Clockwork, Steam, and Flux Capacitors

"Great Scott," Doc whispers. "That must have been terrifying." He grimaces. "And I'm sorry you've been separated from your fiancee. That must be a terrible loss."

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"It was," Victor says, rather deadpan. "And, er, not as much as you t-think. Miss Everglot was a l-lovely girl, but -- I'd only met her that day. It was an arranged m-marriage." He lowers his head. "I hate to say this, but it's h-hard to miss someone you d-don't know."

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"Oh." Doc reaches over again to pat Victor's shoulder. "Well, I'm still sorry about what happened to you."

He turns his attention back to the PINpoint. "All right, let's try this again!" He sets up a transport back to Chicago, presses the button --

*beep* "Oh come on!" Doc punches a few buttons. "Why can't I get back?!" He shakes his head. "That does it, time for a different measure. Wait here." He storms out of the room and back into the Nexus. "Marty, do you know if there's any Place-Me-Quick machines around?"

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"Thank you," Victor says with a nod.

Victor nods again, looking a little frustrated himself now by the PINpoint's refusal to work. He waits patiently on the bed as Doc storms out.

Marty blinks at the sudden reappearance of his friend and said friend's angry question. "Uh -- yeah, there's one over that way," he says. "Something up?"

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"Yes -- Victor's part of Chicago is currently in a time-delayed mini Rift," Doc mostly non-explains. "This happens to people sometimes, they get caught in little pockets of reality and can't get out again unless the Rift opens up to let them out. I've worked the Blessing of Perfection on my PINpoint, but it's still not working! I'm going to get the coordinates right from the machine. I'll be back later." He storms off to the machine, feeds in five dollars, and sticks his hand in. Moments later, he gets his slip of paper. He carefully punches in the code he receives, then sets the PINpoint to take him there. "Now, let's see what happens," he says, hitting the button.

Moments later, he reappears --

in Victor's bedroom. Doc's initial "WTF?!" expression is slowly replaced by an "Oh, SHIT" one.

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Marty is a little confused by Doc's explanation, but decides to wait on asking for clarification. The guy's obviously upset. Best to let him try and finish his experiment.

Victor is more than a little startled when Doc suddenly reappears inside his bedroom. He yelps and falls off the bed. "Doc? What -- did you mean to do that?"

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"No," Doc says quietly, suddenly feeling rather sad. "I went to one of those Place-Me-Quick machines. They give the origin universe code of whatever they scan." He looks down at the scrap of paper. "The origin code it gave me was for this universe." And now that he thinks about it, it was disturbingly quiet in the hotel the day before he visited the Nexus and got turned invisible. . . .

He slowly sits on the bed as the realization hits him full force. "I'm like you. I got sucked into this invisible Rift. And now my PINpoint apparently doesn't recognize me as belonging to regular Chicago. And I have no idea how to fix it."

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Victor stares at Doc with wide eyes. "Oh no," he whispers. "You mean -- we're stuck in this little pocket of -- of time and space?" he whispers. "Forever?"

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"We just might be," Doc says, letting out a deep sigh. "Great Scott, I never thought. . . ." He leans heavily on one hand. He never really liked Chicago -- he lived through enough disasters to become rather cynical about the town. But it was the closest thing he had to home for about a year and a half. And while he lost a couple of his closest friends, he still had pals there -- Gladys, JD, Dan. . . . The only consolation is that he hasn't lost Farley, who knows about the Nexus. "I don't know what I'm going to do." He looks over at Victor. "Have -- have you seen anyone around here?"

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Oh man. Victor joins Doc in letting out a deep sigh. He had less time to get attached to Chicago, but it was his home too, for a while. And he has people he'll miss as well -- Piper, Elizabeth, and Babel, mostly. They were the closest things to friends he had in the new universe, besides Doc. At least he's still here.

He shakes his head. "I'm sorry, no," he admits. "Though I haven't gone beyond the confines of the Gauche, so. . . ." It's hope? Of a sort?

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Doc shakes his own head. "No. If there's no one at the Gauche, I think the odds are good there's no one in the rest of this particular pocket of subspace either. It's just you and me." He looks away, toward the wall, steam hissing out his back. "I suppose I could go back to the hotel, if it exists." Though he doesn't relish having to live in a totally empty building. Even if it means finally giving up his basement room once and for all.

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Victor nods slowly. "I believe you're right." He notes Doc's tone immediately. He can tell Doc doesn't want to stay all alone. And Doc's his friend, and helped him out so much with his nightmares. . . . "You -- you could stay here with me," he offers, a bit shyly. "I don't think the room next to mine was ever taken, in proper reality or otherwise. It would be nice to have a neighbor."

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Doc looks back at him, surprised. Then, slowly, a smile spreads across his face. "You know, I'd like that," he says. "Thank you, Victor. I'm glad we're in this together, at least." It means he hasn't lost all of his friends.

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Victor smiles back. He feels much the same. "So am I, Doc." Then, suddenly, he decides to screw his Victorian upbringing and gives Doc a hug. Mostly because they probably both need one.

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Doc's rather surprised at the hug, but accepts it and returns it warmly. "You're a good kid, Victor." And, in Doc's mind, you've probably just been adopted as one of his kids. Woe betide whoever tries to hurt you.

He pulls away after a moment. "All right then -- let me just see if the Conrad still exists, and, if so, if it's possible for me to get my things. I'll be back in a little while." He exits Victor's room by the other door, heading to the garden to fly off (it's faster that way).

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While this sad yet somewhat heartwarming scene is going on inside the room, Marty's waiting outside, hoping to hear from Doc. Instead, he gets someone else calling his name:

"Master McFly! Marty!"

And here comes Alice, looking quite glad to see him.

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Marty blinks a few times at the "Master McFly," but then turns around and sees Alice jogging up to him. "Oh, hey Alice!" he says, smiling back. Yes, despite the awkwardness at Captain John's party, Marty still thinks it's cool to know Alice from Wonderland. "Didn't think I'd see you again for a while. How are you?"

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"All right, I suppose," Alice says, catching her breath. "How are you? I'm very glad to see you again -- I was hoping you could help me."

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"I'm good, I guess," Marty says. "Whatcha need?"

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Alice blushes a little, unable to help herself. "Well -- I'd actually like you to pass a message onto Victor, if you could," she admits. "I know we had a rather awkward moment at Captain John's housewarming, but I really would like to see him again."

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Marty blinks, surprised. "You would? The way you two were acting, I was thinking. . . . Well, yeah, I can talk to him when I see him again." He grins a little. "You just missed him, actually -- he and Doc are doing something together in Chicago, or not-Chicago, or wherever it is they are."

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Alice blushes harder. "I know -- it's all my fault, I never should have kissed him," she says. "But the fact of the matter is, he really made an impression on me as a child, and -- I'd like a second chance at striking up a friendship."

Alice blinks now, shocked. "What -- really?" Then it turns to puzzlement. "What are you talking about?"

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Marty smiles at that. "Hey, nothing wrong with that. He's a nice guy."

"Yeah. And I don't know, something went wrong with Doc's PINpoint and he can't get back to Chicago," Marty attempts to explain. "So Victor took him through the portal he uses to get back to his room, only Doc came storming out of here a little while ago demanding to find a Place-Me-Quick. So I'm guessing something's gone screwy, but I have no idea what."

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Alice smiles back. "Yes, he is."

She tilts her head, attempting to take all that in. "So -- Dr. Brown and Victor are -- stuck here?" she says slowly. She thinks that's what Marty's getting at anyway.

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