Rose and Pete Tyler were standing side by side in the main control room, surrounded by Cybermen when Zana Kline and the Doctor were escorted inside.

"We've been captured, but don't worry, Rose and Pete are still out there. They can rescue us," the Doctor said sarcastically as he pulled at the bow tie around his neck. "Oh well, never mind."

Zana immediately rushed towards her friend and pulled her into a tight hug, "Rose, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded, returning the embrace. "But they got Jackie."

"We were too late," Pete struggled to say. "Lumic killed her."

The Doctor stepped back and looked around the room, "Then where is he, the famous Mr. Lumic? Don't we get the chance to meet our Lord and Master?"

"He has been upgraded," a Cyberman informed monotonously.

"So he's just like you?"

"He is superior. The Lumic Unit has been designated Cyber Controller."

Zana stepped back as a set of doors opened, revealing Mr. Lumic, in Cyberman form, sitting upon a throne of machinery, "This is The Age of Steel and I am its Creator."

Zana let out a breath of air when screams rang out, but the Doctor didn't seem bothered. He just grinned. "That's my friends at work. Good boys! Mister Lumic, I think that's a vote for free will!"

"I have factories waiting on seven continents. If the ear pods have failed, then the Cybermen will take humanity by force," Lumic informed. "London has fallen. So shall the world. I will bring peace to the world, everlasting peace. And unity and uniformity."

"And imagination? What about that?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "The one thing that led you here, imagination, you're killing it dead!"

"What is your name?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"A redundant title. Doctors need not exist. Cybermen never sicken."

"Yeah, but that's it. That's exactly the point! Oh, Lumic, you're a clever man. I'd call you a genius, except I'm in the room," Zana couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips. "But everything you've invented, you did to fight your sickness. And that's brilliant. That is so human. But once you get rid of sickness and mortality, then what's there to strive for, eh? The Cybermen won't advance. You'll just stop. You'll stay like this forever. A metal Earth with metal men and metal thoughts, lacking the one thing that makes this planet so alive. People. Ordinary, stupid, brilliant people!"

"You are proud of your emotions?" Lumic asked of him.

"Oh, yes," he replied proudly.

"Then tell me, Doctor. Have you known grief, and rage, and pain?"

"Yes," he nodded. "Yes, I have."

"And they hurt?

"Oh, yes."

"I could set you free. Would you not want that? A life without pain?"

"You might as well kill me."

"Then I take that option."

"It's not yours to take!" The Doctor shouted angrily. "You're a Cyber Controller! You don't control me or anything with blood in its heart!"

"You have no means of stopping me. I have an army. A species of my own."

The Doctor just looked at him, exasperated. "You just don't get it, do you? An army's nothing. Because those ordinary people, they're the key. The most ordinary person could change the world." Zana watched as he glanced up at a security camera and it clicked in her head. She grinned as the Doctor wandered around the room, sending an occasional glance in the camera's direction. "Some ordinary man or woman, some idiot. All it takes is for him to find, say the right numbers. Say the right codes. Say, for example, the code behind the emotional inhibitor. The code right in front of him. Because even an idiot knows how to use computers these days. Knows how to get past firewalls and passwords. Knows how to find something encrypted in the Lumic Family Database, under er. What was it, Pete? Binary what?"

"Binary nine," Pete informed.

"An idiot could find that code. Cancellation code. And he'd keep on typing. Keep on fighting. Anything to save his friends."

"Your words are irrelevant," Lumic told him.

"Yeah, talk too much, that's my problem. Lucky I got you that cheap tariff, Rose, for all our long chats...on your phone."

"You will be deleted."

"Yes. Delete, control, hash. All those lovely buttons. Then, of course, my particular favorite, send!" The Doctor winked up at the camera. "And let's not forget how you seduced all those ordinary people in the first place." Rose pulled her phone out of her pocket as it beeped, signaling that the cancellation code had arrived. "By making every bit of technology compatible with everything else."

"It's for you," Rose tossed the phone to the Doctor.

"Like this," the Doctor pushed the phone into a docking station, and within seconds the Cybermen in the room started to scream and hold their heads in what Zana assumed was pain. She stepped closer to Rose as one by one they all fell to the ground, mimicking the ones all across London. The Doctor stepped up to one who was staring at its reflection, crying out in pain as it did so. "I'm sorry..."

"What have you done?" Lumic demanded.

"I gave them back their souls. They can see what you've done, Lumic, and it's killing them!"

With that, the Doctor, along with Zana, Rose, and Pete rushed out of Lumic's control room, down the corridor. Exploding Cybermen surrounded them, sending fire and debris nearly everywhere they tried to escape. Zana yanked open the emergency exit, but on the other side were even more distressing Cybermen.

"There's no way out!" The Doctor shouted over the chaos.

As if someone had heard him, Rose's phone rang. She hurried and answered it, relief flooding over her features. "It's Mickey! He says head for the roof!"

The Doctor nodded and took off up the stairwell, followed closely behind by the others. Zana yelped in surprise as a large fire broke out behind her, nearly catching the back of her dress on fire as well, but Pete pulled her forward just in time. She hastily thanked him as they made it onto the roof. Mr. Lumic's zeppelin was sitting there, in control of Mickey and Jake.

"Mickey, where'd you learn to fly that thing?" Zana heard Rose ask as they rushed towards it, making her chuckle.

"You've got to be kidding," Pete breathed as a rope ladder fell from the ship, and Zana completely agreed with him on that.

The Doctor ignored him, instead making sure Rose started climbing, "Rose, get up."

"Hold on tight, we're going up! Welcome to Mickey Smith's Airline. Please enjoy your flight. Woo!" Mickey's voice filled the air as Zana started climbing up the ladder, not too far from Pete.

"We did it! We did it!" Rose laughed as she gripped onto the ladder, the Doctor holding on tight beside her. Just as Zana started laughing with them, something heavy pulled at the ladder, nearly making her lose her grip. She looked down, her eyes widening at the side below her. Lumic was slowly, but surely making his way towards her, and he wasn't that far behind. Just as she started to panic, the Doctor called to her.

"Zana! Take this!" He dropped his sonic screwdriver down to her, and she was honestly surprised she had caught it. "Press it against the rope! Hurry!"

Zana pressed down on the screwdriver, the familiar buzzing filling her ears as she held it against the rope below her. "For every person you killed. Every son, every daughter, every brother, every sister, every parent, this is for them." She watched as the rope broke just as he reached to for her ankle, sending Lumic towards the exploding building below them with nothing but a metallic scream.

The Doctor was in a hurry to get back to his beloved ship, so even when Zana thought she had the chance to take a break from the running, she didn't. But she couldn't really say anything, she was just as excited to see if that power cell the Doctor had recovered would actually fix the TARDIS. Well, she was depending on it. She just wanted to be back in her own universe again.

"Please work, please work, please work..." she kept muttering as she stepped into the darkened console room, watching as the Doctor rushed to the console. He took a deep breath before wiring the device into the control panel, and seconds later the ship lit up. Zana laughed and rushed forward, surprising the Doctor as she pulled him into a hug. He laughed and moved to return the embrace, but she had already pulled away, missing the disappointed look that flashed across his face as she rushed back towards the doors, wanting to tell Rose the good news.

"Rose? Rose, it works!" She laughed before clearing her throat, seeing that she and Pete were in the middle of a conversation. "Sorry."

"I've only got five minutes of power. We've got to go," the Doctor added, having joined them outside.

Rose just turned back to Pete, "The Doctor could show you."

"Thank you," Pete just shook his head. "For everything."

"Dad..." Rose tried desperately.

"Don't...Just, just don't," Pete said softly before quickly walking off. Zana stepped forward and rested a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder, seeing the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Here it is!" Mickey's voice filled their ears, making them look up to see him and Jake walking their way. "I found it. Not a crease."

"My suit!" The Doctor beamed as Mickey handed it to him. "Good man. Now then, Jake, we've got to run. But one more thing. Mrs. Moore...Her real name was Angela Price. She's got a husband out there, and children. Find them. Tell them how she died saving the world."

"Yeah, course I will," Jake assured with a smile.

"Off we go, then," the Doctor turned back to the TARDIS.

Mickey hesitated, "Thing is, I'm staying..."

The Doctor frowned, "You're going what?"

"Mickey, no..." Zana stepped towards him.

"It sort of balances out, because this world lost its Ricky, but there's me. And there's work to be done with all those Cybermen still out there," Mickey tried to reason with them.

"But you can't stay," Rose's voice broke.

"Rose, my gran's here. She's still alive. My old gran, remember her?"

"Yeah..."

"She needs me."

"What about me? What if I need you?"

"Yeah, but Rose, you don't. It's just you and him, isn't it," he said softly, but Zana could tell it pained him to say it. She couldn't wrap her head around it. Mickey was saying goodbye... "We had something a long time ago, but not anymore."

"Well, we'll come back. We can travel anywhere. Come and see you, yeah?" Rose said hopefully.

"We can't," the Doctor spoke up. "I told you, travel between parallel worlds is impossible. We only got here by accident. We, we fell through a crack in time. When we leave, I've got to close it. We can't ever return."

Mickey gulped and turned to him, "Doctor."

The Doctor shook his hand with a proud smile, "Take Rose's phone. It's got the code. Get it out there. Stop those factories. And good luck, Mickey the idiot."

"Watch it," Mickey's voice cracked as he laughed.

"I'm gonna miss you, Mickey," Zana stepped up to her friend and pulled him into a hug, fighting back tears. "Don't forget about me, eh?"

"Never," Mickey smiled and pulled back. "You look after them. And have a good life, Zana Kline."

"And you, Mickey Smith," she stepped forwards and left a kiss on his cheek. She gave him a small smile before turning and following the Doctor into the TARDIS. "I can't believe it..."

"He's going to be fine," the Doctor assured her as he shrugged off his suit jacket and laid it over the captain's chair. "In fact, he's going to be brilliant."

"Promise?" She looked up at him as she sat down, taking his jacket into her arms so she didn't sit on it.

"Promise," he gave her a slight smile as Rose stepped into the time machine. As soon as the doors were closed, the Doctor yanked down on a lever, sending them back to their universe.

It was sort of odd seeing Jackie Tyler alive and well, serving cups of tea and gossiping away with the three time travelers, but Zana was glad, nonetheless. Rose had barely left her side, not the Doctor or Zana blamed her. Hell, Zana was contemplating going to see her own parents, but she was sorta afraid to. Her parents had no idea where she was, and just showing up back home didn't really seem like that good of an idea. She wouldn't be shocked if they had people out looking for her right now, to be completely honest.

"I'm gonna go walk around," Zana interrupted one of Jackie's stories about Beth a few streets down and stood up, zipping her leather jacket as she did so. "Um...Rose, can you make sure not to leave without me?"

"Don't worry about it," she gave Zana a small smile. "Be careful."

"I'll try," she chuckled softly before stepping outside, into the cool February air. She looked out at the illuminated city of London with a sad smile on her face before walking down the steps, stuffing her hands into her pockets as she started down the sidewalk. The sun had set not too long ago, leaving what little stars that were bright enough to get past the layer of light pollution to shine in the night sky. She still really couldn't believe that she had been among them. Everything seemed so surreal to her, even now.

Just as she turned to walk into a small cafe, someone ran into the back of her. She stumbled forward, but luckily whoever it was grabbed her arm. She turned around, and let out an annoyed groan at who she saw. "Really, Doctor?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for a few blocks now," he explained as he held the door open for her. "It seems you're preoccupied."

"Just a bit," she sighed as the two of them stepped inside. "I've got a lot of things on my mind."

"I can tell."

"What are you doing following me, anyway?"

"Figured you need someone to talk to," he gave her a small smile as she dug into her pockets, expecting to pull out her wallet, but nothing was there. She let out a frustrated huff before turning around and walking back out the door. "What? What's wrong?"

"My wallet's on the TARDIS," she informed as she started back down the sidewalk.

"Ah..." the Doctor moved so he was walking beside her. "Zana, look...I'm sorry about what happened today."

"I know," she nodded as they walked. "It's not your fault."

"Suppose not," he pushed his trench coat back as he slid his hands into his trouser pockets. "But those Cybermen really scared you, I could tell."

"They were people who had their humanity taken away. Yeah, that really scared the hell out of me, Doctor. Those poor people..." her voice fell to a whisper. "And on top of all that, Mickey's gone...I just can't believe it, I guess."

"I know you two were close..."

"Yeah...Mickey was a special guy," Zana smiled softly, looking down at the sidewalk.

The Doctor was silent a moment before asking, "You two weren't...you know..."

Zana looked up at the Time Lord, "Weren't what?"

"Nothing," he replied quickly, shaking his head, making her raise an eyebrow.

"Are you trying to ask if Mickey and I...were a thing?" Zana realized, her eyes widening slightly. Why the hell would he be asking her that? Well, she supposes she understood where he was coming from, but it was still strange that he was asking.

"No," he said matter-of-factly before faltering. "Well, yes."

"Why?"

"Just wondering," he sniffed and looked straight ahead, avoiding eye contact.

"No, we weren't," she decided to tell him. "Even if I wanted to, there would be many factors that would keep it from happening."

"Like what?" he pondered curiously as the two of them made it to a small park, which was occupied only by a couple of joggers and a few couples strolling through it.

Zana led the Doctor over to a metal bench and sat down, shivering slightly in the winter air as she did so. She wrapped her arms around herself as the Doctor took a seat beside her, "For one, he's still head over heels for Rose Tyler."

"Oh..." he nodded. "Should've known that one."

"Seeing as you're the same way," Zana teased with a chuckle. "Don't suppose I blame the two of you, though. She's a lovely person." The Doctor didn't reply as he looked out at the others who were at the park as well as if he was studying them. "And...well, I don't think I'm his type."

"His type? What's his type?"

"Pretty blondes," she muttered.

"Why should a hair color make a difference?"

She chuckled and looked over at him. A smile formed on her lips as she looked over him, "It just does, I suppose."

"That's daft."

"It kinda is," she felt her smile widen as she took in the confusion on his face. She found it...adorable. "What about you, Doctor? Why do you fancy Rose?"

"Who said I did?"

"You did."

"When?"

"Words aren't the only way of saying things, you'll find. The way you look at her says it all." He opened his mouth to speak but frankly closed it. "Got you there, didn't I? Anyway, it doesn't matter. The two of you are great together."

"We aren't together."

"Yet."

"What is it with humans always domesticating things?" He raised an eyebrow.

"It's all we've ever known," she informed.

"Tell me about it."

She chuckled, biting her lip as she glancing down at her worn trainers, thinking over the crazy events of that day. "Is it always gonna be like it was today? I mean, the term 'run for your life' was quite literal today."

"No," he replied softly, shifting a bit in his spot. Zana felt his hand next to hers, and she couldn't quite explain why she felt disappointed when he didn't take her hand into his.

She bit her lip and decided to make light of the situation, "Seriously, how do you handle the running?"

"Running is all I've ever done," he gave her a small smile.

"Is it always gonna happen? Because if it is, I'm going to have to reconsider this whole traveling with you thing," she joked, not taking her eyes off her trainers.

"Don't worry, Zana Kline. I'll make sure that you have the time of your life."

She looked up at the Time Lord, their eyes locking as she did so. She could have sworn she felt her heart speed up in her chest, but she dismissed it to the cold wind that was sweeping through the park.

After all, who was she to fall for the Doctor?

A/N: Look at that, 3 chapters in 3 days. That's sorta impressive...Hope you like it! (Even though the Doctor/Zana is rubbish. Also, let's just ignore how short the chapter is.) You can totally throw some things you wanna see between them my way. I'm all up for ideas.