The Doctor shoved it down into the docking station he'd wandered over to and the phone slid right in. Just as Lumic himself had designed.
The code that Mickey had dug up and sent over to Rose's phone flashed on the screen before it was instantly transmitted throughout Lumic's network. Terry just watched grimly as the Cybermen all around them began to cry out in pain and clutched their heads while the code began to appear on every available computer screen. All around the world, the message continued to be transmitted and Cybermen screamed.
The one nearest the Doctor even caught sight of its own reflection on a shiny piece of metal and it screeched louder.
"I'm sorry." Was all the Doctor could say while Lumic roared.
"What have you done?!"
"I gave them back their souls." The Doctor shouted back. "They can see what you've done, Lumic, and it's killing them!"
Terry grabbed Rose's phone as the Doctor finished speaking. The Cybermen were starting to explode around them, choosing to kill themselves rather than live in their mutilated bodies. As the explosions caused fires to break out, the Doctor grabbed Terry's hand and together they raced out of the control room with Rose, Pete and Mrs. Moore right behind them.
"Delete! Delete! Delete!" Lumic shouted after them but he was helpless without his army and they soon left him behind in the control room as Terry tossed the Doctor's glasses back to him.
Unfortunately, the entire power station was starting to implode as a result of all the Cybermen exploding. Fires swept the corridors and the Doctor screeched to a halt as they found the emergency exit blocked by a raging wildfire.
"There's no way out!" He gasped as something else exploded above their heads.
The group all ducked, except for Terry who just grinned at her husband-to-be.
"You're wrong, Doctor. There is an extraordinary man out there who would give anything to save the people he cares about. Conclusion? He will find a way."
Rose's phone rang at that moment and Terry tossed it back to the blonde. "It's for you."
Rose didn't bother to ask how Terry knew that without even looking at the screen to check who the call was from. Instead, she answered instantly. Rose listened for a few seconds before she announced delightedly to the group, "It's Mickey. He says head for the roof."
"Oh, Mickey, my boy!" The Doctor crowed as he led the way up the emergency stairs toward the roof and away from all the fires that were slowly swallowing up the lower floors.
It didn't mean their journey was easy, however, as pieces of the ceiling came crumbling down randomly while the whole power station shook with the force of the various explosions going on all around. The group ducked even as they pushed on ahead, until the Doctor realized Terry was no longer beside him.
"Terry?" He called, slowing to glance over his shoulder while Rose and then Pete pushed on ahead of him.
"Keep going!" Terry yelled at him as she urged Mrs. Moore along from the rear.
"Not without you!" The Doctor grabbed Terry's hand as she and Mrs. Moore reached him as well and he hauled her along with him as they raced up onto the roof.
The smoke was just beginning to get unbearable around them when they finally crashed through the door leading out onto the roof. It didn't take them long to realize how Mickey planned to save them and Rose gasped as she stared with wide eyes up at the enormous zeppelin that was hovering its way toward them.
"Mickey, where'd you learn to fly that thing?"
"Playstation." Mickey answered. "Just hold on, Rose. I'm coming to get you."
"But how's he going to get us up there?" Pete wondered… just before a rope ladder dropped from the zeppelin's bottom.
"You've got to be kidding." Pete deadpanned but the others were already getting ready to haul their way up to safety.
"Rose, get up." The Doctor instructed. Together, he and Terry helped Rose as they steadied the ladder for her to climb up.
"Mrs. Moore-" Terry started but the Doctor and Pete pushed her.
"Up, up!"
Terry reluctantly started climbing up the ladder next while the Doctor and Pete held the ladder steady.
"Mrs. Moore-" The Doctor started but the woman pushed him next.
"No time! Go!"
The Doctor hurried up, deciding not to waste time arguing. Pete and Mrs. Moore hopped onto the lower rungs of the ladder next where Mrs. Moore clung on while Pete started to climb heavily. The rope ladder swung wildly now that they were all on and hanging in the air, making it exceedingly difficult to climb. Things weren't helped as Mickey started to move the zeppelin now that everyone was safely in the air and he steered them away from the exploding power station. But Terry pushed herself to urge Rose to keep going while she kept closely behind the blonde, aware that if they stopped then everyone would be forced to stop.
Rose finally reached quite high up the ladder and she cried ecstatically, "We did it! We did it!"
Terry was about to smile back when suddenly, something tugged on the rope ladder as if a sudden weight had been added to the bottom. The ladder swung wildly and Terry shrieked as she slipped down a few rungs as a result. Luckily, the Doctor caught her and held her tightly as they swung together against the ladder. Once she was certain she wasn't going to fall to her death, Terry glanced down in search of the cause of the sudden weight. Her eyes widened as she saw Lumic on his own two feet, clutching Mrs. Moore as they swung precariously on the lower rungs of the ladder.
"Angela!" Terry exclaimed while Pete yelled, "Let her go, Lumic!"
"You ruined everything!" Lumic cried, completely ignoring their cries and Mrs. Moore's struggles against him.
The Doctor shuffled around for his sonic but between hanging onto the rope ladder and with Terry held against him, he couldn't get a clear shot at the Cyberman.
"Pete!" The Doctor called after some futile efforts to try and aim his sonic. "Take this and use it!"
He stretched out his hand to Pete, who took the sonic while Terry clutched the Doctor to ensure he didn't fall as the ladder swung wildly from side to side with every movement from them and from the struggles of Mrs. Moore and Lumic at the bottom.
Pete aimed the sonic at Lumic and the Doctor yelled, "Hold the button down!"
Pete did as he was told… but nothing happened. Lumic just roared, "I will make you pay!"
"Cut the rope!" Mrs. Moore yelled at Pete as she struggled to make Lumic release her where he was holding onto her. "Cut the rope!"
"No!" Terry shouted.
"There has to be another way! Doctor!" Pete cried but there was nothing. Lumic's hold on Mrs. Moore was ironclad and she was starting to lose strength. At the rate things were going, she would fall before Lumic anyway and she seemed to know this too.
"Quickly! Before you are endangered too!" Mrs. Moore shouted just as the ladder shook again as Lumic attempted to climb over Mrs. Moore and get higher up the ladder.
Rose shrieked as the movement and shaking of the ladder almost made her lose her grip and fall, and Pete closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry!" He held the sonic against the rope ladder and it gave away on one side.
The Doctor pulled Terry against his chest, shielding her eyes from the scene below them as Pete moved the sonic to the other rope… and cut through it.
"Argh!" Lumic screamed as he and Mrs. Moore fell.
The woman herself made no sound and instead she smiled with triumph as she latched onto Lumic so he couldn't even try to find some other way to survive as they fell down the side of the power station before they were finally swallowed by the fire and explosion. Pete and the Doctor watched grimly as the heroic woman disappeared from sight while Rose sobbed against the rope ladder. Terry was unusually quiet against the Doctor but he could feel her trembling against him.
"You did the best you could." The Doctor murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of Terry's head.
She said nothing and the Doctor said no more even as the front of his shirt slowly grew wetter with each of Terry's silent tears.
Terry stood with Mickey outside the Tardis. Rose and Pete had wandered off to the side slightly while the Doctor had disappeared into the Tardis to revive the console with the fully charged power cell.
"I still can't believe today all happened." Mickey murmured numbly as he reflected on the day they'd just survived.
Terry just smiled sadly, knowing what was coming as Mickey leant back while he pondered.
"You know… I know this is stupid, I kind of feel guilty about Ricky. Like, not that it was my fault because I know it was those Cybermen but…" Mickey trailed off and Terry shook her head.
"You're right, you shouldn't feel guilty because it wasn't your fault. But I can understand why you think that way."
Mickey glanced at her quickly and Terry's lips tilted just slightly further up into a half-smile.
"You feel guilty for leaving your gran in this universe alone like you were left alone in our universe." Terry said quietly, speaking what she knew was on Mickey's mind. She couldn't alter his fate even if she wanted to (and she did want to). His destiny would lead him back to Rose a mere few months later and it was imperative that when the time came, he found her.
"It's not wrong to feel that way."
Mickey hesitated for a brief moment before he asked quietly, "If… If I stay here… will I become… you know different?"
"You would still be you." Terry answered calmly but her eyes were filled with sorrow. "You'd just be living in a different reality."
Mickey went quiet while Terry turned as the Doctor strode out of the Tardis and called, "All right, we've only got five minutes of power. We need to go."
Finally, Terry turned her attention to Rose, who was now clinging to Pete desperately. She appeared to be pleading with him but Pete broke away from her and walked away quickly while Rose watched him go with a crushed expression. From beside Terry, Mickey grimaced.
"Ouch." He mumbled while the Doctor joined them awkwardly as he also watched Pete hurry away.
"She should have known better." He sighed and Terry nodded.
"But you can't blame her." Terry murmured softly and the Doctor nodded once.
"I don't." The Doctor glanced at Terry then as he added telepathically, "You really had faith in Mickey. You knew he would find a way out."
"Of course. He learnt from the best, after all." Terry answered. The Doctor was about to smirk when she added cheekily, "Me."
The Doctor smiled and nudged her fondly, when Mickey suddenly piped up as he remembered what he was holding. "Oh, right. Here, I found it. Not a crease."
Mickey handed over the Doctor's regular suit and the Time Lord instantly perked up.
"My suit! Good man." The Doctor accepted his clothing before he turned as Jake wandered over. "Now then, Jake, we've got to run. But one more thing."
The Doctor peered down at the young man seriously. "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.
Jake smiled and nodded. "Yeah, 'course I will."
Terry returned the young man's smile and she murmured thoughtfully, "Goodbye, Jake."
The young man shook her hand, unaware that he would see here again even if she would never see him again. The Doctor meanwhile briskly called over to Rose, "Off we go, then."
"Er," Mickey chimed in suddenly, "thing is, I'm staying."
The Doctor and Rose both whirled on the companion in shock.
"You're doing what?" The Doctor asked while Rose protested in dismay, "You can't."
"It sort of balances out, because this world lost its Ricky," Mickey explained. "But there's me. And there's work to be done with all those Cybermen still out there."
"But you can't stay." Rose argued, only for Mickey to shake his head determinedly.
"Rose, my gran's here." He told her quietly. "She's still alive. My old gran, remember her?"
Rose blinked back tears and she whispered, "Yeah."
"She needs me." Mickey stated firmly and Rose shook her head.
"What about me?" She asked through her tight throat. "What if I need you?"
"Yeah, but Rose, you don't." Mickey pointed out sadly. "It's just you and these two, isn't it."
He gestured to the two Time Lords who were watching silently.
"We had something a long time ago, but not anymore."
Rose swallowed before she said hopefully, "Well, we'll come back. We can travel anywhere. Come and see you, yeah?"
She glanced at the Doctor and Terry as she spoke, and her face fell when she saw the grim expressions on her friends. Terry was already shaking her head while the Doctor explained softly, "We can't. 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."
Rose swallowed back her tears while the Doctor turned to address Mickey with a faint warning in his tone. "We can't ever return."
Mickey nodded, understanding but unmoved. Terry placed her hand on Rose's shoulder in comfort while Mickey held out his hand to the Doctor in farewell. "Doctor."
Respecting the younger man's decision, the Doctor said no more. Instead, he shook Mickey's hand warmly.
"Take Rose's phone." The Doctor offered. "It's got the code. Get it out there. Stop those factories."
Mickey nodded and the Doctor added as he let go of Mickey's hand, "And good luck. Mickey the idiot."
He slapped Mickey's face playfully and the younger man chuckled even as he threatened half-heartedly, "Watch it."
The Doctor turned to return to the Tardis and Terry stepped up to say farewell next.
"You take care of yourself, Mickey." Terry said warmly as she hugged the young man. She knew the others would see him again (the Doctor might even complain he'd see him again too often), but she had a feeling this would be the last time she ever saw Mickey. And the thought hurt more than she had thought it would. As though sensing her sorrow, Mickey patted her back.
"Hey, remember." He grinned at Terry, the action almost childlike in his cheek. "'Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened'."
"Dr. Seuss." Terry laughed lightly, and Mickey shrugged.
"I learnt it from an angel." He said teasingly and Terry smiled.
"Well, she must have been a very wise angel."
Mickey's grin widened at her confident cheek although it was tinged with a hint of wistfulness. It was amazing really; when all was said and done, he'd only known Terry a short while. In that time, he'd seen her when she was a shy, emotionally vulnerable young blonde and a sarcastic, almost rash short brunette. And now faced with this mild, confident woman, Mickey felt like he was saying goodbye to an old friend.
"Goodbye, Terry."
Terry smiled, refusing to say the word back before she entered the Tardis. The Doctor was already waiting inside and she joined him at the console.
"Ready to go back?" She asked and the Doctor nodded.
"You knew he would choose to stay." He observed nonchalantly as he meddled around with the controls.
"I did."
The Doctor nodded. "I wondered why you were encouraging him to branch out so much. Never gets easier, does it?"
Terry didn't answer. Instead she leant against the Doctor, who wrapped his arm around her shoulder comfortingly. Rose entered the Tardis not a minute later, looking visibly downed. Terry gently hit the button and the sound of the Tardis dematerialising filled the air once more as the Tardis took them to where Rose needed to go most.
At the Tyler's flat, Terry and the Doctor stood in the doorway of the Tardis. She leant her head against his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her while Rose rushed into her mother's living room and toward Jackie in relief.
"You're alive. Oh mum, you're alive."
"Well, I was the last time I looked." Jackie chuckled as she returned Rose's hug. But then she paused, as though sensing something in Rose's chokehold despite not being able to see her daughter's face. Her tone immediately turned concerned as she asked, "What is it? What's happened, sweetheart? What's wrong? Where did you go?"
She looked over at the Time Lords, her eyes skipping over Terry's unfamiliar face blankly before resting on the Doctor questioningly.
"Far away." The Doctor replied quietly, his eyes taking on a faraway look. "That was… far away."
Jackie frowned and she glanced around again. "Where's Mickey?"
Her eyes rested again on Terry, as though half-expecting someone to tell her she was somehow Mickey. But Terry's eyes filled with sorrow in response and Jackie seemed to realize the truth even before the Doctor answered.
"He's gone home."
Jackie still looked confused but some understanding dawned. And she held her daughter tighter as Rose quietly mourned the loss of her longest and one of her dearest friends while the Doctor and Terry watched on in silence.