*touches on the nudity, panic attacks, and the feeling of being slightly sexually assaulted
"Delete. Delete. Delete."
Victoria slowly opened her eyes to glance at the Doctor to see what he was planning. A stiff, frightened atmosphere surrounded them as the Doctor contemplated his next move.
The Doctor raised his arm towards the Cybermen, the power cell he had found beneath the TARDIS's grating earlier pointed directly ahead.
There was a moment of silence before a bright, golden light was released from the cell. It wrapped around all of the surrounding Cybermen briefly before they all disintegrated within seconds.
"What the hell was that?" Ricky asked, glancing down at the Doctor's hand while Rose slowly released Victoria's.
"We'll have that instead. Now, run!" the Doctor yelled, turning around and heading in the opposite direction of the mansion with the group closely behind him.
In the distance, the sound of a horn hit them. Moments later, Mrs. Moore and her van broke through the fog and got closer and closer. "Everyone, in!"
Jake and Ricky were the first ones into the van with Mickey following close behind. After jumping in, Mickey held out his hand for Victoria to grab, which she gladly accepted, letting him help pull her in.
She turned around, expecting the Doctor, Rose, and Pete Tyler to already be in the van. As she peered out the door to see the Doctor trying to reason with Pete, she was suddenly hit with the realization that Rose and the Doctor had actually met Pete.
Victoria let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding as Pete nodded and ran towards the van, Rose and the Doctor close behind.
While Jake and Ricky were huddled near the front where Mrs. Moore sat, Mickey and I were in the middle. As Pete climbed into the van, he took a seat on the other side of Mickey while Rose and the Doctor filled in the other two seats.
"Finished chatting?! Never seen a slower getaway in my life!" Mrs. Moore called back, directed to the Doctor and Rose.
If the situation weren't as dire, Victoria would have laughed quietly behind her hand at that. Though she wouldn't say it, she rather enjoyed Mrs. Moore and her sarcastic humor and wit.
Ricky, once the van was going at a relatively calm speed, moved into the passenger seat. From there, he stared at the dark power cell mostly hidden by the Doctor's hand. With a frown, he asked, "What was the thing?"
"A little piece of technology from my home," the Doctor replied, gripping it a bit tighter.
"It stopped glowing. Has it run out?" Mickey asked, causing the Doctor to put it in his pocket.
"It's on a revitalizing loop. It'll charge back up in about four hours."
"Right, so now we don't have a weapon," Ricky commented, gaining a look from the Doctor.
"Yeah, we've got weapons. Might not be one of those metal things, but they're good enough for men like him," Jake said looking over at Pete.
"Leave him alone! What's he done wrong?" Rose growled, her voice going up an octave, making Victoria cringe slightly. The evening had already frayed her nerves, and she felt like everything was dialed to twenty.
"Oh, you know, just laid a trap that's wiped out the Government. And left Lumic in charge," Jake replied angrily.
"God, my head's killing me, so if you'd be so kind as to either shut up or argue quieter, that'd be great," Victoria snapped, her hands covering her eyes in an attempt to block out the light.
"Why would I leave my wife there if this were my plan?"
"Maybe your plan just went wrong. Still gives us the right to execute you," Ricky said, pointing at the man, causing the Doctor's head to snap towards him.
"Talk about executions, you'll make ME your enemy. And take some really good advice, you don't wanna do that," he told them harshly.
"All the same, we have evidence that says Pete Tyler's been working for Lumic since 20.5," Ricky announced through clenched teeth.
While she was annoyed with everything that evening, Victoria felt her heartbreak as she heard him say that. She didn't want to sit here and listen to her friend's heart get broken.
"Is it true?" Pete began to shift uncomfortably.
"We've got a government mole who feeds us information. Lumic's private files, his South American operations... the lot. Secret broadcasts twice a week," she explained.
"Broadcasts from Gemini?" Pete asked, causing Jake and Ricky to share a look.
"And how do you know about that?"
"I'm Gemini. That's ME!" Pete stressed, but the two didn't seem impressed. "Encrypted wavelength six-five-seven using binary nine. That's the only reason I was working for Lumic. To get information. I thought I was broadcasting to the Security Services, and what do I get? Scooby-Doo and his gang. They've even got the van!" Pete exclaimed, looking moments away from clutching his hair and groaning in agony.
"Wait, but the Preachers said they knew what they were doing. Ricky even said he was London's Most Wanted," Mickey said and Victoria hummed in agreement.
"Yeah, that's not exactly what I..." Ricky trailed off.
"Not exactly what?" Victoria asked, waiting for the worst to come.
"I'm London's Most Wanted for... parking tickets," he responded sheepishly.
Victoria let out a groan and leaned her head back against the van's wall, feeling more frustrated than she had in a while. Peaking open one eye, she caught the Doctor's eye. He raised an eyebrow as if to ask if she were okay. She shrugged while rolling her eyes, causing him to grin slightly, just for a moment.
"Great," Pete commented sarcastically.
"They were deliberate! I was fighting the system! Park anywhere, that's me," Ricky said, his voice rising in his defense.
"Good policy. I do much the same. I'm the Doctor, by the way, if anyone's interested..." the Doctor wiggled his fingers as a greeting.
"And I'm Rose! Hello," she said with a small wave.
The Doctor nudged her with his foot and she sighed before waving slightly at Pete. "I'm Victoria."
After that, Victoria closed her eyes and rested her head on Mickey's shoulder in hopes of taking a small nap. She hoped that maybe this would help with the overstimulation.
She was given ten minutes before they had to wake her up. She felt goopy and discombobulated but tried her best to work through it.
"Vie?" the Doctor whispered, his hand on her back and shoulder to help to stay balanced as they walked down the street slightly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm… I'm overstimulated," she told him slowly, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. "My brain feels like it was dried out and then dipped in water."
"Alright, you're staying with me until we get the TARDIS back up and running so I can look you over."
"What the hell?" Jake questioned at the same time Rose asked: "What's going on?"
"It's the ear-pods. Lumic's taking control," the Doctor explained as a stream of people marched robotically down the road.
"Can't we, you know, just take them off?" Rose asked, moving forward, reaching for a man's earpiece.
"Rose, no!" the Doctor called out, grabbing her wrist, stopping her from pulling it out.
"Human Race, for such an intelligent lot, you aren't half susceptible. Give anyone a chance to take control and you submit. Sometimes I think you like it. Easy life," he explained.
"Hey," Jake called out, causing them to look in his direction. Jake and Ricky were looking around the corner of a nearby building.
The Doctor led Victoria in their direction to see a line of Cybermen walking.
"Where are they all going?" Rose asked.
"I don't know. Lumic must have a base."
"Battersea," Pete spoke up. "That's where he was building his prototypes."
"What's the whole point of this?" Victoria spoke up, causing Pete to look at her.
"He's dying. This all started out as a way of life by keeping the brain alive. At any cost," he explained.
Rose leaned in towards the Doctor, questioning him about the Cybermen. Victoria followed their conversation slightly, but quickly found she knew almost everything the Doctor had to say.
"What the hell are you three on about?" Pete snapped, causing Rose and the Doctor to share a look.
"Nevermind that. Come on, we need to get out of the City," Ricky added, taking control of the conversation. "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."
"I'm going with them," Mickey said, watching Ricky and Jake run off in opposite directions. He turned to Rose and gave her a chaste kiss before running after Ricky.
The remaining group ran down an alleyway where they waited for the Cyberman to approach. Victoria was crouched next to the Doctor, gripping his arm as he had his sonic poised, ready for the Cybermen that were beginning to walk by.
When they stopped, the Doctor turned on his sonic, luring the Cybermen away. Once they were sure they were far enough away, the Doctor told them quietly to go, and we quickly ran in the opposite direction.
The Doctor quietly followed behind as they reached the bridge. They huddled together as they waited for Jake, Mickey, and Ricky to join them while they hoped that Mrs. Moore made it to her spot.
"God I hate this," Victoria whispered as she rested her head on the Doctor's shoulder. "They should be back by now."
He rubbed his hand up and down her arm in an attempt to calm her but otherwise didn't respond as he watched out for the men.
Victoria let out a small, relieved breath as she saw Jake sharply turn a corner.
"I ran past the river. You should've seen it, the whole City's on the watch. Hundreds of Cybermen all down the Thames," he told them as he approached them.
Soon after, a figure came running at the group. Victoria couldn't help the dread pooling in her stomach as she realized it was either Mickey or Ricky, not both of them.
"Here he is!" Jake calls out.
Mickey, Victoria hoped, came to a stop in front of them, not saying a word.
"Wait, which one are you?" Jake barely got out, his excitement quickly plummeting.
"I'm sorry. The Cybermen. He couldn't…" he trailed off, not meeting anyone's eyes.
"Are you Ricky? Are you Ricky?!" Jake snapped, getting close to Mickey's face.
"Micky, that's you isn't it," Rose whispered, taking a hesitant step forward.
As he nodded, Victoria and Rose ran forward and wrapped their arms around him in relief. Behind them, Victoria could hear Jake's breathing pick up slightly.
"He tried, he was running…" Mickey trailed off, though she could help think that he made a wrong decision saying that. "There were too many of them."
"Shut it."
Mickey moved after Jake, causing Victoria and Rose to withdraw their arms. "There was nothing I could do."
"I said just shut it!" Jake yelled, spinning around to face Mickey. He began jabbing his finger into Mickey's chest. "Don't even talk about him. You're nothing, you are."
"Hey," Victoria cried, moving towards Jake. "You can be upset about your friend's death, but you don't get to take that out on someone else."
Jake sneered at her, looming over her, though his face was beginning to contort with pain. "What do you know about it?"
She couldn't help the glare that made its way onto her face. "Lots. Now get your head out of your ass," she snapped. "And make sure Ricky's death wasn't in vain."
He glared down at her before looking away, showing that he would do what needed to be done. Victoria felt the Doctor place his hand on her shoulder, letting him guide her away, the group following close behind.
"Are you okay?" he asked once there was a bit of distance between them and the others. "You seem out of it."
"They made us strip down to our knickers, me and Mickey, once they found out he wasn't Ricky. I think… My head's been feeling cloudy all night since then and my senses are running at a 10 instead of a 5."
He reached out and pulled her into a tight hug. He placed his head on top of hers, trying to offer some reassurance. She could feel the tenseness in his stance as he held her which made her feel protected.
"Normally the panic attacks don't hit until later," she muttered, causing him to hum in agreement.
While she has had them her whole life, they've been happening more frequently. The first time the Doctor had noticed was after their interaction with Queen Victoria. The adrenaline had finally worn off, and all the panic and what-ifs had hit her like a brick. The Doctor had been going to find a book on the queen when he found her in the stacks, curled up crying.
He had spent the next twenty minutes with her, helping her ground herself. Once she had stopped crying, he offered her her favorite peppermint tea and read her the first few chapters of The Fellowship of the Rings before she fell asleep. After that, it became their system for when she'd be bit by her anxiety.
A hand landed on Victoria's shoulder, causing her to start slightly. She turned slightly to see Rose's sad smile and felt calm. They stayed like this for the rest of the walk to Battersea, only the sound of the wind filling the silence.
It took them fifteen minutes to reach a hill that overlooked Battersea, and consequently, the river that separated them from the base.
"The whole of London's been sealed off, and the entire population's been taken inside that place. To be 'converted'," the Doctor spoke up.
"We've gotta get in there and shut it down," Rose said with conviction and a touch of worry.
"How do we do that?" Mickey asked and the Doctor looked towards him. "Oh, I'll think of something."
"You're just making it up as you go!" Mickey cried indignantly.
"Yup," the Doctor dragged out before popping his lips. He tilted his head towards the two girls and winked, causing Victoria to let out a small laugh and Rose to smirk. "But I do it brilliantly."
"Come on," Rose nudged him before heading off in the direction Jake went. They went to the rendez-vous point to gladly see Mrs. Moore typing on her laptop.
"That's a schematic of the old factory. Look, cooling tunnels... underneath the plant... big enough to walk through," she explained as she pulled it up for everyone to see.
Everyone but Jake took a seat on the bench behind Mrs. Moore, though no one tried to persuade him to do otherwise.
"We go under there and up into the control center?" the Doctor questioned, pointing at the map.
"There's another way in," Pete spoke up. "Through the front door. If they've taken Jackie for upgrading, that's how she'll get in..." he trailed off.
"We can't just stroll in," Jake added as he walked closer to the group, though still keeping a distance.
"Or, we could with these," Mrs. Moore said, pulling out disabled earpieces from her bag and handing them to Doctor. "Fake ear-pods. Dead. No signal. But put them on, the Cybermen would mistake you for one of the crowd."
"Then that's my job," Pete said, looking prepared to argue if someone disagreed.
"You'd have to show no emotion. None at all. Any sign of emotion would give you away," the Doctor stressed, looking at Pete intensely.
The dread in Victoria's stomach grew as a look passed across Rose's face. "How many more of those do you have?"
"Just two sets," Mrs. Moore answered.
"Okay. If that's the best way of finding Jackie... I'm coming with you," Rose decided as she moved to stand beside Pete.
"Why does she matter to you?" he asked, giving her a look.
"We haven't got time. Doctor, 'Toria, I'm going with him, and that's that."
"No stopping you, is there?" the Doctor asked, and she shook her head.
"Tell you what... we can take the ear-pods at the same time. Give people their minds back. So they don't walk into that place like sheep," he said, tossing her a set of earpieces. "Jakey-boy?"
The Doctor walked up the hill slightly to get a better look at Battersea. "Lumic's transmitting the control signal, and it must be from over there…"
He scanned the general area before pointing it up towards the zeppelin. "There it is... on the zeppelin, see? Great big transmitter. Good thing Lumic likes showing off. Reckon you could take it out?"
Jake flashed a smile for the first time since Ricky's death. "Consider it done."
"Vie, Mrs. Moore... would you care to accompany me into the cooling tunnels?" the Doctor asked, turning towards the two. He held each arm out in their direction with a slight grin.
"How could we resist," Victoria smiled lightly as she looped her arm around his right arm, appreciating the Doctor's distraction, and Mrs. Moore doing the same to his left
"We attack on three sides - above - between - below. We get to the control center, we stop the conversion machines," the Doctor took off his glasses.
"Doctor," Victoria nudged quietly, her smile fading as she saw Mickey's crestfallen face. He had been so kind to her every time she met him, and she had barely noticed that the Doctor forgot him. Maybe she needed to knock some sense into him after this trip.
"What about me?" Mickey called out, causing the Doctor to stiffen.
Everyone looked to Mickey who had sobered up, glaring at the Doctor now.
"Mickey... why don't you... uh..." the Doctor stuttered.
"What, stay out of trouble? Be the tin dog? No, those days are over. I'm going with Jake," he decided, leaving almost no room for argument.
"I don't need him, Idiot," Jake nearly growled at him.
"I'm not an idiot!" Mickey took a deep breath. "I'm offering help."
"Whatever," Jake said, obviously not caring, while walking away. It took a moment before Mickey went after him.
"Mickey," the Doctor called out, causing him to stop. "Good luck."
Rather than add to his statement, Victoria gave a slight grin and gave him two thumbs up.
"Yeah, you too," he nodded at the both of them before turning to Rose. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah, you better."
"If we survive this, I'll see you back at the TARDIS," the Doctor smiled at Mickey.
"That's a promise," he told them before running after Jake's retreating figure.
Victoria turned to Rose and pulled her into a tight hug. "Please be careful!"
"Good luck," the Doctor said, joining them in their hug.
As Rose and Pete walked away, Mrs. Moore approached Victoria and the Doctor. "Come on, this way," she waved.
She led them to a trap door and pulled it open. "Gentlemen first," she grinned. The Doctor let out a humorous sigh as he began climbing down. Once he was down far enough, Mrs. Moore gestured for Victoria to follow.
As she reached the bottom, the Doctor held out a hand to help her down before doing the same for Mrs. Moore.
"It's freezing in here," Mrs. Moore muttered and Victoria nodded. "Well, we are in the cooling tunnel."
"Is there any sign of a light switch?" the Doctor asked, causing Mrs. Moore to remove her backpack from her shoulder and began rummaging through it.
"Can't see a thing. But I've got these..." she trailed off as she pulled out a headlamp and handed it to the Doctor.
"A device for every occasion," she said, and the Doctor clicked his tongue in excitement. "Glad you came prepared."
"Sorry, Victoria. I only have one more," she apologized as she placed her other lamp on her head.
"It's okay," Victoria waved slightly. "I've got the Doctor."
"Haven't got a hotdog in there, have you? I'm starving," the Doctor teased, causing Victoria to snicker.
"Of all the things to wish for! That's mechanically recovered meat!" Mrs. Moore smiled.
"I know. It's the Cyberman of food, but it's tasty," the Doctor said as she handed him a torch.
"Alright, let's see where we are," the Doctor turned on the torch and his headlamp.
Walking forward slightly with his torch on, his light fell on a Cybermen, over a hundred of them lining the wall.
At the sight, the fear that had slowly been dissipating flooded back through Victoria's body. She gripped the Doctor's arm a little tighter. "Already converted, just paralyzed. Come on!" the Doctor explained, before walking deeper down the tunnel.
After walking past dozens of Cybermen, the Doctor hesitantly reached out and tapped on one of their faces. They waited half a minute to see if it would react, and Victoria let out a breath of relief when it didn't. "Let's go slowly. Keep an eye out for trip systems."
With a nod, Mrs. Moore followed the two as they walked cautiously down the hall. After about five minutes of silence, the Doctor finally spoke up. "How did you get into this, then? Rattling along with the Preachers?"
"Oh, I used to be ordinary. Worked at Cybus Industries. '95. 'Til one day, I find something I'm not supposed to. A file on the mainframe. All I did was read it. Then suddenly, I've got men with guns knocking in the middle of the night. Life on the run. Then I found the Preachers. They needed a techy, so I... I just sat down and taught myself everything," she explained.
"Well, what about Mr. Moore?" Victoria asked, looking back towards her.
"Well, he's not called 'Moore'. I got that from a book, 'Mrs. Moore'. It's safer not to use real names. But he thinks I'm dead. It was the only way to keep him safe. Him and the kids. What about you? Got any family, or..." she trailed off.
"Oh, who needs family when I've got Victoria and Rose. Plus, I've got the whole world on my shoulders. Go on then - what's your real name?" the Doctor said, squeezing Victoria's hand slightly.
"Angela Price," she told them. "You can't tell anyone."
"Our lips are sealed," Victoria nodded just as the hand of a Cyberman on her right twitched slightly.
"Oh my god," she muttered in fear.
"Doctor? Did that one just move?" Mrs. Moore asked but the Doctor put down that idea.
"It's just the torchlight. Keep going, come on," he told them when one of them turned in front of the Doctor. The Doctor tightened his grip on Victoria's hand as he yelled, "They're waking up.
Run!"
They all ran as fast as they could, and Victoria was plagued with thoughts about how easily it'd be for the Cybermen to get her.
They reached the end of the tunnel, barely avoiding the reactivating Cybermen. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out his sonic.
"Come on, you can do," she whispered, just as he managed to get the door open.
"Get up!" Mrs. Moore called from behind them, so the Doctor began to climb. Once she was able to, Victoria grabbed a hold of the ladder and climbed. The Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled me out once she reached the top.
Once they were all out, Mrs. Moore slammed the door closed and the Doctor soniced it locked. "Oh, good team, Mrs. Moore, Vie," he told them with a small, relieved smile.
She stayed close to the Doctor as he followed Mrs. Moore through the building stealthily. The longer they moved, the more Victoria felt they were going to get caught. They continued on when a Cyberman found itself in front of them, causing them all to jump.
"You have not been upgraded," it stated in its monotone voice.
"Yeah, well, upgrade this!" Mrs. Moore threw a piece of metal at the Cyberman. The stick stuck to the Cyberman's chest and began electrocuting it. It began jerking and twitching before crumbling to the ground, much to Victoria's horror and relief.
"What the hell was that?" the Doctor asked.
"Electromagnetic bomb. Takes out computers, I figured it might stop the cyber-suit," she explained and the Doctor nodded.
"You figured right. Now, let's have a look..." he muttered, pulling out his sonic and touching it to the Cybus symbol on its chest.
"Now, know your enemy, and the logo on the front. Lumic's turned them into a brand," he explained, pulling the logo off to get a closer look. "Heart of steel," he started before reaching into the chest. "But look," he said, pulling out body tissue.
"Is that human flesh?" Victoria asked quietly, disgusted by the sight.
"Close... it's the central nervous system. Artificially grown then threaded throughout the suit so it responds like a living thing. Well, it is a living thing. Oh, but look..." he poked at a chip he found in the flesh. "Emotional inhibitor. Stops them feeling anything," he explained, but Victoria shook her head.
"That's awful, not being able to feel," she said while Mrs. Moore questioned why.
"It's still got a human brain... imagine its reaction if it could see itself. Realize itself inside this thing. They'd go insane," he explained.
"So they cut out the one thing that makes them human?" she asked and he nodded.
"Because they have to."
"Why am I cold?" the Cyberman asked, startling Victoria.
"Oh my god, it's alive. It can feel," Mrs. Moore breathes out in horror.
"We broke the inhibitor," he said before placing both hands on the face of the Cyberman. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Why am I so cold?"
"Can you remember your name?" he asked, Victoria rubbed at her eyes, feeling them begin to well at the scene in front of her.
"Sally. Sally Phelan."
"You're a woman," Mrs. Moore said in surprise.
"Where's Gareth?"
"Who's Gareth, Sally?" Victoria hesitantly asked, placing one of her hands on Sally's cold shoulder.
"He can't see me. It's unlucky, the night before," she spoke, and Victoria choked on a sob.
"You're getting married," Mrs. Moore realized.
"I'm cold. I'm cold."
"Sorry. You sleep now, Sally. Just go to sleep," he put his sonic to the inside of Sally's suit and turned it on. "Sally Phelan didn't die for nothing. 'Cos that's the key. The emotional inhibitor - if we could find the code behind it, the cancellation code, then feed it throughout the system into every Cyberman's head..." he trailed off as Mrs. Moore nodded.
"They'd know what they are." Victoria finished for him softly, struggling to picture all of the people that had been taken.
"And what would happen?" Mrs. Moore asked the pair, causing the Doctor's eyebrows to furrow slightly.
"They'd probably die. But could we do that?" he asked, slightly cold.
"Is there a way to undo what's happened to them?" Victoria asked after a moment, but the Doctor shook his head.
Mrs. Moore stood up, about to add her thought, when two Cyberman appeared behind her. The two time travelers watched in horror as it snapped her neck, killing her on the spot. "No! No! You didn't have to kill her!"
Victoria could hardly breathe as they turned toward her, both with raised arms. "You must be upgraded."
They began walking towards her, repeating "Delete. Delete."
"Doctor!" she cried, walking backward until she couldn't, trying her hardest to avoid their hands. She squeezed her eyes shut, dreading what she imaged woud soon happen.
"Sensors detect a binary vascular system," one of the Cybermen spoke, no longer calling out 'delete'. Victoria opened her eyes to see the Doctor standing in front of her with his hands up. "You are an unknown upgrade. You will be taken for analysis."
"Only if she's spared," the Doctor said, no room for argument. After a tense moment, the two Cybermen lowered their arms and stepped back.
"You will follow," was all it said before the Doctor grabbed Victoria's hand and began to follow the Cybermen. She squeezed the Doctor's hand tightly, but stayed silent the entirety of their walk.
Victoria had to fight the urge to throw her head back and groan loudly as she noticed Rose and Pete standing and sitting near a control panel respectively. The Doctor squeezed her hand before walking towards the Tylers.
"Victoria and I have been captured, but don't worry, Rose and Pete are still out there, they can rescue us," he said sarcastically, eyeing the two. "Oh well, never mind."
"You okay?" Victoria asked Rose, walking over and gripping her hand tightly.
"Yeah. But they got Jackie."
"We were too late. Lumic killed her," Pete explained, not meeting anyone's eyes.
In a loud voice, the Doctor called out, "Then where is he? The famous Mr. Lumic? Don't we get the chance to meet our Lord and Master?"
"He has been upgraded."
"So he's just like you?" the Doctor questioned.
"He is superior. The Lumic Unit has been designated Cyber Controller," the Cyberman responded just as a set of sliding doors opened. Mr. Lumic slowly slid into the room, encased in a Cyberman casing while being strapped to an odd chair with lots of wires and tubes.
"This is The Age of Steel and I am its Creator," he spoke as moved deeper into the room.
Rose and Victoria shared a look as screams of terror began to fill the silence, but when they glanced back at the Doctor they were surprised to see him looking excited and proud.
"That's my friends at work. Good boys! Mr. Lumic, I think that's a vote for free will," the Doctor winked towards Mr. Lumic.
"I have factories waiting on seven continents. If the ear-pods have failed, the Cybermen will take humanity by force. London has fallen. So shall the world. I will bring peace to the world. Everlasting peace, unity, and uniformity." he declared, not perturbed by the Doctor in the slightest.
"And imagination? What about that? The one thing that led you here. Imagination - you're killing it, dead!" the Doctor exclaimed angrily.
"What is your name?" Mr. Lumic asked.
"The Doctor."
"A redundant title. Doctors need not exist. Cybermen never sicken," Mr. Lumic retorted.
"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. 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," the Doctor spoke, somewhat rushed.
"You are proud of your emotions," Mr. Lumic stated.
"Oh, yes," the Doctor proudly stated, causing me to smile ever so slightly.
"Then tell me, Doctor, have you known grief, and rage, and pain?"
"Yes. Yes, I have."
"And they hurt?"
"Oh, yes."
"I could set you free. Would you not want that? A life without pain?" Mr. Lumic offered, causing a look of disgust to cross the Doctor's face.
"You might as well kill me," he suggested, and Victoria blanched at his statement, not wanting to even contemplate his death.
"Then I take that option."
"It's not yours to take. You're a cyber controller. You don't control me or anything with blood in its heart," he spit at Lumic.
"You have no means of stopping me. I have an army. A species of my own," Lumic stated, causing the Doctor to facepalm, pinching his nose in frustration.
"You just don't get it, do you? An army's nothing. 'Cos those ordinary people, they're the key," he said looking at the security camera. "The most ordinary person could change the world. Some ordinary man or woman. Some idiot," the Doctor said nonchalantly, and Victoria tried to fight the small bit of excitement as she realized what the Doctor was doing. "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. 'Cos 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... What was it, Pete? Binary what?"
"Binary Nine."
"An idiot could find that code. The cancellation code. And he'd keep on typing. Keep on fighting. Anything to save his friends..." the Doctor trailed off, sending Victoria and Rose a quick wink.
The grin made it onto Victoria's face, and she was so proud of Mickey. Saving the world and the Doctor.
"Your words are irrelevant," Mr. Lumic announced.
"Talk too much, that's my problem. Lucky I got you that cheap tariff, Rose. For all our long chats. On your phone," he said, looking at the camera again, making a phone motion with his hand.
"You will be deleted."
"Yes, delete, control, hash, all those lovely buttons," the Doctor replied with a cheeky smile. "Then, of course, my particular favorite, send."
"And let's not forget how you seduced all those ordinary people in the first place," he continued as Rose's phone beeped, ignoring the sound. "By making every bit of technology compatible with everything else," he trailed off as he wandered towards the two girls who happened to be right next to the computers.
"It's for you," she told him, tossing him her phone, a grin on her face.
"Like this," he said before shoving Rose's phone into a port in the computer. Victoria tried to push down the horrible pit in her stomach as all the Cybermen collapsed to the group, writhing in pain.
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, briefly meeting the two girls' eyes before turning around.
"What have you done?" Mr. Lumic was furious, but he didn't care.
"I gave them back their souls. They can see what you've done, Lumic! And it's killing them!" he exclaimed, looking around at the miserable Cybermen.
"Come on," he grabbed Victoria's hand, pulling her out of the room with Pete and Rose right on their heels.
Behind them, explosions happened around them, as the Cybermen cried in pain, the emotions too much. They had made it a fair distance before they came to a door being blocked by a standing Cyberman, though it was wailing in pain.
"There's no way out!" Victoria cried, looking around.
The Doctor grabbed her hand, pulling her back in the direction they had come from. Rose slowed down though as her phone went off again, checking to see what it said.
"It's Mickey. He says 'head for the roof'," she exclaimed, and they immediately rushed for the stairs. After climbing up a few flights, they were greeted by a ladder and quickly climbed that to get to the roof.
"Oh my god," Victoria gaped as she climbed off of the ladder. Above them, Mickey was piloting a zeppelin, grinning down at them all.
"Mickey, where'd you learn to fly that thing?" Rose exclaimed into the phone. The four of them rushed towards the zeppelin, trying their best to avoid the explosions and fires.
"You've got to be kidding!" Pete exclaimed, though the others ignored him.
Rose, get up! Victoria, you're next!" the Doctor ordered, and they were quick to comply. Once they were all on the ladder, Mickey began to guide the zeppelin away from the roof.
Just as Rose began cheering in celebration, Pete let out an exclamation. Victoria glanced down, somewhat startled to see Mr. Lumic holding onto the bottom rung.
Quickly reaching into his pocket, the Doctor found his sonic and tossed it down to Pete. "Use it! Hold the button down! Press it against the rope, just do it!"
"This is for Jackie Tyler!" he yelled, doing as the Doctor said.
The group watched on edge as Lumic climbed closer to Pete, and Victoria let out a somewhat strangled yet realized breath as the rope finally snapped.
"No!" he cried, falling into the flames of the explosions.
Victoria quickly followed behind Rose as climbed up the ladder, and flopped onto the ground with a sigh as soon as she could. She didn't stay there long though before Mickey was pulling her up into a hug.
"You were brilliant!" she told him with a large grin, beginning to calm now that they were safe
"That's right, I was," he agreed, happiness seeping into his voice.
She felt two sets of arms wrap around her and Mickey, letting out a grunt as they squeezed them tight.
"Alright," the Doctor said, pulling away from the group hug. "Let's get back to the TARDIS."
Victoria held the Doctor's left hand loosely as they walked into the dark TARDIS. He didn't let go of her hand until he crouched down to place the power cell back where they found it.
As soon as the TARDIS began to hum and glow again, Victoria let out a cry of happiness and pulled the Doctor into a hug.
Victoria was surprised when she felt a warmth in her chest, looking over at the console curiously as the lights all simultaneously lit up. She glanced over at the Doctor to see him smiling at the rotor with his hand placed gently on the console.
"Alright, we only have five minutes to get out of here," he announced, beginning to move towards the door, grabbing Victoria's hand in the process. He peeked his head out of the door and called out "Rose?"
The two walked out and were greeted by the Tylers who seemed to be having an uncomfortable and tense conversation. "I've only got five minutes of power... we've gotta go," he trailed off.
"The Doctor could show you..." Rose suggested but Pete shook his head.
"Thank you, for everything."
"Dad," Rose began but Pete stiffened.
"Don't. Just, just don't," was all he said before walking off without another word.
Victoria looked out of the corner of her eye and met the Doctor's glance, obviously feeling as uncomfortable as she did by the way he scratched his neck.
She let go of the Doctor's hand and went over to Rose, looping their arms together as Mickey and Jake began making their way towards them with the Doctor's suit in hand.
"Here it is! I found it. Not a crease."
With a childlike grin, the Doctor reached forward and grabbed his suit. "My suit! Good man! Now then. Jake, we've gotta run. But one more thing; Mrs. Moore. Her real name is Angela Price. She's got a husband out there. And children. Find them. Tell them how she died saving the world."
"Yeah, of course, I will," Jake nodded.
"Off we go, then!" he said, turning to Victoria with a smile, his happiness infectious.
"Uh, the thing is, I'm staying," Mickey announced, and the happiness Victoria had felt for a brief moment vanished.
"You're doing what?" the Doctor asked with a blank look, his smile instantly dropping.
"You can't," Rose's voice trembled.
"It sort of balances out, 'cos this world lost its Ricky. But there's me. And there's work to be done with all those Cybermen still out there," he trailed off.
"But you can't stay," Rose repeated.
"Rose, my gran's here. She's still alive. My old gran - remember her?"
"Tell her... Tell her that I said hi, and that it was lovely to meet her," Victoria requested and watched as Mickey nodded.
"Yeah."
"She needs me," he told her and Rose shook her head.
"What about me? What if I need you?" she pleaded but Mickey shook his head.
"Yeah, but Rose... you don't. It's just you, him, and Victoria, isn't it?" he asked, looking between Rose and the Doctor.
"Well- we'll come back. We can travel anywhere, come and see you, yeah?" Rose said, grasping at straws at this point.
"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. We can't ever return," The Doctor told Mickey, searching his face, making sure he really wanted to do this.
Holding out his hand towards the Doctor, he grasped his hand. "Doctor," he said before pulling me into a hug. "Thanks for everything, Victoria."
"Thank you, Mickey."
Once we parted, the Doctor gave Mickey instructions on how to help with the Cyberman. "And good luck. Mickey the Idiot," he said with a smile, gently slapping Mickey's cheek.
"Watch it!" he said with a laugh.
"Goodbye, Mickey," Victoria waved and sent him a proud smile before following the Doctor into the TARDIS.
She pushed the buttons the Doctor told her to as they waited for Rose to enter, having been saying her goodbyes. Victoria ran over to her and pulled her into a tight hug, trying to confort Rose as best as she could as the Doctor flew back to their universe.
- Page Break -
While the Doctor took Rose back to her mum's flat, Victoria thought it best to turn in for the night, deciding she needed the alone time.
She was glad to see that the debris that had been in the hallway was cleaned, looking as if that morning never really happened.
When she got to her room, she placed a grateful hand on the wall as she noticed the Tardis had left pajamas out for her on her bed.
After she took a much needed shower, she sat in bed, staring at her tv as it played her favorite animated show Futurama, though she wasn't really watching it.
A hum filled the air, and Victoria let out a long, drawed out sigh. "I know, I know."
She flopped backward, the lights dimming slowly until the only thing illuminating the room was her tv. "Thank you," she whispered, closing her eyes as the sounds of the Planet Express delivery team guided her to sleep.
- Page Break -
Victoria was feeling slightly better when she woke up, but she couldn't get her mind off of her dad. How long had it been since she'd seen him? What if something happened and she couldn't see him like Mickey?
She had dozens of thoughts flying around in her head, but they all led to one easy decision.
She peeled her covers off of her body before going into her small wardrobe to see a nice sundress handing on the door.
"Thank you!" she called out, quickly dressing herself for the day before leaving to find the Doctor. Who knows where he'd be today, knowing that he'd lost a companion.
She was surprised at how easy it was to find him, having been in the third room she checked: his office.
"Knock knock," she called out, leaning against the door as she watched him sonic a device in his hand.
"Vie," he didn't look up from his work, though she knew he'd be listening.
"What're you making?" she asked, moving to look over his shoulder.
"It's a surprise," he said, fully turning around to hide his work.
"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow, a small grin tugging at her lips.
"You'll see eventually," he waved, standing up and stretching, a few bones cracking loudly.
"Did Rose stay with Jackie last night?" she asked as she placed whatever he was working on in a drawer.
"Yeah, she said she'd text when she's ready to go."
"Well, I have the perfect trip for today then," she grinned, though she wrung her hands anxiously behind her back.
"And that would be…?" he asked, matching her grin.
"Let's go see my dad."