Aneres watched as the Cybermen continued to encroach, the sounds around her beginning to fade as she entered the fog of battle once again. Turning, she grabbed the power cell from the Doctor's coat pocket and blasted it at the Cybermen. The creatures immediately vaporized into golden dust, a small grin coming to Aneres face.

"What the hell was that?" Ricky demanded, whirling on the Time Lady. She didn't answer though, and merely grabbed her machine gun back before running off with the Doctor's hand in hers. Rose snarled at the sight and ran after them, panting from the exertion. Aneres however, was calm as a cucumber despite the heavy weight of her firearm across her body. Eventually they reached Mrs Moore's van and clambered inside, with Aneres opening fire on any Cybermen that had decided to follow them.

"I've got to go back. My wife's in there," Pete shouted, about to turn back towards the house.

"Take another step and I shoot!" Aneres screeched with her gun turned to him. Rose gaped at the Time Lady, as did Mickey. Ricky and Jake however, agreed with her and turned their weapons on the man. The Doctor remained notably silent, his eyes watching Aneres intently.

"But-But," Pete stammered, leaning away from the threatening guns.

"I'm not joking Mr Tyler. Take another step and you'll put us in far more danger, and I'm not about to let that happen." He gaped at the Time Lady like a dead fish.

"Anyone inside that house is dead. If you want to help, then don't let her die for nothing," The Doctor finally sighed out, while staring at the floor. It was taking everything in him not to release the Oncoming Storm on each and every one of them. "You've got to come with us right now."

"But that's my wife in there!" Pete bellowed, sneering at the Doctor as rage pumped through his veins.

"And your actions are currently threatening mine!" The Doctor snarled, glaring at the human man while he moved to stand behind Aneres protectively. He took deep breaths, trying to calm down as best he could. The Time Lady slowly lowered her weapon to turn and hug him tightly, while Ricky and Jake kept their guns trained on the man.

"Lower them, boys," Aneres ordered calmly as she ran her fingers through the Doctor's hair. The two humans obeyed instantly, causing Mickey's eyes to widen even more. Only a few hours ago, Ricky had been the leader of the Preachers. Now it looked like the Time Lady had taken that role and was running to the hills with it.

Pete looked at all of them, his eyes full of a plea that would never be answered if the Time Lords has anything to say about it. They hated to deny the man, but the only focus they had now was each other's safety. The Tether was in full bloom, blacking out anyone that wasn't themselves or their children, of which they had none now.

"Rose, she's not your mother," The Doctor murmured, noticing Rose's desire to help her parallel father. Aneres glared at the girl, daring her to leap from the van to help Pete. Rose looked back at the ground, knowing that Aneres would have no qualms in shooting them in order to protect the others. It hurt more though, to see that the Doctor seemed fine with her doing so in that moment.

"I know," She slowly coughed out, wiping her eyes quickly. Aneres nodded before turning to grab Pete by the shoulder. He winced as she pushed him into the van before closing the door. Ricky slowly opened the windows in the back doors and poked the barrel of his gun out of it just in case. "Good man, Ricky," Aneres complimented before continuing to soothe her Tether.

"Finished chatting? Never seen a slower getaway in my life!" Mrs Moore snapped angrily, her eyes afire at the sight of Pete Tyler in the van. They sped off into the night, trying to block out the sound of the Cybermen continuing to march on the Tyler mansion and much of the surrounding area.

After a long while, Ricky turned away from the window to stare at the Doctor and Aneres. "What was that?" He asked, pointing at the power cell in the Doctor's pocket.

"Little bit of technology from my home," The Doctor rasped out. His mind was still pulsating with adrenaline as he clutched his Tether to his body like a child with his beloved teddy bear. "I'm not a teddy bear," Aneres pouted mentally. The Doctor chuckled at that, a small smile appearing on both of their faces at the sound.

"It's stopped glowing. Has it run out?" Mickey asked, finally calmed down enough to feel comfortable addressing the two Time Lords. The Doctor shook his head.

"It's on a revitalising loop. It'll charge back up in about four hours." Aneres nodded along with his explanation while slowly untangling herself from the Doctor to get in a more comfortable position.

"Right. So, we don't have a weapon anymore," Ricky pointed out, turning back to the window. Jake suddenly perked up with a dark grin.

"Yeah, we've got weapons. Might not be one of those metal things, but they're good enough for men like him," He pondered, turning his gaze back on Pete who quicky paled. Aneres sighed at his words, despite agreeing with them a little. If it weren't for Rose wanting to meet her father, they wouldn't have been caught up in this whole mess in the first place. Especially since Pete seemed to be quite entrenched in this bit of nasty business.

"Leave him alone. What's he done wrong?" Rose whined, trying to support her father as best she could. Pete gaped at her in shock, while Aneres merely rolled her eyes and winced at the same time at the sound of Rose's voice. God, you could bring down a whole empire just by making them listen to her voice for a few minutes. The Doctor frowned at her thoughts, starting to come back to his normal self.

"Oh, you know, just laid a trap that's wiped out the Government and left Lumic in charge," Jake drawled with a sneer. Rose pouted at his words, far too in love with the fantasy of parallel Pete Tyler being her father.

"If I was part of all that, do you think I'd leave my wife inside?" Pete snapped. His heart pumped his body full with potent fury, his skin was practically smoking with the fire it formed deep within him, a fire he so badly wanted to burn the ebony-haired woman with.

"Lots of men can be unhappy with their wives, especially if they might have to share their wealth with them," Aneres pointed out with a nonchalant grin. Rose squeaked in outrage.

"How dare you?!" The Time Lady rolled her eyes and started to reply, until she saw her Tether's face. Pain was clearly visible, mottling the Doctor's face like leprosy, and making her close her mouth in shame. Her remarks might be helpful to her, but she was not about to continue if it caused him pain. Rose smirked at the Time Lady's silence until Ricky piped up.

"Maybe your plan went wrong," He turned away from the window to raise an eyebrow at Pete, "Still gives us the right to execute you, though." The Doctor finally came to at that point, the Oncoming Storm long gone.

"Talk about executions, you'll make me your enemy. And take some really good advice," Ricky and Jake rolled their eyes, "You don't want to do that." The Doctors frowned at the humans.

"Yeah, no offense man, but that would be a hell of a lot scarier coming from your wife there," Jake said coolly, grinning at the Time Lady. Aneres forced a smile back despite the Doctor's disdain. She had never been one to wilt away from violence and she was pretty good at commanding it. Granted, that was how she was raised. Her father would never have let her or her sister go to the Academy not knowing how to fight somewhat competently. After that, she learned the rest from the War.

"All the same, we have evidence that says Pete Tyler's been working for Lumic since twenty point five," Ricky added while withdrawing his weapon from the window and closing it. Rose rounded on Pete, her eyes wide.

"Is that true?" Pete winced at her demand, his eyes filmed with guilt. The blonde gaped at him before shaking her head and trying to stay on his side.

"Tell them, Mrs M," Ricky ordered with a grin, causing everyone to look over at their driver. She grinned smugly at them through the rear view mirror.

"We've got a government mole who feeds us information. Lumic's private files, his South American operations, the lot," Aneres' eyes widened, remembering the broadcast that had spurred their move to the Tyler residence. "Secret broadcasts twice a week." Pete looked up, looking slightly better for wear.

"Broadcast from Gemini?" Ricky glared at the balding man. "And how do you know that?" Pete rolled his eyes.

"I'm Gemini. That's me," Pete declared, only to frown at the collective eye roll he received in response from Aneres and the Preachers. The Doctor and Rose however, merely looked skeptical.

"Yeah, well you would say that," Mickey scoffed, Aneres and Jake silently agreeing with the man.

"Encrypted wavelength six five seven using binary nine. That's the only reason I was working for Lumic," Pete sighed, "To get information. I thought I was broadcasting to the Security Services. What do I get? Scooby Doo and his gang. They've even got the van." His eyes welled up a little as the reality of how wrong his plan had gone began to sink in just a little more. Aneres merely glared at the man.

"Your efforts could have been better," She muttered, "Maybe if you had just tried a little harder this would never have happened. Be grateful that anyone even tried to respond to your snivelling instead of leaving you for dead." Rose gasped at her words, shocked at her complete lack of empathy for her father. "What is it Rose? Would you prefer that I coddle Mr. Tyler?" The blonde winced at Aneres' question, but couldn't form a response. "He hasn't earned my respect or empathy, so why should I make him more comfortable?"

"And what would you have him do to earn it?" The Doctor pointed out, siding with Rose a little on this one. Pete Tyler, despite who he worked for, was an innocent in this situation as far as he could tell. His Tether took a deep breath in hopes of controlling herself.

"Maybe he could actually assist us and give us any pertinent information to this situation?" Aneres suggested with a sickly sweet voice coating her tongue and dripping from her lips like venom. "So far, all he has done has been a hindrance and it's all your companion's fault." Ricky and Jake nodded along, her every word calling them like moths to a lamp until they realized something.

"Who are you two anyways?" Jake asked, gesturing his gun between Rose and the Doctor.

"My husband, the Doctor, and his…" Aneres trailed off, trying to find the right word for Rose. Companion? Pet? Manipulative idiot? Who knew at this point.

"I'm Rose," The blonde cut in, smiling nervously at everyone. Ricky and Jake barely acknowledged her, choosing instead to fixate on the Doctor who had fixed Aneres with a rather annoyed and disapproving look.

"What's up with you?" Ricky asked, scowling at the Time Lord. The Doctor raised his eyebrows incredulously. "Your wife literally saved our arses back there and you're acting like that's some horrible thing." Aneres smiled slightly at the support from her… well, they weren't her friends yet were they? More like comrades.

"I don't like guns, I don't like violence-" Ricky cut the Doctor off. "Sometimes it's necessary man." The Doctor shook his head in complete disbelief.

"Violence is never the right answer." Aneres sighed at his response, feeling so isolated from the love of her life. Violence had always been a sore spot for him, especially when it came to how quick she was to resort to it. He never understood her lack of patience in negotiation, and especially not her ability to skip right past it to a full-on attack. Despite that though, they had once been able to coexist and love each other while turning a blind eye to it. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case after everything they had been through. She would have to change, to learn restraint. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth. She shook her head and distracted herself by listening in on Pete and Rose's conversation.

"That's the name of my dog, Rose," Pete said gently, trying to ignore the back and forth between Ricky and the Doctor as they discussed the morality of the former's actions. "Still, at least I've got the catering staff on my side." Rose grinned at him, nudging his shoulder gently.

"I knew you weren't a traitor," She murmured gleefully. Pete raised an eyebrow at the overexcited blonde woman beside him.

"Why is that, then?"

"I just did."

"They took my wife." Rose winced and tried to comfort the man.

"She might still be alive," She whispered, hoping against hope.

"That's even worse. Because that's what Lumic does. He takes the living and he turns them into those machines," He explained.

"Cybermen. They're called Cybermen. And I'd take those ear pods off, if I were you. You never know. Lumic could be listening," He pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and scanned the ear pods, rendering them useless. Aneres ignored them, staring out the window and analyzing their surroundings. Jake joined her a moment later in a comforting, silent gesture of camaraderie.

"What the hell?" Aneres scowled at the sight before them while everyone else moved forward at Jake's exclamation.

"What's going on?" Rose demanded as people walked like zombies down London's many streets.

"It's the ear-pods. Lumic's taken control," The Doctor explained. Aneres pulled her gun a little closer, as did Ricky and Jake.

"Can't we just, I don't know, take them off?" The Time lady rolled her eyes at the human.

"Only if you want everyone's brains to be reduced to off-brand vanilla pudding," Aneres commented. Mrs. Moore brought the van to a stop and opened the side doors. Jake and Ricky exited first, the latter offering a hand to Aneres as she disembarked. The Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Pete and Mrs. Moors followed them slowly, taking great care not to be noticed by any possible Cybermen.

"Hey, come and see," Jake called out, turning a corner. Another group of people was walking down the street, heralded by the menacing Cybermen.

"Where are they all going?" Rose wondered, stepping slightly farther out to get a better look.

"I don't know. Lumic must have a base of operations," The Doctor commented before turning his gaze to Pete.

"Battersea. That's where he was building his prototypes." Ricky and Jake shared a look with Mrs. Moore before turning back to watch the Cybermen parade.

"Why's he doing it?" Pete sighed at the blonde woman.

"He's dying. This all started out as a way of prolonging life, of keeping the brain alive at any cost," He explained.

"The thing is, I've seen Cybermen before, haven't I? The head. Those handle shapes in Van Statten's museum," Rose remembered, turning to face the Doctor.

"Ah, there are Cybermen in our universe. They started on an ordinary world just like this, then swarmed across the galaxy. This lot are a parallel version, and they're starting from scratch right here on Earth," The Doctor shuddered as memories of the Cybermen he had been forced to fight rose up. Aneres shuddered as well, curling in on herself a little.

"Never mind that. Come on, we need to get out of the city," Ricky paused his monologue to formulate a plan, "Okay, split up. Mrs. Moore, you look after that bloke. Jake, distract them. Go right, I'll go left. We'll meet back at Bridge Street. Move."

"You sure you can handle that?" Aneres asked, one eyebrow raised.

"No, no, no. But the Preachers know what they're doing. Ricky said he's London's Most Wanted," Mickey said, jumping to their defense.

"Yeah, that's not exactly-" Mickey frowned.

"Not exactly what?" He asked.

"I'm London's Most Wanted for parking tickets," Ricky mumbled.

"Great," Mickey threw his hands in the air, completely exasperated at this little factoid.

"Yeah, they were deliberate. I was fighting the system. Park anywhere, that's me." He winced as the Time Lady shook her head.

"Parking tickets are very different from these creatures, I'm coming with you. I would rather you not die," She said coolly, ignoring the Doctor as he trembled in a mixture of fury and terror. Mickey watched as they grabbed weapons, torn between going or staying. Eventually, his mind was made up, and he grabbed his own gun.

"Do you really expect me to let you go through with this?" The Doctor's voice was ice cold.

"I don't see how you're going to stop me," Aneres replied with a smug grin.

"If you die-"

"Oh please, I'm not going to die. I haven't been on enough adventures yet." The Doctor shook his head and grabbed his Tether by the shoulders.

"I'm serious Annie."

"As am I darling," The Doctor's eyes shut as Aneres kissed him gently. They opened again as she pulled away with a softer smile stretching her lips. "Don't worry about me, worry about saving the world."

"I'll always worry about you," He replied as his Tether ran off.

TEotOS

"Which way? I don't know where we are," Mickey gasped out, clutching his side as they paused their running.

"Did they see us?" Ricky demanded, spinning in place to take a cursory glance.

"Do they know where we are?"

"I think they saw us. I bet they can see in the dark."

"I bet they've got satellites."

"I bet they saw us in the dark."

"They know where we are," The two of them said together, staring at one another in fear. The Time Lady shook her head with a small smile.

"Are you two done yet? God, you both sound like Fred and George Weasley."

"You mean Gred and Forge?" Ricky asked, causing Mickey and Aneres to cackle with laughter.

"I don't get it. What is it with you? You are exactly like me." Mickey sobered at Ricky's words.

"I don't know, I reckon you're braver."

"Oh yeah, ten times," Ricky sent him a smug grin, "Still, your friends aren't bad. I'll give you that." Aneres beamed at them, preening slightly.

"Oh, that's the Doctor, Aneres, and Rose. I just tag along behind."

"Well, then, you're not that bad."

"Do you think?" Mickey's voice was small and reminded Aneres of a kicked puppy.

"Yeah, I suppose," Ricky replied, throwing an arm around Mickey's shoulder. The Time Lady stiffened a split second later, as the boom of Cybermen's feet hitting the pavement echoed down the alleys.

"Cybermen," Mickey whispered, pulling away from Ricky.

"Split up!" The trio screeched before darting in different directions.

TEotOS

Aneres gasped as she crashed into Mickey, falling back on the concrete rather hard. She turned to see Ricky on the other side of a tall fence, with Cybermen close behind.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" Mickey screamed, tugging Aneres back to her feet and watching with bated breath. Ricky struggled to hoist himself over the fence, grinning as he approached the top, only to scream.

Mickey's eyes widened and he gaped in horror. Aneres shrieked and covered her mouth with her hands. Ricky's body toppled from the fence, a Cyberman gripping his ankle with electricity crackling from its fist.

"No!" Mickey shouted, snarling at the Cybermen. They stared back at him in silence, daring him to make a move against them. Aneres sobbed and sprinted away, tears blurring her vision. Mickey stumbled backward and took off, in the opposite direction.

TEotOS

"I ran past the river. You should have seen it. The whole city's on the march. Hundreds of Cybermen all down the Thames," Jake gasped out as he met up with the Doctor and the others. Mrs. Moore dashed over to check on her friend, more than relieved he was alright. They looked up as Mickey ran over.

"Here he is! Which one are you?" Jake cheered with a massive grin on his face.

"I'm sorry. The Cybermen. He couldn't," Mickey stuttered out, tears choking his voice. The Doctor sighed, staring at the ground. Until a thought occurred to him.

"Are you Ricky? Are you Ricky?" Jake repeated, shaking Mickey by the shoulders.

"Mickey, that's you, isn't it?" Rose whispered as she walked closer to the two men. The Doctor's eyes flicked over the people in front of them.

"Yeah." Mickey and Rose embraced gently, while Jake and Mrs. Moore tried to muffle their emotions.

"He tried. He was running. There was too many of them," Mickey whispered, trying to console Jake.

"Mickey," He looked over at the Doctor, fists clenched, skin pale, and eyes alight with fire. "Where is Aneres?"

"There was nothing I could do. They grabbed him, and she took off before I could-" The Doctor and Jake stiffened. Mickey winced.

"Shut it. Don't even talk about them. You're nothing, you are. Nothing." Rose moved to snap at Jake, only to be cut off by the Doctor sinking to his knees and clutching his skull desperately.

"Doctor?" The Time Lord took ragged breaths.

"Annie? Annie where are you?" His thoughts echoed through their connection, fear coating them in an icy balm. There was a moment of silence.

"Theta?" The Doctor sighed in relief as her voice trickled into his mind. "I'm south-west of you, only a few minutes away. I'll meet you at Battersea."

"No, meet me and we'll go together."

"I'll meet you there, Theta."

"Annie-" The connection closed. The Doctor slowly rose and turned to continue their trek down to Lumic's base.

"Come on, we've got a world to save." Jake scowled.

"But Ricky-"

"We can mourn him when London is safe. Until then, we need to be strong." The Doctor turned back to face them, his eyes dark. Eventually, everyone nodded and moved to follow him, their end goal in sight.

I'm back guys! Sorry that I was gone for a little while, a lot of exciting things happened. I got accepted to my top university, my best friend turned 18, my grandma was hospitalized and I had exams, but we're still here and everything worked out. Hopefully, I haven't kept you guys waiting too long, I hate the waits for new chapters as much as anyone does. On another note, welcome to 2020! Hopefully, I'll be able to update more as I take some burdens off of my schedule but again it does depend on how my life decides to go. Thank you so much for being dedicated readers, and I'll see you in a bit with another chapter. Bye bye!