Title: Back to the Uncharted Territories
Author: Paradox761
Email: Paradox761@mail.com
Website: members.tripod.com/~Paradox761
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns Buffy; SFC, Jim Henson Productions, and Rockne S. O’Bannon own Farscape; and Universal Pictures owns Back to the Future. No copyright infringement is intended, so please don’t sue. I don’t have any money anyway.
Summary: Sequel to “A Sympathetic Ear”, John Crichton finally makes it home only to discover that the life he left behind is no longer there. His father, DK, and Xander Harris are all dead. Then he meets an extraordinary man in a bar, a time traveler, with an extraordinary proposition. Will John risk it all to go back in time to save his father’s life? And what happens when the consequences are much worse than he ever could have imagined?
Author’s note: Takes place directly after the third season of Farscape, after that it’s an AU. Also, for the sake of this story, Farscape takes place in the near future (2017), and some of the modifications made to the DeLorean in the second movie, namely Mr. Fusion, came from further into the future then when the movie took place (2015). Also, some dialogue has been lifted directly from the Buffy episode “Grave”, no plagiarism intended.
Dedication: To Jordan and Jessica, my angels. May they rest in peace.
Special thanks to A. Grandt, greywizard, Wayne, Rob Clark, Danielle, Goblin, Calen, DaBear, Obi, Gareth, Troy, David, and Lafe for the feedback and support.
(Farscape/BtVS/BttF, Xander/Chiana, John/Aeryn)
Rated R for language and violence
Guest Cast:
Guy Pearce as Dr. Julian Martin Brown, PhD.
James Remar as Lakas

Jules set the DeLorean down in an alley, out of sight and out of the way. He and John got out of the car and started towards the street. Jules pointed his key chain at the DeLorean and pressed a button on it. The headlights blinked as the car alarm beeped twice. John followed Jules down the street towards The Haunt, which was about a block away. Along the way they passed a newspaper stand. John stopped and checked the date on the papers. They all read October 10, 2017.

“Hey! This ain’t a library, pal!”

John ignored the newspaper vendor as he put the papers down and jogged to catch up to Jules, just as he was walking in the front door of The Haunt. John checked his watch. Assuming that the time of day hadn’t changed, it was 11:00 in the morning. But the bar was open. There weren’t many people inside, just a few hardcores getting a head start on the evening’s festivities. And standing behind the bar, washing glasses, was the bartender from last night.

“Good morning, Brian,” Jules said, taking a seat at the bar. John sat down next to him.

Brian regarded the pair oddly, especially considering Jules’ chipper voice. “Do I know you?”

“No my good man, but I know you. By reputation, that is. Dr. Jules Brown, at your service,” he said, extending his hand.

Brian shook it, but still looked at Jules oddly. “What can I get for you, Doc?”

“Nothing this morning, thank you. It’s a bit early for me. I’ve come to ask a favor of you actually. Can you hold this envelope for me? Keep it someplace safe, and I’ll be back in one week’s time to pick it up.” Jules slid the envelope across the bar. He moved his hand quickly to show the corner of a fifty-dollar bill poking out from beneath it. “I would be…most appreciative.”

Brian reached out and palmed the envelope and the bill against the bar. “Sure thing, Doc,” he said with a smile. “It would be my pleasure.”

“Thank you very much, and I’ll see you in a week,” Jules said, rising from his stool. He turned for the door but John stopped him.

“Excuse me,” he asked the bartender. “Do you remember me? I was here last night, sitting right on this stool right here.”

Brian seemed puzzled. “I don’t think so. It was pretty dead in here last night, hardly any of the seats at the bar were taken. You sure you’re not thinking of another bar?”

“Maybe,” John answered. “Can you tell me, what’s the date today?”

Brian looked down at his watch. “It’s the tenth,” he answered.

John’s forehead scrunched together in thought. “Thank you,” he answered distantly.

Jules smiled. “Satisfied?”

John just nodded and the two of them left. Brian shook his head. He opened the register and tucked the envelope under the cash drawer, and pocketed the fifty before going back to washing glasses. “This town sure is full of weirdoes,” he mumbled to himself.

*

“This is for real,” John said when they got outside, his voice a mix of astonishment and excitement.

“I told you,” Jules said.

“Last night, you asked me if I could go back in time, what would I do?”

“And even in your intoxicated state, and with such an outlandish question, you answered reasonably. You weighed the pros and the cons, you judged all the variables, and you chose to make a simple change to save a man’s life. That’s when I knew for sure that you were my man.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Time travel in the DeLorean is a lot like the early space program. We’re exploring a new realm with the most limited of technology. Essentially, we’re flying blind. We can’t see where we’re going, or what the consequences will be to any changes we might make until after we make them. We just have to use our best judgment. And we always, always must have a back up plan. You must never make a change that you cannot un-make should the need arise, and you must be prepared for the possibility that there are variables that you cannot see. Sometimes thinks just can’t be changed.”

“But I can really go back and save my father?”

“Yes John, you can.”

“Then let’s do it.”

*

After a quick trip back to LA in 2017 for John to pick up his things, Jules found himself flying the DeLorean to Sydney, Australia. He offered to teach John how so he could go himself, but John said no. He didn’t want to waste any time. Once they landed John took over the driving, taking them to what used to be his father’s house. He parked on the street in front of the house and just looked at it for a long moment.

“My father bought this house five years ago when the IASA brought us down here for the Farscape project. My mother was still alive then. He bought it for her really. She hated moving around so much, and she had been to Sydney before with him on other trips and she loved it. She wanted to make a home here.” John paused, looking at the strange car parked in his father’s driveway. “And now they’re both gone. But I have the power to change that now.”

John steered the car back onto the road. It was a good length, long enough to get up to 88, and it was pretty late a night so there weren’t any other cars to get in their way. “Time circuits on,” John said as he turned the switch. “Destination entered, June 7, 2016. One week before Farscape-2 launched.” John revved the engine a few times. “And away we go.”

And with that, he shifted the car into gear and hit the gas. Jules watched the speedometer while John watched the road. 60…70…80…88. “Car! Car!”

John slammed on the brakes and pulled the wheel to the left as hard as he could. The DeLorean skidded to a halt mere feet from the slow moving car that seemed to have appeared in front of them out of nowhere. Of course both men knew that it was they who had appeared from nowhere.

“God, I hate it when that happens,” Jules said, trying to catch his breath. “That’s why I don’t time shift on the ground anymore.”

“I’ll have to remember that,” John deadpanned. He steered the car back the way they came, towards his father’s house. He parked on the street, in the same spot he had been only moments before and looked across the street again. In the driveway sat his father’s truck, complete with the bumper sticker John had gotten him for it. ‘Astronauts do it in orbit.’ John laughed as he popped open the gull-wing door and stepped out of the car. “He’s here,” he said to himself, still laughing. “He’s here, and he’s alive.”

Jules got out of the car and walked around the front to stand next to John. “I’m happy for you John.” John turned to Jules as though he were just noticing him. “If you’d like, you can just drop me back in 2017. I can catch a flight to LA from here.” John just looked at him, like he was trying to find the words to say something. Jules’ face fell. “You’re not going to take the DeLorean, are you?”

John turned back to the house. “I’ve been gone for so long,” he started. “It just doesn’t seem right to leave again. At least not anytime soon.”

“That’s why you didn’t want me to teach you how to fly it. You knew that you wouldn’t have to.”

“I’m sorry, Jules. I didn’t mean to trick you. I just…”

“I understand John. I know what it’s like to look for a home, to be ready to settle down. I should have realized that after the last three years, the last thing you’d want to do is go on another adventure.”

“I guess I’m just not your man,” John said. He held his hand out and Jules shook it. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you’ve done for me.”

“No thanks are necessary John. It’s been a pleasure.” Jules let go of John’s hand and got into the DeLorean’s driver seat. “When you get to 2017, drop me a line.”

John smiled, thinking of something similar someone had said to him once. “We’ll get a beer or something.”

Jules smiled too. “You got it. Godspeed, John Crichton.”

John backed away as Jules closed his door. He watched as the DeLorean lifted off the ground and took off, disappearing into the night. Then he turned back to his father’s house and smiled. He ran across the street, and up the walkway to the front door. He paused for a moment, not sure if he should knock. He finally decided not to, and just opened the door.

“Dad!” he called out. His father was just walking into the living room from the kitchen, holding a glass when he saw John. His mouth fell open as he looked upon his son in astonishment, the glass falling to the floor and breaking into a dozen pieces. He seemed unable to speak, and for a good long moment, the two of them just stared at each other.

“John,” he finally managed to say.

John had so much he wanted to say. But it seemed that the moment was too much for both of them, he just couldn’t find the words. Finally he said the first thing that came to his mind. “I’m home.”

*

They spent the whole night talking. His father had been so full of questions. What happened? Where had he been? Where was his module? John hadn’t really thought about what he was going to tell his father. He wasn’t sure that he’d believe the truth, and he knew he didn’t want the IASA to know. He managed to hold off the questions, putting the answers off until later. Jack had been so happy to see his son again, he didn’t seem to care to much about the answers anyway. They called DK, and the three of them just sat around all night, talking. They talked about everything. Everything except where John had been for the last year and a half. John would come up with a story to tell them eventually. All that mattered was that he was finally home. And things were finally going to be okay again.

They stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, until they fell asleep where they sat. When John woke up the next day, his father was still asleep in his chair, and DK was crashed out on the couch. After checking the kitchen for coffee and finding none, he decided to run out and get some before his father and DK woke up. He grabbed his father’s keys off the hook by the door and headed outside. Taking a deep breath of the fresh morning air, he started thinking about what he was going tell them.

“You see Dad, it’s like this,” he started talking to himself as he stood on the front step. “I crash landed in the outback, where I was found by a tribe of Aborigines. I bumped my head in the crash and got amnesia, so I didn’t even remember who I was until a few days ago. These clothes? I got them from Goodwill. No, that’s no good. I stole them off somebody’s clothesline. No, wait a minute, nobody line dries leather pants.” He blew a long breath out between his teeth. “Well, it’s not perfect but it’s a start.”

He got into his father’s truck and was backing out of the driveway when he saw a flash of light in the rearview mirror, accompanied by the sound of screeching tires. John slammed on the brakes and turned his head in time to see the DeLorean skidding to a halt on the street behind him.

“Holy shit!” John put the truck in park and shut it off. He got out and rushed down the street. “Jules, what the hell are you…” John stopped when the door opened and Jules fell out onto the street. His clothes were ripped and dirty, and his face was covered in dirt, sweat, and blood. He was wearing the same suit that John had seen him in the night before, or what was left of it. The jacket was gone, and the right sleeve of the shirt was torn off and tied around his right bicep as a makeshift bandage. “Oh my god, Jules! What happened?” John asked as he ran the rest of the way over to Jules to help him up.

“The Scarrens…” Jules said. “They’re everywhere.”

“What!” John helped him back up into the DeLorean’s driver’s seat.

“They’re everywhere…they invaded…six months from now.”

John checked his eyes. “Your pupils are dilated, I think you have a concussion.”

“Barely…barely got away…was lucky…”

“Jules, I need you to stay awake okay. Stay with me now,” John said, checking the rest of Jules body for injuries. “How did this happen?”

“We did it…wormhole technology…fell into the wrong hands.”

“Whose?”

“Your father,” Jules said just before he passed out.

“Jules! Jules! Shit!” John lifted Jules up and put him in the passenger seat before getting inside and closing the door. He shifted the car into gear and drove as fast as he could to the hospital.




Next Chapter