"Wonderful!" Caractacus Potts said cheerfully as he marvelled at his latest invention. A time travelling device. He did a couple of experiments with it. He could time travel 15 minutes in the future and then come right back. It didn't seem like a huge feat but the potential of travelling further than that was possible. He wanted to travel 100+ years in the future. His curious mind wanted to so badly. He looked at Chitty. Perhaps if he hooked up the contraption to it, it could be the factor he was looking for. Couldn't hurt, he figured. More testing and field work to be done. A month later he perfected his invention. He travelled to and from 50 years in the past only because he wanted the future to be a surprise. "Excellent, Chitty!" He patted the car, which gave a quiet honk.

Truly Scrumptious and the children come out and he explains what he's been doing and what he wants to do. Truly tried to be a very supportive wife but even she thought his plan was crazy. The children, however, were all for it.

"Can we go?!" Jeremy asks.

Caractacus kneels down and looks up, "Not this time, my son."

"Awww," he pouts and so does Jemima.

"Listen, this is dangerous and I don't want to lose either of you, "he caresses their faces. "This is something I need to do" He stands up, "And I want you two to protect the house, your Grandpa, and Truly for me." He smiles as he hands them each another invention: a sword that could transform into a shield. "I dub you two the Knights of the House."

Their eyes get wide as they exclaim, "Amazing!"

"Oh, dear," Truly laughs as Caractacus walks over and holds her hands. She looks at him, whispering, "I know there is nothing I can say to change your mind but you better come back to us."

"You know I will, "he nuzzles her as he places a hand on her stomach and kisses her cheek.

The next morning, he prepares Chitty, the device, and himself. The children, Truly, and Grandpa Potts stand on the sidelines watching him. He straps on his flying cap and goggles, turns on the device, and Chitty.

"Godspeed, Caractacus!" Truly shouts.

"I love you!" he shouts to all of them as Chitty takes off into the air and disappears in a blinding light.

All Caractacus could see was bright lights mixed with darkness until he feels Chitty land a little more rough than he was used to. By the graces of Lady Luck herself, he landed on a quiet side street. "I did it?" By his calculations, the year should be 2015. Or he hoped he did as he took off his goggles and his hat. The world seemed so different. So many automobiles and no trolleys to be seen. Lots of lights in various colours, flashing, all over buildings. He was very distracted by it all as he drove and stopped to take it all in, until a sudden loud honk disturbed his train of thought, "Hey! Crazy, the light is green!"

Their voice didn't sound English but American. He landed in America. In the future. "Excuse me kind sir! What year is it?"

"Are ya off ya meds? Look at your cell! AND MOVE YOUR WEIRD OLD CAR!" The driver beeped at him before passing him with a long honk. "IDIIIIIOOT!"

"Cell? What is that?" He wondered as he drove Chitty down another road, ignoring the name calling from the other man. He had to find an alley to park it and to explore his surroundings. So many things to see. He was a scientist and an inventor after all. He managed to find a huge empty backlot and parked her back there. Even in his new surroundings, he knew he had to keep Chitty safe. He hops out and covers her up in a canvas tarp. Satisfied that she blended in within her surroundings, he explores his new environment. He gets out his notebook and starts writing. "Year? Unknown. For right now." He jots down other notes: the fashion, the new tech, what people were doing. Everything was a surprise for him. "A tele ... vision? Look at that. And moving pictures in colour? And sound?" He looks up at a cinema sign. He finally reads one of the posters and discovers it really is the year 2015. "Excellent!" He strolls over to an electronics store and stares at all the gadgets. His eyes got big, like a child on Christmas morning receiving presents. He wished he had enough time to tinker with everything. "Need to move on, I have more to observe," he thought. As he backs up, he bumps into someone. Their suitcase falls to the ground as they muttered something Spanish.

"Terribly sorry!" He tries to help him.

"Stop. I got it," The other man looks up at him, with a shocked look on his face.

Rafael Barba was coming back from a meeting with the NYPD and SVU squad and he wanted nothing more but to be home and have a glass of wine. He was already running late when this guy bumps into him. How great. He observed how this man was dressed quite strangely. Like from the Victorian era. Probably came from one of those conventions that's always advertised, he thought. It was when he looked at him that something seemed very strange. Was he seeing things? Did he hit his head too? Save for the longer hair, this man looked like him. Then a tiny light bulb goes off. What if he dressed this strange man as him? He could skip a useless mandatory meeting for tomorrow and he could have a day off. Win/win. A small smile forms on his face.

Caractacus could not understand why this man was looking at him as strange as he did. "Must be my clothes." However, the man wasn't looking down, he was looking straight at him. He finally understood. It was like looking into a mirror. "Your last name wouldn't happen to be Potts, would it?"

Barba immediately noticed he had an English accent. That might be a slight problem for his plan, but he would figure that out later. "What? Oh no. It's Barba. Rafael Barba. You?" He straightens himself out.

"I'm Caractacus Potts, pleasure to meet you. Sorry for the inconvenience, I'll be on my way," he shakes his hand before he starts to leave.

"Wait!"

Caractacus turns around, "Yes?"

"Do you want to join me for coffee?"

"Coffee?" Caractacus had a weak spot for the drink.

"Yeah, quick trip to Starbucks."

All Caractacus could do was nod his head as he followed the man, who walked rather fast, even he had trouble keeping up. They arrive at the shop. Caractacus had to admit to him he's never been to one and all of the choices almost made him dizzy.

Barba just smirks, "You look like someone who's into caramel fraps."

"Caramel," Caractacus nearly drools. "Is it too much trouble to ask for extra?"

"No, they make it how you want it."

Caractacus had stars in his eyes, rattling off how he wanted extra caramel, chocolate, and whipped cream. His drink looked more like a candy bar than coffee.

Barba never seen anyone get so excited about stuff like that. As he paid for their drinks, he thought, "Who was this guy?"

"Thank you." Caractacus sips his drink, smiling as they take a seat at one of the high tables

"No problem." He looked at him. "Let's address the elephant in the room: you look like me and vice versa."

"Yes, I observed that. It's quite a queer thing." Caractacus nods.

"I have a proposition to ask you." Barba folds his hands together under his chin.

"What sort?" Caractacus cocks his head in a curious manner.

"How would you like to be me for a day?"

"I?" Confusion rang in his voice.

"You heard me." Barba gives a mischievous look. "Not gonna lie: I'm really not looking forward to this meeting tomorrow. If you could sit in for me, I would be forever grateful. I'll throw in free food for the deal. And sweets." He always had a knack at knowing what people wanted. When he saw the man's eyes light up at the offer of free sweets he knew he had him.

"Sure!" that was Caractacus' one true weakness, besides all of this was for scientific investigation. Even if it was an excuse, it was a good excuse. He was up for it and he gets to pretend to be someone else. It sounded like pure fun.

"There's one catch." Barba looks at him in a serious manner.

"What is it?" Caractacus gave a concerned look.

"You need a haircut."