Chapter 1

"Gee, it was just another boring day," Alan Tracy grumbled to his girlfriend Tin Tin Kyrano as they got out of the Ladybird. "You'd think my father would do something special to celebrate this date but no, it's just the same old boring routine! Well, at least we got to go on a mission so at least I thought that was good."

"Actually, I'd rather they just let us have off on this date," relpied Tin Tin. "I mean, the famous lightning storm of 1955 is a major event in Hill Valley. Everyone in Hill Valley had heard of that incident, after all. Besides, it's the 210th year anniversary. It's certainly a thing worth celebrating."

"Maybe if we had a different commander," Alan suggested. "We'd do more fun things around base. This is all my father's fault! It's like he doesn't want us guys having any fun. I wonder why he even bothers being commander if he nags at me once too many."

"Well, anyway," Tin Tin said nodding. "Shall we go out to Francesca's Italian Diner in Hill Valley tonight? I'm sure in the mood for some Italian food. Although, I suppose the place might be filled up tonight because everyone will probably be out celebrating the event."

"I was going to speak to Brains anyway," explained Alan. "He wanted me to help him out with an experiment. Maybe we can go to Francesca's Italian Diner this Friday."

"Alright, we could do that," replied Tin Tin. "I suppose that date is not significant to anyone more than it is to you and Brains. I know it was a real eventful day to you two. Certainly a day worth celebrating for you two. So what kind of experiment does Brains need your help with?"

"That I don't know," replied Alan. "He didn't mention anything about making a major breakthrough but it's probably something relatively small. Of course, I'd be hard pressed to think of what would be more major than a time machine."

"Well, anyway, I'd better start go and speak to my father," Tin Tin said as she hugged Alan. "At least she's in good health, again. Maybe we'll bake some cookies together. That's always fun."

"That's just like what we do with your father," Alan smiled. "Well, you have fun but at least Thanksgiving's almost here."

Alan and Tin Tin then kissed before they went their seperate ways as soon as they were inside the Tracy villa. Alan smelled something delicious cooking from the kitchen. He walked into the kitchen and he saw that Kyrano was in there baking sugar cookies.

"Hey, Kyrano," Alan greeted. "Those cookies smell delicious. Can I have one?"

"Your father says can have two, Mr Alan," Kyrano smiled. "Then we want to save the rest for tonight. This is a very special occasion after all. It is amazing that 30 years ago, your father and I were at a festival where the people of Hill Valley were putting the clock tower up and now, 30 years later, they replaced the clock and I now understand that it is an important piece of history so it's worth preserving. So I guess the clock ran for seventy years - and it stopped exactly thirty years ago."

"You know, Kyrano," Alan said as he grabbed two cookies. "Dad told me and they guys that he just didn't understand why the Hill Valley Preservation Society was so insistent on saving the clock tower but since the whole fourth dimensional experience, I've come to gain a brand new appreciation for the clock tower and what's ironic about this whole thing is, I wasn't even born yet but Dad told us every detal about it."

Just then, Jeff walked into the kitchen and said "Thank goodness, Alan! I told Brains you were home and he's glad you're here. I was hoping you would remember to come here after you and Tin Tin went to Kenny's."

"Gee, Dad, you tell Brains always happy to spend time with him." Alan said smiling at his father.

"Good lad, Alan, Brains said get your butt in the lab right now." Jeff said.

Alan then rushed into the lab past his brothers wondering what Brains needed him for.

"Listen, Alan," Brains said as Alan arrived in the lab. "I n-need you to, uh, go back in time w-with me."

"Yeah, sure, I guess," mumbled Alan. He didn't really feel like taking another trip through time. "Where are we going this time? I hope not to 1925 again. It was bad enough have one other me to avoid. It'll be even worse having another me to avoid."

"Don't w-worry, Alan," said Brains smiling. "We're not, uh, going to 1925 this time. This time we're going to 2035. You see, I've found a couple of tickets to attend a festival commemorating the celebration of the unveiling on the new clock tower. In turn, we'll g-get 25 tickets each for rides, games and snacks. I thought it would be a nice way for us to spend this special day for us two. How does that sound?"

"Gee, Brains, that sounds pretty swell," Alan cried as he threw his arms around Brains. "It sounds like great fun! I'd love to attend the festival with you."

"Since today'll b-be our special day," added Alan. "I thought this would be a nice little, uh, treat for you. Let's g-get you into some 2030s clothes first though."

"Okay, Brains." Alan replied remembering with embarrassment how the people of 1925 had been bewildered by Alan's odd appearance of that era.

Brains and Alan then searched through the trunks where Brains and Gordon kept clothing of different eras until Alan settled on a blue shirt, a dark gree tie, a black belt, biege pants, matching jacket and black shoes with spats. He put those clothes on and glanced into the mirror. He then grabbed his comb and combed his hair. Then he squirted some cologne on him, put a white hat with a black hatband on his head and admired his apprearance.

"Hey, Brains," Alan asked. "How do I look? Do you think I'll fit in?"

"I think you l-look very presentable," Brains said smling. "You should, uh, take off your wrist watch, though. They didn't have those kind of watches back in your f-father's day."

"Oh, yeah, right." Alan replied as he remembered how Benny Turner in 1925 had looked at him strangely when he saw the watch Alan had on.

"P-put this, uh, watch on instead," Brains instructed. "Then you'll f-fit in better."

After Alan put the watch on, Brains, who was dressed in a white shirt, a black tie, a black jacket, matching pants, black shoes and a black bowler hat, checked to see if he had the tickets on him. The two of them then went into the time machine as Brains set the time circuits. After they were ready to go, Brains started the machine up.

"Alan," Brains warned. "Brace yourself for t-temporal displacement."

Then Brains let the time machine complete it's warm up sending both himself and Alan back to 2035.

Chapter 2

As the time machine landed in Hill Valley, 2035, a branch had struck nearby window causing it to nearly shatter. Alan screamed in fright.

"Oh no," groaned Brains. "I guess I d-didn't let the, uh, time machine go high enough. I guess we're g-going to stay here longer than expected."

"So we can't travel through time with a broken window?" asked Alan stunned.

"Well, I c-certainly don't want to, uh, risk it," Brains sighed. "Trying to travel through time with a broken window could have v-very nasty repercussions - either to us or to the space-time continuum."

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Alan with desparation. "This machine's obviously too futuristic for this time period and besides, we certainly don't want anyone else to see the time circuits. Especially if his last name happens to be Tannen."

"I'll have to try to f-fix this myself," replied Brains as he landed the time machine. "I might have to, uh, improvise. Well, let's hide this machine for now and we'll head over to the festival. We'll take c-care of this later and I guess we'll have to sleep in a hotel. I did bring back quite a bit of money for this time period."

"Why do we have to run into trouble right now?" asked Alan. "This is just great. Hey, let's head over to the festival and have some fun. I guess we'll worry about this later. We can clean up the glass shards later. We'll just have to be very careful when getting out."

"Okay," Brains replied nodding. "Let's g-go! We might as well have fun since we're, uh, probably going to be stuck here for a while. Now, you must be especially careful of who you interact. Like, we don't want to interfere with Mr Tracy and Kyrano meeting each other. Do you know how old they w-were in this year?"

"Yeah, my father was 21 years old, the same age as I am now," explained Alan. "And Kyrano was about 25 years old, the same age as you and John are now."

"Okay then," Brains sighed in relief. "We sh-should be pretty, uh, safe then. We should still be c-careful of what we do though."

Just then, Alan thought of something and suggested "Hey, there's also the time jet. Maybe if we get stuck here, Gordon and Tin Tin could come back here and rescue us."

"I didn't t-tell anyone we were, uh, coming back here," Brains said shaking his head. "I guess I should have but I was w-worried Tin Tin might feel hurt that I was bringing you along and not her. The thing is, I only had two tickets and I missed spending time alone with you. Besides, once we get this machine fixed, I would like to head back to 2065 five minutes later so that no one n-notices that we're missing."

"Well, you're the boss, Brains," Alan smiled. "Let's go."

Then Brains and Alan left Hill Valley Park and headed towards Courthouse Square where the festival was being held.

As soon as Brains and Alan had entered Courthouse Square, Alan quickly glanced around. The place that had been Lou's Fitness Aerobics Center in 2065, Lou's Cafe in 1955, Palace Saloon in 1885 and 1893 and Cafe '80s in 2065 was now Daniel's Cafe. Nearby was the Statler Buick dealership. The grassy area in front of the courthouse was where the festival was being held.

Alan and Brains headed towards the gateway where they had their entrance tickets exchanged for 25 tickets which could be used for rides, games and snacks. Alan then headed towards the ferris wheel while Brains went to look at the exhibits. At the ferris wheel, Alan was seated with two other young men, one who resembled Gordon and another who resembled Virgil.

"Hi," Alan said smiling at the boys. "I'm, uh, Cliff Richard. Who are you?'

"My name's Rick Henshaw." said the redhead who wore a gray jacket, matching pants, a white shirt, a light blue tie and brown shoes.

"And I'm Larry Thompson." added the brown haired young man who wore a brown jacket, matching pants, a light green shirt, a gray tie and brown shoes.

Alan was stunned as he realized that Rick and Larry were his father's two detective friends, Richard 'Rick' Hensaw and Lorenz 'Larry' Thompson.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Rick and Larry," Alan smiled. "I'm just here visiting some relatives. I'll probably be here for a week or so."

"My father owns Daniel's Cafe," explained Larry. "It became a cafe 15 years ago when Prohibition came into effect. Before that, it was a saloon. My 4 times great grandfather, Chester, was the one to open up his business there in 1875."

"Gee whizz, that's really interesting." Alan said amazed. He never realized before that his father's detective friend Larry Thompson's grandfather had been a bartender during the Western days. They didn't really look that much alike but he supposed he shouldn't have been too surprised.

"My father's the Chief of Police and he's good friends with Mr Thompson." explained Rick.

Just then, it was time for the trio to leave the ferris wheel.

"Let's go on the Tilt-a-Whirl next." suggested Larry.

"Yeah, that's a swell idea," Alan said smiling. "It's one of my favourite rides."

After going on about ten rides, the trio then decided to go over to the cream puff stand. It was there that Alan noticed three people who looked very familiar to him. His immediate thought was that they must be Scott, and a young Kyrano. Then Alan remembered that he was in 2035 which was thirty years earlier. He deducted that the boy who looked like Scott was his father, Jeff Tracy and the young man who looked like a young Kyrano was Kyrano himself.

"Do you know Jeff Tracy, Cliff?" Rick asked with dismay. "I'd recommend that you be do as he tells you to do unless you want trouble."

"Huh?" Alan asked stunned. "What's wrong with him? What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you what's wrong with him," Larry groused. "He's a bit bossy! That's what's wrong with him. I really know me and Rick get on with him a lot."

"Yeah, he's a really great buddy," Rick said as he smiled at Jeff who smiled back. "Hey, we may not be especially well-liked himself but we're truly desperate that we'd hang around a guy like Jeff. I think Jeff's pretty close to Tim Casey as well."

"I'm sure we'd still be friends with him in about 30 years time," Larry said winking at Jeff who grinned right back. "But I do agree that he's a bit calmer than Tim Casey. We'll never tire of that guy."

The trio then were silent, as they ate their cream puffs. Alan was amased to discover that having seen photos of his father back in those days, that his oldest brother Scott looked the most like Jeff. He would have to, later on, get his father's side of the story. Perhaps, this had something to do with why Rick and Larry had a very strong friendship bond with Jeff especially in the old timeline.

Chapter 3

After Rick and Larry had decided to go home, Alan then looked around to see if he could find Jeff Tracy and the young Kyrano. Alan had always taken his father to be anyone's best friend even he had the same problem that Alan used to have where he let people goad him into doing foolish things by calling him names like 'chicken'.

Alan found Jeff and Kyrano by the cotton candy stand. After ordering some cotton candy for himself, he decided to sit by them at the picnic table and say 'hi'.

"Hey there," Alan said in a friendly voice. "How are you doing?"

"Hello to you as well," said Kyrano. "My name is Trangh Kyrano. Who are you?"

"My name's Cliff Richard," replied Alan. "It's nice to meet you, Trangh."

"I'm Jeff," Jeff said rushing towards Alan. "Say, I saw you with Rick and Larry a little earlier today. Can I ask what you were doing with them? I mean, how do you know them?"

"Oh, I just met them at the ferris wheel when they were putting us into groups of three," explained Alan. "Otherwise, I never met them before today."

"Well, I'm surprised you still wanted to see us," Jeff smiled. "I thought for sure they would've turned you against Kyrano. He's just moved her from Malaysia but isn't much on the friendliest of terms with them, you know. Even though I'm still friends with them."

"Okay," Alan replied." They painted a pretty good image of you. They called you their very best friend. Are you still friends with Rick and Larry? I felt I should give you a chance to tell your side of the story as it's only fair."

"Okay, I might as well," replied Jeff. "This actually happened a year ago. You see, I was invited to join this elite club and I quickly turned down the opportunity."

"Then what happened?" Alan asked concerned. "They became jealous of you?"

"Well, that's what I told myself," Jeff sighed. "The thing is, I was told that I had to do three pledge tasks in order to join the club. I feel so ashamed of it, now but what I ended up doing was really mean. I really regret my actions now."

"How do you mean?" asked Alan. "Did your pledging involve playing some pranks on your friends and they just happened to not be very good sports about it?"

"No, they weren't pranks," Jeff said shaking his head. "Actually, what I did was very mean. Rick had showed me and Larry where he hid his sodas and he had sworn us to secrecy. One of my pledge tasks involved reporting him to his parents so, as a result, his parents got very mad at him but he forgave me for that. I can't really blame him at all."

"Well, it's not like you framed him, right?" Alan asked gently. "I mean, he was hiding soda which is nice and legal. So it's not like he's innocent."

"Yeah, well, that is true," Jeff said. "But the thing is, neither am I. Me and Larry still hang out in his hiding spot and drink with him. So I was just as guilty."

"Oh, I see," Alan said. "So, is that all that happened or is there more?"

"Unfortunately, there was more," Jeff said sadly. "At the time, Larry was friends with a girl named Melissa and they often studied together. Another one of my pledge tasks was to write a very gushy love letter to Melissa and sign it with Larry's name."

Alan bit his lip to keep from laughing. He could certainly see the humour in that situation but it was obviously a rather troubling memory for his father.

"Melissa got very mad at him," Jeff continued. "And she told him that she was breaking up with him. She also handed the letter to him and told him to keep 'that stupid letter'. It was then that he recognized my handwriting and he knew that I wrote it but he forgave me."

"Oh boy," Alan said stunned. "So those were two of your pledge tasks and you said there were three of them? Did the third one, by any chance, involve Kyrano?"

"Yeah, it did," Jeff said blushing. "I was supposed to call him some very nasty names in front of everyone. I'm amazed that he too forgave me."

"Well, I do not believe in holding grudges," Kyrano said gently. "Besides, I maybe would have done the same thing had I been in your situation."

"So are you still in the club?" asked Alan with concern. "I mean, it does not exactly sound like a club I would want to be a part of. They did sound rather mean."

"I never was in the club," Jeff said shaking his head. "You see, the two people who were having me pledge to get in were pledging themselves. Their pledge involved convincing an unpopular student that he he was pledging for an elite club. You can probably guess who the unpopular student was. It was none other than me."

"Gee, Jeff, I'm so sorry." Alan said as he placed his hand on Jeff's shoulder.

"Well, I realize now how foolish I was," Jeff said blushing. "I was so determined to become popular and accepted but Rick and Larry forgave me. I take full responsibility for what I have done and I realize now how meaningless being popular is. Instead, I ended up nearly losing two very good friends and we're still friends after 15 years. I guess all I can do now is move on."

"Well, nobody's perfect, you know," Alan said softly. "We all do foolish things from time to time. Our imperfections are what makes us human. So I can relate."

"So you still want to be our friend, even after everything I told you?" Jeff asked amazed. "Let's go on the ferris wheel then, shall we? So are you new in town?"

"Actually, no, I'm just staying here for a week or so," replied Alan. "My, uh, valet Horton and I are here to visit my, uh, Aunt Penelope. We're actually from San Francisco."

"Oh, yes, I have been to San Francisco a few times," Kyrano said nodding. "It is a nice city but I like it better here in Hill Valley. It is a nice small town here."

Then, Alan followed Jeff and Kyrano to the ferris wheel as he was pondering over everything Jeff had told him. To be honest, he could understand both sides of the situation. Perhaps, this was where Rick and Larry's concerns for Jeff had come from. Even though they seemed to like anyone, he did seem to harbour a particular friendship bond with Jeff especially in the original timeline.

Chapter 4

Alan was very mindful of the fact that he had agreed to meet Brains by the entryway at 5:00pm. He just just used up all of his tickets and he was feeling pretty stuffed from eating so much. Fortunately, he had yet to run into Tim Casey, who looked a lot like John, but he figured Tim would be just as cool as his older self did and his daughter Jenny who came after him. Alan was beginning to wonder if all the Caseys had a calming down gene. Jenny, who was John's current girlfriend, took at least 2 calming tablets a day. He wondered that they might be the parents of his future nephew Taylor.

One thing was certain, though. Travelling through time certainly was an eye-opening experience. He would have never guessed that Detectvies Thompson and Henshaw had, at one time, thought Coloenl Casey was a bit of a jerk. However, he knew it was best to heed to Doc's warning about how interfering with past events could have serious replications on future events.

Besides, if Detective Thompson could hold such a grudge against Colonel Casey for so long, Alan figured he himself would have a pretty difficult time trying to convince Larry Thompson to change his mind. If there was one thing Alan had learned, it was that Detective Thompson could be very stubborn. There was one thing Alan was still curious about though. He wondered why Detective Thompson had some kind of personal dislike to Brains. He could maybe try asking Brains about it sometime.

"Hey, Alan," Brains called out. "Th-there you are! Did you, uh, use up all your t-tickets?"

"Yeah, I did," replied Alan. "Also, I'm going by the name Cliff Richard for this year. I figured I might as well use the name of that British singer who once suported Virgil on his 2063 UK tour just to let you know."

"So t-tell me, Alan. Did you, uh, interact with anyone t-today?" Brains asked concerned.

"Uh, yeah, actually I did," stammered Alan. "I was on the ferris wheel with Rick Henshaw and Larry Thompson. Then I later on met my father and Kyrano. I was surprised to find out that my father ha been friends with Detectives Thompson and Henshaw had been friends for over 30 years. I guess I now know why Detective Thompson has it in for Colonel Casey."

Brains was silent for a moment then he said "Well, I guess I c-can't very well ask you not to, uh, interact with anyone - since we'll probably be stuck here for a wh-while. I must caution you to be extremely c-careful, though, when interacting with your ancestors."

"I understand that, Brains." replied Alan. "My father does meet my mother a year later. I remember Dad telling me that they met in a diner."

"Well, anyway," Brains said sighing. "Let's ch-check in at the Blue Bird M-Motel. We'll just hide the time machine in Hill Valley Park and I'll spend time working on the window. If you want to go exploring around town, I guess I've g-got no objection to it. Just be careful not to talk about the future and make sure you, uh, use the correct currency. You can spend up to fifty dollars which should be plenty of money for this time period."

"Thanks, Brains," replied Alan. "It's nice that you've relaxed your stance on this a bit. It's a far cry from when you told me not to even look at anything in 2065."

"Alan, when I t-told you not to look at, uh, anything in 2085, I told you that because we were in our, uh, future," said Brains. "One should never know too much about their own d-destiny after all."

"But, Brains," said Alan confused. "I thought you said our future wasn't written yet."

"W-well, yeah, that is true," Alan replied. "Still, knowing too much, uh, about what might happen to us in the future isn't good. We can't live our lives by what m-might happen to us in the future. We should learn from the past and plan for the future but we should live for today. At any rate, as I was saying before, we should always be extremely careful whenever we're in our past so I now abide by the all things in moderation principle."

"So what's on the agenda for this evening?" asked Alan. "I really just want to relax and listen to my headset for awhile. Is that okay, Brains? I'll be very careful to not let anyone else see it. I really want to relax to some rock and roll music right now."

"Sure, I g-guess I've got no, uh, objection to it," replied Brains. "Anyway, I would be a hypocrite if I t-told you you couldn't rely on any modern comforts. We just have to be very careful not to leave it out in the open."

"Thank you so much, Brains," replied Alan smiling. "I hope we end up not staying here for longer than a week, though. I mean, I've had lots of fun at the festival but it's not like the festival will be here everyday. Today is just a special occassion."

"Well, you c-could always go swimming at the, uh, lake," Brains suggested. "I mean, I know how much you l-like to swim. I often have a hard time getting you out of the water."

"Yeah but I can't go swimming by myself," replied Alan. "Do you know if anyone ever went rollerskating in this era? That'll keep me real occupied too, you know."

"Not many p-people owned rollerskates in this, uh, era," replied Brains. "As my f-father was growing up, he owned a pair of rollerskates but most of his peers really couldn't afford them."

"Well, wasn't the thirties also the Depression?" asked Alan. "I mean, this is 2035 and the stock market crashed again. What did people do for fun as your dad grew up?"

"Well, I'm n-not really the best person to, uh, ask," said Brains shaking his head. "I guess, up until my father was eleven, he did normal things that boys b-back then did. After that, though, he pretty much spent most of his time doing science-related things. So I guess he d-didn't exactly have the most normal childhood if you know what I mean. Anyway, let's go back to Hill Valley Park and collect the things we would like from the time machine. Then we can check into the Blue Bird Motel. Maybe we should then hit the sack. I feel so tired."

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired myself," agreed Alan. "Well, we did leave shortly after 3:00pm and we came here at about 10:00pm. So our biological clocks would be five hours ahead."

"I m-must say, Alan," Brains smiled. "I'm very, uh, impressed with you! Well, let's g-go."

Chapter 5

When Alan woke up the next day, he decided to head over to Larry's Cafe and grab a bit to eat. He wondered if Larry's Cafe served pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. As soon as he walked in, he saw Artie and Harry sitting in one of the booths. He walked over to them, as he felt that it would be great to have some people to eat with.

"It's so nice to see you, Cliff," gushed Jeff as Alan walked over. "I must say, I'm a bit flattered that you want to be friends with us. I mean, we're not exactly the most liked around here. Why don't you try the bacon and green pepper omlette? It's really good!"

"Actually," replied Alan. "I'm more in the mood for something sweet. I could really go for some pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. Is that available?"

"It sure is," replied Larry smiling. "Although, I'd prefer to have my pancakes with blueberries and whipped cream. I'm a huge blueberry lover, after all."

"Wow, you both really have a sweet tooth, don't you?" ribbed Rick. "I guess I would prefer to eat something that's a little more savoury. Besides, too much sugar really is not too good for your teeth. It could give you cavities after all."

"Well, bacon isn't exactly good for you either," countered Larry. "It's got too much fat in it. It could give you a heart attack and it's worse than cavities."

"Come on now, Guys," insisted Alan. "Let's just decide what we want to eat. I mean, Larry's dad's heading over this way."

"Don't worry," said Jeff. "Mr Thompson's got nothing against us. In fact, I recently heard that Larry wasn't even speaking to his father."

"Have you guys decided what you want to drink yet?" asked Rick.

"I could go for some orange juice," replied Alan. "I'd like a large glass of it."

"I've heard drinking too much orange juice isn't good for you." commented Jeff.

Alan could barely keep from smiling too himself as he realized how that advice had changed over the years. In 2065, health professionals were talking about how people should drink bigger glasses of orange juice because it contained a lot of vitamin C.

Then, a waitress walked over to the table and asked "Are you folks ready to order now?"

Just as Alan and his friends were surveying at the menu to see what was available for dessert, Tim Casey and Kyrano had entered the Cafe and they walked over to the table where Alan, Jeff, Rick and Larry were sitting. Alan groaned inwardly as he could guess what was about to happen.

"Hey, Jeff," said Tim who resembled John. "I thought your mom told me you were at Larry's house."

"Please don't tell her the truth, Tim," Jeff said rolling his eyes. "And since when do you own this Cafe? So did you change your name to Daniel Thompson? Who do you think you are to order me around like that?"

"Well, it's gonna cost us," groaned Tim. "How much money have you got on you?"

"I've only got a few bucks on me," said Larry. "That's Jeff's buddy Kyrano you got with you."

"Yeah, Tim," Alan chimed in as he stood up to. "I heard you got nothing against Rick and Larry. Honestly, what have they ever done to offend you?"

Tim then flinched as Alan spoke and asked "Just who the hell are you? Since when are you such friends with Jeff, Rick and Larry anyway?"

"Since about yesterday afternoon if you really need to know." Alan replied smirking.

Alan's wisecrack only made Tim shyly say "Okay then."

Alan then pushed past Tim and Kyrano as he ran out of the cafe desperately looking for a transportation aid. None was to be found however.

Jeff helped Tim up and Rick and Larry did the same with Kyrano and Jeff said "We gotta find Cliff sooner or later."

Alan ran with all of his might praying that, by some miracle, he would be able to outrun whoever was chasing him. However, there was no such luck as he heard the someone getting closer.

"Hey, punk," sneered a young male voice in front of Alan as he threw some marbles in front of the young man causing him to trip and fall face forward to the ground. The young man then starting laughing loudly as he called out "Have a nice trip! See you next winter!"

"It's 'see you next fall', Biff." corrected one of the lackeys as he and another lackey lifted Alan from the ground and restrained him. Alan tried in vain to free himself but the thugs were just too strong for him to fight against.

"Thought you could get away from me, Jeff?" sneered Biff Tannen ignoring his lackey's correction. "Too bad it didn't work."

Biff then punched Alan in the stomach causing him to cry out in pain. They then began to beat up Alan until he was unconscious. Biff and his gang then ran away laughing.

"Oh no," Jeff gasped with horror when he saw that his new friend was unconscious. "This is very awful! I should've known that something like this would have happened."

"Let's bring him over to your house," suggested Larry. "It looks like he's been beaten up rather badly. It is such a shame that he got on Biff Tannen's bad side. I mean, Biff and his gang can be very ruthless to people they don't like."

"Don't I know it?" groaned Rick. "He really should not have drawn attention to himself like that. He should've remained quiet. I mean, I'm really that much worth it?"

"Why are you two always so down on yourselves?" Jeff asked sighing. "I'm sure he felt the need to defend you because it's the right thing to do. At any rate, he doesn't live around here so it's not exactly like he would've known how ruthless Biff and his gang can be. He was just doing what he felt was right and I'm so proud of him."

"I guess you're right," Larry sighed. "It's just that I feel so responsible. It seems like everyone I try to be friends with ends up encountering really bad luck. In a way, I feel like I have a jinx on me or something."

"Come on, Larry, no one's blaming you," Rick said gently. "It's just that Cliff Richard really does have a heart of gold. He obviously cares plenty about you even though he has only known you for a day."

"I dunno what to say, Rick," Jeff said as he blinked back tears. "It's just that no one's ever cared so deeply for me before besides you, my mother, your sister Hayley and Larry's sister Maxine."

"He's a really great guy," Lary said softly. "Unfortunately, he did say that he was only staying for a week or so. Well, let's just bring him over to your house and your mother's housekeeper Lin Lin can tend to him as she often cares for you when you're not well."

"I just hope he's all right," Rick said sighing sadly. "I really don't want him to die."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Larry said gently. "He's just been knocked out badly. That's all. You really should not feel that any of this is your fault because it's not."

The boys then lifted up Cliff Richard and they carried him over to Jeff's car. They then gently laid him in the back seat. Larry then sat in the front while Rick got in the back seat with Cliff and Jeff drove over to his house.

Chapter 6

"Grandma? Grandma, is that you?" asked Alan still half-asleep.

"There, there, now. Just relax," a female voice told Alan as a damp cloth was placed on his forehead. "You've been asleep for almost eight hours now."

"I had a horrible nightmare," groaned Alan. "It was terrible. I dreamed I had a bad altercation with a stupid Tannen and I was beaten up badly."

"Well, you're safe and sound now," the voice said soothingly. "Here in the good ol' Tracy household on 1470 Oak Lane."

"1470 Oak Lane! Oh my gosh," exclaimed Alan jerking straight up. Marty was fully awake now. He sat up in bed and he saw a girl who looked a lot like Tin Tin. "Well, you're my... you're my... my... Who are you?"

"My name's Alicia," the girl told Alan. "Alicia Lake."

"Alicia Lake." Alan said quietly. She then figured that this girl was his grandmother's then-housekeeper.

"Just relax now," Alicia told Alan as she tenderly laid her hand on his forehead. "You've got a big bruise on your head."

"Alicia, this is my new friend, Cliff Richard," explained Jeff. "He really defended me against Biff Tannen. He's really the only one to have done so besides his sister Jenny."

"Jenny Tannen?" Alan asked stunned. Was it possible for there to be a Tannen who was not a bully? He knew it was wrong to generalize but, from his experience, he hadn't ever met a nice Tannen. The closest he came to meeting a nice Tannen was Biff's cousin Ralph.

"Don't worry, Cliff," Alicia said gently. "Jenny's nothing at all like her brother. Biff's been persuing me for about four years now. No matter how often I tell him I'm not interested, he still refuses to give up! I hate him!"

Alan sighed. This reminded him alot of how Biff used to persue Tin Tin even so far as attempting to rape her on the night of The Enchantment Under The Sea Dance.

Come to think of it, Alicia even looked just like Tin Tin's mother as a teen. Of course, there was Maggie McKenzie who also looked like Tin Tin and he figured that Maggie was Tin Tin's grandmother. Maybe the men in his lineage just happened to be attracted to similar looking women. Some have even commented that Tin Tin had the same body shape as his grandmother when she was younger which was something Alan had never really noticed before.

"Are you hungry, Cliff?" Alicia asked softly. "We've got some spaghetti and marinara sauce in the refrigerator. Mrs Tracy could heat some of that for you."

"Oh, that would be wonderful," gushed Alan. "Thank you so much!"

Alan felt a somewhat nervous as he followed Alicia and Jeff into the kitchen. There he saw a woman ho he had a guess was Grandma Tracy from 30 years before.

"This is Mrs Tracy," explained Alicia. Then, turning to the young Mrs Tracy, she added "Mrs Tracy, this is Cliff Richard. He'll be in town for a week or so."

"Pleased to meet you, Gra- I mean, Mrs Tracy." Alan said warmly.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Alan watched as Alicia went to answer the door. He saw Brains standing on the other side.

"How might I help you, Sir?" Alicia asked politely.

"I was wondering if Mr Richard might be here," explained Brains. "I heard all about what happened earlier today. It appears that the Tannens really are bad news."

"Well, not all of them," Alicia said quietly. "Biff is most certainly bad news but his sister Jenny's a very nice girl. She happens to be my best friend in fact."

"Oh, my apologies then," Brains said blushing. "Anyway, is Mr Richard with you folks? I just wanted to make sure he's not seriously injured. Is he doing all right?"

"Yeah, he's in the kitchen," replied Alicia. "He was out for about eight hours but he's doing fine now. Mrs Tracy was about to make him some supper. We had also slipped him into some pajamas and I was wondering if he could spend the night with us. By the way, feel free to come in. Would you like something to drink? We have some grape juice."

"Thank you very much," replied Brains as he stepped in. "Yeah, I guess I really have no objections to him spending the night here. If you do not mind, I really need to speak privately with him though."

"Sure, that'll be fine," replied Alicia. "The two of you can go into the guest room and I'll be hepling Mrs Tracy heat up some food. You can stay for supper too if you'd like."

"Thanks so much for inviting me," replied Brains smiling. Then he walked over to Alan and the two of them threw their arms around each other. "So a-are you, uh, feeling all right, Alan? Wh-why don't you show me where the g-guest room is?"

"It's so nice to see you, Brains," replied Alan. "The guest room's right down this hall, to the left. We can talk in here." Brains and Alan then stepped into the room and closed the door behind them.

"So, Brains," said Alan. "Have you made any improvements on the time machine?"

"Well, I've c-collected up all the, uh, glass shards," explained Brains. "And I've also p-picked up some extra glass and some tools at the hardware store d-downtown. I'm sure I could manage to mould the glass by myself but it might take me a week to get it fixed."

"Well, in a certain way," Alan sighed. "It's somewhat easier than when we had the issue with the plutonium and the gasoline. At least, we're not pressed for time."

"R-right especially with the, uh, plutonium," Brains said nodding. "At least, had we m-missed the train, we'd have had another chance to catch the train. However, we would've had no way of knowing wh-when another bolt of lightning would have struck. Still, I've never had to mould glass before - so I will be very busy with that."

"So you think we might be here for a week then?" Alan asked sighing.

"M-more or less I, uh, think," replied Brains. "I'll have to d-do all my work at Hill Valley Park. I mean, I can't exactly d-do this in the Blue Bird Motel. They might not trust me to not burn the whole place down. If you really want to stay here, I suppose you can but see to it that you don't mention anything about the future."

"Right, Brains," Alan replied smiling. "You can, I really can't figure out why Alicia looks so much like Tin Tin even though she's not related to her."

"W-well, Alicia is, uh, Tin Tin's mother," mused Brains. "Maybe you were attracted to Tin Tin, p-partially because she looks a little like her mother even if it w-was most likely in a subconscious sort of way. You know, it's rather common."

"Maybe you're right, Brains," Alan replied. "When I first started dating Tin Tin, I never even realized that she had the same facial and body shape as her mom or my mom."

"Come to th-think of it," Brains commented. "Virgil, uh, told me that every g-girl he's ever dated has the same f-facial and body shape as your mother and the last girl he dated was even the same height. However, your mother had Virgil's brown hair and hazel eyes. It's funny that I never even thought of that until just now."

"Well, it was nice to see you here, Brains," Alan said smiling. "I must say, I'm feeling really hungry. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised to find out that Biff's a real bully."

"Alicia t-told me about Biff's sister Jenny," Brains said quietly. "I must say that it, uh, really is a breath of fresh air to f-find out that not all Tannens are b-bad people."

"I think we've both been guilty of making generalizations," Alan said sighing. "I'll wanna meet Jenny. Alicia seems like a very nice person and she says Jenny's her best friend, and that she does defend Jeff against Biff."

"Well, I s-suppose we should head to the, uh, kitchen now," replied Brains. "I'm f-feeling a bit hungry myself. Alicia s-seems like a very nice young woman."

Chapter 7

"So, Cliff," asked Alicia. "I've gotta go watch some kindergarteners soon. So that you're not home alone, I was wondering if you would like to come along with me. All the children are so wonderful. I told them that, if they behave themselves, we can bake some cookies. They always enjoy doing that. They really look up to me as well."

"Sure, I'd love to come along," replied Alan. "I enjoy watching children as well. I must say that I sometimes miss being a kid myself. I mean, I'm almost an adult!"

"Yeah, children do tend to have it easy, don't they?" asked Alicia nodding. "There are lots of perks to adulthood too, however. I really hope to become a nurse, someday. I like to take care of people when they're hurt or sick. Like how when you were hurt yesterday. Biff is such a nasty man, isn't he? I'm glad you're doing all right now."

"So does Jenny have problems with her brother too?" asked Alan concerned. "I mean, I could imagine it would be hell to grow up with a brother like Biff. How did the two of you become friends anyway? Were you friends pretty much your whole life?"

"Well, Jenny and I have been best friends since kindergarten," explained Alicia. "She and Biff never really did get along. For some reason, about four years ago, Biff started to persue me. I really don't get why he's after me though. I have made it clear to him that I'm not interested in going out with him. He must be extremely dense though."

"Yeah, I just can't stand those type of people," Alan replied shaking his head. "Can it maybe have something to do with the fact that you're best friends with his sister?"

"It could be possible," Alicia said sighing. "He's also been teasing Jeff ever since the two of them ended up in eighth grade together. Sometimes, I feel very bad for Jenny. Maybe the reason why Biff acts out is because their mother did always prefer Jenny so, as a result, he's become somewhat resentful. I would guess that the only reason why Biff usually leaves his sister alone is because their mother does threaten to kick him out of the house otherwise. She never was that affectionate with Biff."

"Well, that ain't right," Alan said quietly. "I gotta admit it's hard to sympathize with him though after he and his thugs had beat me up. Still, I guess I understand his situation a little better. Sometimes I really feel like the odd one out in my family."

"I agree that it's not right," Alicia replied softly. "Jenny doesn't think that it's right, either but she won't tolerate the way that he harass her friends and other people."

"Well, yeah, that certainly doesn't excuse his behaviour," Alan agreed. "But I feel it's pretty sad that he feels like he's less loved than his sister by his own mother."

"That's certainly one thing I always appreciate about Mrs Tracy," Alicia commented. "She's always tried to be fair to all of us. I really like her a lot. Also since her husband died of phnumonia two months ago and my father died the same way two years ago, I was pretty much the one left to help around the house."

"So that must be where your maternal instincts come from, eh?" asked Alan. "I must say that I believe you'd make a very wonderful nurse. I'm sure you really have a way with kids too. So where's your mom been? I'd love to meet her."

"Oh, she'll be at my home this evening," replied Alicia. "She's a very good cook and she said she would make us something really delicious. I'm sure you'll really like him."

"Oh, I won't doubt it," Alicia said smiling. "Well, anyway, I suppose we should get going now. We wouldn't want the kids to spend any moment in the house alone."

"Right." Alan said as he followed Alicia out to the car.

Alan was feeling a little nervous as Alicia pulled up to a yellow house about a block from Hill Valley Park. He was a bit curious to see what the kids of this era were like, though. Of course, there would be no television or video games to entertain them.

"Here we are, Cliff," Alicia said as she turned the engine off. "Let's see if they left a treat out for us. They usually have a few popsicles in the freezer. There might be an extra one in there for you." Alicia glanced at the clock and said "Well, the kids should be here in about five minutes. We could on a record. How does Bessie Smith sound?"

"Yeah, I guess we could listen to her." Alan replied. All he really knew about Bessie Smith was that she was a childhood idol of his mother.

"Here they are now," Alicia called out as she heard the front door open. "I guess we should introduce them to you. I'm sure they'll really like you."

"I hope so." Alan replied as he followed Alicia to the front door. There he saw two small girls and a small boy. He smiled at them and they all smiled back.

"Kids, I would like you to meet Cliff Richard," Alicia told the kids. Then, as she turned to Alan, she added "Cliff, here are the kids. The blonde girl here is Karen Smith, the brunette is Leanne Sawyer and the boy is Eddie Houseman."

Alan nearly fainted as he heard the last name. The young boy did look very much like Gordon when he was in Kindergarten. He seemed like a normal and happy boy. Of course, Alan remembered Eddie mentioning that he first read about construction when he was eleven years old.

"It's a real pleasure to meet you kids." Alan said smiling.

"I'm happy to meet you, too, Cliff." replied Eddie. Alan felt so tempted to scoop little Eddie up in his arms and give him a big hug. He restrained himself however.

"So where did you come from, Cliff?" asked Karen. "Also, how old are you?"

"I'm visiting from San Francisco," replied Alan. "I'm 21 years old and I first met Alicia yesterday. I became good friends with Alicia and her employer's friend Jeff Tracy."

"Would you like to play with us, Cliff?" asked Leanne. "We've got a lot of dolls in my bedroom. Would you like to play house? You can be the daddy."

Alan smiled as he and Alicia followed the kids over to Leanne's bedroom.

Chapter 8

"Some people might say I'm crazy," said little Eddie as he showed Alan a doll. "I really don't care what other people think though. I like what I like and that is that! I don't understand why many people say that only girls can play with dolls."

"Those are some pretty swell dolls," replied Alan smiling. "I agree that other people shouldn't judge you because of your interests. You really should be allowed to play with whatever makes you happy. I should say that your folks are wonderful people!"

"Eddie's such a great friend of ours, Cliff," said Leanne. "I enjoy the fact that he's a bit like many other boys our age. Other boys tend to play rough and get into fights. I'm scared of some of the other boys at out school especially Howard Needles. He's in the second grade and he tends to bully all of us in the lower grades."

"Our kindergarten teacher's pretty swell too," added Karen. "She often lets Eddie play dolls with us. Once, we had a substitute teacher for a week and she was very nice. However, once our regular teacher came back, one of the boys had tattled on him but Eddie wasn't punished for it."

"Well, that's good," Alan said sighing. To be honest, he was a little surprised to discover that Eddie Houseman used to play with dolls as a kid. However, he was really not one to judge other people. While Marty could be as masculine as the next male, he always felt that having specific gender roles could be rather restrictive. After all, males weren't exactly harming anyone by playing with female toys so why should they be suppressed? "I'd have to say that your teacher's very open minded."

"Mommy and Daddy told her that they don't have any problem with my interest in dolls," explained Eddie. "However, my teacher insists that it's not a problem for her. I know it's not right to hate anyone but I really like my teacher a lot."

"Would you like some lemonade?" asked Leanne. "Alicia makes wonderful lemonade. Don't tell my mommy I said that but Alicia makes the sweetest tasting lemonade."

"Sure, I'd love some lemonade," said Alan smiling. "You know, I really enjoy baking cookies a lot. Some people frown on me for that because they believe baking is a girl's thing. It's sad that we happen to live in such a judgemental society."

"I love to bake too," replied Eddie. "You and I have a lot in common. I think we'd be best friends if you were younger. I like you, already. You're so wonderful!"

Alan could not help but smile a bit at the irony of young Eddie's words and suggested "You know, Eddie, we really don't have to be the same age to be friends. I already think you kids are pretty adorable. I'd love to be friends with you."

"Thanks," said Karen smiling. "We'd love to be your friend. Alicia's our friend too. I love to go swimming and some people say that isn't very ladylike. If that's the case, then I really don't want to be a lady. That just isn't fair. I like to have fun too."

"Yeah, that certainly isn't fair," Alan agreed sighing. "People really shouldn't have their choice of activities limited based on whether they're male or female. Boys can play with dolls or bake and girls can go swimming or partake in sports."

"Did you play with dolls when you were little, Cliff?" asked Leanne. "I hope to be a professional baseball player someday but everyone laughs at me about it insisting that baseball's a men's profession and isn't suitable for proper ladies."

"I didn't really care for dolls too much when I was younger," replied Alan. "However, I was never really too big on sports and some people acted like something must be wrong with me. However, music had always been more my passion."

"My daddy plays the saxaphone," replied Leanne. "What instrument do you play?"

"I play the drums." Alan replied.

"My mommy has a drumkit," Eddie replied smiling. "So, Cliff, you're new in town? I hope to see you more often. I mean, I really like you a lot. You're a fun person to be with. I can see why you're good friends with Alicia. You're a bit like my teacher."

"Well, actually, I'm really only in town for a week or so," explained Alan. "After that, me and my valet Horton have to go back to San Francisco. I agree that your teacher's pretty supportive of your interest at all. After all, you're not really hurting anyone."

"I want to practice being a daddy," Eddie explained. "One day, I hope to have some kids of my own. You know, when I have kids, I'm going to let them do anything they want. Anything at all."

Alan really couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of his friend's words. It was exactly the same thing that his own father said. He was rather sure that his own children would love to have that in writing if he and Tin Tin decided to have any.

Just then, Alicia walked into the room, and asked "So would you love to bake cookies now?" Turning to Alan, she smiled and asked "Were they behaving themselves?"

"Oh, yeah, they were great," replied Alan smiling. "So what kind of cookies are we going to make? I must say that I really enjoy baking too."

"How do sugar cookies sound?" asked Alicia. "After we bake them, we could frost and decorate them together." Turning to the kids, she added "If you do that, don't eat all the frosting, okay? The frosting's for the cookies and too much frosting could make you sick. Your parents wouldn't be too happy if I let you make yourselves sick."

"Yes, Alicia," replied Leanne. "Could we lick the bowls and spoons though? I think the cookie dough's almost as good as the cookies itself. I think it tastes nice and sweet."

"Of course," replied Alicia smiling. Then, turning to Alan, she added "Do you mind if we just let the kids lick the bowls and spoons? It's my special treat to them after all."

"Sure, I don't mind." replied Alan smiling back. To be honest, he loved to eat cookie dough but he figured the right thing to do would be to let the kids have the honour.

"You're a good friend, Cliff," Alan said smiling. "I wish you could stay in town. I also wish you were my teacher. More grown ups should be like you, Cliff."

Alan couldn't help but smile. At 21 years old, he wasn't quite a grown up yet but it was a very sweet thing for little Eddie to say. He then scooped up his young friend, gave him a big hug and then kissed the top of his head. His heart was greatly bursting with love for the young boy who would one day become friends with his current girlfriend.

Chapter 9

"You sure do have a way with kids, don't you, Cliff?" Alicia asked laughing. "Mrs Tracy said Jeff can invite Jenny over for dinner tonight. I've told her a little bit about you and she can hardly wait to meet you. I should say, she and her brother are a lot like opposites. Sometimes, it's hard to believe that they've even from the same planet."

"Yeah, I would really love to meet her too," replied Alan as he was quite excited over meeting a Tannen who was not a bully. "She surely sounds like a really sweet girl and different from her brother. I'm sure that anyone who's a friend of yours is also a friend of mine. I mean, I sure try to be friendly towards everyone, you know."

"Hello there," called out a cheerful female voice. "Jeff, Alicia, I'm home! Come over here and give mommy a hug, Jeff."

Alan and Alicia followed Jeff into the kitchen and Jeff gave his mother a hug. Alan then took a closer look at his grandmother Jennifer Tracy and he realized that Jennifer was Grandma Tracy in her early 40s. She appeared to be in great condition too and she certainly was a good looking woman.

"Hi, Mrs Tracy," Alicia said excitedly. "I'd like you to meet Jeff's friend Cliff Richard. He's a very nice boy. Me and Jeff took him into this house yesterday when he was beaten up by Biff and his thugs. He had met Jeff at the Courthouse Festival the other day."

"It's such a pleasure to meet you, Cliff," Jennifer said warmly. Then, after taking a close look at Alan, Jennifer added "Are you, by any chance, related to us? You look so a lot like the way my brother Harold looked when he was your age. The only real difference is you have slate blue eyes while Harold's got brown eyes. You have such gorgeous eyes!"

"Thank you, uh, Mrs Tracy," replied Alan blushing. "It's quite possible that we might be distantly related. Your son's such a nice boy, I must certainly say."

"You're certainly welcome to have supper with us," a male voice from behind Jennifer said smiling. Alan turned to see that it was his late grandfather Benjiman Tracy. "Do you like breaded pork chops with mashed potatoes, green beans, and applesauce? Everyone in our family really likes that meal. I love it too."

"Thanks, Mr Tracy," Alan replied smiling. "I love pork chops and I really enjoy green beans, too. I can't say I really care for corn though. I never liked it much."

"I don't like corn either," agreed Alicia. "I really love eating fresh green beans. They taste really good. I really hate baked beans though. I think they're so disgusting."

"It looks like we have the same taste in food," Alan said smiling. "Just the smell of baked beans makes me feel like throwing up. It's almost as bad as liver, you know."

"I only ate liver once," Alicia said making a face. "And I could just barely stomach it."

Just then, the doorbell rang and Alan followed Alicia as Alicia went to answer it. On the other side stood a beautiful blonde girl, who had very beautiful bright blue eyes.

"Is that your friend, Alicia?" the blonde asked blushing. "I should say that he's a very handsome guy." Then, she turned to Alan, stuck out her hand and said "My name's Jenny Tannen. Alicia told me all about what happened yesterday. I'm so sorry that my brother and his friends beat you up so badly. It is nice to meet you, uh, Cliff Richard."

"It's so nice to meet you, Jenny." replied Alan as he could barely keep his eyes off the girl. He then felt guilty knowing that he already had a girlfriend. This girl did not look like a Tannen at all. She had the same facial shape as Alicia and Tin Tin did and she was also the same height as them. Her hair was a very bright honey blonde though.

"Why don't you come in, Jenny?" invited Alicia smiling. "Mrs Tracy's making some pork chops tonight with applesauce, mashed potatoes and green beans. I also plan to mix up some lemonade too. I'm amazed that everyone likes my lemonade. I really have yet to meet someone who didn't like it. So are you feeling a little thirsty right now?"

"Oh, thinking about your lemonade always makes me feel thirsty," Jenny said smiling. "I can also hardly wait for the pork chops to be finished. Your mom's a great cook." She then turned to Alan and asked "So you're from San Francisco, eh? What's the city like? I've got a friend who moved to San Francisco a few years ago. Her name is May Sutherland. You wouldn't, by any chance, happen to know her, would you?"

"Uh, no, not really," replied Alan. "San Francisco's a pretty big city after all. I must say you really are a beautiful girl. Your brother's really not that good looking at all."

"Oh, yeah, my brother,' Jenny said quietly. "I don't believe in hating anyone and I can't really say that I even dislike him. He can be a very nasty guy but I really have to say that I feel bad for him. I don't think my mom even likes me for who I am. She only likes me because I look like her. She always has been a bit vain. Biff looks a bit more like our 5 times great-Grandpa Buford. He was an outlaw who would boast about having shot twelve men not including Indians or Chinamen. Not only was he, in essense, a serial killer but he was also a racist. My brother's a big racist too. Sometimes, I feel real ashamed to be a Tannen because of my brother and my 5 times great-grandfather."

"Well, you can't help what family you're born into," Alan said gently. "You should be the best person you can be. If anyone dislikes you because you are a Tannen, that's their loss. I think you're a nice and caring young girl and I'm so happy I met you."

"All right, folks," called out Benjiman. "Dinner's on the table. Dig in and help yourselves!"

Alan followed Alicia and Jenny as she could hardly keep her eyes off of Jenny. Even if Brains did meet Hayley in the past, Alan understood all about the risks of having a romantic affair with someone in the past. Besides, he was already dating Tin Tin in 2065.

"I've really missed you and the kids over the weekend, Jennifer," Benjiman told his wife as he sat down at the table. He then turned to Alan and said "Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself."

"Well, I'm visiting here from San Francisco with my valet Horton," explained Alan. "I've got some business to take care of and I met Jeff at the Courthouse Festival. I came to really like Jeff and his friends Rick and Larry so I agreed to meet them for breakfast the next day."

"It was then that Biff and his gang came in to harass us," added Jeff. "Cliff decided to stand up on our behalf and Biff started to chase him out of the cafe. They made him trip by throwing some marbles in front of him and then, they beat him up."

"He was out for about eight hours," added Alicia. "I swear that these thugs can be very viscious. I was able to tend to him and nurse him up though. I should say that I tend to wonder why Mr Thompson even lets those thugs into the cafe. They like to harass people."

"Sometimes, I feel so ashamed that he's my twin brother," Jenny commented. "I mean, I at least don't look like him. I mean, he's taller and tougher than me and many wouldn't even know that we were related. Still, we were born at the same time. I'm the older one by three minutes though. Well, believe it or not, I do still love him."

"Well of course," Alan replied smiling. "He's part of your family and it's kinda your duty to love him. Anyway, you're the cuter one of the two. You're also very friendly."

"Do all of you enjoy the pork chops?" asked Benjiman. Turning to Alan, he smiled and asked "You must really love that applesauce, don't you? Jennifer made it herself."

"Your wife makes great applesauce," replied Alan smiling. "Thanks for dinner, Mr Tracy. I must say that your wife's a very good cook. The beans are nice too."

Chapter 10

Alan and Jeff were listening to a Bing Crosby Jr record with Alicia and Jenny in the living room. Alan could barely keep her eyes of Jenny as hard as he tried to. He never dreamed he could ever feel that way about a Tannen. Then, again, Jenny wasn't like other Tannens he had known.

"I'll answer it," said Jennifer as she stood up to answer the door. "Oh, hello there, Horton! Cliff's in the dining room with us. The children were just listening to Jeff's Bing Crosby Jr record."

Remembering that Horton was Brains's alias in this era, Alan slowly walked over to the door to greet his friend. He then wondered if Brains had managed to make any progress with repairing the windshield so that they could go home.

"So you d-don't mind if Mr Richard, uh, says with you f-for a few days?" Brains asked Jennifer.

"NO, not at all," replied Jennifer. "He's such a fine young man. He and my son Jeff have become such good friends. Jeff's really popular thanks to Rick and Larry."

"Yes, I understand wh-what that's like," Brains said nodding. "I was, uh, somewhat of a misfit myself when I was young. Not too m-many people appreciated my interest in science. Then again, it's b-better to just be true to yourself and not care about what everyone else thinks. People who are truly your friends will accept you the way you are."

"Well, you know, if it wasn't for science," Jennifer said smiling. "We wouldn't have made any of the progresses as we have in medicine. Science has helped us a lot. We even have longer lifespans nowadays than we used to."

"I m-must say, that is, uh, very profound," Brains replied. "I mean, this is s-something that not many people really consider. So are you interested in m-medicine?"

"Yes and our housekeeper Alicia is too," Jennifer said nodding. "She'd like to go to nursing school and become a nurse. Besides it being one of the very few occupations besides teacher that we as women can persue. Alicia's always been interested in taking care of sick or injured people."

Alan swallowed as he heard what Jennifer was saying. He had forgotten how limited women were back in this era. He then thought of his girlfriend and how she wanted to take up psychology. It was nice that Tin Tin could have such opportunities in the modern era. It would also give their future family some extra income. Although, the income was not the most important thing to raising a family, of course. Besides, he still did dream of becoming discovered as a rock 'n' roll star someday.

"Hi, uh, Horton," replied Alan with excitement. "It's so wonderful to see you."

"Hey, Mrs Tracy," Brains said quietly. "If you d-don't mind, Mr Richard and I, uh, need to speak privately. We'll be b-back in about half an hour. Are you certain your husband w-won't mind if he stays with you for a few days?"

"Not at all," Jennifer said smiling. "I must say, his company's a great pleasure to us."

"You and your h-husband are sure, uh, very hospitable," Brains said warmly. "Th-thank you so much."

"It's my pleasure, Mr Horton," replied Jennifer. "It appears that the two of you are so close. Well, you certainly have a wonderful employer. Cliff is such a nice boy."

"Th-thank you very much, Mrs Tracy." replied Brains. Then he beckoned Alan over to join him.

"You kn-know," Brains said quietly. "There's something about Alicia and Mrs Tracy that, uh, strikes me as being so familiar. For s-some reason, though, I can't seem to place my f-finger on it."

"Well, Alicia in this era looks the same way that my mother did when she was young," suggested Alan. "She also looks a lot like my grandma."

"Well, th-that is true," Brains replied. "It's, uh, not just her looks though. Something about her n-name sounds f-familiar to me too." Just then, he gasped and said "Of course! I remember her from when I was a little boy. I still remember how she would watch over my friends and I after school in the 40s and Eddie Houseman in this era," Then he nearly shouted "Gee, this was 5 years before I was born!"

"Say, Brains," Alan said a bit sheepishly. "This is something I need to tell you."

"What is it, Alan?" Brains asked concerned. "Did something terrible happen?"

"Earlier today," Alan explained. "Alicia asked me to come with her and babysit some children. I told her yes as I had no idea that one of the children would be Eddie Houseman."

"Oh, really?" Brains asked after a brief pause. Then he said "I d-don't think Eddie, uh, remembers ever meeting you when he w-was 5. Although, granted, that was q-quite a long time ago."

"Eddie was showing me his doll," Alan explained. "And he and his friends were talking about how Eddie's teacher often let him play with dolls but that when you had a substitute teacher, she also allowed him to play with dolls. Then, after your regular teacher returned, she didn't punish him you for it."

"Holy cow," gasped Brains. "You m-mean you, uh, actually found out about that f-fact?"

"I'll tell you the same thing now that I told Eddie back then," Alan said gently. "Well, actually, I told him a little earlier today but it was his younger self I told. Anyway, you shouldn't worry so much about what other people think of you. After all, you like what you like. Don't worry, Brains. You tell Gordon and Tin Tin to tell Eddie I hold no judgements against him."

"Well, that is nice to hear," Brains said smiling warmly and without stammering and then scrunched his face in cententration again. "I still c-can't say that I, uh, remember anything about your encounter w-with Eddie. Maybe I'll remember after we r-return to 2065."

"Yeah, sort of like what happened to us when we returned with Tin Tin from 1925," Alan replied as he smiled at his friend and father's scientific advisor. "So have you made any progress with the windshield?"

"I'm in the p-process of melting the, uh, glass," replied Brains. "It'll be the m-moulding part that'll be challenging. I'm c-confident that I can handle it though."

"Well, if you put your mind to it," Alan said smiling. "You can accomplish anything."

"That's v-very true," Brains said as he embraced Alan. "Even when I, uh, first saw you, something about the n-name Tracy struck me as being very familiar. I also remembered Alicia as I was v-very fond of her. For some reason, however, I just didn't make the connection. I forgot that Alicia's last name was Tracy."

"You never told me about that before." Alan said stunned.

"I never th-thought to tell you." Brains explained. "Because I, uh, couldn't remember where I knew that n-name from. You know, though, come to think of it, I was also with John at Harvard. I still remember he d-didn't seem to be as socially awkward back then."

"Oh, yeah, that's right," gasled Alan. "He did speak real fondly of you and I even had him come over to say hello. There was probably nothing about him that made him stand out from the other students, though, right?"

"That's r-right," replied Brains. "I, uh, actually thought all of my peers w-were wonderful. At the risk of sounding like I'm boasting, I always did have a way with people my own age. I never did believe in playing favourites so John p-pretty much blended in with the others. Also, some of the other students did have unusual last names. The most memorable name I remember was Ruby Redding. Heck, she even wore red all the time. I think she was even in the astronomy studies with John and the two of them were fond of each other."

"Gee, Brains," Alan breathed. "This is strange! Ruby Redding's got a pretty interesting name."

"I know," Brains said nodding. I th-think she was really fond of, uh, having a unique n-name."

"I wonder if she ever changed her last name," Alan suggested. "After she got married."

"It's h-hard to say," Brains replied. "Not too many woman back then, uh, really kept their own names after m-marriage. Of course, there is Sabrina Palmer who k-kept her name."

"Yeah, I remember Sabrina," Alan said fondly. "She's a very wonderful girl and she joined WASP when Gordon was still there."

"Well, anyway," Brains continued. "I m-must say that it's, uh, very nice of your g-grandparents to let you stay with them. You do have some very generous and h-hospitable relatives."

"My grandma's such a sweet woman and my grandpa Benjiman's such a great man," Alan explained. Then, laughing a little, he added "Although, he did pass on when I was about 11 years old."

"Back in 2055, I g-gather," Brains said winking at Alan. "Well, I'd, uh, better get back to work. I hope to get this f-finished by Saturday. I guess I'm not too w-worried about you staying with your grandparents. Just be careful not to let them know about the future though."

"F.A.B, Brains." Alan replied smiling at his friend and father's scientific advisor.

Chapter 11

"I'm not lying, you know." Jenny said in the other room as Alan woke up.

"Don't try to deny it, Jenny," Alicia replied teasingly. "You know you love Cliff Richard. I see the way you have been looking at him. Go ahead! Ask him if he wants to go with you to the picnic and dance this Saturday."

Picnic and dance? Alan thought stunned.

"There's absolutely nothing going on between me and Cliff," Jenny protested not so convincingly. "I just view him as a good friend. Besides, I can't exactly ask him to take me out. That would be dreadfully forward to do so!"

"But why?" protested Alicia. "It'd be no more forward for you to ask him out then it would be for him to be the one to ask you out. Just go ahead and ask him. He doesn't know about the picnic and dance since he's only visiting town for a little while. He might even appreciate the offer."

"But women are not supposed to ask men out," insisted Jenny. "It's just not proper. Otherwise, he might think me to be presumptious. I must be a proper lady you know."

"But we women are people too," argued Alicia. "Also, look at how we now have the right to vote. We only gained that right in 1920. Aren't we just as deserving to be able to enjoy the same rights as men? After all, we didn't exactly choose to be born as women instead of men."

Gee, the times sure have changed. Alan thought in amazement. His thoughts then drifted towards Jenny as he couldn't stop thinking of how adorable she was. Plus, she was so nice and sweet. She was so unlike a Tannen.

"It might not seem fair," Jenny said after a little pause. "But that's just the way things are. Besides, there's a reason why God created man and women. If He intended for us all to be the same then He would've created us all the same. I'm sure we women have some of our advantages too like we're more free to express emotion."

"God created men and women," Alicia replied. "So that we can procreate. I see no reason why our choice of activities and interested need to be limited based on whether we are men or women. I mean, little Eddie Houseman enjoys playing with dolls and I see no reason why he can't, just because he happens to be a boy instead of a girl. Besides, Cliff's a very kind and compassionate person. I don't think he would be so judgemental."

"Well, maybe you do have a point," Jenny said sighing. "I guess I'll ask him later on today. I've gotta admit that I never met anyone like him before. He sure doesn't appear to be the kind of man that would use you. Maybe this world would be a better place if we had more people like him in it. Gee, I really wish he was here to stay."

"Haha! I knew it," Alicia said triumphantly. "I knew you had feelings for him! I figured I'd be able to drag it out of you sooner or later. Believe me! I know that look on your face when you're in love."

"Gee, Alicia," Jenny groaned. "Is it really necessary to rub it in? All right! Fine! So I'm in love! Why is that such a big deal? It's just a natural part of life. You meet someone you really like and you then fall in love."

Alan was stunned by the conversation he was hearing. He considered making things a bit easier on Jenny by being the one to ask her out. Then again, he really was not supposed to know about the picnic and dance so they may suspect him of eavesdropping. Also, he did promise to visit Brains later on that afternoon in some abandoned cabin where Brains had temporarily made his home. Brains would be rather horrified to hear that Alan asked anyone out in this era even if he did fall in love in any woman in the past. Then, again, there was also Tin Tin to consider.

"Look, Jenny," Alicia said gently. "I think it's great that you're in love. Just go ahead and ask him out. I hope to one day find someone that I love too. I'm really happy for the two of you."

"So what about you, Alicia?" Jenny asked. "Don't you have any feelings for him. I mean, you did tend to him, the time he was injured by my brother. Gee, I really wish I could control what my brother does. Then again, I guess he maybe feels the same way about wanting to control me. My brother can be a real control freak much of the time."

"Yeah and that's why he and Jeff don't get on," Alicia said grimacing. "Jeff's always so eager to please those around him. I mean, it's one thing to be a nice person but it's another thing entirely to let other people push you around."

"Well, he maybe still feels quite guilty about what he did two years ago," Jenny said with sympathy. "Ever since he nearly ended up hurting Rick and Larry, he's never been afraid to take a stand."

"It was wrong what he did two years ago," Alicia explained. "But it's a good thing that both Larry and Rick both forgave him. Still, there is a fine line between setting out to hurt other people and standing up for your own rights."

"You're right," replied Jenny. "Well, anyway, I promised my mother that I'd run some errands for her so I need to get going now. I'll come over later on tonight. By the way, where's Cliff?"

Alan's heart skipped a beat as he quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep in case the girls ended up walking in on him. The last thing he needed was to be caught eavesdropping.

"I think he's in the guest room still asleep," Alicia replied laughing. "I guess he really needs his beauty sleep. Anyway, took good care of yourself and I'll see you later today."

Alan sighed with relief as he heard the girls leave the room. After about five minutes, Alan got out of bed and he got dressed. He had to admit he was feeling a bit jittery.

Later on that day, Alan was with Brains at the abandoned cabin in Hill Valley Park.

"The m-melted glass is, uh, just about ready to b-be moulded," Brains said as he pointed out the case made of metal that was shaped like a windshield. "Then, I'll need to w-weld the makeshift windshield onto the time machine that'll t-take about several days to complete."

"So when do you think we'll be ready to return to 2065?" asked Alan.

"It sh-should be ready by, uh, Saturday," Brains said. "Just to make sure we're m-more careful this time, let me show you the m-model I created of Hill Valley Park."

Alan's heart was racing with anticipation as he followed Brains over to the model.

"Gee, Brains," Alan gasped as he was amazed by how well Brains had managed to carve the trees. "I'll say, you really outdid yourself this time. You've sure a knack at carving."

"Thank you," Brains said gratefully. "I r-really didn't have to, uh, build it t-to scale or..."

"... or paint it, right?" asked Alan smiling. "It's okay, Brains. I think you've done a great job!"

"Thank you," repeated Brains. Then he showed Alan the model time machine he had built and he said "See, Alan, I f-formed the model windshield by, uh, melting some sugar and I th-then attached it to the model time machine by using some silver cake frosting. I had even made the model time machine edible by moulding it out of some m-milk chocolate and throwing in some rice crispies. I a few boxes of rice crispies in the trunk for emergency. I attached the power supply encased in a magnetic protective shield so this remote control'll operate the time machine."

"Gee, I could go for some chocolate now," said Alan licking his lips. "So what now."

"Set the model t-time machine onto the, uh, trail," Brains instructed. "And I'll sh-show you how we can safely accelletate the speed without having another r-run in with the trees."

"Got it," replied Alan smiling. "So are you about ready?"

"Yes, s-set it down now," replied Brains. After Alan did, Brains began to control the remote as he was somewhat singing "Driving the, uh, time machine in a straight path. Flying a straight path into the air. Piloting the time m-machine while keeping a straight path. Accellerating the speed while keeping a straight path." The car then hit the pillow and it fell onto another pillow. "This should b-be easy!" Brains exclaimed as he removed the power supply from the crispy chocolate car.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Alan and Brains turned to see who it was and they saw who it was.

"It's Jenny," Brains gasped. "I g-guess she, uh, tracked you down. Quick, let's c-cover the time machine!"

Alan and Brains quickly draped a sheet over the time machin as Jenny let herself in.

"Are you in here, Cliff?" Jenny asked coyly. Then, as she noticed Brains, she added "Hi, Horton."

"Pleased to m-meet you," Brains said warmly. "You're, uh, Jenny T-Tannen, right?"

"That's right," Jenny replied shyly. Then, turning to Alan, she asked "Cliff, this might seem somewhat forward but I was wondering if you'd ask me to the Autumn Picnic and Dance on Saturday."

"Well, uh," Alan said nervously. He then glanced over at Brains as Brain was nodding a little. "Yeah, sure, I guess I could take you. Me and Horton don't have to leave until later that day anyway."

"Good," Jenny said warmly. "I understand you can't stay but I find you to be very handsome and charming."

"Thank, Jenny." Alan replied warmly. He had to admit he was a little surprised to receive Brains's approval but he figured that having spend 4 years at Harvard with John had caused Brains to develop a more relaxed stance on who you could interact with in the past.

Chapter 12

It was around noon on Saturday and Alan was feeling nervous as he went to the Autumn Picnic and Dance with Jenny Tannen. After all, he felt as though he was cheating on Tin Tin.

"I must say, Cliff," Jenn said coyly. "I'll really miss you. It's been really nice getting to know you."

"Same to you," Alan replied huskily. "This is such a lovely day out today, isn't it? The sun's shining brightly and there's a really nice cool breeze blowing over us."

"So, Cliff," asked Jenny. "Do you think you might ever return to Hill Valley?"

"Yeah, this is a really lovely town," replied Alan. "So, Jenny, do you have any plans for a career or do you just have plans to be a wife and mother?"

"I've just got plans to be a wife and mother," replied Jenny. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I do appreciate that we, as women, have additional rights nowadays such as, having the right to vote. Still, it must be a little stressful to to have a job outside the home. I think we women are kind of lucky in that respect."

"I guess I'd never really thought of that before," Alan said softly. "I do agree that some jobs could be rather stressful though especially if you've got a boss that's rather mean. That's why I'd rather have the career of a musician. That way, you've got a job doing something that you really enjoy."

"So you said you play the drums?" asked Jenny. "Maybe you should play us a few tunes on the stage this afternoon. I'll go talk to the band and ask if you can do a couple of songs. I'd love to hear you play."

"Okay, sure," replied Alan smiling. He remembered how when he first visited Londonwhile seeing Cliff Richard Jr perform with Virgil, Virgil sang Built For Speed on stage and then his guitarist Tony Hawley got a little carried away with his stage antics. He knew he should avoid those stage antics this time. The last thing he needed to do was to shock his grandparents' generation.

"There's Alicia and Jeff over there," commented Jenny. "Let's go!"

As Alan followed Jenny over to the dance floor, he saw Biff walking rather menacingly towards Alicia and Jeff.

"Well, lookie what we got 'ere," Biff said as he pushed Jeff over. "How about a dance, Alicia?"

"Hey!" Jeff protested angrily as Biff grabbed Alicia by force forcing her to dance with him.

"The nerve of my brother," Jenny said seethingly. "I can't believe he's doing this."

"I believe you've underestimated me, Mister." Alicia said coldly.

"Have I now?" Biff asked laughing.

Alicia immediately kicked Biff in the shins as Biff cringed over in pain. As soon as Biff recovered, he then pushed Alicia to the ground.

"Take that, Babe," Biff said laughing. "Maybe from now on, you'll know your place."

Jeff, Larry and Rick were standing close by. Jeff was furious as if he wanted to get his hands on Biff. Larry then marched over to Biff as he punched that bully in the face knocking him to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Jeff asked as he gently lifted Alicia up from the ground. Alicia simply smiled at him as the two of them began to dance. Alan was suddenly hit with a sense of deja vu.

"Can you believe that son of a jackal?" Jeff asked angrily as he marched towards Alan and Jenny.

"Don't worry, Jeff," Jenny said soothingly. "I'll be telling Mom about this. I'm sure she'll come up with a suitable punishment for him. He takes too much after Grandpa Buford."

"Hey, Jenny," Rick called out as he came running up to Jenny and Alan. "Remember us?"

"Rick, Larry," gushed Jenny as she reached out to hug him. "It's been a long time since I last spoke to you guys. How are you doing?"

"Great to see you again, Cliff." Larry said warmly.

"Same to you too, Guys," Alan said. "Look, I think one of you guys should dance with Jenny for a little while. I'm going to grab some refreshments. I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks, Cliff," Rick said gratefully. Then, turning to Jenny, he said "Me and Larry, who's dancing with Betty Director, are thinking of becoming a detective duo in the future."

Alan then realized something. Harry, Gabriella and Paulette Henshaw's parents were named Jennifer and Richard Henshaw. Perhaps this was the same Jenny Detective Henshaw later on married. Then he suddenly realized that this was indeed the same Jenny. He also discovered that his father once courted Tin Tin's late mother and Debbie Jean Thompson's parents were called Elizabeth and Lorenz Thompson but were now divorced. He would have to talk to Tin Tin about her mother and his fathr.

As Alan was eating lunch with Jeff, Biff ran up towards the two of them with rage while he snarled "I'll make you pay for this, you little son of a jackal!"

"But what the heck did I do?" Alan asked stunned.

"Oh, don't you play dumb with me," sneered Biff. "I happen to know you've got the hots forwith my sister. I also know you told Jeff to stand up to me and say no. Well, guess what, Cliff! I'll beat him up for his willful little act of defiance. I bet he'll never pull that stunt again."

Alan was stunned. He had never told Jeff to say no to Biff. He suddenly felt very sorry for his father. This was perhaps what had led him and his own brothers to become the way they were. Alan then hoped onto a bike as he started to ride away from Biff and his gang. Biff and his gang hopped into Biff's cadillac as they began to chase Alan into a manure truck. Jeff, Larry, Rick, Alicia, Betty and Jenny all had all followed. While Alan quickly swerved away from the truck, Biff and his gang, however, were not so lucky.

"I hate manure." groaned Biff as he spit some of the manure from his mouth.

"All right, Sonny," a woman in a nurse's outfit said quite sternly. We are going home now. Jenny told me all about your little stunt. I found just the suitable punishment for you."

Biff actually looked shamefaced as he went up to face his mother. He noticed that the woman was wearing a name tag that read Tiffany Tannen.

I thought her name was Gertrude. Alan thought with confusion.

"Why do you suppose Biff is the way he is?" Rick asked Jenny.

"I suppose it's because he takes after our grandpa Buford," Jenny replied grimacing. "Everyone called him Mad Dog cause he was a notorious gunman with short temper and a tendency to drool. He also bragged about having shot twelve men not including Indians or Chinamen although I don't see what makes them less important."

"Thanks for letting me dance with Jenny, Cliff." Rick said warmly.

"My pleasure." Alan replied as the seven of them began to return to the picnic.

Chapter 13

Alan was standing to the side with Jeff and Alicia as they were eating some cheese and crackers. He was also watching Betty and Jenny dance with Lrry and Rick respectively. Although the music that the band was being played was hardly rock and roll, the music really wasn't half bad.

"I can't believe it, Cliff," Jeff grumbled. "I always stnad up to Biff and he responds by beating me up. I suppose it just isn't worth it. I should've figured he would've made me pay for my willful act of defiance."

"Look, Jeff, I'm very sorry," Alan said as he tenderly squeezed Jeff's shoulder. "He's a bully and you shouldn't've to listen to him. I wish I knew what to tell you. Well, he'll most likely be receiving his just desserts one of these days. At least his mom's gonna punish him for harassing Alicia."

"Yeah, I guess," mumbled Jeff. "It's probably not going to do much good though."

"So his mother's name's Tiffany Tannen?" Alan asked curiously.

"That's right," replied Alicia. "Her full name's Tiffany Gertrude Tannen. She never was married."

"Oh, I see." Alan said sighing and then thought to himself So that explains it.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen," called out Tim Casey from the stage. "I'd like to invite a certain young drummer named Cliff Richard to some up here and play a few numbers for us. Come on up, Cliff Richard!"

Alan was feeling a little nervous as he walked up on the stage. He grabbed the drumsticks off Tim and he began to play like Virgil's drummer Tony Hartman to his favourite song as he began to sing Virgil's old song Bulit For Speed.

Here I come in my fifty seven,
She's a real low rider paint perfection
With a custom engine painted black with flames,
Ain't nobody gonna call that hot rod tame,
Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh

V eight engine with the fuel injection,
Two eight three, that's my ounce of perfection,
Get that rod out when it's very late,
Haven't got a round to getting license plates,
Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh

Well, I'm cruising low and I'm cruising mean,
Well, I'm cruising slow in my dream machine,
You're my hot rod mama
And you're really built for speed

Alan continued to play on as everyone was swinging back and forth. Alan bowed towards the audience after he had finished doing a drum solo.

"That was good, Cliff," Tim said admiringly as he slapped Alan on the back. "Play us another one, okay?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." replied Alan as he thought of another tune that he liked by Virgil with or without his band or his favourite band Marty Franklin.

The warden threw a party in the county jail,
The prison band was there and they began to wail,
The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing,
You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds sing,
Let's rock, everybody, let's rock,
Everybody in the whole cell block was a dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock

Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone,
Little Joe was blowin' on the slide trombone,
The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang,
The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang,
Let's rock, everybody, let's rock,
Everybody in the whole cell block was a dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock

Number forty-seven said to number three
"You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see,
I sure would be delighted with your company,
Come on and do the Jailhouse Rock with me",
Let's rock, everybody, let's rock,
Everybody in the whole cell block was a dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock

The sad sack was a sittin' on a block of stone
Way over in the corner weepin' all alone,
The warden said "Hey, buddy, don't you be no square,
If you can't find a partner use a wooden chair",
Let's rock, everybody, let's rock,
Everybody in the whole cell block was a dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock

Shifty Henry said to Bugs "For Heaven's sake,
No one's lookin', now's our chance to make a break",
Bugsy turned to Shifty and he said, "Nix nix,
I wanna stick around a while and get my kicks",
Let's rock, everybody, let's rock,
Everybody in the whole cell block was a dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock

The audience once again applauded as Alan handed the drumsticks back to Tim and walked off the stage.

As Alan was about to head back to Hill Valley Park to meet Brains, Jeff, Alicia, Larry, Betty, Rick and Jenny all ran up to meet him. Alan figured that they wanted to say good bye to him.

"Cliff," gushed Jenny. "That was very interesting music."

"Gee, thanks," replied Alan smiling. "Listen, it's been nice getting to know you all this week but I promised Horton that I'd meet him shortly."

"I hope you don't mind," Jenny continued. "But Rick asked if he could take me home."

"It's just that I haven't spoken to her in a long time," added Rick. "And I think I might still have feelings for her."

"Great! Good, good, Jenny," Alan stammered sounding a bit like Brains. "I had a feeling about you two."

"I've got a feeling too," added Jenny. "Anyway, have a safe trip back home."

"I'm glad we really got to meet you," commented Larry. "And you've been a great buddy."

"Yeah," added Jeff. "Thanks for being a good friend to me. I was worried that Larry's father may have turned you against me. Thanks for giving me a chance anyway."

"I won't worry about my dad too much," Larry said as he gently squeezed Jeff's shoulder. "I'm glad me and Rick forgave you for what happened two years ago, Jeff. You're a great person, regardless of what others might think. One day, bullies like Biff Tannen and his gang'll get their comeuppance."

"Larry's got a point, Jeff," added Rick. "I'm glad we both forgive you for what happened back then. I always felt you were a great buddy. It's nice to see you again as well."

Alan then hugged everyone as he felt a little sad about leaving his friends behind.

"Listen, I gotta go," Alan said. "But I wanted to tell you that it's been... educational."

"Cliff," said Alicia. "Will we ever see you again?"

"I guarantee it," replied Alan smiling. Then, as he started to walk away, he waved and called out "So have a great future, all of you! Take care of yourselves and each other and keep looking up."

The others all waved back as Alan made his way over to Hill Valley Park.

"So are you r-ready to go back to the, uh, future?" Brains asked smiling. "Check out the t-time machine. How d-do you like it?'

"You did a great job, Brains," replied Alan. "Say, you know that candy time machine you made the other day? That was very tasty. You should make more of them. Jenny, Alicia, Jeff, Rick, Betty and Larry all enjoyed it."

"Thank you," Brains said warmly. "I've n-never really had, uh, good culinary skills b-but I guess I'm good at making candy."

"Is following a recipe really that much different from working on a scientific experiment?" Alan asked laughing.

"I s-suppose I haven't really, uh, thought so much about the similarity b-before," Brains said smiling. "Well, then, what are we w-waiting for? Let's hop into the time machine, find our path and then go back."

"Yeah, let's get our butts back to the future." Alan said exitedly.

After Brains and Alan stepped into the time machine, they checked to make sure everything was working as it should.

"Time circuits on, flux capacitor fluxing," Alan said smiling at Brains. "Engine running. We're all set, Brains."

"Okay, Alan," Brains warned. "B-brace yourself for, uh, temporal d-displacement."

Brains began to pilot the time machine over the trees until he got up to 88 miles per hour and then, the time machine broke the time barrier.

Chapter 14

"W-well, here we, uh, are," Brains said excitedly. "Back in g-good old 2065."

"I just hope everything's back to normal now." Alan said, a bit worriedly. He was somewhat afraid they might have gone to another world where the Hood was the ruler of the entire world which was what he and Goron would had dubbed the Hell Valley Universe.

"Well, everything s-seems fine," replied Brains as he looked around. "Why d-don't we go back inside to check and make sure? I can tell if Scott, Virgil, Gordon and your f-father are there."

"Right, Doc," replied Alan smiling. "You know, I can hardly wait to see Tin Tin again. I can hardly believe that I had a crush on Tin Tin's mom. I'm a bit surprised to find out that Tin Tin's a descendant of Buford Tannen."

"I m-must say that it, uh, surprises me a b-bit too," replied Brains nodding. "As we've learned, though, we c-can't assume that all Tannens are bad. Even though we may have had a bad experience with many Tannens."

"Yeah, people like Miff and Cliff," Alan said grimacing. "Cliff used to tease Scott and John all the time in High School and, in the old timeline, he was still teasing them. Miff did used to tease Virgil and Gordon in Junior High and me when I was a kid but I made it clear to him that I wasn't going to take any of his guff. Hell, he's an even worse sort than Victor Gomez."

"The Gomezes c-can be very, uh, awful people as well," Brains said nodding with sympathy. "When I was a kid, I w-was often p-picked on by Howard Gomez. He reminds me a lot of the Tannens."

"It's almost as if the Tannens and the Gomezes are in the same league," Alan said sighing. "Although the Tannens do seem to be of a slightly worse sort. What exactly was Howard Gomez like?"

"Well, l-like his, uh, cousin Victor, Howard Gomez c-could be just as bad as a Tannen," Brains replied. "Even though, we should remember that not all Tannens are b-bad people as Jenny Tannen was the proof."

"So, has your memories of you meeting John at Harvard come back to you yet?" Alan asked with curiosity.

Brains was deeply concentrating for a minute and then said "Of c-course it has. I think it, uh, takes a few hours for the r-ripple effect to catch up as it did with you. Do you remember when it was that your memories of your newly improved f-family came back to you?"

"Yeah, I think I do," replied Alan. "I believe it happened when I was at the Cafe 80s shortly before Miff Tannen walked in. I mean, I didn't have any problems with being called chicken in the old timeline but, as soon as Miff called me that name, I immediately reacted to it. It was like such a subconscious thing, you know."

"Well, here w-we are," Brains said as he and Alan got out of the time machine. "I see that, uh, Virgil and Gordon are watching TV. So it l-looks like everything is b-back to normal or close to normal anyway?"

"What are you talking about, Brains?" Alan asked worriedly. "What do you mean close to normal?"

"Whenever a p-person travels, uh, back in time," Brains explained. "They're always b-bound to make a few changes in the timeline. So they can n-never go back to the exact unaltered timeline that they came from but, if they're very careful, they can go back to a timeline that's very similar to the one that we left. I think the only thing that would really change, as far as my life is concerned, is that I have seen you very briefly a few years ago in this new timeline. Basically, everything else would probably be pretty much the same. I'll have to wait until the ripple effect catches up to be sure though."

"Okay, Brains," Alan said smiling. "I think I understand what you're saying. I'm always amazed by how many things do stay the same whenever we travel in time. Like how I can still be born at the same time."

"I b-believe it's the, uh, self-preservation effect," Brains explained. "I believe that God w-would be responsible for keeping the timeline from changing too drastically. I mean, you basically would have to believe in some sort of intelligent higher being f-from all the things that we've witnessed of time travel so far."

"Being a Catholic," Alan replied. "I've always believed in God anyway. I'm sure this would be even further proof of His existence. Anyway, not to get all preachy or anything but I'm just saying what I believe."

"Right," Brains replied without stammering cheerfully. "Just like your father, right? Well, let's go and see what your faher and Scott are doing. You can come to the lab with me if you'd like."

"Thanks for the offer, Brains," Alan replied warmly. "But I'd rather speak to my father first. I haven't seen him in a week after all. I really do miss my father and brothers a lot."

"I understand, Alan," Brains said softly as he gently squeezed Alan's shoulders. "G-go enjoy yourself then and I guess I'll, uh, see you l-later tonight."

"Hey, Brins," Alan said with sudden realization. "We should maybe take a little break from time travelling. I mean, I'm already about three or four weeks older than I'm supposed to be."

"Well, l-look at me," Brains said laughing. "I'm a little over, uh, seven weeks older than I'm s-supposed to be. In fact, it might even be a little closer to eight years. I'vee long since stopped k-keeping track of my age."

"Right, Brains," Alan replied as he hugged his friend. "Still I don't wanna age too fast."

"I understand wh-what you, uh, mean," Brains said gently. "Well, t-take care of yourself and I'll see you again l-later."

Alan then decided to head towards his father's office to meet him again.

After a couple of hours, Alan decided to see Tin Tin. She was sitting by the pool. Her face lit up as soon as Alan walked up. Alan's heart was bursting with excitement too.

"Tin Tin," Alan gushed excitedly. "Oh, are you a sight for sore eyes? Let me look at you."

"Alan," Tin Tin replied stunned. "You're acting like you haven't seen me in a week."

"I haven't." replied Alan as he threw his arms around Tin Tin and hugged her tightly.

"Oh, did you just come back from another time travel trip?" Tin Tin asked curiously.

"Yeah, I did," replied Alan as he sat down beside Tin Tin. "Brains took me back to the year 2030 to celebrate the special day that we had a year ago. However, the windshield on the time machine broke so we were suck there for about a week. Even though I did have a lot of fun this week, I did tell Brains I'd like to take a little break from time travelling. I mean, I really do want to live in the present too, you know."

"Of course, you told me all about that day we meet those gangsters," Tin Tin said smiling. "The ironic thing is we were never born yet and we lived that day, right?"

"That's right," replied Alan. "It was probably about the most stressful day of my life but it'll surely be a day to remember. You, me and Brains all went through a lot on that day."

"So what day did you go back to in 2030?" asked tin Tin. "November twelfth?"

"Well, no," replied Alan cheerfully. "We actually went back to the fifth of September. That was exactly one hundered and forty five years after the day the clock tower was put up. They were having a festival to commemorate that day."

"So, have you met any interesting people?" Tin Tin asked smiling.

"Yeah, I met my father when he was my age," replied Alan. "And Detective Henshaw, Detective Thomspon, Dr Director and your mom. I so was amazed by how much your mom looks a lot like you. I was so amazed to find out that Detecive Thompson and Henshaw had taken Dr Director to th Fall Pcninc and Dance. I had even met your ex-boyfriend Eddie Houseman as a little boy. He was only five years old in 2030. Then there was also Biff Tannen, who was a bully and his twin sister, Jenny."

"You have?" Tin Tin asked as a shocked expression came across her face.

"That's right," replied Alan. I also met Colonel Casey and your father. I never realized the Henshaws had a Tannen in their family line. I'm just glad you're so unlike a Tannen, you know."

"Thank you, I guess," replied Tin Tin nervously. "So your feelings about me aren't going to change any?"

"Don't be silly, Tin Tin," Alan sad laughing. "Do I look like I'm that kind of person?"

"I guess not," replied Tin Tin blushing. "I have a Tannen on my mother's side of the family. You know, Clara Lake was raped by Buford Tannen and she named her daughter Jennifer Jane Lake. She did end up giving her baby up for adoption but the baby kept the last name Stone."

"Oh my gosh," replied Alan. "I guess you learn something new everyday."

"The ironic thing is," Tin Tin said smiling. "My fahr grew up in Malaysia but my mother didn't even grow up in Hill Valley."

"I guess it's a small world." Alan said smiling. He took Tin Tin into his arms and cradled her close. They both then kissed. Alan began to think of how lucky he was, to be able to date a girl like Tin Tin.

THE END