I stayed in my room for a little while longer until I had my tears under control and I didn't look like I just cried my eyes out. I quickly got dressed then headed to the control room. As I'm walking down the hallway the TARDIS starts to jerk violently and I'm tossed into the wall. I hold onto the wall as I stand back up or try to really.
"Des? Des, what's going on?" I asked her but receive no response. I grunt as I crash into the wall again as I try to make my way down to the other's. Then suddenly I'm tossed backwards and land on the floor, hard. I groan in pain as I turn to my side slowly before sitting up. My head hurt, my back hurt, every bloody part of my body hurt. I stand back up after a few seconds and head straight to the control room.
"Everyone all right?" I heard the Doctor ask.
"What the bloody hell just happen?" I asked as I walk towards him. "I was on my here when I was all but thrown into the wall!" The Doctor quickly looks me over.
"You all right?" He asked, worriedly.
"I'm fine just a bit bruised. What's wrong with Des? She wouldn't answer me, she always answers me." I tell him. He quickly rushes over to the console.
"She's dead." I hear him whisper. I snap my head towards him.
"I'm sorry?" I questioned then look back to the console. There's smoke rising from it and all the lights are off.
"The TARDIS is dead." The Doctor walks slowly around the console.
"You can fix it?" Rose asked him. I stared at the Doctor then at the console in worry.
"There's nothing to fix. She's perished." He pulls a lever back and forth fruitlessly. "The last TARDIS in the universe . . . extinct." I cover my mouth with my hand. The sorrow in the Doctor's voice causing my eyes to prick with tears.
"We can get help, yeah?" Rose offered.
"Where from?" The Doctor asked her.
"Well, we've landed - we've gotta be somewhere." She replied.
"We fell out of the vortex, through the void, into nothingness. We're in some sort of no-place . . .the silent realm . . . the lost dimension . . ." The Doctor trailed off.
"Otherwise know as London!" Mickey laughs as he steps out of the door. We quickly follow after him, only to enter 21st century London. "London, England, Earth. Hold on. . ." He jumps off the low wall and picks a paper out of a dustbin and looks at the cover. "First of February, this year - not exactly far-flung, is it?" Rose jumps down and looks over his shoulder. I frown as I look around. Something didn't feel right. I look up to the sky and my eyes widen at the sight before them. I nudge at the Doctor to get his attention. He looks at me with a raised eyebrow and I just point up, still looking at the sky.
"So, this is London." The Doctor said, his voice a bit high pitch.
"Yep." Mickey answered.
"Your city." The Doctor moves to jump down then holds a hand out to me.
"That's the one." I take a hold of his hand and he helps me down.
"Just as we left it." The Doctor holds onto my hand as we turn to Rose and Mickey.
"Bang on." Mickey almost cheers.
"I don't remember zeppelins being in the sky when we left." I said causing Mickey and Rose to look at me then they look up to the sky full of zeppelins.
"What the hell. . ." Mickey gasped out.
"That's beautiful." Rose breathes out.
"Okay." Mickey shrugged. "So, it's London with a big international zeppelin festival." I raised an eyebrow at that.
"International zeppelin festival?" I questioned him, Mickey just shrugs again.
"This is not your world." The Doctor told us. Mickey and Rose looked at him confused.
"But if the date's the same. . ." Both mine and Mickey's eyes widen as we worked it out. "It's parallel, right? Am I right? Like parallel Earth where they've got Zeppelins, am I right? I'm right, aren't I?"
"Parallel?" I whispered, dazed as I looked around and tighten my hold on the Doctor's hand.
"Must be." The Doctor replied as he returned the squeeze.
"So, a parallel world where —" Rose trails off suddenly.
"Oh, come on. You see it on films. Like an alternative to our world were everything's the same but a little bit different, like . . . I dunno - traffic lights are blue, Tony Blair never got elected . . ." Mickey rambles off.
"And he's still alive. . ." I snap my head towards Rose. She's gazing at a poster right in front of us. On it is our father, Pete Tyler. "A parallel world and our dad's still alive . . ." She makes towards the poster. I let go of the Doctor's hand and quickly grab Rose's arm, dragging her away from the poster.
"Do not look at it, Rose. This isn't our world and that's not our father." I told her sternly.
"But Jessa, that's our dad . . ." I shake my head furiously.
"No, Rose." She pulls her arm out of my grip.
"He's a success, Jessa! All his planning and schemes that everyone said was useless, but he did it." I grasp her shoulders and turn her to me, looking her straight in the eyes.
"Rose, listen to me right now." She tries to glance back at the poster. "Rose, stop looking at it!" She reluctantly meets my eyes again. "He's dead. He died when you were six months old and I was six. This isn't our Pete. He's got his own Jackie — his own daughters, for all we know, but they aren't us." Her eyes start to wonder back to the poster but I shake her shoulders. "You can't see him. Not ever." I wait until she gives me a tiny nod before releasing her with my own nod. I take a step back, tossing a quick glance at the poster before shaking my head and rush back to the TARDIS with the Doctor following after me. I place my hands on the console and hang my head to my chest, squeezing my eyes shut.
"Jessamine?" The Doctor whispers as he places a hand on my shoulder. I take a deep breath and turn around.
"I'm fine, just needed a minute." I told him. He watches me for a few seconds.
"Are you sure?" He questions. I nodded my head while crossing my arms staying quiet for a while.
"I just don't want to go through losing him again." I told him finally. The Doctor gives me a soft understanding look which I return with a small smile before turning back to the console. "Let's figure out what's wrong with Des so we can get the hell out of here and away from temptation."
"I couldn't agree more with you." The Doctor replied stepping up beside me. The Doctor and I go through every part of the console and control room twice before the Doctor yells in frustration banging his fist on console. I bite my lip as he hangs his head in clear defeat. I'm about to move over to him when Mickey enters the TARDIS and the Doctor rounds on him.
"I told you to keep an eye on her!" He exclaimed, angrily. Mickey shrugs dismissively.
"She's all right—"
"She goes wandering off - parallel world, it;s like a gingerbread house! All those temptations calling out." The Doctor interrupted him, I turned to Mickey realizing that his grandmother could possibly be alive.
"Oh, so it's just Rose then? Nothing out there to tempt me?" Mickey snaps back.
"Mickey." I said softly. He turns to me with hope in his eyes. I just shake my head, not having the heart to till him that he can't going looking for her like I know he wants too. Mickey sighs unhappily but nods his head.
"If I could just get this thing to —" The Doctor kicks the console hard in his frustration. Mickey and I watch him slowly walk over to the chair, scowling.
"Did that help?" Mickey snickers.
"Yes." The Doctor bites out.
"Did that hurt?" Mickey asked this time, taking pleasure from the man's obvious pain. The Doctor just shoots him a dirty look and sits down, rubbing his foot. I rolled my eyes at them.
"That's what you get for kicking Des." I told him before going back to find out what's wrong with Des. I was beginning to miss having her in my head.
"We're not meant to be here. The TARDIS draws its power off the universe, but it's the wrong universe. It's like diesel in a petrol engine." The Doctor said uncomfortably.
"But. . .I've seen it in comics. People are hopping from one alternative world to another - it's easy." Mickey said as he sat down next to him. I snorted but kept quiet, the boys were sort of getting along and I didn't want to stop it quite yet.
"Not in the real world." The Doctor paused for a second. "Used to be easy. When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, you could hop between realities, home in time for tea. Then they died, took it all with them. The walls of reality closed, the worlds were sealed. Everything became that bit less kind."
"Then how did we get here?" Mickey asked.
"I dunno. Accident? Should've been impossible - now we're trapped." The Doctor sounded weary. I glanced at him for a short second before looking at the ground where something glowing green caught my attention.
"What's that?" I questioned, bending down to look at the glowing object better.
"What?" The boys asked.
"Under the console." I pointed. "Something's glowing." The Doctor quickly moved over to me.
"It's a light! Is it? Is that a light? I think that's a light! That's all we need!" The Doctor chattered excitedly as we removed the grilling. "We've got power! Mickey, Jessamine, we've got power! Ha!" I laugh in relief as the Doctor hops down going underneath the console and pulling out some very important looking internals of Des. I'll have to make sure he puts them back in their proper place. "It's alive!" The Doctor sounds deliriously happy which I don't blame him for.
"What is it?" Mickey asked, confused.
"It's nothing. It's tiny. One of those insignificant little power cells that no one ever bothers about, and it's clinging onto life. But with one little ounce of reality tucked away inside." The Doctor told us.
"Seems like all the things we deem insignificant turn out to be rather significant." I stated earning a bright smile from the Doctor.
"Right you are, Jessamine!" He hops up a little to place a kiss to my cheek before going back the power cell.
"Is it enough to get us home?" Mickey raised an eyebrow in annoyance.
"Not yet." The Doctor picks up the power cell and sits back on the small set of stairs under the grilling. "I need to charge it up." He holds it carefully, cupped in both his hands.
"We could go outside and latch it up to the national grid!" Mickey said but I shake my head.
"Wrong sort of energy. It'll probably have to be something from our universe." I told him.
"But we don't have anything." Mickey said, worriedly.
"There's me. . ." The Doctor mutters and before I can stop him, he gently blows on the power cell and it begins to glow brightly. The Doctor beams at us. "I just gave away ten years of my life. Worth every second!" I stare at him with wide eyes and the bastard has the nervous to giggle. Though I will admit it was an adorable giggle it doesn't make for the fact he just gave some of his life away.
"WHAT!" I yelled. It was the Doctor's turn to look at me with wide eyes. "Ten years! What! I don't even — What!" Was all I could get out. The Doctor quickly but gently hands the cell over to Mickey before taking me into his arms.
"Hey, it's okay!" He said. I pulled back from him.
"Okay? Ten years of your life, Doctor!" I threw my hands into the air. "We have no idea how much time you have left and doing stuff like that isn't going to help! There's no way for you to get more time for when you finally do." The Doctor cups my cheeks and stares at me, gently.
"I promise it'll be okay, Jessamine." I sigh and close my eyes, placing my forehead against his.
"I just don't want to be left behind." I whispered to him.
"And you won't, I'm not going anywhere." He whispered back, placing a quick kiss to my lips.
"It's going out! Is that okay?" Mickey's voice startled us apart. The Doctor cleared his throat and nodded.
"It's on a recharging cycle." The cell glows brighter again then dims. "It'll loop round, power back up and be ready to take us home in - oh - twenty-four hours?"
"So, that gives us twenty-four hours on a parallel world?" Mickey questioned, innocently. I raised an eyebrow at him not buying his act.
"Surely! As long as we keep our heads down. Easy. No problem." The Doctor takes the cell back then puts it in his pocket and heads out to Rose. I sighed as we walked out of the TARDIS, this was going to end in a disaster. Rose was sitting on a bench a little way from the TARDIS. "There you are! You all right? No applause, I fixed it!" He shows her the cell. "Twenty-four hours, then we're flying back to reality." Rose stays silent so I knelt in front of her and took one of her hands in mind.
"What's wrong, Rose?" I asked her.
"My phone connected. There's this. . .Cybus Network, it finds your phone. It gave me Internet access." She said softly.
"Rose, it doesn't matter. This isn't our world, so whatever it says —"
"I don't exist." She interrupted me. I stared at her for a moment in shock.
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.
"There's no Rose Tyler. I was never born, but you were." She glares at me.
"What?" Rose stands up causing me to fall to the ground.
"You were born! With your twin brother!" Rose yells, I just stare up at her. "How is that fair! Why do you get to have time with my dad! Not only that but your married and have a kid!"
"I'm married?" I whispered. The Doctor moves over to me and helps me up.
"Yeah, to some fella named John Smith." I froze in my spot.
"John? Harry?" I said in a daze. The Doctor turns me to look at him.
"Jessamine, you can't go looking for them. They aren't your John and Harry. I'm sorry." He does look incredibly sorry.
"I know, I know." I gasped out after a moment.
"I've gotta see him." I heard Rose all but demand. The Doctor let's go of me and turns to her then starts to argue with her. Mickey watches me for a moment before taking my hand and walked us away from Rose and the Doctor.
"Mickey?" I questioned as the Doctor turns around to us.
"Where're you going?" The Doctor asked, bewildered.
"Well, I can do what I want!" Mickey called back. Rose was walking backwards in the opposite direction.
"Stay where you are, the three of you! Rose, come back here! Mickey, Jessamine, come back here right now!" He looked from Rose to us frantically.
"I just wanna see him." Rose said, childishly.
"Yeah, I've got things to see and all." I stare up at Mickey then over to the Doctor. The Doctor looked at me pleadingly to help.
"Go with Rose, Doctor. I'll watch Mickey." I told him and Mickey and I walk off, leaving the Doctor to chase after Rose. "Let's go see gran." I said to Mickey and we raced off to were she would live. As we walk along a factory we come up to a barring in the road with military soldiers standing around. One of them approaches us.
"We all right to get past?" Mickey asked him.
"Yeah. No bother. Curfew doesn't start 'til ten." The soldier told us.
"There's a curfew?" I asked, bewildered.
"Course there is. Where've you been living, mate? Up there with the toffs?" He looks up at the sky and Mickey follows his gaze.
"We wish." The soldier lifts the barrier and we walk through going on our way. We turn a corner in a run-down looking area and cross the street. Mickey's pace begins to slow slightly as we approach one of the doors.
"We don't have to do this." I tell him, placing a hand on his arm.
"No, I need. . . I need to know." He whispered. I smiled and we walked up to the door. Mickey knocks three times.
"Who's that there?" Both Mickey and I sucked in a shocked breath. The door opens and Mickey's gran stands on the threshold, alive. "Who is it? I know you're there. Shame on you, tricking an old lady." She brandishes her sight cane at us. "And don't think I'm gonna disappear! You're NOT gonna take ME." I stand back to let Mickey have a moment with her. He just stares at her, overcome.
"Hi." He finally said after a few minutes. Rita-Anne stops in her tracks.
"Is that you?" She asked, hushed.
"It's me. I came home." Rita-Anne reaches out to him, touching his face.
"Ricky?" I quickly cover my mouth to smother the snort of laughter trying to break out.
"It's Mickey." he sends a glare my way.
"I know my own grandson's name. It's Ricky. Now, come here." I smiled softly as they hug.
"Okay, I'm Ricky. Of course I am. Ricky, that's me." Mickey agreed just so happy to be with her. Then Rita-Anne suddenly pushes him away and whacks him on the shoulder. I smother another round of laughter. "Ow!"
"You stupid boy." She smacks him again. "Where've you been?"
"Ow! Stop hitting me!" But she just continues to hit him.
"It's been days and days! I keep hearing all these stories. People disappearing off the streets. There's nothing of it on the download." She points to her earpiece. "But there're all these rumors, and — and whispers. I thought that God had disappeared you!" Mickey looks behind her.
"That carpet on the stairs, I told you to get it fixed, you're gonna —" His voice trembles as he paused from a moment. "fall and break your neck."
"Well, you get it fixed for me." She said.
"I should'a done way back. I guess I'm just kinda useless." I bite my lip at that, 'Oh, Mickey.'
"Now, I never said that." Rita-Anne replied.
"I am, though. And I'm sorry, gran. I'm so sorry." He was choking up on tears.
"Don't talk like that. Do you know what you need? A nice sit down and a cuppa tea. You got time?" She asked him.
"For you, I've got all the time in the world." Mickey told her. Rita-Anne laughs.
"You say that, but it's all talk. It's those new friends of yours. I don't trust them." She said as she moves out of the way for him to get inside.
"What friends are they?" Mickey questioned, curious.
"Don't pretend you don't know. You've been seeing them since that Tyler girl got married and had that cute little boy." Mickey and I shared a surprised look. "Mrs. Chan told me. Driving about all helter-skelter in that van." I turn around at the sound of skidding tyres.
"What van's that, then?" Mickey asked this time.
"You know full well! Don't play games with me." A van pulls up behind us. "Get inside!" Some guy leaps out of the van and grabs us both by the collar.
"I've been looking for you everywhere!" The man told Mickey as he drags us into the van and the woman driving wastes no time and peels away. The guy sits across from us, he sends me a quick glare before turning to Mickey. I raised an eyebrow at the guy confused on why he's glaring at me.
"Ricky, you were the one who told us - you don't contact your family 'cos it puts them in danger!" He reprimanding Mickey.
"Yeah. Ricky said that. Course I did, just testing." I rolled my eyes at Mickey's attempt to play himself off as this Ricky guy.
"I saw them. I taped them! They went round Black Friars gathering up the homeless like a child-catcher. They must've took four dozen." The guy told us.
"The vans were hired out to a company called 'International Electromatics'. But I did a protocol search. . .turns out that's a dummy company established by guess who?" The woman asked him.
"I dunno, who?" He asked.
"Cybus Industries!" They both shout. Mickey nods, just going along with it.
"And now we've got evidence!" The guy said to the woman.
"Bad news is, they've arrested Thin Jimmy. So that just leaves you." The woman said to Mickey.
"Leaves me what?" Mickey asked.
"The Number One. Top of the list. London's Most Wanted." The guy said it as though it was something to be pleased about.
"Okay, cool." Mickey paused then snapped his head towards them. "Say that again?" The van pulls over and the guy hops out of the back first.
"There's a light on. There's someone inside the base." Mickey hops down after him then I go next. "Mrs Moore - we've got visitors." The three of them sneak down the side of the house like spies, guns at the ready. I rolled my eyes and followed after them. "One. . . two. . . three. . . go!" They burst into the house and a perfect copy of Mickey stood in front of us.
"What the hell are you doing?" He asked the two with the guns. They look at him then to Mickey, completely bewildered.
"What're you doing there?!" The guy exclaimed. Ricky slowly starts to walk forward.
"What am I doing HERE?" He stares at Mickey then to me, brow furrowed. "What am I doing THERE?" He points a finger at Mickey. The two idiots in front of us immediately spin around and turn their guns on us, Mickey raises his hands, eyes wide but I just cross my arms, rolling my eyes.
"You lot are idiots." I told them. Ricky steps up to me while the other two take Mickey. They strip him to his boxer and tied him to a chair.
"Jessa, what are you doing here? Aren't you suppose to be in Scotland?" Ricky asked me. I stare at him for a moment trying to think about what to say.
"I came down for my mother's birthday." I told him. He nods while looking me up and down.
"What about Smith and the kid?" I raised an eyebrow at him. 'Is he jealous of John?' I thought to myself.
"John and I decide that Harry's too young to be traveling yet." I explain. Ricky gives me a smirk as he slides an arm around my shoulders.
"So your alone then?" I scoff and move his arm off my shoulders.
"In your dreams, Ricky." He scowls at me and moves away. He turns and stares at Mickey.
"This is off the scale. He's flesh and blood - how did that happen?" Ricky asked.
"Well, it could be that Cybus Industries have perfected the science of human cloning. . .? Or your father had a bike?" Rickey continues to glare at Mickey and circles him menacingly.
"Your names is Mickey, not Ricky?" he asked.
"Mickey. Dad was Jackson Smith. Used to work at the key cutters in Cliffton's Parade. Went to Spain, never came back." Mickey told him. Rickey bends to get a closer look at him.
"But that's MY dad. So . . . we're brothers?" Ricky questioned.
"Be fair. What else could it be?" The guy asked with a shrug of his shoulders.
"I don't know. But he doesn't just look like me, he is exactly the same. There's something else going on here, Jake." 'So that's what the guy's name is.' I wander around the compound, bored of the conversation going on in front of me.
"So, who are you lot?" I heard Mickey ask.
"We - we are the Preachers. As in Gospel Truth. You see?" I turn and see Ricky touch his ears. "No ear plugs. While the rest of the world downloads from Cybus Industries, we - WE have got freedom. You're talking to London's Most Wanted. But target Number One is Lumic, and we ARE going to bring him down." I raised an eyebrow and look around the room.
"From your kitchen?" I questioned causing Jake to smirk and Ricky to scowl again.
"Got a problem with that, Tyler?" He growled out. I smirked and shake my head.
"Not at all, Smith." A laptop bleeps.
"It's an upload from Gemini." The woman said.
"Who is Gemini?" Mickey asked.
"The vans are back. They're moving out of Battersea. Looks like Gemini was right. Lumic's finally making a move." She states while ignoring Mickey's questioned.
"And we are right behind him. Pack up, we're leaving." I quickly move over to the woman while she and Jake untie Mickey.
"Hi." The woman looks up at me. "I'm Jessa, I didn't quite get your name." I held a hand out to her.
"I know who you are and I'm Mrs Moore." Mrs Moore said before moving away to start packing equipment. Frowning, I lower my hand.
"Tough crowd, huh?" I turn to look at now redressed Mickey.
"You have no idea." I replied, dryly. We're herded into the van again and driving to some manor. Rickey and Jake jump out while Mrs Moore, Mickey, and I stay in the van.
"I've identified the address. It belongs to Peter Tyler. The Vitex millionaire." Mrs Moore told Mickey and I. We shared a wide eye look.
"Pete Tyler?" Mickey repeated.
"He's listed as one of Lumic's henchmen. A traitor to the state." Mrs Moore sends me a squinted look.
"Hey! My dad is not a traitor to the state or otherwise!" I exclaimed angrily, even though this man wasn't my Pete Tyler he was still after all the man who raised me, sort of. 'Just play the part, Jessa. But now I know why they don't like me much.'
"We've gotta get in there, Jessa." Mickey told me, shocked. I nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Ricky and Jake returned.
"What are you two doing back?" I asked them.
"There's these metal things out there, coming from the vans." Jake panted out.
"Metal things?" I repeated in confusion. Jake and Ricky take a gun each then booked it back to the house. Mickey and I quickly follow after them. Suddenly, gunshots go off. "Shite!" I yelled and pumped my legs faster. I slowed down once I reached the group in front of me. "Rose, why are you hugging Ricky?" Rose quickly pulls away from him as Mickey finally shows up.
"That's not me. That's like . . . the other one." Rose stares at Mickey then at Ricky.
"Oh, as if things weren't bad enough - there's two Mickey's!" The Doctor whined. I rolled my eyes at his dramatics.
"It's Ricky." Ricky told him.
"But there's more of them. . ." Mickey said referring to the metal men. We looked at them as they surrounded us.
"We're surrounded. . ."
"Obviously, Rose." I muttered, she just shoots me a dirty look. Rickey raises his gun.
"Put the guns down. Bullets won't stop them." Jake ignores him and fires a rally. The Doctor pushes his gun aside angrily. "No! Stop shooting, now!" The Doctor straightens and addresses the metal things.
"We surrender! Hands up . . ." We all put our hands up. ". . . there's no need to damage us, we're good stock. We volunteer for the upgrade program. Take us to be processed." I turned and looked at the Doctor.
"Excuse me? Upgrade? Processed?" He sends me a stern look that told me to stop talking.
"You are rogue elements." One of the robots said.
"But we surrender." The Doctor told it.
"You are incompatible." It replied.
"But this isa surrender!" The Doctor exclaimed.
"You will be deleted."
"But we're surrendering! Listen to me, we surrender!" The Doctor shouted, frantic.
"You are will be reborn as Cyberman but you will perish under maximum deletion." The Cyberman raised it's arm and reached towards the Doctor. We all watched terrified. "Delete. Delete. Delete!"