Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Just Sophie my o/c.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who followed/favourited and reviewed last chapter, and thanks to Saberbladeprime for helping me out again this chapter. And again, sorry for the slight wait for this chapter, January and February have been fairly busy months for me, which has cut a bit into my writing time.

CHAPTER 8

Rise of the Cybermen

A man in a pristine white lab coat, pressed a button, switching on a set of floodlights that silhouettes a large humanoid but robotic metal figure, "The prototype has passed every test, sir. It's working!"

"I hardly think 'working' is the correct word," an older man replied, before he moved further into the room, ordering the electric wheelchair his weak body was confined to forward, medical equipment heavily packed onto it, each device necessary to his continued survival. His eyes focused on the colossal robotic figure, "That would apply only to machines."

"I'm sorry. I should say… it's alive," the younger man replied.

The frail, but no less impeccably dressed man moved closer to the robotic figure, eyeing it intently, "Can it hear me?"

"It might still be in shock," the younger man replied casting an eye over the readings that were coming from the robotic lifeform, "Bear in mind the brain has been welded to the exoskeleton."

"Skin of metal…" the older man murmured almost in awe as he spun his wheelchair to the side so that he was completely facing the silhouetted figure, "…and a body that will never age… or die. I envy it," he admitted, "Do you know me?" he said louder, speaking to the figure, "Answer. Do you know me?"

"You are John Lumic," came the tinny robotic inflectionless response.

Lumic grinned, an exhilarated, satisfied laugh escaping him, "My child. Mark this day, Doctor Kendrick. We are blessed!"

"Well, it's not quite over yet, sir," Kendrick replied, "We need Geneva's approval," he reminded the company CEO respectfully, "Technically, this is a new form of life. And that contravenes the Bio-convention. They need to ratify this."

"And they will refuse me," Lumic stated with certainty.

"Nonetheless, we need to tell them," Kendrick insisted.

"And if I don't?" Lumic asked.

Kendrick blinked and straightened his spine, "Well, I'm sorry, sir, but it's my duty," he stated firmly, "I shall have to inform them."

Lumic's lips twisted up into a cruel smile, glancing over at the younger man, "And how will you do that from beyond the grave?" he asked rhetorically.

Kendrick shook his head in incomprehension, "I don't quite understand…"

"Kill him," Lumic ordered almost lazily.

The smile that had still been curving up Kendrick's lips faltered and faded, before he turned to the robotic figure he'd help create just in time to see it had moved. Its hand grasped his shoulder and electricity was sent through his body, he cried out as agonising pain rocketed through him.

Lumic turned to the computer, smiling in satisfaction as Kendrick slumped to the floor, dead. He tapped a few keys on the keyboard, "Captain?" he called.

"Yes, sir?" the Captain's voice came from the computer.

"Inform all staff. We have a new destination. Set sail for Great Britain!" he ordered, the satisfied smile still curving his lips.

*O*O*O*

'Delete!'

Sophie sat bolt upright with a gasp, blue eyes wide as that cold inflectionless word seared hauntingly across her mind, just as it had the past few nights since the dreams had started plaguing her again. Always the same thing, that uncomfortable sensation of falling. Falling, plummeting, until she wasn't… and then a glimpse of metal men marching… one word, always just one word coming from the rectangular slot that was their mouth…

'Delete!'

She shivered, her skin feeling clammy, the Tardis humming soothingly as her breathing began to slowly even out. She expelled a slightly shaky breath as she reached up with a trembling clammy hand to brush the messy strands of hair, that were plastered to her forehead, away from her face with a small grimace, "Shower," she muttered, throwing her blankets off of her legs, "Shower then, coffee…" she decided as she got to her feet and started for her bathroom, feet padding quietly over the carpet, "Mmm, maybe chocolate…?"

She blinked blearily as she trudged into the bathroom, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror she grimaced at her pale reflection. The sound of the water turning on had Sophie turning away from the reflective surface of the mirror to see that the Tardis had turned on the shower for her, steam already beginning to rise as it quickly heated.

Her lips curved up into a small grateful smile, "Thanks Sexy," she murmured and the ship hummed in response.

A short moment later Sophie was stepping into the shower, the tense line of her shoulders slowly beginning to relax.

*O*O*O*

Mickey did his best to smile and laugh along as Rose and the Doctor broke into laughter once again, but the actions felt hollow and were short lived. A low sigh escaping him as he continued to keep his finger firmly pressing down on the button. He leaned more of his weight against the console as he looked away from the two that were seated opposite him. He was trying to be interested in the stories they were sharing.

He really was, it was just, they were jumping all over the place, leaving large holes in the trip they were retelling as they fell about laughing, Rose was almost crying she was laughing so hard now. It made it hard to follow what was going on in the tale they were trying to tell, let alone find any real enjoyment out of it.

His gaze flicked back to Rose and he felt another heavy breath escape him, his heart twinging in his chest just a little bit, his resignation deepening further as he took in the joyful look on her face… a look that once would have had him happy beyond belief just because she was happy. He was still happy that she was happy, but… it wasn't the same as it had been. Now there was a bittersweet ache that made his heart hurt, a hurt that had gotten all too familiar in the past months, with Rose's every return and every departure.

He stared at her a moment longer with resigned eyes, before looking away again, his gaze landing on the grated panelling of the console room floor. She didn't love him, not anymore, not like she used too. He couldn't say that he was surprised, things hadn't really been clicking for them as a couple for a while, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt. Cos despite everything that had happened, he still loved her... maybe not quite as much as he once had, but, still more than enough to make his heart feel heavy.

"Do you remember Soph's face?" Rose asked through another round of laughter, a hand coming up to wipe beneath one of her eyes.

The Doctor nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! Yeah!" he replied through his own laughter.

"What's this about remembering my face?" Sophie asked curiously as she descended the stairs into the console room, bells chiming softly, a half-eaten chocolate covered muesli bar in hand.

"That time with the big slime monster thing," Rose replied as she turned in her chair so that she could look at the petite brunette, a tongue in teeth grin lighting up her face, "When it exploded and you got covered in slime!"

Sophie grimaced and pulled a small face at the memory, "I don't think I've had a longer shower in my life then I did after that," she muttered, nose crinkled as she moved towards the console.

The Doctor sniggered a bit, "Don't think I've seen you run from the console room that fast before either."

"I was covered in stinky sticky greenish, yellow slime," she defended herself with a small pout, nose still crinkled at the memory… it'd taken forever to get the feel of it out of her hair, and the smell… that had taken forever to get off her too! She grimaced again and glanced over at Mickey and blinked a bit at the somewhat downcast expression… and the curious way he was holding down a button on the console, before she could even take the breath to even begin speaking to him, her attention was diverted as the Doctor spoke again.

"And then there was that weird munchkin lady with the big eyes? Do you remember?"

Sophie smiled and nodded, "Hard to forget the big eyed munchkin lady."

"The way she looked at you Rose! And then she opens her mouth and fire comes out!" the Doctor laughed.

"I thought I was going to get frazzled!" Rose exclaimed laughing once again, leaning heavily against the chair she was sitting in and the console for support.

"Yeah!" the Doctor exclaimed in agreement, "One minute she's standing there, and the next minute, rawwwh!"

Sophie almost choked on the bite of muesli bar she'd taken, when the two in the next moment mimicked breathing fire, before almost falling out of their chairs as they laughed harder than before and Sophie shook her head, shoulders shaking lightly as her laughter joined theirs, finally managing to shake the last of the lingering tension her dream had left her with.

"Yeah… where… where was that then? What happened?" Mickey asked just as confused by this tale as he'd been the last one.

"Oh, it was on this um… uh, this uh… planet thing, asteroid. It's a long story, you had to be there," the Doctor muttered.

Sophie rolled her eyes at the Time Lord, "It's not that long of a story," she turned to Mickey ready to tell him the story when her gaze caught again on the button he was holding down, "Uh… I'm not saying that I won't tell you the story of the munchkin lady Mickey, but um," Mickey blinked at her curiously, "Why are you doing that?" she asked curiously, gesturing at the button he was firmly holding down… and had been holding down since before she'd stepped into the console room.

"He told me too," Mickey replied nodding over the in the direction of the Doctor.

The Doctor glanced over at what Mickey was doing and blinked, "When was that…?"

"About half an hour ago…" Mickey replied eyeing the Time Lord.

The Doctor glanced away a bit sheepishly, "Um. You can let go now," he muttered and Rose sniggered in amusement.

Mickey released the button, still eyeing the Time Lord, a tad suspiciously now, "Well, how long's it been since I could've stopped?"

"Ten minutes?" the Doctor muttered, "Twenty? …" he tugged at his ear a bit as Sophie began to frown at him disapprovingly, "Twenty-nine?" he admitted.

Mickey frowned at him indignantly, "You just forgot me!"

"No," Sophie let out a sound of disbelief an eyebrow arching at him, "No, no," he continued on hurriedly, "I was just… I was just…" he cast about for an excuse, fingers tugging at his ear again, "I was calibrating," Rose continued to snigger at him, "I was just… no, I know exactly what I'm doing," he assured them.

Barely a moment later the Tardis console exploded violently, sparks and flames erupting from it, sending them to the console room floor. Sophie swallowed thickly, her heart feeling like it had lodged in her throat as it pounded heavily. She gripped the console and pulled herself up off the floor, clinging to it. Rose and Mickey doing much the same as they fell, the Tardis plummeting sharply. The sentient ship shaking heavily as the Doctor frantically tried to operate the console, tweaking buttons and pulling levers with desperation.

"What's happened?!" Rose asked eyes wide with fright as nothing the Doctor did seemed to do anything to stop their rapid descent.

"The time vortex is gone!" the Doctor replied with shock and disbelief, "That's impossible, it's just gone!" he continued staring in disbelief as he tried a couple more knobs and levers, "Brace yourself!" he shouted at his companions, "We're going to crash!"

A moment later they crashed, the impact tossing them to the console room floor again, gas masks dropping from the ceiling, "Everyone alright?" the Doctor asked, "Sparks? Rose? Mickey?"

"I'm fine," Mickey replied as Rose nodded, "I'm ok, sorry."

Sophie swallowed thickly as she slowly pushed herself onto her feet, her knees feeling a bit shaky, "Yeah… I-I'm fine," she murmured softly gazing about the dark console room with wide eyes, before her gaze flicked back to the dark smoking console, "What," she swallowed again past the lump in her throat as her voice shook slightly, her gloved hands clenched at her sides as she fought down the urge to twist them together anxiously, "What happened to her?"

"She's dead," the Doctor whispered in reply his own gaze locked on the dark smoking console, a clicking sound coming from the engines as they began to cool down, "The Tardis is dead," he continued in horrified shock as he started to slowly make his way around the console.

"You can fix it?" Rose asked quietly, hopefully.

"There's nothing to fix," the Doctor murmured still staring at the lifeless console with shocked disbelief, "She's perished," he placed his hand over a lever and pulled it back and forth fruitlessly, "The last Tardis in the universe… extinct."

Rose swallowed, fear beginning to creep in, "We can get help, yeah?" she asked the Time Lord, a touch of desperation entering her tone as she eyed him.

"Where from?" the Doctor countered as he released the lever to press a button on the lifeless console.

Rose shrugged helplessly, "Well, we've landed," she tried, "We've gotta be somewhere!"

"We fell out of the vortex, through the void, into nothingness," the Doctor replied slowly turning from the console to look at her, "We're in some sort of no-place…"

Sophie blinked and turned her wide-eyed gaze to him, "No-place?" she murmured quietly, doing her best to focus in on the conversation rather than her spiralling thoughts.

The Doctor turned his gaze to her and nodded slightly, "The silent realm…" he expounded, "The Lost Dimension…"

"Otherwise known as London!" Mickey called back to them from the doorway with a laugh as he peered out the door he'd opened, before he stepped outside with a wide relieved grin.

Sophie blinked rather taken aback at that, "Wait… what?" she muttered, glancing over at the Doctor again in confusion. That hadn't been what she was expecting, not with the dreams that had been plaguing her and not with the Doctor's explanation of where they'd crash landed.

The Doctor frowned moving towards the open Tardis door, "It can't be…" he muttered, Sophie and Rose following him.

"Ha! So much for can't be!" Rose exclaimed jubilantly as they stepped out of the Tardis and into a bright sunny.

"London, England, Earth," Mickey stated with some amusement, still grinning widely, "Hold on…" he said spotting a discarded paper on top of a dustbin. He jumped down off the low wall and picked it up to look over the cover, "First of February this year," he read, "Not exactly far flung, is it?" he queried as Rose jumped down and peered over his shoulder at the newspaper curiously.

Sophie hummed a little in surprise at the date, "Warm for February," she commented as she jumped down, bells chiming a bit louder than normal as she landed.

"Says the gal in the leather coat," Rose teased, lifting her gaze from the newspaper to glance over at her.

"Not to mention the gloves," Mickey chimed in and then blinked, looking over at her curiously, "What is with the gloves anyway?" he asked and then blinked as Rose seemed to still beside him and Sophie shifted a vulnerable look crossing her face briefly, and lingered in her eyes as she stared at him.

Sophie shifted slightly, a hand coming up to tangle in the ends of her hair, that she'd pulled back in a loose half up half down style, "Um, well… uh," she fumbled over her words, not having expected the question… a couple walked by and Sophie glanced over at them before turning her gaze back at Mickey who was honestly beginning to wonder whether he should have asked or not, he hadn't meant to make her uncomfortable with the question… she just always seemed to be wearing them… no matter the weather… "I'll tell you later," Sophie settled on, not feeling comfortable bringing it up on the London Street.

Sophie blinked a bit in surprise and confusion at the unhappy look that crossed Rose's face at that, but then the blond was smiling at her and nodding slightly. Sophie returned the smile, unsure if she'd perhaps imagined the somewhat displeased look that had flickered over the blonde's face…

The Doctor tore his gaze from the skyline he'd been observing, a frown pulling down his own brow, unsure how he felt about Sophie telling Mickey… the boy was an idiot, a somewhat clever idiot at times but still an idiot, one that had called him a 'thing' when they'd first met. He narrowed his eyes on the boy slightly, if he ever called his Sparks a 'thing'… he jumped down from the low wall, glancing about them as he joined them, "So," he began casually drawing their attention to him, "This is London," he commented.

"Yep," Mickey replied with confidence.

"Your city," the Doctor murmured with the same casual tone.

"That's the one," Mickey confirmed with the same confidence as before.

"Just as we left it," the Doctor persisted.

"Bang on," Mickey agreed.

"And that includes the Zeppelins?" the Doctor asked raising his gaze up to the sky again and Sophie, Rose and Mickey followed it.

"What the hell…?" Mickey exclaimed in shock.

Sophie blinked, "Oh…" she murmured, frowning slightly as she stared at the massive Zeppelins as they passed overhead.

"That's beautiful," Rose breathed.

"Ok," Mickey shrugged, lowering his gaze from the Zeppelins to look at the Doctor again slightly uncertain now but trying to play it off, "So, it's London with a big international Zeppelin festival."

"London doesn't have a 'big international Zeppelin festival'," Sophie replied, looking at the Zeppelins that were slowly moving through the air for a moment longer before she turned her attention back to the Doctor as he spoke again.

"This is not your world."

"But, if the dates the same…" Mickey trailed with confusion before realization hit him, "It's parallel, right? Am I right? Like parallel Earth where they've got Zeppelins," he said with growing enthusiasm, "Am I right? I'm right aren't I?"

"Must be," the Doctor muttered with a small nod.

Sophie blinked frowning still, "So… we fell out the vortex and into a parallel world?" she muttered quizzically, fingers that were still entangled in the ends of her hair tugging lightly as she pondered the concept.

"Seems like it," the Doctor nodded in agreement once again.

"So, a parallel world where…" Rose trailed smile beginning to slip as shock lanced through her as her gaze caught on something.

"Oh, come on," Mickey cut in, turning to her, impatient with his excitement at being right, "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…"

"And he's still alive…" Rose murmured softly, her gaze still affixed to the advert poster that had her father, Pete Tyler on it, holding a cherry flavoured Vitex Lite drink.

"Oh…" Sophie breathed softly as she followed the blonde's gaze to the poster, easily recognizing the man despite the fact that she'd really only met him once… but it was a once that she doubted that she'd ever forget… she swallowed thickly.

"A parallel world and my dad's still alive…" Rose murmured transfixed as she moved towards it, the Doctor, Sophie and Mickey following after her.

"Don't look at it, Rose. Don't even think about it," the Doctor warned her sternly, only for the blond to ignore him as she continued towards the poster, "This is not your world."

"But he's my dad…" Rose murmured reaching for the poster, "And…" her finger brushed over the surface of the poster and it sprang to life.

"Trust me on this," the image of Pete Tyler told them winking and giving them a thumbs up.

Rose stepped back, "Well, that was weird," she muttered before she began to smile again elation starting to build as the reality of him being on a poster like that sank in, "But he's real!"

"Trust me on this."

"He's a success!" Rose exclaimed joyfully, just like she always knew he would be, ever since she was a little girl… she'd just knew he'd be a success if he'd been given a chance and in this world, he'd had just that!

"Rosie…" Sophie murmured with concern, her eyes sad.

"He was always planning these daft little schemes," Rose cut in beaming a grin at the curly haired brunette too happy to really notice, or register the concern in the brunette's blue eyes, "Health food, drinks and stuff," and Sophie nodded a bit recalling Rose telling her that before, stilling eyeing her with sad concerned eyes, "Everyone said they were useless. But he did it!"

The Doctor shifted, grasping the blond firmly by the shoulders, "Rose," he stated firmly drawing the blonde's gaze to his own, "If you've ever trusted me, then listen to me now," Rose's gaze drifted happily to the beaming poster of her father again, "Stop looking at it!" he ordered sternly and her gaze tore reluctantly from the poster to look at him again, "Your father's dead. He died when you were six months old. That is not your Pete."

Rose's smile faded as she swallowed, but her gaze drifted over to the poster again, the proof that her dad was alive… alive and a successful businessman.

"That is a Pete. For all we know," the Doctor continued urgently, needing Rose to understand, "He's got his own Jackie, his own Rose. His own daughter who is someone else, but not you," Rose's eyes started drifting towards the poster again, but she swallowed and attempted to stop herself from looking, "You can't see him. Not ever."

Rose gave a tiny nod looking down sadly, her heart hurting and the Doctor released her with a small sigh, tugging at his ear. Sophie reached over and took the blonde's hand in her own giving it a comforting squeeze, the blonde's grip tightening about hers in response, whilst Mickey laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Trust me on this. Trust me on this. Trust me on this. Trust me on this," the poster of Pete continued to play…

*O*O*O*

The Doctor glanced up from where he was fiddling with a few of the controls of the dark console, his gaze going to Sophie who was leaning against the wall not too far away from him, a pensive scrunch to her brow as she stared unseeingly at a spot on the console room floor, one of her hands almost idly playing with the ends of her hair, twisting and untwisting a lock about her pointer finger. He glanced back down at the console twisting another knob and flicking a switch… the console remaining dark and unresponsive… he blew out a low breath, before he glanced over at the pensive brunette again. The pensive scrunch to her brow deep enough that he'd say that she was almost brooding, "What're you thinking about, Sparks?" he broke the silence a moment later, curious and wanting a distraction from the lifeless silence of his Old Girl and the unresponsive console.

Sophie blinked registering the sound of his voice, bells chiming softly as she turned her head to look at him, "Lots of things," she murmured in response.

The Doctor shifted, hands sliding away from the console as he leaned against it, almost pouting at her vague response, "Anything you feel like sharing?"

'Yes.' Was Sophie's immediate thought in response to the question, but she couldn't… not about the marching metal robot men that she'd been catching glimpses of in her dreams, marching metal men that had yet to make an appearance… if they even would anytime soon… stupid, useless visions hadn't told her anything… never told her anything… always left her guessing and unsettled… and a few times just plain horrified…

The fingers of her hand tugged against the strands of her hair as her teeth sank into her lower lip, and then there was… Sophie sighed out a breath and gave him a small slightly strained smile, "Among other things," she began lowly, hesitantly, "… my parents," she admitted quietly, fingers twisting her hair about them again.

The Doctor stilled, hearts clenching in his chest, even as he mentally cursed himself for a thick idiotic fool for not realizing earlier… for not thinking of it… because of course she would be thinking about her parents… how could she not be after that poster…

Sophie's wide vulnerable conflicted eyes met his, "I mean, there's a possibility that they're alive in this world, right?"

The Doctor tugged at his ear, eyeing her sadly, his expression solemn as he slowly nodded, "There's a chance," he began cautiously, "But Sparks,"

"I know," Sophie cut in anxiously, fingers tugging at her hair again, "They-They wouldn't be mine. They'd be hers…" she swallowed, "I know that they'd be her parents and not mine, but… I can't stop thinking, wondering what it'd be like growing up with them. What they'd be like as parents…" Sophie paused and shook her head, "This would be…" she hesitated pained, "This would be easier if I still didn't want to know… didn't care…"

The Doctor shook his head, he very much doubted that she ever truly hadn't cared, more something she'd told herself as a child, told herself over and over to try and ease the pain at the idea of possibility that her parents had abandoned her. He stepped away from the console, moving towards her, "Sparks," he began drawing Sophie's gaze back to him, only for the Tardis door to creak open as Mickey stepped inside and Sophie immediately hid her pain and vulnerability behind a protective calm mask as she turned to look at Mickey as he pulled the door closed behind him.

The Doctor frowned in irritation and annoyance at the interruption as he too turned his attention to Mickey, "I told you to keep an eye on Rose!" he rounded on him angrily.

"She's alright…" Mickey began a bit defensively.

"She goes wandering off," the Doctor cut in shaking his head, before shooting Mickey a look full of irritation, "Parallel world, it's like a gingerbread house! All those temptations calling out," Sophie winced a little as she once again tried to stop thinking about her parents and all the 'what if's'.

"Oh, so it's just Rose, then?" Mickey retorted eyes narrowing on the Doctor, "Nothing out there to tempt me?"

The Doctor shrugged dismissively and turned away from him, "I don't know, I can't worry about everything…"

Sophie shot the Doctor a look, before cutting in as she turned her gaze back Mickey, "Of course there is," she murmured and Mickey offered her a small grateful smile.

The Doctor stepped back towards the console, "If I could just get this thing to…" he kicked it, hard, in his irritation, his frown deepening into a scowl as pain radiated up his foot and into his leg, and he limped slowly around the console towards the pilot's chair, grimacing with every step.

"Did that help?" Mickey asked with amusement as he and Sophie watched him.

"Yes," the Doctor replied curtly.

"Did that hurt?" Mickey asked smirking just a little.

"Yes," the Doctor repeated as he finally reached the chair and sat down in it, "Ow," he whinged as he began to rub his aching foot.

"Shouldn't have kicked her," Sophie muttered and shook her head.

The Doctor pouted at her slightly, only to smile a little at seeing a small smile curling up her own lips, glad to see it even as the pain lingered in her eyes.

Sophie blinked and glanced down as her phone suddenly made a small bleep sound and buzzed in her jeans pocket, pulling it out she glanced over the screen eyeing the notification for a moment, 'Cybus Network – Welcome! Free Trail Period'. She stared at it for a moment, hesitating, before simply tapping a button on the side of her phone darkening the screen again and slipping it back into her pocket.

*O*O*O*

Sitting on a bench by the bank of the Thames, Rose sat phone in hand as she stared down at the notification she'd received, Zeppelins moving through the air above her head, one flying so low that it barely missed the rooftop, a 'Cybus' logo stamped on the bottom of it. She tapped her thumb over the accept button and immediately another screen popped up as her phone connected to the network and footage of the news began to play…

*O*O*O*

"We're not meant to be here," the Doctor murmured as he gazed pensively at the dark lifeless console, "The Tardis draws its power from the universe, but it's the wrong universe. It's like diesel in a petrol engine."

Sophie nodded slowly in understanding, glancing around the dark console room of the ship that felt so empty without the presence of the Tardis, whilst Mickey walked over to him and sank down into the chair beside him, "But…" he began with confusion and Sophie shifted slightly, her gaze turning to him, "I've seen it in comics," he continued and Sophie blinked, "People are hopping from one alternative world to another, it's easy."

"That's comic books, Mickey," Sophie murmured softly as the Doctor shot him a withering look full of condescension.

"Not in the real world," he said derisively, before he paused glancing over at the two of them, before he sighed out a breath, "Used to be easy," he admitted, "When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, you could hop between realities, home in time for tea," he murmured, "Then they died, took it all with them. The walls of reality closed, the worlds were sealed," Sophie frowned slightly, pensively at that, wondering just how they'd fallen into a parallel reality if everything had been sealed off like that, "Everything became a bit less kind," the Doctor sighed.

"Then how did we get here?" Mickey asked.

The Doctor sighed in frustration, "I dunno," he muttered wearily, "Accident?" he suggested in the next moment, "Should've been impossible," he continued lowly, "Now we're trapped."

Silence fell over them and Sophie found herself glancing about the dark console room again, hoping to see even just a flicker of life from the beautiful ship. Her gaze moved over the grated panelling and then she blinked, pausing as she thought she caught a glimmer of a soft glow coming from beneath the grilling by the console

"What's that?" the Doctor asked sitting up in his chair and leaning forward a bit, as Sophie turned her gaze back, her gaze landing on a small green light shining through from under the grilling.

"What?" Mickey asked seeing them both staring.

"That, there," the Doctor exclaimed pointing, "Is that a reflection?" he asked practically leaping from his chair as he moved towards it.

Sophie shook her head, "No… I-I don't think so," she murmured as she moved towards the console, crouching beside the Doctor and Mickey to get a closer look at the glow.

"It's a light!" the Doctor cried with excitement, "Is it? Is that a light? I think that's a light!" he rambled giddily.

Sophie nodded, "Yeah! That's a light!" she exclaimed, smiling widely.

"That's all we need!" the Doctor grinned and the three of them began to pull up the grilling exposing the small green light, "We've got power!" the Doctor cheered giddy beyond belief at the revelation, "Sparks! Mickey! We've got power! Ha!"

Sophie and Mickey watched as the Doctor swiftly jumped down into the opening they'd made and began working his way towards the small shining green light. The curly haired brunette cringing every time he carelessly pulled out important looking internal pieces of the Tardis as he went, moving closer and closer to the light, eventually standing right under the console.

"It's alive!" he exclaimed joyfully, deliriously happy as he pulled something else out of his way, eyes locked on the tiny green glow… he could just about reach it now!

"What is it?" Mickey asked curiously.

"It's nothing," the Doctor replied airily and Sophie blinked exchanging a brief glance with Mickey before they went back to peering down at the what the Doctor was doing, "It's tiny," he continued, "One of those insignificant little power cells that no one ever bothers about, and it's clinging to life, with one little ounce of reality tucked away inside."

Sophie smiled, "Doesn't sound so insignificant to me," she murmured, only to cringe again as the Doctor ripped out some wires that were in his way.

"Is it enough to get us home?" Mickey asked hopefully.

"Not yet," the Doctor replied as he reached the power cell and picked it up. He cupped it carefully in his hands as he sat back on a small set of stairs under the grilling, "I need to charge it up."

"How do we do that?" Sophie asked curiously as she eyed the small cell that was cradled in the Doctor cupped hands.

Mickey shrugged, "We could go outside and lash it up to the National Grid," he suggested and Sophie glanced over at him blinking a bit in mild confusion. Mickey blinked back, wondering what that look was for, it seemed like the most obvious solution to him.

The Doctor grinned at the pair chuckling a bit, "Wrong sort of energy Mickey," he replied drawing their gazes back to him, "It's got to come from our universe," he reminded him.

"Oh," Mickey muttered a bit awkwardly glancing over at Sophie again and returned her small smile, having completely forgotten that detail, and really when someone said 'charge' he thought 'electricity' not 'universe energy'. He turned his gaze back to the Doctor, "But we don't have anything."

The Doctor grinned again, lifting his cupped hands carefully towards his face, "There's me…" he murmured in response to their inquisitive looks, before he blew on the surface the green light glowing brighter in response, "I just gave away ten years of my life," he told them and Sophie and Mickey blinked at him in surprise, "Worth every second!" he beamed before a giddy laugh escaped him and Sophie smiled fondly, shaking her head slightly in amusement.

*O*O*O*

Still sitting on the bench by the Thames, Rose bit her lower lip as she stared down at her phone for a moment longer, before she gave in to the desire to just search his name. she typed 'Pete Tyler' into the Cybus Network with slightly shaky fingers and hit the 'enter' button on her phone, her breath catching as the results showed up barely a second later…

*O*O*O*

"It's going out. Is that ok?" Mickey asked with concern as the bright glow of the power cell began to fade.

"It's on a recharging cycle," the Doctor replied as the light brightened again before dimming once again, "It'll loop round, power back up and be ready to take us home in, oh, twenty-four hours?" he estimated.

Sophie's expression fell ever so slightly at that even as her lips quirked back up into a small smile as the Doctor kissed the power cell. Twenty-four hours in the 'gingerbread house' tempted by all the 'what ifs' surrounding her parents fate… she swallowed thickly, her gloved hands clenching about her knees. 'Don't think about it, Sophie!' she mentally scolded herself, but the thoughts lingered stubbornly even as she focused her attention on the pulsing power cell in the Doctor's hands.

"So, that gives us twenty-four hours on a parallel world?" Mickey asked perking up a bit more at the information.

"Shore leave!" the Doctor replied with a nod, grinning brightly still caught up in the thrill of his ship being alive, "As long as we keep our heads down. Easy. No problem," he remarked, tossing the power cell up in the air and catching it again, "Let's go tell, Rose," he said enthusiastically jumping up from where he was sitting and heading to the door, Mickey swiftly following him.

Sophie got to her feet a bit more sedately, taking a steadying breath as she followed them to the door, "Yeah… easy…" she mumbled dubiously to herself.

*O*O*O*

The Doctor, Sophie and Mickey walked down the path by the Thames embankment, "There you are!" the Doctor called jovially when they spotted her sitting on a bench, "You alright? No applause, I fixed it!" he said cheerily showing her the power cell he still had firmly in hand, "Twenty-four hours, then we're flying back to reality," he grinned taking a seat next to her on the bench, holding the power cell up for her to see once again as Sophie moved to take a seat on the other side of the blond, eyeing her 'little sister' with concern as she continued to just stare at her lap, or rather, the phone that she was holding in her lap, a lost expression on her face.

"Rosie?" Sophie questioned softly, moving to take one of her hands in hers.

The Doctor grin faded as he lowered the power cell he'd been holding as he took notice of the mobile, "What is it?"

Rose swallowed, one hand curled around Sophie's, "My phone connected. There's this… Cybus Network, it finds your phone. It gave me internet access."

Sophie frowned slightly even as she gave a short nod, remembering the notification she'd gotten on her own phone, one that asked you to accept or reject the free trail. She remained silent choosing to just listen to what was troubling the blond instead of mentioning it.

"Rose, whatever it says, this is the wrong world," the Doctor reminded her.

Rose swallowed, her hand tightening slightly around Sophie's grateful for the familiar comfort of the brunette's gloved one, "I don't exist," she murmured and felt Sophie's hand tighten around hers.

The Doctor frowned at her, "What do you mean?"

"There's no Rose Tyler. I was never born. There's Pete, my dad, and Jackie… he still married mum… but they never had kids," Rose murmured and from where he was standing by the end of the bench, Mickey stared at her, his expression unreadable, but eyes sad as he stared at her.

"Give me that phone," the Doctor demanded as he reached to snatch it from her grip, Rose swiftly pulled it away, clutching it protectively, and he pulled back again with a low sigh wishing that he'd thought to confiscate the thing before he'd headed into the Tardis.

"They're rich," Rose commented throat feeling tight, "They've got a house and cars, and everything they want," she paused, the back of her eyes beginning to prick painfully, "But they haven't got me," she murmured her voice shaking as she tried to fight back her tears. She released Sophie's hand and got up from the bench moving a few steps away, before turning back to them, "I've gotta see him," and Sophie's eyes widened as she stared at the blond, heart sinking in her chest.

The Doctor stiffened, his spine straightening, "You can't."

"I just wanna see him," Rose protested pleadingly.

"I can't let you!" the Doctor replied firmly as he stood.

"You just said twenty-four hours!" Rose exclaimed angrily, glowering at him.

"You can't become their daughter," the Doctor retorted exasperated and wary as he returned her glower with a glare of his own, "That's not the way it works! Mickey, tell her!" he demanded as he turned to him, gesturing at Rose.

Mickey shifted his expression thoughtful, "Twenty-four hours, yeah?" he murmured as he started back a couple of steps.

Sophie blinked at him eyes still wide, "Mickey?"

"Where're you going?" the Doctor asked him with bewilderment, not having expected this from him.

"Well, I can do what I want!" Mickey retorted defiantly, even as he felt a stirring of guilt as he took in the wide-eyed look Sophie was giving him, eyes sad and full of a pain he didn't fully understand.

"I've got the address and everything," Rose stated as she started walking backwards away from the bench.

Sophie swiftly turned her head back to look at Rose, her heart hammering against her ribcage, the muscle aching with every beat, "Rose?" she called to her, voice straining against the lump that was lodged in her throat.

"Stay where you are, both of you!" the Doctor demanded as he looked from one to the other frantically, "Rose, come back here! Mickey, come back here right now!"

"Rosie…!" Sophie called and Rose hesitated in her backwards retreat.

"I just wanna see him, Soph," Rose pleaded feet shuffling with her desire to keep going, "My dad's alive, your parents could be too!" Sophie stilled, her face freezing as pain lanced through her hotly and her eyes pricked, hands clenching over her knees, "Don't you wanna see if they are?"

The Doctor who'd frozen in shock at what Rose had said, spun on his heel, turning to face Rose again, face incredulous and eyes angry, "Rose…!" he shouted only to still as Sophie spoke, her tone quiet but cold and his hearts ached at the sound.

"Too far!" Sophie stared at the blond her gaze hard and icy, her face just as cold and unyielding making Rose flinch at that particular mask… one she'd first seen in Cardiff when that woman from the orphanage had called out to her… one that was now directed at her.

Rose's stared back stricken. Honestly, she hadn't meant to hurt her, she'd just… she just really, her eyes pricked hotter tears beginning to truly well, "Soph, I…"

Sophie bit her lower lip harshly as she shook her head as she stood up from the bench and started away, needing to get away from the blond, her heart pounding harshly in her chest, words escaping her.

"Sparks?" she heard the Doctor murmur as he reached for her, but she sidestepped his hand and marched on, shaking her head again, shoulders beginning to shake with supressed tears, just truly needing to get away in that moment.

The Doctor swallowed thickly watching her slowly retreating back for a moment before he rounded on the blond again, "Rose!"

"I know! I'm sorry!" she apologized like she'd been going to when Sophie got up and stalked away from them, not even stopping for the Doctor.

The Doctor shook his head at her, "Then why did you say it?!" he demanded angrily glaring at her. Sophie had been struggling enough with the temptations of this parallel world as it was without Rose thoughtlessly shoving it in her face!

Rose ducked her head swallowing, "I just…" her voice hitched, "I just wanna see him," she murmured miserably, feeling truly wretched and guilty, but she couldn't keep herself from glancing down at her phone again.

The Doctor gave her a last frosty look before he whirled back around, catching another glimpse of Sophie's retreating back as he did so, "Mickey, get back here!" he demanded again.

Mickey swallowed, hesitating a moment after what had just happened, before he shook his head, "Uh… I've got things to see and all, yeah? Yeah!" he said more firmly nodding as he started backing away again. He couldn't not go… he needed to know…

The Doctor scowled frustrated, gaze shooting over to Sophie again, hearts pounding as for a moment she was obscured by other people that were going about their business as she got further and further away from them, "Like what?!" he demanded.

"Well, you don't know anything about me, do you?" Mickey retorted frowning at the Doctor as he continued to back away, "I'm just a spare part."

Rose bit her lower lip gazing down at her phone a moment longer, before she glanced after Sophie a last time, before her gaze went back to the Doctor, "I'm sorry…" he turned back to her scowling, "I'm really sorry," she said again wanting him to understand that she meant it even as she started backing away again, "But, I've gotta go," she murmured, a tear slipping from where they were welling in her eyes and rolling down her cheek, before she turned and started walking away briskly… she hadn't meant to hurt anyone, least of all Sophie, but she… she just… Rose wiped at her cheek sniffling slightly.

"Rose!" the Doctor called after the blond, turning frantically to look after Sophie again and then over to Mickey who was still backing away, and then back to Rose, before turning to look after Sophie again.

Mickey snorted, "Go on, then," he said with a gesture, "There's no choice, is there?" he more stated then asked, as the Doctor turned back to him, "You can only chase after one of us. And we both know that it's never going to be me," he stated firmly eyeing the Time Lord with confidence.

The Doctor glanced after Sophie's retreating form once again, her petite form rather far away now, before glancing after Rose, and then back to Sophie, before he turned back to Mickey, "Back here, twenty-four hours!" he shouted, before he turned away from him and hurried down the path Sophie had taken.

Mickey watched him for a brief moment, "Yeah. If I haven't found anything better," he muttered to himself, before he turned and walked away.

*O*O*O*

'They're not yours, Sophie!' the petite brunette told herself as she continued moving, but it didn't do much good, the thoughts… the 'what ifs' still vied for her attention. What if they were alive…? What if they weren't…? What if the assassin or assassins had killed baby her this time too…? What if nothing had changed at all for her… what if she had still ended up in that orphanage…? What if her parents hadn't even met…? What if like Rose, she hadn't been born…? What if, what if, what if…? So many of them!

Her fingers tangled in the ends of her hair jerked painfully, 'Stop thinking about it! They're not… they aren't… your parents are dead!' she told herself again, they were dead and she didn't even know them… and just… she shook her head at herself, trying to banish the thoughts again… and again failing…

She swallowed thickly, her throat still feeling tight, her heart still aching, 'My dad's alive, your parents could be too… …Don't you wanna see if they are?' Sophie's lower lip trembled slightly, eyes pricking hotly as Rose's words echoed through her mind again. Of course, she wanted to know! Of course, she did! But… her fingers tangled further into the ends of her hair… but, they weren't hers! If they were even alive, they weren't hers… but she couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities, the curiosity… just what were they like?

She shook her head again, expelling a breath, she didn't even know their names! It was only thanks to pictures in that house that she even knew what they looked like… her steps faltered a bit… that house, a possible address… she inhaled sharply tears threatening to well in her eyes as she sped up her steps again, 'Just get to the Tardis!'

She heard the sound of someone hurrying up behind her and she glanced over at them as they fell into step beside her, before she looked away again, hand tugging at her hair again.

"Sparks?" the Doctor murmured, eyeing her with concern, hearts aching all the harder for her at reading the pain in her eyes… and behind the protective mask.

Sophie shook her head, teeth sinking into her lower lip, stubbornly fighting back the tears that wanted to well in her eyes… why did it have to hurt so much? She didn't even know them… they were just two people… two people who'd, judging by all the pictures in that home, that she was trying so hard not to think about… had loved her… and who she couldn't even remember! Her hand tugged against the strands of her hair again, barely noticing the pull against her scalp as she tangled her fingers deeper into her thick locks.

Sophie sighed out a heavy breath, "I'm sorry," she apologized glancing over at him again.

The Doctor swallowed, "What for?" he asked her concerned.

"For just walking away back there," she replied softly, "I just… I couldn't…" Sophie struggled for words and the Doctor nodded slowly. She sighed out another breath and then blinked as she realized, "Where's Rose?"

The Doctor glanced away from her with a scowl darkening his brow.

Sophie swallowed, her heart sinking further, something that she hadn't thought possible earlier, "Ooh…" she muttered voice shaking slightly, "…Mickey too," she murmured quietly, her teeth sinking harshly into her lower lip again and her steps quickened trying to leave thoughts of her own temptations behind… something that was somehow harder and more painful with the knowledge that both Rose and Mickey were racing towards theirs.

The Doctor watched her with sad eyes as he trailed a little behind her, "Sparks," he called, "Where are you going?" he asked as he quickened his own pace to fall into step with her again.

"The Tardis," Sophie replied without hesitation.

The Doctor arched a brow at her, "The Tardis?" he questioned glancing about the street they were on.

Sophie nodded, "Yep."

"Really?" the Doctor commented his tone drawing Sophie's gaze back to him, "Cos it looks more like we're walking along a street that in a few more blocks could take us to a certain residential street," Sophie blinked, steps faltering as she began to really look at the street they were on… the direction she was heading, "And a certain house with a low brick wall and purple tulips planted along the front of it."

Sophie came to a complete stop, frowning somewhat confused at where she'd ended up, "Oh…" she breathed, gaping slightly, hand untangling from the ends of her hair… but she'd been heading for the Tardis! She swallowed thickly, "Bugger… just… bugger!" she cursed, squeezing her eyes tightly shut for a moment, before she moved over to a bench and sank down onto it with a heavy sigh.

"I thought I was heading for the Tardis," she muttered quietly as the Doctor sat down beside her on the bench.

The Doctor nodded, "Yeah, I got that," he murmured softly.

Sophie glanced over at him, her gaze meeting his, her hands clenching together on her lap, "Tell me it's a bad idea," she requested… she knew it was… but she needed to hear it.

The Doctor was silent a moment, hating the pain in her eyes, "It's a really bad idea, Sparks," he murmured somberly.

Sophie nodded, her hands clenching together tighter as she looked away from him again, "Ok," she murmured, swallowing past the lump in her throat.

The Doctor breathed out a low sigh, placing an arm around her slumped shoulders, tucking her against his side, brown eyes conflicted as he stared at the people bustling about them, not paying them any attention.

He scratched at his ear with his free hand as he pondered the issue, Rose and Mickey were already off doing whatever the hell they wanted despite his warnings… and Sophie… he glanced at her, arm tightening around her shoulders comfortingly, she couldn't even remember her parents… he frowned turning his gaze to the street again completely torn over what to do. It was a bad idea, parallel world, gingerbread house… and they wouldn't actually be her parents. He tugged at his ear uncomfortably, hearts aching for her warring with his logic. He glanced at her again as she just silently watched the street, focusing on her breathing, he knew, as she took controlled even breaths. Oh, what the hell…

Sophie shifted on the bench, bells chiming softly as she turned her head to look at the Doctor, lips curved up in a small smile that was tinged with sadness, "We need to go, right?"

The Doctor blinked surprised, "What?"

Sophie blinked back, "Um, Rose and Mickey. I figured that we'd need to go find them…" she trailed a bit awkwardly and got up off the bench as the Doctor continued to blink at her like he'd been taken completely off guard.

"Uh… right, yeah," he replied nodding, continuing to stare at her, he'd been just about to say they could go check the house and just have a look and see… and she was, just had… he smiled fondly, brilliant his Sparks. A beautiful brilliant enigma that never failed to amaze him.

Sophie blinked again as the look in the Doctor's eyes shifted, becoming warmer more intense, that strange tension rising… she shifted a bit awkwardly in confusion as her cheeks flushed lightly and her stomach did that odd flip-flop.

She cleared her throat, "Um… Rose and Mickey were going in different directions," she recalled, "So uh… do you know where Mickey went off to?"

The Doctor shook his head, "No," he admitted with a mild grimace.

Sophie nodded, "Ok," she murmured, glancing about the street they were on again, "Well, we know where Rose was off to and I'm sure she'll know something about where he'd want to go."

The Doctor nodded, getting up off the bench, "She's probably half way to the Tyler's by now," he muttered.

Sophie pulled her phone out of her pocket, "We'll need that address then," she murmured recalling Rose saying something about having the address, her phone lighting up in her hand with a press of a button.

The Doctor shifted closer, peering down at the phone over her shoulder, "Cybus Network," he murmured musingly as he read the notification that Sophie had ignored earlier.

Sophie nodded, "Yeah, I got it to," she muttered.

"Didn't accept it though," the Doctor commented glancing from the phone to her.

Sophie swallowed, shrugging this time as she briefly glanced over at him, a small strained smile curling up her lips, "Easy to resist when you don't have anything to look up," she murmured softly and the Doctor felt his hearts clench in his chest at the reminder that Sophie didn't even know her parents names… knew next to nothing about them except that they'd been taken from her for an unknown reason.

Sophie hit the accept button on the notification and swiftly entered 'Pete Tyler' into the network, her teeth nibbling at her lower lip as she quickly searched through the results that had popped up, before clicking into the most likely one, "Ah, found it!" she exclaimed a moment later.

"Right then," the Doctor said with a nod as he glanced at the address on the screen, taking her hand as they started off back the way they'd come, "Let's see if we can't catch her… preferably before she does something stupid," he muttered with a frown.

Sophie slipped her phone away again, bells chiming as they moved quickly along the path, her hand grasping the Doctor's perhaps a bit tighter than necessary, doing her best to focus on finding the stubborn blond and not the ache in her chest or the 'what ifs' that still wanted to intrude on her thoughts…

*O*O*O*

"I can't believe that worked," Sophie murmured glancing over at the Doctor as they stepped off the bus that they'd hopped aboard in the hopes of getting ahead of the blond.

He grinned at her and patted his chest over his inner jacket pocket, "Psychic paper, Sparks. Never go anywhere without it," he replied a bit smug.

Sophie shook her head a bit in mild amusement, "Right, yes. Who needs money or a bus pass when you've got psychic paper."

"Exactly," the Doctor replied as they started away from the stop, passing a group of armed soldiers that were patrolling the bustling street. They glanced about searching for the blond hopefully, "Oh, look there she is!" the Doctor exclaimed pointing out the blond, "Rose!" he called as he and Sophie hurried across the road towards her.

Rose turned and slowly altered her path so that she was moving towards them too, her steps slow with reluctance, guilt gnawing at her insides as she gazed at the petite brunette that was walking beside the Doctor, staring at her with an unreadable expression, "Soph, I…" she swallowed, "I'm sorry," she apologised the moment they met in the middle.

Sophie blinked at her nodded and gave a small shrug, before she glanced about the street again, causing Rose's face to fall even further; that had not been the response she had been hoping for. Sophie swallowed, her throat still feeling tight and still feeling rather hurt by the blond. She took a breath feeling the blondes gaze still on her she cleared her throat a bit uncomfortably, "Um, do you know where Mickey went?" she asked diverting the conversation away.

Rose stared at her for a moment, before glancing over at the Doctor who was staring at her expectantly. She sighed softly and stared moving again, the Doctor and Sophie falling into step with her, "His grans," she murmured softly and glanced over at them, "Mickey's mum just couldn't cope," she began to explain, "His dad hung around for a while, but then he just sort of wandered off. He was brought up by his gran," she smiled at the memory of the woman, "She was such a great woman. God, she used to slap him!" her smile faded, "Then she died. She tripped and fell down the stairs. It's about five years ago now. I was still in school."

"I never knew," the Doctor mumbled with a frown, beside him Sophie shook her head eyes sad for Mickey's loss, she hadn't known either.

"Well, you never asked," Rose pointed out.

"You never said!" the Doctor rebutted defensively, unable to help but feel a bit guilty now in hindsight over how he'd spoken to him earlier. How dismissive he'd been.

"Why would she?" Sophie asked, giving him a pointed look and the Doctor scratched at his ear, "And I kinda doubt Mickey would have told you if you had asked. The two of you don't really get along all that well," she stated and the Doctor gave a slow nod.

"That's Mickey. I s'pose I…" Rose murmured with a small guilty frown, "We… just take him for granted."

Sophie frowned turning her gaze to the ground heart sinking further… did she? Did she take Mickey for granted? She hadn't thought so… she really hoped that she hadn't, he'd been nothing but kind to her and that would be a poor way to repay it… and despite the fact that they weren't close, not like she was with the Doctor and Rose, she considered him a friend, one of very her first.

"Do you think she's still alive, his gran?" Rose asked glancing over at the Doctor.

"Could be," the Doctor replied with a nod glancing over at Sophie briefly as one of her hands moved to entangled itself in the ends of her hair, "Like I said, parallel world, gingerbread house. We need to get out of here as fast as we can," he muttered and Sophie nodded in agreement, her teeth sinking into her lower lip.

A short bleep-like alarm sounded and around them everyone suddenly froze and the trio looked around confused, "What are they all doing?" Rose asked with confusion.

"They've stopped…" the Doctor trailed.

"Yeah… but why?" Sophie muttered a little disquieted by the mass freeze of those around them.

The Doctor paused by one man, taking note of the flashing ear pod that was quietly beeping, "It's the earpieces… like Bluetooth attachments, but everyone's connected together.

Rose and Sophie's phones bleeped simultaneously and the pair pulled them out, "It's on our phones," Rose murmured and Sophie nodded her agreement, "It's automatic, look. It's downloading. Is this what they're all getting?" she asked as the Doctor pulled out his spectacles and peered over Sophie's shoulder at her phones screen.

"It looks like the News," Sophie muttered and Rose nodded as the both read through the information that had been downloaded onto their mobiles, "International news… the sports… and the weather," the brunette listed.

"They get it direct. Downloaded right into their heads," the Doctor explained and Sophie pulled a small face.

"TV schedules… lottery numbers…" Rose listed.

"Everyone shares the same information," the Doctor expounded as he reached for Sophie's phone slipping it from her grasp, "Daily download published by Cybus Industries," he read just before the download scrolled down to a 'joke' and around them everyone laughed. The trio stared at them nonplussed as the people who'd just been frozen picked up where they'd left off as if they'd never frozen at all.

"Creepy!" Sophie muttered as she pulled another disquieted face.

The Doctor shook his head, "You lot, you're obsessed," he muttered, "You'd do anything for the latest upgrade."

Sophie grimaced at that, pulling another face, this one directed at the Doctor making him smirk a little at her in amusement. Whilst Rose shot him an indignant look, "Oi… not our lot," she gestured at herself and Sophie, "Different world, remember…"

"It's not so far off your world. This place is only parallel," the Doctor replied, he tapped a few buttons on the holographic keyboard, "Oh, look at that," he held the phone up so that Rose could see the screen, "Cybus Industries, owners of just about every company in Britain, including Vitex. Mr Pete Tyler's very well connected," Rose gave him a look. He sighed, "Rose, no… it's a really bad idea," Rose frowned down at her feet, "We should go find Mickey before he gets himself in some kind of trouble," he moved to take Rose's hand to pull her into motion again, this time in the opposite direction of the Tyler's address.

Rose stepped back from his hand and shook her head, her teeth biting into her lower lip for a moment as the Doctor turned back to her with an unhappy look, "You two can go find Mickey if you want, but I'm going to see my dad," she stated as firmly as she could with a slight waver in her voice, backing up a bit more from them, out of grabbing range.

"Rose…!" the Doctor began only for Rose to cut him off.

"I need to see him!" she said desperation creeping into her voice, she glanced from the Doctor to Sophie and back again "I-I'm sorry, but I do," she backed away a couple more paces before she turned and hurried on up the street.

Sophie sighed resignedly as she stared after the blond, "We should go after her, right?" she glanced at the Doctor.

He nodded, "Yeah, we should," he muttered with a sigh of his own as they moved to start following after Rose. He glanced over at her, taking in her somber expression, "You alright?" he asked cautiously.

"Yeah…" Sophie nodded, "I'm alright," she smiled at him, but it was half-hearted at best and it didn't reach her eyes.

The Doctor took her hand in his, staring at her with concerned disbelieving eyes.

Sophie shook her head a little, glancing "Let's just get this over with, yeah?" she muttered attempting another smile, trying to shake her darkening thoughts and the ache in her chest as she did her best to shunt aside thoughts of her own parents and the desire to see if they were alive in this parallel world…

The Doctor gave the hand he had taken a comforting squeeze, and brushed his consciousness against hers, getting a hint of the conflict she was feeling as she reciprocated the action, her hand tightening about his in return as they moved to catch up with the blond again…

*O*O*O*

The Doctor, Sophie and Rose were crouched in amongst some bushes outside the Tyler mansion, watching as a stretch limousine drove past them.

"They've got visitors," the Doctor commented.

"Lots of visitors," Sophie murmured lowly a small frown scrunching her brow as more expensive looking cars drove past them up the driveway and pulled up outside the mansion.

"February the first. Mum's birthday," Rose murmured and the Doctor shot her an irritated look for not mentioning that little fact earlier, "Even in a parallel universe, she still loves a party," she continued ignoring the look.

The Doctor sighed looking away from her again tugging at his ear as he stared at the arriving guests, curiosity stirring despite himself, "Well, given Pete Tyler's guest list, I wouldn't mind a look," he admitted with reluctance after a moment.

Sophie curled the ends of her hair around her fingers and glanced over at him, "Well, we are already here…" she murmured with a low sigh, teeth chewing on her lower lip and Rose grinned at them happily.

"And there is one guaranteed way of getting inside," the Doctor pulled out his small black wallet containing the psychic paper and waved it around a bit.

"Psychic paper!" Rose exclaimed with excitement grinning wider.

The Doctor nodded, "So, who do we wanna be?" he asked them and Sophie shrugged unconcerned whilst Rose gave him a look like she thought that should be obvious…

*O*O*O*

The Doctor, Rose and Sophie followed several waiters and waitresses out of the kitchen doors, dressed in the same black uniforms and carrying trays with refreshments for the party guests. A woman took a canapé from Rose's tray and the blond did her best to smile politely at the well-dressed woman, "We could have been anyone," she whispered with annoyance to the Doctor, shooting him an unimpressed look.

"Got us in, didn't it?" the Doctor replied unfazed as he swept his gaze over the room they were in and all the guests wandering about.

"You're in charge of the psychic paper," Rose hissed, "We could've been guests. Celebrities. Sir Doctor, Dame Rose, Dame Sophie. We end up serving. I had enough of this back home," she pouted as she looked about at the guests that were having a good time.

Sophie let out a low sigh that was tinged with irritation, shooting the blond a look from the corner of her eye, "Can't you just be happy that we here?" she muttered.

The Doctor nodded in agreement, "Exactly," and Rose sighed not at all satisfied, she'd been hoping to have a real chance to mingle, see what her parents were like…

The three smiled politely as a few of the guests took champagne, cocktail sticks and canapes from their trays. They retreated slightly off to the side, watching the proceedings as the important guests mingled with each other, laughed, and had photos taken.

"Besides," the Doctor continued ignoring the blondes unhappy pout, "If you wanna know what's going on, work in the kitchens," Rose shot him a brief glower even as Sophie nodded, "According to Lucy," he nodded towards one of the male guests, "That man over there…"

Rose glanced over at him with a frown, "Who's Lucy?"

"She's carrying the salmon pinwheels," the Doctor replied with a small gesture in the direction the woman was standing with her tray.

Rose glanced over at the woman eyes slightly narrowed, "Oh, that's Lucy, is it?" she asked dismissively.

The Doctor nodded not really paying any mind to Rose's tone and continued irritation, "…Yeah!"

Sophie glanced over at the woman the Doctor had indicated, before turning her curious eyes back to the Doctor, "What did Lucy say?" she prompted and Rose had to bite her tongue keep her groan behind her teeth as her gaze snapped to her 'big sister' to see that she didn't seem to care at all…

"She says, that is the President of Great Britain," the Doctor replied nodding over at the man he'd indicated before.

Sophie blinked, "President?" she muttered eyeing the man with surprise.

"What, there's a President, not a Prime Minister?" Rose asked dubiously.

"Seems so," the Doctor replied and Sophie hummed musingly.

"Or maybe Lucy's just a bit thick," Rose muttered with a small dismissive sniff that went ignored by Sophie and the Doctor as they stared moving again, Rose following them, the blond throwing a last defensive irritated look at Lucy.

"Excuse me!" they heard Pete Tyler call and they followed the crowd over towards where his voice was coming from, "Thank you very much. Thank you, if I could just have your attention, please?"

"Pete! Go on, Pete!" one of the male guests called.

"Thank you very much!" Pete replied with a wide grin.

"It's about time you did some work," the same man called jovially, "I thought you liked them young!"

Rose who'd been straining to see her dad over the heads of the people in front of the stairs, moved closer, following the sound of his voice, wanting to be able to see him. The Doctor and Sophie following her.

"Um, I'd just like to say," Pete began, standing halfway up the large staircase as he addressed his guests, "Er, thank you to you all, for coming on this, er, this very special occasion," Rose stared at him just soaking him in now that she had an unobstructed view, "My wife's… thirty-ninth," the guests chortled. Pete flashed them his signature thumbs up, "Trust me on this…" the guests chortled louder in appreciative amusement, "So, without any further ado, here she is. The birthday girl… my lovely wife… Jackie Tyler."

Rose strained for a look at her mother as Jackie Tyler slowly descended the stairs at her husband's introduction. The Doctor and Sophie glancing at her with concern.

Jackie came to stand by Pete the guests clapping, "Now, I'm not giving a speech, that's what my parties are famous for, no work, no politics, just a few good mates and plenty of black market whisky," the guests laughed again, Jackie's gaze landed on the President, "Pardon me, Mister President," she said through a light laugh, "So, yeah! Get on with it," she urged, "Enjoy, enjoy!" the guests gave a cheer and Jackie accepted Pete's hand, the couple descending the stairs together to mingle with their guests.

"You can't stay," the Doctor murmured quietly to Rose, "Even if there was some way of telling them."

"Rose?" Sophie murmured just as quietly as the blond remained quiet just staring at her parents as they moved through the crowd.

Rose swallowed, "Course I can't," she acknowledged, "I've still got mum at home. My real mum. I couldn't just leave her, could I. It's just… they've got each other. Mum's got no one."

"She's got you! Those two haven't!" the Doctor told her firmly before he sighed, "All these different worlds, not one of them gets it right," he muttered, beside him Sophie looked away teeth sinking into her lower lip, her mind once again skipping to places they shouldn't… to thoughts of 'what ifs'…

"Rose!" Jackie suddenly called and a series of yips and yelps came in response, "There's my little girl!" Jackie cooed as a small dog came into sight pottering over to Jackie, "Come to mummy, come to mummy!" she encouraged picking up the small dog, cradling her in her arms, "Yes, good girl! Good girl, aren't you?"

The Doctor couldn't help it, he laughed, grinning at Sophie as she turned her face into his arm, her shoulders shaking in suppressed mirth, a hand covering her mouth in an attempt to keep herself from laughing out loud like he had. He glanced back over at Rose to see that she was giving him a withering look, "Sorry," he muttered a bit sheepishly, but couldn't quite smother his amused grin.

Rose glanced from him to Sophie who was still determinedly hiding her face away, shoulders shaking and she huffed a bit, arms crossing over her chest as she eyed the dog in her mum's arms, grimacing at the sight of the small yappy thing… that she might have thought cute if she didn't happen to share a name with it.

*O*O*O*

Mr Crane walked outside the factory a metallic voice ringing out as newly created Cybermen marched past, "Platoon now boarding. Platoon zero-L-two boarding," their heavy metal boots clumped across the ground, as the Cybermen marched towards the waiting Lorries.

"Stop staring," Mr Crane addressed a member of the staff who stood stiffly watching the robotic men march past them.

"Who are they, sir?" the man asked, tearing his gaze away from them to stare at his superior.

"I'm told they're the future," Mr. Crane replied, "Ain't technology wonderful? Go on, get in the cab. Start her up."

"Sir," the man acknowledged, before moving to do as he had been told.

Mr Crane's phone rang, "Mr. Crane, are we mobile?" Lumic's voice came through the phone's speaker the moment he answered the call.

"Just about in the road, sir," Mr. Crane replied, "And yourself?"

"I'm arriving, Mr. Crane. Prepare the factory," Lumic ordered and Mr. Crane looked skyward to see Lumic's Zeppelin coming in, "Now, send them forth, old friend. Let the good work begin."

*O*O*O*

Rose glanced over at Sophie as they stood together slightly off to the side of the party as the guests continued to mingle with each other, the brunette gazing about the room, a silence that felt stilted and uncomfortable to the blond stretching between them.

Sophie smiled politely as a guest that wandered past took the last champagne flute off her tray, before she lowered her tray and turned to move away.

"Soph?" Rose called and the brunette turned back, glancing over at her, "I am sorry…" she trailed as Sophie nodded.

"Ok," the brunette murmured quietly in response moving to turn away again.

Rose swallowed, still not feeling like things were ok between them, "I mean it. I'm really sorry, Soph."

Sophie blinked and turned back again, "I believe you," she assured quietly, shifting a little as she glanced away briefly a hand tangling into the ends of her hair, "And I – I forgive you," she murmured as she glanced back to the blond, "It just hurt Rose. I mean, you know what happened to my… to my parents and yet you still…" Sophie trailed and Rose looked down shamefaced. The brunette took a steadying breath, "We'll talk about it later, yeah?" she offered the blond as smile as she looked up again.

Rose nodded and then blinked as Sophie turned and started away again, "Where are you going?" she asked with a small frown.

Sophie turned her head to look back over her shoulder at the blond a small grimace crossing her features as she held up her empty tray, "Gotta refill me tray… supposed to be waitressing and all," she muttered, and Rose nodded with a grimace of her own as the brunette turned and headed off to go get more champagne flutes filled with the ridiculously expensive bubbly that was being served.

Sophie made it over to the table where the beverages where and carefully began loading up her tray with the delicate looking flute glasses filled almost to the brim with champagne. She'd just finished placing the last flute on her tray when the Doctor came up behind her and touched her elbow, drawing her gaze. She blinked a bit quizzically at him as he took the tray from her and set it on the table.

He smiled at her, "Come with me," he urged and started back through the guests.

Sophie followed him, frowning slightly as she realized they were leaving the party, "Should we really be leaving Rose alone?" she asked as the Doctor urged her through a door and out into a quiet corridor.

"She'll be fine…" the Doctor replied, then tugged at his ear, "We won't be long," he tacked on and glanced back at her with a smile, "And I may need a look out," he murmured and took her hand as they started quietly along the corridor.

*O*O*O*

Mickey sat tied to a chair, stripped down to his boxers as Jake carefully scanned the length of his body with some kind of device, the results feeding to the laptop, Mrs. Moore was using. Jake finished his scan and turned to Ricky, "He's clean. No bugs."

Rickey stared dubiously, "But this is off the scale. He's flesh and blood. How did that happen?" he asked with a distrustful frown.

"Well, it could be that Cybus industries have perfected the science of human cloning…?" Mrs. Moore suggested, "Or, your father had a bike?"

Ricky glared at his possible clone and circled him menacingly, "And your name is Mickey, not Ricky?"

"Mickey," Mickey agreed, "Dad was Jackson Smith. Used to work at the key cutters in Clifton's Parade. Went to Spain, never came back."

Ricky bent getting a closer look at Mickey, "But, that's my dad. So… we're brothers?"

"Be fair," Jake called over to Ricky, "What else could it be?"

Rickey stared at Mickey with a furrowed brow, "I don't know. But he doesn't just look like me, he's exactly the same. There's something else going on here, Jake."

Mickey swallowed, "So, who are you lot?" he asked curiously.

Ricky straightened up and began circling the chair again, "We, we are the Preachers," Mickey blinked at him, "As in the Gospel Truth. You see?" Ricky gestured at 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're going to bring him down."

"From your kitchen?" Mickey couldn't help but ask and Jake smirked.

Ricky frowned, "Have you got a problem with that?"

"No, it's a good kitchen," Mickey replied, just before the laptop bleeped drawing the rooms attention.

Mrs. Moore checked it, "It's an upload from Gemini," she exclaimed.

Mickey blinked curiously, "Who's Gemini?" he asked them.

"The vans are back," Mrs. Moore summarized as she read the screen, "They're moving out of Battersea. Looks like Gemini was right. Lumic's finally making a move."

Ricky smirked, "And we are right behind him. Pack up, we're leaving."

*O*O*O*

The Doctor and Sophie ducked into the shadows of an open doorway as a couple of maids walked by, one pausing looking about with a quizzical expression, having sworn she'd heard something a lot like a bell.

The other maid paused and looked back at her fellow employee and friend with confusion, "What is it?"

"Dunno… thought I heard something… a chime… bells maybe…?" the maid took another look about the corridor and shook her head when she didn't see anything, "Must be going balmy," she muttered and walked on, catching up with her friend and the two proceeded on down the corridor.

Sophie let out a small relieved breath, she didn't fancy getting caught where they shouldn't be… even with the Doctor's psychic paper. The Doctor pouted slightly as Sophie reached up and started taking the bell earrings from her ears, "I like the bells," he muttered quietly.

Sophie glanced over at him, as she started on the second earring, "We need to be sneaky, and the bells are noisy…" she murmured just as quietly and the Doctor nodded, conceding that she was right, but couldn't quite wipe away the pout completely, "I'll put 'em back in later," Sophie muttered as she slipped them carefully into her pocket.

The Doctor smirked slightly and nodded, "Come on," he murmured slipping back out into the corridor, hand slipping into Sophie's as they quietly proceeded up the corridor.

They came upon a door that had been left open ajar giving them a peak into a darkened room, they almost walked past it before the Doctor noticed a laptop that had been left open on the desk, and backtracked, "Bingo," he murmured as they slipped inside the study.

"I'll keep a look out," Sophie whispered.

The Doctor blinked momentarily confused, "Uh…" Sophie blinked back with a mild frown, that was the whole reason he'd asked her along, right…? That was what he'd said. The Doctor cleared his throat, "Right, yes. Look out," he murmured, nodding, "…good."

Sophie blinked at him one last time as he turned from her and strolled over to the laptop, before she shook her head slightly bemused and carefully closed the door again so that it was only open a small sliver just enough for her to be able to peek out into the corridor.

*O*O*O*

Rose watched from a distance as Jackie Tyler laughed with the President, Pete stepped up next to her his eyes also locked on his wife, "I remember her twenty-first," he commented drawing Rose's gaze, "Pint of cider in the George."

Rose stared for a moment swallowing thickly at being so close to him again… unable to help but remember the last time she'd been so close… "Sorry," she offered him the tray she was holding, "Champagne?"

Pete picked up a glass, "Oh, might as well. I'm paying for it!" and laughed lightly Rose chuckling along trying her hardest not to stare at him.

"It's a big night for you…" Rose murmured.

"Well, for her…" Pete replied staring at his wife again, "Still she's happy."

"Yeah," Rose smiled, "She should be. It's a great party."

Pete pulled his gaze from Jackie to glance over at her, "Do you think?"

Rose gave him a thumbs up and grinned attempting to copy his poster as he had earlier, "You can trust me…!"

"You can trust me on this," he corrected her jokingly, flashing her his own thumbs up, grinning and throwing in the wink.

"That's it, sorry, yeah!" Rose exclaimed with a laugh, "So, um, how long have you two been married?" she asked trying to keep her tone nonchalant.

"Twenty years," Pete replied gaze returning to his wife again, a sadness creeping into his eyes.

Rose swallowed heavily, "And no kids, or…?"

Pete sighed, "We kept putting it off," he murmured, "She said she didn't wanna spoil her figure."

Rose swallowed again, "It's not too late. She's only forty."

"Thirty-nine," Pete corrected.

"Oh, right, thirty-nine!" Rose agreed sharing a glance with him and the two chuckled softly in amusement.

Pete shook his head sadly, "It's still too late…" he murmured, "I moved out last month," he admitted quietly, "But we're going to keep it quiet. You know, it's bad for business," Rose's lingering smile faded heart aching at that, but she nodded as she glanced away. There was a pause in the conversation as Pete gave her a look, "Why am I telling you this?" he wondered, he wasn't normally so loose tongued about his personal matters, "We haven't met before, have we?" Rose stared at him hardly daring to breath as he stared right back at her, "I dunno, you just seem sort of…"

Rose swallowed again, "What?" she breathed heart hammering.

Pete considered her for a moment longer, "I dunno," he murmured unable to put his finger on exactly what it was about the young woman that made him feel comfortable enough to talk to about something so personal, "Just sort of… right," he finally settled on. Silence fell between them again and Pete glanced around suddenly uncomfortable with the situation now. His gaze landed on one of his guests and he immediately started away, "Stevey!" he called, "How's things? How's it going at Torchwood?"

Rose watched him go sadly standing alone once again, her heart feeling heavy as she silently berated herself for getting hopeful, of course he wouldn't recognise her like her dad had… this Pete Tyler didn't have a daughter… didn't have her… and very soon wouldn't even have Jackie… but maybe… maybe there was hope for the two of them… if… if they talked… a bit… it could happen, couldn't it? Her parents loved each other after all… her mum still loved Pete Tyler all these years later… Rose bit her lower lip, considering…

*O*O*O*

Ricky and Jake crouched down in amongst some bushes outside the Tyler mansion watching as some men dressed in white get out of the back of a lorry, "I don't know what they're doing, but they seem to be the target," Ricky reported speaking into a walkie-talkie, "Big house, fair bit of money. Now we just have to find a way to get in."

*O*O*O*

"I've identified the address," Mrs. Moore informed Mickey the pair of them still in the van, "It belongs to Pete Tyler, the Vitex millionaire."

Mickey stilled swallowing heavily, "Pete Tyler?" he questioned hoping that he'd heard wrong.

Mrs. Moore nodded, "He's listed as one of Lumic's henchmen. A traitor to the state."

Mickey stared at her wide eyed with shock, "But… but… we've gotta get in there!" he exclaimed with concern just knowing that Rose would have found a way inside even without the Doctor's help… the Time Lord had predictably chosen to go after the hurt Sophie leaving him and Rose to go off by themselves.

*O*O*O*

Ricky frowned a bit exasperated, "Now, shut it duplicate," he spoke into the walkie-talkie again, "That's what I just said," he muttered as a ramp was let down from the back of the lorry, the sound of heavy metal feet marching followed. Ricky frowned at the lorry, "What are they doing…?" he murmured just as the source of the heavy footsteps marched down the extended ramp and onto the gravel, "What the hell are they?" he breathed. Ricky and Jake stayed huddled in the bushes just watching for a moment, before they retreated as quickly and quietly as they could, neither wanting to get caught.

*O*O*O*

"Hey Sparks," the Doctor called from where he was sitting in front of the laptop brainy specs adorning his face as he stared at the screen, "Come have a look at this."

Sophie blinked and turned from the door she's been peeking out of, to look over at him, "Bit hard to watch the door from over there," she commented.

The Doctor glanced up from the computer meeting her gaze a bit sheepishly as he tugged at his ear, "Oh… right… I s'pose…" he muttered trailing as Sophie tilted her head at him.

"Unless, of course… you didn't really need me to watch the door at all…" she murmured eyeing him, that had been the second time he'd seemingly forgot that he'd asked her along to 'watch the door'.

"I… well, uh… about that Sparks…" the Doctor hedged, tugging at his ear as he gave her an apologetic look for the small lie he'd told, "I just kind of thought, that maybe you could use the distraction," he admitted tugging at his ear again.

Sophie blinked in mild surprise, and then gave him a small smile as she carefully pushed the study door all the way closed with a quiet snick and started towards the desk, "Thanks," she murmured gratefully, because in all honesty… a distraction had been exactly what she needed and the Doctor nodded returning her smile as she stepped around the desk to join him, peering over his shoulder at the screen, "So, what are we looking at?" she asked curiously.

"This," the Doctor gestured at the screen, specifically at the video presentation he'd found. He clicked on it and the file began to play.

"The most precious thing on this Earth is the human brain…"

*O*O*O*

Rose glanced through a window and spotted her mum sitting alone on a patio bench out on the porch. She took a breath before turning from the window, heading for the door instead. A moment later Rose was stepping out onto the porch still holding the tray of champagne, "Mrs. Tyler, is there anything I can get you?" Rose asked.

Jackie glanced over at her, "The last twenty years back," she said with a short, tired laugh.

Rose gave her a slightly uncertain smile, "I can manage a glass of champagne… or a nice cup of tea?" she offered.

"Oh, that'd do me!" Jackie said with a smile and a more genuine laugh that Rose joined in with a light chuckle.

Rose sat down on the bench next to her mum, still holding her tray filled with champagne flutes, "My mum loves that," she commented, "End of a long night she never goes straight to bed, she always stays up just to have that last cup of tea."

"Oh, I'm the same!" Jackie replied.

Rose stared at her, "Two sugars…"

Jackie nodded laughing lightly, "And me! Pete always says, you know…" she trailed and shook her head, "Ah, never mind him."

Rose swallowed, seeing her chance, "I was talking to him earlier," she murmured glancing out over the porch a touch awkwardly, "He's a nice man. You know, a bit of a Jack the Lad, I s'pose, even if he has got money, but…" Jackie started to frown at the younger woman, "He's a good bloke. Better than most," she turned her hopeful eyes back to her mum, "He's worth a second chance," she murmured softly.

Jackie's frown turned into a scowl as her gaze turned sharp, "Are you commenting on my marriage?" she asked coldly.

Rose blinked rather taken aback, her mum had never spoken to her like that before, "No, I was just…"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Jackie demanded, "You're staff! You're nothing but staff, you're just the serving girl, for God's sake," Rose swallowed thickly and looked away rather hurt, "And you are certainly not getting paid. Don't you dare talk to me."

Jackie got up and stalked back inside without another glance at the serving girl that had dared to comment on her personal life.

Rose stared after her as her back disappeared through the door, she looked away miserably, that hadn't gone how she'd wanted it to at all… in fact she was scared that she may have just unintentionally made it worse. Suddenly, a floodlight snapped on and Rose squinted against the harsh glare, peering through it with difficulty to see rows of marching figures approaching each step accompanied by an ominous 'boom'.

*O*O*O*

Sophie stared at the laptop screen eyes wide with horror, cold dread making her stomach pit, each word spoken and every demonstrative image used in the presentation making it settle deeper… she swallowed thickly as the narrator continued to speak.

"This is the ultimate upgrade," Sophie shook her head in horrified disbelief at what she was hearing, "Our greatest step into cyberspace."

The Doctor stared at the screen horrified, "Cybers…" the whole presentation was talking about the creation of cybermen!

Sophie swallowed past the horrified lump in her throat, "It's horrible!" she managed to get out, her voice strained as the Doctor leapt up from the chair he'd been sitting on.

"Oh, Sparks. You have no idea!" the Doctor replied grimly as his hand took hers as he hurried towards the door.

Sophie swallowed thickly the brief glimpse of marching metal men she'd been seeing in her visions flashing across her minds eye… that horrible word echoing. Her hand tightened around his and the two dashed out into the corridor, heading back towards the drawing room.

*O*O*O*

Rose stood staring at the large approaching figures with squinted eyes for a moment longer, before she turned on her heel and dashed back inside.

*O*O*O*

The Doctor and Sophie moved through the party guests, the pair searching for Rose in amongst them. They spotted her as she headed for a window and they hurried over to her. The Doctor pressed his face against the glass, staring out at the approaching metal figures, "It's happening again," he murmured with mounting horror at the sight… the robotic metal men all too familiar to him, beside him Sophie shifted anxiously, swallowing heavily as she squinted against the bright flood lights as the large figures got closer.

Rose turned her gaze from the window to look at the Doctor, frowning with concern, her gaze flicking to Sophie to see her staring through the window, face pale and then back to the Doctor, "What do you mean?"

"I've seen them before," the Doctor replied still gazing through the window.

"What are they?" Rose asked him.

"Cybermen," the Doctor replied lowly and Sophie felt a shiver run down her spine, a hand tangling in the ends of her hair as she fought for her calm… panicking wouldn't do herself, Rose or the Doctor any good… she needed to remain calm!

Metal fists smashed through large French full body length windows in another wall, and the guests screamed in shock and alarm. Cybermen marched into the mansion, row after row of them, and all the Doctor, Sophie and Rose could do was stare in horror as they and the cowering guests were forced back as the Cybermen herded them back until they were up against a wall, completely surrounded.

'Oh… bugger!' Sophie thought horrified, fear clawing at her insides as she stared at the Cybermen… there was so many! So many that had been… she swallowed thickly past the painful lump in her throat.

In the next moment the Presidents communication device bleeped, "Mr. Lumic," the President spoke as he answered it with a tap against the earpiece, distaste colouring his tone.

"Mr. President," Lumic replied, his voice loud and clear in the room, "I suppose a remark about crashing the party would be appropriate at this point," he laughed smugly at his own joke, the sound ringing around the room.

The President gritted his teeth angrily, "I forbade this!"

"These are my children, sir. Would you deny my family?" came Lumic's response.

"What are they?" Rose asked under her breath, "Robots?" and Sophie gave her head a minute shake in the negative, swallowing heavily.

"Worse than that," the Doctor replied lowly as he glanced about the room, the Cybermen that had them surrounded… no way out that he could see… trapped.

"Who were these people?" the President demanded of Lumic.

"Doesn't matter," Lumic replied dismissively.

Rose swallowed heavily, "They're people?" she gasped with horror.

"They were. Until they had all their humanity taken away," the Doctor replied and Sophie felt another shiver run down her spine, "That's a living brain jammed inside a cybernetic body. With a heart of steel. All emotions removed," he elaborated for his companions and Sophie swallowed again, her fingers twisting against each other, recalling that horrible emotionless one syllable word again.

"Why no emotions?" Rose asked.

"Because it hurts," the Doctor replied.

Sophie shook her head, teeth sinking into her lower lip, "Why would anyone do this to someone? How could anyone think this is a good idea?" she murmured, pained.

"Too many reasons. None of them good ones," the Doctor murmured lowly.

"I demand to know, Lumic. These people, who were they?" the President demanded, his voice rising in his growing anger.

"They were homeless, wretched and useless until I saved them," Lumic responded, "And elevated them. And gave them life-eternal. And now, I leave you in their capable hands. Goodnight, sir. Goodnight, Mr. President."

Lumic hung up and one of the Cybermen stepped forward towards the crowd, "We have been upgraded," it stated.

"Into what?" the Doctor asked.

"The next level of mankind," the Cyberman responded, "We are Human Point Two. Every citizen will receive a free upgrade. You will become like us."

"I'm sorry," the President stepped forward, approaching the Cyberman, "I'm so sorry for what's been done to you," he turned and walked around, "But listen to me, this experiment ends. Tonight," he stated.

"Upgrading is compulsory," the Cyberman responded flatly.

"And if I refuse?" the President asked.

"Don't!" the Doctor quickly interjected warningly, and Sophie and Rose tore their gazes from what was happening to glance over at him.

"What if I refuse?" the President insisted.

The Doctor stepped forward, "I'm telling you, don't."

"Please, just listen to him," Sophie pleaded her voice quiet but still cracking slightly. Her heart beat harshly against her ribcage with fear.

"What happens if I refuse?" the President insisted, ignoring them both and Sophie sank her teeth into her lower lip harshly as she waited for the response.

"Then you are not compatible," the Cyberman stated.

The President frowned, "What happens then?" he challenged.

"You will be deleted," the Cyberman stated just as flatly as before and Sophie felt herself jerk in horror as in the next moment the Cyberman as he grasped the President by the neck, the man's eyes widening in shock and alarm, before electricity shot through him, killing him and the guests screamed in terror as the other Cybermen started forward, reaching for them with the intent to kill them all.

"Jackie?! Jackie?!" Pete Tyler shouted for his wife, trying to get to her, but was overwhelmed by the chaos.

The guests attempted to flee, and the Doctor swiftly turned and grabbed Sophie and Rose by the hands and pulled them into motion, running out of the house through one of the windows the Cybermen had broken.

"There's nothing we can do!" the Doctor shouted as they made it outside, as Rose tried to pull away to get back inside.

"My mum's in there!" Rose shouted desperately, managing to break away and move back towards the house.

"Rose!" Sophie shouted in alarm, eyes wide with fear and horror at what was happening, what had happened.

The Doctor caught Rose by the arm, pulling her back, "She's not your mother!" he reminded her and Rose let out a strangled sound from somewhere in her throat, "Come on!" he urged, hurrying them on.

They ran up a grassy slope only for a row of Cybermen to appear in the distance, calming marching forward. They turned and ran back the way they had come, along the side of the house approaching the set of broken windows again, just as Pete Tyler leapt out one of them.

"Quick! Quick!" Rose shouted at him as they dashed by and Pete ran after the three, his heart heavy in his chest with the knowledge that he'd failed to find Jackie…

*O*O*O*

Jackie let out a terrified shriek as one of the Cybermen spotted her and she turned on her heel and fled down the corridor, heart pounding as she heard the sound of its heavy footsteps as it pursued her.

She made it to a flight of stairs and she hurried down them and into the cellar hoping to lose the monstrosity that was chasing her.

The Cyberman approached the steps, and started down them, stomping steadily down the steps…

*O*O*O*

"Pete, is there no way out!" the Doctor shouted as they reached the front of the house, looking around frantically for a possible exit.

"The side gates!" Pete shouted, pointing in the gates general direction and the four took off in the direction he'd indicated, "Who are you? How do you know so much?" he asked as they ran.

"You wouldn't believe it in a million years…" the Doctor started only to trail as another row of Cybermen appeared marching towards them, forcing them to change direction once again.

"Who's that?" Rose asked as they spotted two figures running across the lawn towards them, armed with guns.

"Get behind me!" Ricky shouted the demand at the group they'd seen fleeing, he and Jake aiming their guns at the advancing Cybermen, opening fire at the metallic men the moment they'd gotten out of the line of fire. The bullets bounced off the metal, but still the Cybermen came to a halt, and Sophie blinked relieved and surprised.

Rose fussed with Ricky's jacket, "Oh my God, look at you…" she breathed overcome with relief, before she threw her arms around him hugging him tightly, much to Ricky's bewilderment, "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Ricky pulled away from the tight grip with a slight effort, the blond was stronger than she looked, "Yeah, no offence, sweetheart, but who the hell are you?" he asked much to Rose's bewilderment as she stared up at him surprised and hurt at the reaction.

"Rose!" They heard a familiar voice shout and they turned.

"Blimey!" Sophie exclaimed, blinking a little surprised as another Mickey came into view as he ran up to them from across the lawn.

"That's not me!" Mickey said as he came to a stop in front of them, Rose blinked, looking from one to the other wide-eyed, a bit thrown by the sight, "That's like…" Mickey shot Ricky a brief look, "The other one," he explained with a bit of an awkward mumble.

"Oh, as if things weren't bad enough," the Doctor grumbled as he too stared at the pair, "There's two Mickey's!"

"It's Ricky!" the one that was giving the Doctor a dark scowl corrected and the Doctor blinked a bit in genuine surprise, lips beginning to twitch despite the situation.

Sophie seeing it nudged him, "Don't!" she warned him and the Doctor glanced at her, the smallest of pouts jutting out his lower lip, and Sophie shook her head a little, heart only just starting to calm…

"But there's more of them…" Mickey pointed out as he looked about in terror and Sophie's heart beat escalated again in fear as they all glanced about seeing the Cybermen marching towards them at a steady unwavering pace, their heavy footsteps getting louder and louder, the earth begin to vibrate beneath their feet slightly as the Cybermen got closer and closer.

"We're surrounded…" Rose breathed fearfully and Ricky raised his gun ready to open fire once more on the metal men.

"Put the guns down," the Doctor said in response, "Bullets won't stop them," he told them, only for Jake to ignore him as he fired at the Cybermen. The Doctor stiffened and shot out an arm, hand closing around the gun pushing it down, scowling, "No! Stop shooting, now!" he demanded angrily, before he straightened and turned to face the Cybermen that were surrounding them, "We surrender!" he called to Cybers, "Hands up…" he murmured raising his own, hoping that the 'Mickey-Ricky' and his gun happy friend wouldn't give him any further trouble.

Sophie, Rose and Mickey raised their hands in surrender, Pete's, Ricky's and Jake's following a bit more slowly as they glanced a bit warily at the man that seemed to know a lot about what was happening.

"There's no need to damage us, we're good stock," the Doctor addressed the Cybermen once again, "We volunteer for the upgrade program. Take us to be processed."

"You are rogue elements," one of the Cybermen responded.

"But we surrender," the Doctor insisted staring in mounting disbelief at the Cybermen, hearts hammering in his chest.

"You are incompatible," the Cyberman stated.

"But this is a surrender!" the Doctor insisted.

"You will be deleted."

"But we're surrendering! Listen to me, we surrender!" the Doctor shouted, frantic now.

"You are inferior. Man will be reborn as Cyberman, but you will perish under maximum deletion," the Cyberman informed them.

The Cyberman raised its arm, reaching for the Doctor and Sophie felt her heart that was already hammering against her ribcage in fear do a terrified palpitation recalling the electricity that had been sent coursing through the President with a single touch, killing him…

"Delete. Delete. Delete!"