"I love grapes," Tristan confessed at the table, popping the twentieth one into her mouth, "fruit leathers? I love them in grape. Grape juice, grape jelly, grape gummies—"

"I like bananas," The Doctor looked around, "shame they don't exist here yet."

The room fell silent as one man, one woman, one little girl, and one little boy walked into the dining room. Tristan assumed the two adults were the parents and the kids were their children.

Robert scuttled in front of the family in his, what looked like so far, a permanently nervous state and said in a loud voice, "Mr. Clive Étrange, Mrs. Linda Étrange, Mr. Charlie Étrange, and Miss Emily Étrange." He soon scuttled out.

The two adults looked quite young – 38 years old at least. Clive had short brown hair and fair skin. His cheekbones weren't too high and his nose wasn't too big, too small, or too pointed. His eyes were a mix of blue, green, and gray, which was something that set him apart from everyone else in the room. In fact, everything about him was unique besides the clothes he was wearing, which looked like every other male's outfit: a large black coat, a top hat, a white shirt, matching trousers, and shiny leather shoes.

Linda was extraordinarily beautiful. Her skin was also fair and her facial features were perfect. She had long blond hair that fell in waves down her shoulders and her back and her eyes were also that unique mix of blue, green, and gray. Her green and blue dress that was slim at the top and large fit her magnificent body. It was as if she never gave birth to two children.

The brother and sister looked like mini versions of their parents. There skin was fair as well, their faces were picturesque, and they too had the same shades in their eyes. Emily had shoulder length blond hair that fell in tight ringlets. She was wearing a cute little pink dress that had lace and ruffles in all the right places. Little Charlie had short, neatly trimmed, brown hair and he was wearing a sharp little suit with a top hat as well.

The four of them smiled at the same time and revealed their perfect white teeth.

"Well they look like creepers." Tristan whispered and popped another grape in her mouth.

"My friends," the man smiled and reached his arms out, "do not stop on our account! Please continue!"

At that very moment, the low whisper started up again and Tristan took another bunch of grapes. She turned her head to the family and noticed that as they all sat down, Clive was staring straight and her and the Doctor.

"Is it just me or is he totally staring at us?" She whispered.

"Um, yes, definitely," the Doctor replied, "TARDIS?"

"TARDIS." She nodded and they both stood up and left the room.

"I parked the TARDIS in our room," He opened the two large doors, "shown to me by our new friend Robert."

Tristan stopped on the spot and gasped. It was absolutely beautiful. The walls were pure white with gold accents and the floor was lined with dusty blue and cream tiles in a checkerboard pattern. There were two queen sized four-poster beds on the right side of the room draped with sheer white curtains and one white bedside table in between the two. There was a large window in the front of the room with thick gold curtains that masked the night. She looked to the left and saw one of the most wanted things by all women in the universe: two doors that looked like they led to a walk-in closet.

She looked over at her Time Lord companion, who was sitting at the edge of the bed that was closest to the window, bouncing up and down.

Then she looked back at the doors, ran to them, and ripped them open. She expected to see racks and racks of beautiful dresses, but it was empty. Except for the large blue police box sitting in the middle of the closet.

She groaned then she sharply turned around to face him, "Wait, you parked the TARDIS here?"

"Well, yes," He replied, "I woke up next to the TARDIS, spinning I may add, but I was next to it."

"That is completely unfair!" She placed her hands on her hips.

"Hello!" He waved his arms around, "We're in France 1857 because someone shot a transmat beam at us, meaning they wanted us here for something that I have a bad feeling about, and you're complaining about how you got here?" He looked at her but she just turned around. He sighed, "Go inside the TARDIS and get some pajamas. Time for bed, it's getting late."

And surprisingly, she followed his orders.

The Doctor had always been a light sleeper. Why not? After all, he is a Time Lord.

He was just lying there in bed with his arms behind his head and his eyes closed, half asleep and half awake like a watchdog. Then he turned to his side and slipped his arms under the pillow to support his head and he thought a little deeper. The only times he was really able to sleep was when the Time Lords and Gallifrey were still around, and when he was with her. You know, her.

All his thoughts were cut off when he heard rustling.

'Probably just Tristan rolling around in her bed.' He thought.

That thought was totally erased when he heard quiet beeps. He opened his eyes just a little bit, so that if the intruder looked at him, he still looked like he was asleep. The first thing he looked at was Tristan, her body was facing him and her arms were under the pillow just like him. Then he looked up and right behind her, sitting on the bed, was Clive Étrange.

Clive was staring intently at the tiny square machine in his hands that was filled with green lights. His fingers flew over tiny buttons like he was trying to fix it. He smiled when the problem was solved and his head turned slowly towards Tristan. His eyes were so fixed on the device, if poultry flew in through the window, he wouldn't have noticed a thing.

The Doctor panicked and moved his hand quickly but quietly to the bedside table drawer where he had placed his sonic screwdriver but when he looked down, he noticed that the drawer was already open. His eyes flew to Tristan. She had the sonic screwdriver in her left and pulled the top with the other. The light started to glow and she whipped around to face Clive.

"Next time you try to use that thing on me," she said smoothly as she pressed the sonic against Clive's forehead, hoping to leave a circular mark, "try to make sure the beeping noises aren't right beside my ear."

Clive's eyes were wide and he said nothing, for Tristan was still pointing the sonic at his face. He shoved the machine back inside his pocket quickly, still looking at her, and slowly stood up with his hands in the air. She waved the sonic towards the door, signaling for him to leave immediately, and so he did.

The door creaked slowly and shut.

Tristan turned her head from the door and to the Doctor, "I told you he was a creeper! What was that machine he was holding?"

"Well from what I saw," he sat up, "that was a Brainwave Synthesis Machine. Basically, it's a mind control device made by the Brainwave Synthesis Research Group oh I don't know… 675 years from now?"

"You mean, 675 years from now, some crazy group of scientists are going to make a machine that controls other people's minds? For what?"

"Ah, we'll never know," he responded, "Even before they came out, they were all stolen from their offices and factories. I guess we know who took them now." He exhaled a shaky breath, "those are one of the most dangerous pieces of alien tech in history."

"You mean to say that all throughout history, aliens from other planets have built huge spaceships and laser beams and weapons of mass destruction, but one of the most dangerous things in all of history is a mind control machine?"

"Oh yes…because once you start messing with another being's mind, everything suddenly gets extremely ugly."

The sun finally started to rise.