Episode Three: The Cybermen Return
Chapter One: Halloween Dates
(A complete rewrite of "The New Doctor")
(Rating increase to T)
"It's your turn to pick," Rose informed Donna as they sat together in the console room.
Several weeks had passed since the Doctor and Rose finally got together. That afternoon, the Doctor was in the library catching up on his trashy science fiction novels while the girls decided where to go. So far, they had gone to various interesting planets, getting into trouble and saving the world. Rose had officially moved into the Doctor's room, and Donna loved seeing everyone so cheerful. Even the TARDIS hummed peacefully at her happy travelers.
"How about we take a break and do something festive? Like a special occasion," Donna suggested, excitedly clapping her hands. "Oh! Like a holiday!"
"We could catch Christmas in London. That's always interesting."
She grimaced. "Not a fan of Christmas. No, I've got it! Halloween!"
"Like a costume party?" Rose giggled.
"Yes! But let's go to an older one like the 1980s. Costumes nowadays can be a bit rubbish. We should dress up in coordinating outfits!"
"I don't know if the Doctor will go for that."
Donna elbowed her playfully. "He'll do anything if you ask. Especially if you use your womanly wiles."
She blushed. "Belt up."
"These walls aren't soundproof, you know. And I'm not deaf."
"Donna!"
"Just saying, mate! He'll do it. The only bad thing about this idea is that I won't have a date. You two can go together and I'll just be the person awkwardly tagging along. I wish I knew some bloke that could go with me. Well, someone that knows about time machines and aliens."
That gave Rose an idea. "Don't worry about that. Let's come up with our costumes."
They talked and came up with the perfect entourage. Afterwards, Rose went into the library and asked the Doctor to go with them in costume. Surprisingly, the Doctor thought that it was a brilliant idea and could be great fun. He took Donna to pick up their outfits while Rose made a phone call to a friend about being Donna's date.
"I don't know if this costume suits me," the Doctor grumbled as he adjusted his outfit and entered the course Rose gave him. "Does it make me look ridiculous?"
"Not at all. You look fantastic. Very dashing," Rose's voice assured him from the hallway. She made a grand entrance and grinned at him. "It's my nemesis! What will I do?"
The Doctor slid the mask onto his face and struck a superhero pose, playing along with the game. He theatrically cleared his throat and declared, "I'm Batman! Who is that? Could it be my enemy, Catwoman?"
Rose held up her hands like paws, holding the pose before fixing the ear headband. She went over to him and draped her arms around his neck. "Meow. Do you still not care for cats?"
"Well, if they all looked like this, I suppose that I'd be quite the cat person."
"And I'd be quite the bat person."
After sharing a laugh, they began to kiss quite passionately. Donna's voice stopped them suddenly. "Ahem," she cleared her throat with a mock glare. "You're snogging the enemy, Batman. I am very disappointed in you."
"C'mon, Batgirl," he defended with a gesture. "She's in a skin tight outfit with an impressive tail. I can't be at fault for that."
Donna joined them in her Batgirl outfit, dramatically ruffling her cape. "Shall we go party like it's 1983?"
"Not yet," Rose replied with a mischievous grin. "We have to make a stop first."
She frowned. "A stop where?"
There was a knock on the door and it suddenly flew open. "Holy time machine, Batman!"
Rose laughed, the Doctor put his face in his hands, and Donna shrieked in delight. "Is that who I think it is?"
"I made a phone call," Rose explained. "Our costumes wouldn't be complete without Robin, and you needed a date anyway. He gave me his number last time we saw him."
Slowly, he wandered over in his way too tight costume and slid the mask from his eyes. "Captain Jack Harkness as Robin, also known as Dick Grasyon."
"How fitting," the Doctor deadpanned, breaking out into a grin afterwards. "Hello, Jack."
"Doctor, Rose. And hello Donna. Do you mind if I take you to the party?" he offered her his hand and she took it with another shriek. "I'll take that as a yes."
"I'm so excited! This is going to be brilliant!" Donna laughed with ideas of getting drunk and coming onto the handsome man in a bright yellow cape.
"Look at you all," Jack smirked suggestively. "The Doctor's in tights, Donna's in tights, and Rose is in…that…" he eyed her carefully and winked.
"Stop that," the Doctor barked. "Quit undressing her with your eyes."
"I don't have to! So little is left to the imagination."
Donna gestured to her companions. "You do know that they're a couple, right? He's going to knock you to the floor if you're not careful. Or try to."
Jack looked surprised. "Rose, you didn't mention that you and the Doctor were together."
"She didn't?" the Doctor replied with a look in her direction.
"Short conversation," she defended. "By the way, we're together now, Jack."
"I got that," he chuckled. "I have to be back by tomorrow night. Ianto wants me to take him out for drinks."
The Doctor entered a few things and pulled the lever. "You and him, huh?"
"Yeah," he confirmed. Donna wasn't happy to hear that and he didn't seem to notice. "Doctor, can you say—"
"If it's what I think you're thinking, the answer is no."
"Come on. Once. For me. Your sidekick."
He sighed, relenting. "To the bat-pole, Robin!"
"Now it's a party!" Jack cheered. "If there's a pole, can we—"
"No."
"I'd like to see that," Donna commented. She figured that she might as well enjoy the show while she could if Jack didn't go her way.
"I would love to see that. No, I'd pay to see that," Rose agreed.
The Doctor scowled. "There won't be a pole."
"We'll find one. Don't worry. The night is young," Jack promised as the ladies giggled at the Doctor's unhappy expression.
They arrived in 1983 to visit a huge Halloween party in London. It was being held by a rich gentleman for the entire community. Though it was invite only, they had their invite in the form of psychic paper. The heroes assembled and marched up the drive to the estate, and Batman showed the front guard their invite. He let them inside and Donna excitedly babbled. "I can't believe we're doing this! I've always wanted to dress up in a group and just get mental on Halloween!"
"Holy innuendo, Batman! They have a pole!" Jack pointed to a pillar in the middle of the room.
"Are you going to say that all night?" he grumbled. "That's not a pole. It's a structural support of the house. Pole dancing in the home didn't become popular until the mid-2000s. Before then, poles were only found in gentleman's clubs."
Rose folded her arms with a little huff. "You know an awful lot about pole dancing, Doctor."
"I know an awful lot about everything."
Jack headed for the pillar at top speed. "Someone dance with me! I didn't tag along to be boring!"
The Doctor refused, Donna wasn't inebriated yet, so Rose was the brave soul that sauntered over to him. Music was blaring and the Doctor tugged on his neck line at the sight of leather-clad Rose dancing on the pillar. Donna's mouth was dry at the sight of Jack. The partiers were too drunk or high to care about the super hero and villain getting funky on the structural supports, but the Doctor had other ideas. He grabbed Rose by the hand and whispered in her ear about finding a quiet spot, taking off moments later. Jack decided to twirl Donna around the room until the couple came back.
"Doctor," Rose whispered amusedly as they ran down the steps to the cellar. "What if someone finds us down here?"
He looked around at the rows and rows of wine bottles and grinned. "We're alone and I highly doubt tonight is the night for fine vintages."
She backed him into the wall and tossed his mask to the floor, making quick work of undoing his cape and kissing every inch of exposed skin. He couldn't keep his hands to himself, and his fingers accidentally undid the tail pinned to her bottom. Just as things were heating up, they heard a bottle crash to the floor. They stopped and exchanged curious looks.
Meanwhile, Jack and Donna were dancing around the room upstairs. He wanted the full story on how the time travelers finally admitted their feelings.
"So, what, they were proactive for once? Well, I guess I could believe that. The Doctor is dressed up like Batman tonight…" he chuckled, dipping Donna dramatically.
"Well, no. Not exactly. I had to push the issue."
He looked very impressed by that. "You did, huh? Did you lock them in a room and tell them to get it on or they couldn't leave?"
"That would have worked quite well. I'll have to remember that in case they ever have a big row. Actually, I only talked to them. Or shouted at them. Whatever. It was Rose that took the first step."
"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. I'm just glad he wasn't an idiot and turned her down. If he did, I would have gone for it. You have to admit that a gal in leather is very classy."
Donna had to ask. "What are you, mate?"
"What?"
"You know, I mean…let's say there's a football team. One side is called the Birmingham Beavers and the other is called the Cardiff Cockerels. Which side do you play on?"
He winked. "I'm a free agent, baby."
She laughed as he spun her around and theatrically brought her back to his chest. Back in the wine cellar, the bottles continued to rattle and crash. The smell of red wine was thick in the air, but they couldn't tell where any of it was coming from. It was a large cellar, so it could be any of the aisles. Rose still had her arms around the Doctor, but he was looking behind him inquisitively.
"Someone joined our private party," he murmured suspiciously. "And the door to house didn't open."
Another bottle crashed and Rose frowned. "Who do you think it is? Another couple sneaking off for some fun?"
"Only one way to find out," he whispered as he edged to the closest row of racks.
She followed him and they peered around the corner. There wasn't anything in that section. He took her hand and they crept silently down the aisle, searching for any evidence of other people. Once they got to the end, they took a turn and were met with broken glass and spilled wine. The Doctor crouched beside it and put his brainy specs onto his nose.
"Well, this is very interesting."
"What?" Rose asked as she joined him.
He put a finger into the liquid and tasted it. "1920 Chateau Cheval Blanc, St Emilion."
"And what's interesting about that?"
"It's a very good year."
She scowled as more bottles fell somewhere nearby. "Anything helpful to the situation?"
"The pattern of the glass fragments indicates that it was dropped from quite a height. Either our person is incredibly tall or the breaking of wine bottles is an accident."
Together, they resumed walking through the cellar. The noise seemed to be getting louder and louder. When they were almost on top of it, they stayed back and hid behind one of the aisles. Peeking around the corner, the Doctor swiftly moved back to his position beside Rose.
"Well? Did you see who it was?" she whispered.
He nodded. "Yep."
"Is it another couple?"
"No…not another couple. Take a look for yourself."
Cautiously, she leaned across his chest and leapt backwards in horror. "Is that what I think it is?"
"I'm not even sure what to call it. But I think that we can agree what it reminds us of…"
They looked at each other, saying in unison. "Cybermen."