A/N: new chappie! enjoy!
Chapter 7: Dinner Then a Show
Beverley held onto the console of the TARDIS as it shook, the Doctor doing the same, pulling himself from one end to another, slapping levers into place and pushing buttons as he went. The TARDIS shook slightly as it landed and the Doctor slid to a stop next to her as she stood, folding his hands in front of him and grinning at her as she looked back at him.
"You wanted to go to the future this time, right?" he smiled, throwing an arm around her shoulders and turning her toward the door and heading down the ramp. "New Earth. And since the last couple of times I was in New New York were trouble, I chose somewhere a bit more appropriate for tourists. New California! Hollywood."
"What happened in New New York?" Beverley wondered as they came to the door and he gripped the handle to open it, still hanging on her shoulders.
"The usual," he shrugged, opening the door. "Cat people, tacks of skin trying to take over my companion's body, crab-like aliens trying to eat people. Things like that."
"What about running?" Beverley smirked, as she stepped out of the TARDIS, not looking away from him.
"Lots of running," he confirmed with a grin, shutting the door behind him as they finally looked ahead.
Cars zoomed past them as the Doctor had parked the TARDIS in a vacant lot on Hollywood Boulevard. Beverley's eyes shot wide when she realized that the cars were hovering above the asphalt of the streets. Hollywood Boulevard was bustling with all different kinds of humanoids. She was so amazed by it that she hardly felt the Doctor take her hand to pull her down the street until she was nearly being dragged by him.
"Well, we've had dinner," he grinned as she turned her attention to him. "Time for the cinema!"
"Ooh! Where?" Beverley grinned back, rushing up next to him to pull her hand from his and wrap her arms around one of his.
"Regal Cinemas," the Doctor lied, flatly then retorted, "Where do ya think? The El Capitan Theatre!"
"Smashing!" she grinned, her eyes bright as he led her down the street. "A romantic, off-world dinner, a future movie…this is shaping up to be the perfect first date, Doctor."
"Well, only the best for my traveling companions," the Doctor smiled, shoving his hands in his pockets as she still clung to his arm.
"Speaking of which, how many other girls have you taken out of these fine dates of yours?" she smiled.
"Oh, a few," he shrugged. "There were these three brilliant girls before you. All in their own way, of course, just like you."
"My, my, you get around, eh?" she teased. "Lemme guess…one blonde, one brunette, and one red-head?"
"Yup," the Doctor nodded, making her look to him with wide eyes, filled with disbelief. "Rose Tyler: blonde, Martha Jones: brunette and Donna Noble: red-head."
"Oh," Beverley chirped, looking ahead again. "Well, there you are. Sorry I asked." The Doctor frowned down at her in wonder, but she didn't look back at him. "So, what movies are showing?"
"Pirates of the Caribbean, if I recall correctly," the Doctor replied, turning his attention ahead again as they still strolled.
"That's not new," Beverley frowned in wonder.
"The fiftieth one is," he smirked and her eyes widened.
"Fifty?" she squeaked, and he nodded.
"Of course, it' changed, considerably," he continued. "The actors have been replaced by androids. So really they're future Pirates of the Caribbean."
"How could they make an android move like Jack Sparrow?" Beverley wondered before stopping them an imitating Jack Sparrow's drunken movements. The Doctor laughed and she stopped with a grin before he took her hand to pull her down the street again.
"You'll see," he assured her, turning under an awning she hadn't noticed before. They stepped up to the box office where a human shaped man with a cat's head and face smiled just as the Doctor reached into his jacket pocket.
"Hello, there," he grinned, pulling out his psychic paper and holding it up in front of his face. "The Doctor and Beverley Gilmore. VIPs, I believe our tickets are waiting for us here."
"Which movie, Doctor?" the Catman asked, typing into his computer on the other side.
"Pirates of the Caribbean," the Doctor smiled, tucking the paper into his jacket again.
"Here you are, Dr. Gilmore," the Catman nodded, shoving the tickets through the gap in the glass.
"Oh, we're not—"
"Come on, darling!" Beverley interrupted him with a grin as she took the tickets and pulled him toward the door. "We don't want to miss it!"
The Doctor allowed her to pull him along until she glanced around, lost and he stepped next to her, taking the tickets and leading her through the building until they reached the theatre the movie was showing. They quickly found seats, neither one wanting food or drink after just having dinner, and the advertisements played as they made themselves comfortable. The theatre was packed.
"Is this opening night or something?" Beverley frowned around the room, making the Doctor look around as well.
"Guess so," he shrugged before they looked back at her in the semi-darkness.
"So tell me about these former companions of yours," she suddenly requested, making him give a frown, but she continued, asking, "Were any of them pretty?"
"All of them were," the Doctor shrugged, looking back to the screen.
Beverley gave a small sneer before asking, "Are all your companions pretty, then?"
"So far," he grinned, turning back to her. "It helps to have a pretty girl on your arm sometimes."
"You didn't do a very good job in picking me, then," she muttered, looking toward the screen.
"That's not true," he argued, gently before reaching toward her with one hand and gently tucking a stray strand of red hair behind her ear. Beverley shot her wide, sea-green gaze at him in wonder as he only smiled warmly at her and said, "You're very pretty. So's your mind. That's the best part, you know? Brains make a face prettier."
"You keep saying I'm clever," she noticed. "I'm not all that clever."
"You spoke to the Genonians, didn't you?" he recalled. "That took some smarts to get through that."
"Yeah, but it didn't work," Beverley muttered, looking down at her lap in shame, but the Doctor quickly reached over and tugged her chin up to pull her gaze to his, making her eyes shoot wide again.
"You were still brilliant," he murmured through a smile.
Beverley swallowed, thinking he might kiss her, but the lights dimmed and he instantly pulled his hand away, grinning at the screen and settling in his chair. She stared at him for a moment before turning her attention to the screen as well to watch the previews, trying to will her heart to stop pounding. She glanced to his arm as it sat on the armrest between them and took a deep breath before looping her own arm through it and leaning her head on his shoulder. Her heart jumped when he set his cheek on her head, and she couldn't help smiling, feeling his grin against her head.
They were silent as she reveled in the closeness, but both soon frowned when the picture on the screen started warping, strangely. They sat up, slowly, detaching from each other and still stared at the screen as the picture soon started fading, in from black and back to picture, the previews still running.
"This isn't supposed to happen, is it, Doctor?" Beverley asked and he shook his head as she looked at him.
"No, it's not," he replied slowly, still frowning, his eyes wide as he shoved up in his seat to look back behind them where the source of the projection was coming from, then back at the screen. "Well, only one way to find out what's gone wrong here."
He grabbed Beverley's hand as he stood and they had to practically climb over the audience around them, the Doctor chirping politely, "Excuse me! Pardon us! Sorry!"
Once out of the isle, he nearly dragged Beverley back out of the theatre and through the building, looking at each of the doors until he finally came to one that read Staff Only. He released her hand to dig into his jacket pocket for his sonic screwdriver, then aimed it at the lock.
"Doctor, we'll get in trouble for this!" Beverley whispered before the Doctor put his screwdriver away again, gripping the knob and looking at her.
"Come on, Bev!" he whispered back through a grin, then raised his brows in excitement as he urged, "Live a little. You wanna find out what happened, yeah?"
"Somebody just probably got a bad copy, that's all," she guessed through a shrug.
"Oh, see now you're hurtin' my feelings!" he replied through a hurt frown. "Come on! Think on it! How do you get a bad copy of a movie in the future? And of the previews no less! Not really hard to get good copies of these things. Everything's on discs now."
"Wait, so, we're supposed to be watchin' the DVD of this movie?" Beverley frowned, and the Doctor nodded.
"Now, ready to have a look?" he grinned, before grabbing her hand and turning the knob to peek inside.
Beverley remained behind the Doctor, gripping his hand as they look around a dark room, a DVD player hooked up to a projector and a curtain hiding whoever might operate it.
"Ever see the Wizard of Oz, Bev?' the Doctor whispered, and she gave him a frown.
"'Acourse," she shrugged as they inched closer to the curtain.
"Then pay close attention to the man behind the curtain," the Doctor played on the line before sweeping the curtain back to find a tubby leaning his upper body on a space on the table where the DVD player sat. "Well, that was anti-climactic."
"Fell asleep on the job, eh?" Beverley guessed, letting the Doctor's hand go before stepping closer, reaching toward the man. "Oi, Sir? You know there's a theatre full of people down there a bit confused about—?"
"Beverley! Don't touch him!" the Doctor suddenly shouted, grabbing her arms and pulling her back, making her give a startled shout.
"What?" she breathed as he only stared at the unmoving man before pointing down to his hand hanging beside him over the edge of the table.
"Look at his hand," he instructed, and when she did, she frowned in wonder.
"Why is his hand blue?" she asked as the Doctor's hands slid from her arms and he took a slight step closer to the body.
"Because he's dead," he replied, solemnly. "And only one thing leaves an after effect like that on its victims."
"What's that?" Beverley asked, not moving and staring at the back of his head. After a moment he turned to her, and she instantly recognized the look on his face. Something big was about to happen. Dangerous, life-threatening, and she was certain there would be more running. "Doctor? What is it?"
"Kalos disease."
A/N: dun dun DUN! lol. reviews?
