeed it does," Emmett responded thoughtfully. "Well, I best be on my way. I still need to pick up a few things."

"Yes, of course! See you around, Dr. Brown!"

. / . \ .

It was like that for years. Emmett's obsession over his time machine earned him a reputation of being the town's crackpot scientist. He secluded himself in his laboratory daily, taking odd jobs here and there for the city or county. That was how he had made a living. Foreign or federal groups would contact him every once in a while to work on more secretive projects. He made sure to be careful of these, however, as the 1955 letter from Marty had warned him of Libyan terrorists.

How could I have possibly gotten mixed up with terrorists? he would often think to himself, grateful that he had eventually pieced back the letter he had ripped open. He would make sure to take precautions to save his life, but nothing else. I can't interfere with the space-time continuum any more than protecting myself. Who knows what I may disrupt if I avoid Libyans entirely.

. / . \ .

The years slowly passed, and soon it was June 12, 1968, the day of Marty's birth. The last time Emmett had seen any of the McFly family was when he had seen Lorraine at the grocery store five years past. He didn't know in which hospital Marty was born, but he was incredibly excited to know that he could finally get at least a glimpse of the boy.

He kept an eye out for Marty every time he went anywhere public, and finally, in the month of August, he saw Lorraine at a dry cleaner's shop not too far from his home.

"Lorraine!" the Doc shouted.

It took Lorraine a moment to recall the name from the back of her mind. "Oh! Dr. Brown! It's been such a long time!"

"Yes, it has. I've been quite busy with my work and my inventions. Is this your new son?" Emmett could not keep his eyes off of Marty. It was odd to see him in such a state.

"Yes, it is. His name is Marty," she smiled.

"Marty McFly. So we finally meet," Emmett stated. "May I please hold him?"

"Of course!"

She handed Marty over to Emmett, whose eyes were now twinkling with moisture. His grin stretched from ear to ear.

Emmett stared at Marty in amazement. The fact that Emmett even knew of the existence of a Marty McFly gave him the surge of encouragement he needed. It had been a particularly rough week, as Emmett had resorted to selling another batch of expensive family heirlooms to finance his research. That week he had even contacted a university not too far from Hill Valley about taking a job as a professor in physics, but this would have meant putting his time travel research on hiatus. Seeing Marty in the flesh after almost twenty years sent his spirit soaring. A tear slowly rolled down his cheek as Marty fussed in his arms.

"Mr. Brown, are you alright?" Lorraine asked, concerned.

"Yes, sorry, there must just be something in my eye," he lied half-heartedly.

He bounced Marty a bit, contemplating the countless nights he had spent locked up in his laboratory, with failure after failure after failure of replicating the flux capacitor. He had almost given up hope and had even started entertaining the idea that his escapade with Marty might have been a dream. It seemed that fate had brought them together once again.

After more fussing from Marty, Emmett finally handed him back to his mother.

"He really is a great kid," Emmett stated, the double-meaning not lost on him.

"Thanks. He's a lot fussier than his brother and sister. He'll probably grow up to be a rambunctious child!"

Emmett chuckled, "Perhaps!"

"Well, I really need to get home and feed him. It was a pleasure seeing you again, Doctor."

"Pleasure's all mine, believe me!"

. / . \ .

Emmett's research the following week would lead him to temporarily move to another part of the country. He needed access to plutonium, and there was a research position open that he immediately applied for as soon as he had heard about it. He needed the experience and contacts to tie together some of the final elements of his research. The work was sensitive and secretive, which was not a problem, but in the process it had led him to a meeting of underground scientists also involved in the same sort of controversial experimentation he was engaged in. It was at that meeting that he had finally run into the group of Libyans. His type of work took all kinds, he learned. Everyone was looking to pursue some kind of dream. The world wasn't black and white.

But Emmet had his goals. He moved out of Hill Valley, sold most of his possessions, and traveled to Arizona to work on the plutonium research. It would be another twelve years before he would return to his hometown.

. / . \ .

On April 6, 1980, Emmett Brown finally moved back to Hill Valley, equipped with all the knowledge he needed to finally begin constructing his time machine. If his calculations were correct, he had approximately 4 years and eleven months before he would finally be able to carry out his first experiment.

There was one problem, however. As his finances currently stood, he could not afford a DeLorean. He had spent years on the lookout for the automobile, and finally in late 1977, he found an article in a car magazine touting the potential of the machine. As soon as he had seen the article, he knew that he would not be able to save enough money to purchase one until the early 1980s. He therefore began constructing the machine in separate parts. It would be more cumbersome, but he had no other choice.

When Emmett had been living in Hill Valley for about a month, he decided that it was high time to get another dog. Copernicus had died years ago, and Emmett missed having a pup around.

Einstein is what you call your dog in the future, Emmett remembered Marty telling him. For good reason, too. Einstein is one of the brightest minds of our age!

And so it was that Emmett Brown went to a pet store and adopted his furry friend.

Upon arriving back to his home, Emmett set the dog in a cardboard box and set out to find something the puppy could eat. He fumbled throughout his kitchen for something appropriate, but suddenly heard a sound coming from his laboratory.

Emmett stopped.

Could it be the Libyans?!

Emmett had made both friends and enemies over the years.

A bead of cold sweat dripped from his temple. It's too early for me to die, he assured himself.

He grabbed a knife from one of his kitchen drawers and slowly crept up to the laboratory in his garage.

His heart pounding, he pushed the door open and pointed it in the direction of the sound.

There was suddenly another crash that came from behind the scientist, causing him to jump and drop the knife.

There, standing wide-eyed and shocked, was a twelve-year-old Marty McFly.

"Great Scott!" Emmett shouted.

"I didn't touch anything!" the boy yelled. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to see your laboratory!"

Emmett was uncertain about how to react. Normally he would be furious, but this was Marty! He chose the tactful path.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that it was rude to break into other people's houses?" boomed the Doc's firm voice.

Marty stood, stunned and frightened.

"Do you have any idea how expensive this equipment is? What if you had broken it?"

Silence.

"This is my life's work!"

Marty appeared as though he was about to cry.

Uh-oh, I don't want the kid to hate me!

"Hey, hey, no need for tears. Crying is for sissies."

"I'm not crying!" Marty cried. "AND I'M NOT A SISSY!"

"No, of course not!" Emmett responded.

"I want to go home."

"Not before you help me clean up the mess you made."

Marty stood silent, contemplating what he should do.

"I'm going to be late for dinner. My mom will get mad at me. I'm already in trouble because I wrecked my bike today."

"What brought you here?" Emmett asked curiously. He had wondered all this time how he and Marty would eventually meet again.

Marty turned red.

"Go on. You almost set my house on fire. I deserve an explanation."

"They all said you were crazy."

"Who did?"

"All the kids at school. They said that you were a crazy scientist and everyone's parents said that you were the one who broke the clock tower."

"Oh, did they?" Emmett smirked. The boy had no idea about the irony of which he was speaking.

"Yeah, and I wanted to prove them wrong because my parents said you were a good guy."

"Really?" Emmett chuckled, "Yes, well, who are your parents?" The question was obviously a ruse.

"Lorraine and George McFly."

"I see. Well, pick up a broom and help me sweep up this mess, will you?"

"OK," Marty said, happy that Emmett wasn't threatening to call his parents.

As Marty started collecting various items that had fallen on the ground, he grew distracted with their uniqueness.

"What does this thing do?"

"That? Oh, it's just a little experiment I've been working on. Something that should enhance the sound of record players."

"You listen to records?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Marty shrugged. "I don't know, I just figured scientists were too boring for that." Marty suddenly realized the rudeness of comment and immediately apologized.

"I didn't mean that! I actually think you're really neat!"

"Oh, do you?" The Doc said seriously. It was very difficult to keep himself from smiling.

"Yeah, are you really a doctor?"

"Yes."

"So you can measure my blood pressure and everything?"

"Not that kind of doctor! I have a PhD!"

"Oh."

Marty paused.

"Can I still call you Doc?"

At that, Emmet Brown could no longer keep his smile to himself.

"Yes, I suppose you can."

It would still be another five years before Emmett Brown could tell Marty McFly about the time machine, but in that moment, it did not matter. The Doc finally had his friend back.

.oOo.