*touches on the nudity, panic attacks, and the feeling of being slightly sexually assaulted.
"Delete. Delete. Delete," filled the tense, frightened air. I watched the Doctor with fear and anticipation, waiting for him to do something.
The Doctor raised his hand towards the Cybermen, the glowing power cell from the TARDIS pointed directly at the said enemy. The cell released a golden light that wrapped around the Cybermen, causing them to disintegrate. I stared at the ashes in surprise, as well as the little cell in the Doctor's hand.
"What the hell was that? Rickey asked from beside Rose, causing all of us to look towards him.
"We'll have that instead. Now, run!" the Doctor yelled, already beginning to run away from the pile of ashes. We all quickly began running, close behind him.
A horn sounded in the distance, showing the van that Mrs. Moore had been driving, pulling closer to us. "Everyone, in!" she called, pushing the door open.
Jake and Ricky were the first ones into the van with Mickey following close behind. After jumping in, Mickey held out his hand for me to grab, which I gladly accepted and helped me into the van. I stayed close to Mickey, feeling conflicted as the Doctor, Rose, and her father had yet to get into the car. Jake and Ricky huddled near the front where Mrs. Moore sat while Mickey and I were in the middle.
Rose's father, Pete, was the first of the three to enter the van, taking a seat on the other side of Mickey. Moments later, Rose and the Doctor climbed in and sat in the back, closing the door as they sat down.
"Finished chatting?! Never seen a slower getaway in my life!" Mrs. Moore called back, directed to the Doctor and Rose. At the statement, I couldn't help but quietly giggle behind my hand.
The Doctor sent me a look as we drove off and I smiled innocently back. Ricky, once we were going at a relatively calm speed, moved into the passenger seat. From his seat, he stared harshly at the power cell which was grasped tightly in the Doctor's hand. With a frown, he asked, "What was the thing?"
"A little piece of technology from my home," the Doctor replied, fiddling with the cell.
"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," he explained.
"Right, so now we don't have a weapon," Rickey commented and I nodded slightly.
"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 asked loudly, her voice going up an octave, making me cringe and put my head in my hands.
"Oh, you know, just laid a trap that's wiped out the Government. And left Lumic in charge," Jake replied angrily and I glared at them, having become irritated with their loud bickering in the small van.
"If your going to argue, be quieter, would you. Look, Rose, this isn't the same Pete from our universe, he's done different things. Jake, Ricky, maybe check your facts a little more before blaming someone for something like this," I grit out, looking at the three of them with a glare, which they all returned.
"She's right, though. Why would I leave my wife in there if this were my plan?" Pete asked angrily.
"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 and I felt my heart sink as I watched Rose who was looking at Pete.
"Is it true?" Pete began to shift uncomfortably.
"Tell 'em, Mrs. M," Rickey demanded.
"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 and I shook my head.
"Wait, but the Preachers said they knew what they were doing. Ricky even said he was London's Most Wanted," Mickey said and I nodded, feeling confused.
"Yeah, that's not exactly what I..." Ricky trailed off, causing Mickey and I to share a look.
"Not exactly what?" I asked harshly.
"I'm London's Most Wanted for... parking tickets," he responded sheepishly. I let out a groan and leaned my head back against the van's wall. Peaking open one eye, I caught the Doctor's eye and he smiled a little towards me, causing me to smile lightly.
"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 smirked, liking what he was doing.
"And I'm Rose! Hello," she said with a small wave.
I closed my eyes, blocking out the talking as I moved to rest my head on Mickey's shoulder. I took the time to think about the earpieces, thinking back to what Ricky had said earlier. It seemed that most people, almost everyone, had an earpiece, yet Ricky and Jake didn't and they said they were free.
I was pulled back into the conversation when the Doctor began talking about the Cybermen. "They're called Cybermen. And I'd take those ear-pods off if I were you." Pete looked at him before reaching up and taking the earpieces out.
"You never know... Lumic could be listening," he explained, taking his sonic out, disabling the devices in his hand. "But he's overreached himself. He's still just a businessman. He's assassinated the President. All we need to do is get to the City and inform the authorities. Because I promise you, this ends tonight."
After he finished talking, the van fell silent until Mrs. Moore stopped the van. Once we were all out of the van, we walked down a street when we came upon a stream of people marching robotically.
"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.
"Can't we, you know, just take them off?" Rose asked, moving forward, reaching for a man's earpiece.
"Rose, no!" I called out, grabbing her wrist, stopping her from pulling it out.
"She's right. 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," the Doctor explained.
"Hey," Jake called out, causing the three of us to look in his direction. Jake and Ricky had moved to look around the corner. We all moved in to see what they had seen to find a line of Cybermen walking down the street.
"Where are they all going?" Rose asked.
"I don't know. Lumic must have a base." Pete spoke up, telling us that Lumic's base was in Battersea.
"Why is he doing it?" I asked and Pete turned to me.
"He's dying. This all started out as a way of life by keeping the brain alive. At any cost," he explained.
After speaking quietly to each other, Rose and the Doctor turned back towards the group when Ricky started with a plan as the Cyberman started heading our way.
"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," he called out before running off with Jake.
"I'm going with them," Mickey said as he gave Rose a quick kiss before running after the two boys.
The five of us quickly hid behind the trash bins as the cyberman walked past. I 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 we were sure they were far enough away, the Doctor told us quietly to go, and we quickly ran in the opposite direction.
Once we got to Bridge Street, we waited for the arrival of Ricky, Mickey, and Jake. "I ran past the river. You should've seen it, the whole City's on the watch. Hundreds of Cybermen all down the Thames," Jake explained as he approached us. "Here he is!" Jake called happily, seeing either Mickey or Ricky running down the street. He comes to a stop and doesn't reply. "Wait, which one are you?" Jake asked hesitantly.
"I'm sorry. The Cybermen. He couldn't..." Mickey trailed off, causing me to frown.
"Are you Ricky. ARE YOU RICKY!" Jake called out, and I looked down, feeling bad for Ricky.
"Micky, that's you isn't it?" Rose called out and Micky nodded.
I turned away from the scene, not liking the look Jake was giving Mickey. The Doctor moved towards me and put his arm around me as we allowed them the time to grieve briefly.
"Look, we can mourn him when London is safe. But now, we move on," the Doctor said, placing a
hand on my shoulder after moving away from me slightly. Together, we all walked silently towards Battersea.
"The whole of London's been sealed off, and the entire population's been taken inside that place. To be 'converted'," the Doctor explained once we reached the bank which sat opposite of Battersea.
"We've gotta get in there and shut it down," Rose commented.
"How do we do that?" I asked and the Doctor looked towards me. "I'll think of something."
"You're just making it up as you go!" Mickey cried indignantly.
"Yup," the Doctor dragged out before smirking at me and Rose. "But I do it brilliantly." I let out a laugh, nodding before we all met back up with Mrs. Moore and Jake.
"That's a schematic of the old factory. Look, cooling tunnels... underneath the plant... big enough to walk through," she explained as she pulled up said schematic on her computer.
"We go under there and up into the control center?" the Doctor questioned, making Mrs. Moore think about.
"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 said, having walked closer to us after standing a distance from Mickey.
"Or, we could with these," Mrs. Moore said, pulling out the disabled earpieces from her bag.
"Fake ear-pods. Dead. No signal. But put them on, the Cybermen would mistake you for one of the crowd," she suggested.
"Then that's my job," Pete said.
"You'd have to show NO emotion. None at all. ANYsign of emotion would give you away," the Doctor stressed, explaining exactly what Pete would have to do. I watched with a frown, not feeling good as Rose approached Mrs. Moore.
"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 spoke after a moment and moved over to stand with Pete.
"Why does she matter to YOU?" Pete asked Rose who looked over to the Doctor and me.
"We haven't got time. Doctor, I'm going with him, and that's that," Rose told us and I stared at her, feeling nervous about what she was going to do.
"No stopping you, is there?" the Doctor shook his head.
"Nope," she responded, shaking 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?"
After giving Jake something to do, the Doctor turned to Mrs. Moore and me, holding out his arms to the two of us. "Mrs. Moore, Vie... would you care to accompany me into the cooling tunnels?"
"How could we resist?" I asked with a small smile as we both grabbed an arm.
"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.
"What about me?" Mickey called out, causing the Doctor to stiffen. We all looked towards Mickey, and I looked down, feeling guilty. I had hoped to make Mickey feel better by going with him earlier and I had already forgotten about.
"Mickey... why don't you... uh..." the Doctor stuttered. "I'm sorry," was all I could say, waiting for Mickey to say something back.
"What, stay out of trouble? Be the tin dog? No, those days are over. I'm going with Jake," he decided, taking charge.
"I don't need him, Idiot," Jake nearly growled at him.
"He's not an idiot," I whispered, knowing only the Doctor and Mrs. Moore would hear me while Mickey yelled the same thing at Jake.
"I'm offering help," he spoke much calmer. "Whatever," was all Jake said, obviously not caring, while walking away.
"Mickey," I called out at the same time as the Doctor, earning an eye roll from Rose and an odd look from Mrs. Moore and Mickey.
"Good luck. You got this," I offered with a guilty smile.
"Thanks, Victoria."
The Doctor also wished Mickey good luck who in turn thanked him before saying his goodbyes to Rose.
"Rose, I'll see you later"
"Yeah, you better," she responded.
"If we survive this, I'll see you back at the TARDIS," the Doctor then smiled at Mickey who then nodded before walking off towards where Jake went.
The Doctor then dropped our arms so he could go over and hug Rose goodbye. I turned looked over at Mickey to see him looking back towards Rose and the Doctor. I waved goodbye as the Doctor walked back over to me and Mrs. Moore.
Upon returning to us, Mrs. Moore led us to the entrance to the cooling tunnels. She opened the trap door and began climbing, the Doctor climbing down behind her and I behind him. Once he got down, he helped me off the ladder.
"It's freezing in here," Mrs. Moore muttered and I nodded. "Well, we are in the cooling tunnel," I smiled while the Doctor let out a little laugh.
"Is there any sign of a light switch?" he then asked, causing Mrs. Moore to pull out her backpack and start 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, making the Doctor ooh at the light.
"Sorry, Victoria. I only have one more," she apologized.
"It's fine, I have the Doctor," I told her, gripping the Doctor's left hand in my right.
"Haven't got a hotdog in there, have you? I'm starving," the Doctor joked and I smiled.
"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, I felt fear flash through my body, causing me to grasp the Doctor's hand a little tighter. "Already converted, just paralyzed. Come on!" the Doctor explained, before walking deeper down the tunnel. I looked behind me to see Mrs. Moore hesitantly follow behind.
After a minute of walking, the Doctor stopped and tapped on the face of a Cyberman, waiting to see if it would do anything. "Let's go slowly. Keep an eye out for trip systems."
With a nod, Mrs. Moore followed and we walked slowly but surely in silence. After about five minutes, 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?" I 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. Plus, I've got the whole world on my shoulders. Go on then - what's your real name?" the Doctor said, squeezing my hand slightly.
"Angela Price," she told us. "You can't tell anyone."
"Our lips are sealed," I nodded when all of a sudden the hand of a Cyberman twitched slightly.
"Oh my god," I 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 us and I scoffed just when one of them turned in front of the Doctor. The Doctor to tighten his grip on my hand as he yelled, "They're waking up.
Run!", before pulling me along.
We all ran as fast as we could and I all I could think about how close their hands where to us, how easily they could get me. Soon enough, we did reach the end of the tunnel where the Doctor let go of my hand to get out his sonic.
"Come on, you can do," I whispered, just as he managed to get the door open.
"Get up!" Mrs. Moore called from behind me as the Doctor climbed. Once I was able to, I grabbed ahold of the ladder and climbed, the Doctor grabbing my hand and pulling me out once I reached the top.
Once we were all out, Mrs. Moore slammed the door closed and the Doctor soniced it locked. "Oh, good team, Mrs. Moore, Victoria," he told us while we nodded in agreement.
I stayed close to the Doctor as he followed Mrs. Moore through the building stealthily. The longer we moved, the more I felt we were going to get caught. We continued on when a Cyberman found itself in front of us, causing us all to jump.
"You have not been upgraded," it state 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 my 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.
"That's human flesh," I whispered, knowing they could hear me.
"Close... its 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 and I shook my head.
"That's awful, not being able to feel," I said while Mrs. Moore questioned why.
"It's still got a human brain... imagine its reaction if it could see itself. Realise 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 and I felt pity for the monster in front of me.
"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 so cold?"
"Can you remember your name?" he asked, and I felt tears start to well in my eyes.
"Sally. Sally Phelan."
"You're a woman," Mrs. Moore said in surprise.
"Where's Gareth?"
"Who's Gareth, Sally?" I asked, placing my hand on her cold shoulder.
"He can't see me. It's unlucky, the night before," she spoke, and I let out a shaky breath, a single tear falling down my face.
"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." I finished for him softly, feeling terrible for the people that were taken.
"And what would happen?" she asked us, causing the Doctor's eyebrows to furrow slightly. I placed my hand on his shoulder as he explained.
"They'd probably die. But could we do that?" he asked and after a moments thought, I nodded.
"Is there a way to undo what's happened to them?" I asked quietly, looking at him. He looked deep in thought, before shaking his head. "If we don't do anything, they'll kill everyone. At least this way we can let them be at peace," I whispered as he placed his hand on top of mine with a nod.
Mrs. Moore hummed in agreement with me, standing up. As she went to speak, the Doctor and I watched in horror as a Cyberman snapped her neck. "No! No! You didn't have to kill her!" he cried and I nodded, tears falling from my eyes once again.
"Sensors detect a binary vascular system. You are an unknown upgrade. You will be taken for analysis," one of two Cyberman announced, walking up to us. The Doctor stood up and offered me a hand. Once we were standing, we silently followed the Cyberman without a fight.
After what felt like forever, we were led into the control where Rose and Pete were. "Victoria and I have been captured, but don't worry, Rose and Pete are still out there, they can rescue us," he spoke before noticing the Tylers. "Oh well, never mind."
"You okay?" he asked Rose who nodded.
"Yeah. But they got Jackie."
"We were too late. Lumic killed her," Pete explained.
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 as a set of sliding doors opened to reveal Mr. Lumic in an odd chair, connected with wires and tubes.
"This is The Age of Steel and I am its Creator," he spoke as moved deeper into the room.
As we watched Mr. Lumic, we heard screams echo throughout the building. "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, and unity, and uniformity." he declared.
"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 SOhuman. 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 hurriedly explained.
"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, causing me to blanch slightly, not liking the thought of the Doctor dying.
"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 explained.
"You have no means of stopping me. I have an army. A species of my own," Lumic stated, causing the Doctor to facepalm.
"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. 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 as I put a hand over my mouth, hiding the smile that was fighting to find itself on my face. Mickey Smith, saving the world, good for him.
"Your words are irrelevant," Mr. Lumic announced but I shook my head lightly.
"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, announcing she'd received a text. "By making every bit of technology compatible with everything else," he trailed off as he wandered towards Rose, towards the computers.
"It's for you," she told him, tossing him her phone.
"Like this," he said before shoving Rose's phone into a port in the computer. I watched in horror as all the Cybermen around us twitched, shook, clutched at their heads in pain as they fell to the ground.
"I'm sorry," I heard the Doctor say. I looked up and met his gaze before turning away.
"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 my hand, pulling me out of the room with Pete and Rose following close behind. Behind, tiny explosions sounded as the feeling Cybermen cried in pain. We came to a door but found it blocked by a wailing Cyberman.
"There's no way out!" I cried, looking around us. We turned and went in another direction, looking for an escape when Rose's phone went off.
"It's Mickey. He says 'head for the roof'," she told us, and we immediately rushed for the stairs. After finding a ladder that led to the roof, we all rushed up the ladder to see Mickey flying a zeppelin.
"Mickey, where'd you learn to fly that thing?" Rose asked in awe. We all rushed into the center of the roof when a ladder fell from the zeppelin.
"You've got to be kidding. Rose, get up! Victoria, you're next!" the Doctor ordered, and we were quick to comply. Once we were all on the ladder, Mickey guided the zeppelin away from the roof and Rose began cheering in celebration, perhaps a bit too soon. I looked down to see Mr. Lumic holding onto the bottom rung, almost knocking us off.
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. I watched with bated breath as Mr. Lumic climbed closer to Pete when the rope finally snapped.
"No!" he cried, falling into the flames of the explosions.
I let out a laugh as we climbed up the ladder and into the zeppelin. Once I was inside, I immediately sought after Mickey and pulled him into a hug.
"You were brilliant!"
"That's right, I was," he agreed, happiness seeping into his voice.
"Alright," the Doctor started. "Let's get back to the TARDIS."
I held the Doctor's left hand loosely as we walked into the dark TARDIS. He didn't let go of my hand until he crouched down to place the power cell back in place. As soon as the TARDIS sprung to life, I let out a cry of happiness and pulled the Doctor into a hug.
When she came back to life, everything felt right again in the wonderful world of time and space, and by the looks of it, the Doctor had the same sentiments. "We only have five minutes to get out of here," he announced as he grabbed ahold of my hand. We walked to the door and the Doctor peeked his head out the door, calling "Rose?"
We walked out and over to the Tylers who seemed to be having an uncomfortable 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. I looked out of the corner of my eye and met the Doctor's glance, obviously feeling as uncomfortable as I did by the way he scratched his neck.
I felt a bit more comfortable when Mickey and Jake made their way towards us, the Doctor's pinstriped suit in hand. "Here it is! I found it. Not a crease."
With a childlike grin, the Doctor let go of my hand 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 me with a smile that I couldn't help match.
"Uh, the thing is, I'm staying," Mickey announced, and I felt sadness wash over me.
"You're doing what?" the Doctor asked with a blank look.
"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, and I couldn't help but smile just a little bit.
"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," I 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 and him, isn't it?" he asked, looking between Rose and the Doctor.
"What about Victoria?" Rose asked, begging him not to go.
"I'm glad I have her as a friend. But she's got the Doctor too," I couldn't help but nod, casting him a guilty look.
"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," he told Mickey, send him a look, 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," I waved and walked next to the Doctor into the TARDIS. I walked around the console, pushing buttons the Doctor asked me to when Rose entered sobbing. I ran over to her and pulled her into a hug as the Doctor piloted us away.
I stayed in the TARDIS as the Doctor followed Rose out of the TARDIS into Jackie's flat. I sat on the captain's seat, swinging my feet, listening to the gentle hum of the TARDIS when the Doctor walked in without Rose.
Noticing my questioning look, he told me that he was leaving her with her mother to grieve. It only took five minutes for the Doctor to tell me to go to bed, saying that I deserved it after rudely waking me up earlier.
"Goodnight, Theta," I whispered, giving him a quick look.
"Goodnight, Vie."
Once I found myself dressed and ready for bed, I fell into bed and let sleep consume me. When I woke up the next morning, after getting dressed, I noticed a message from my dad. He was requesting the two of us to visit him, and I felt myself getting giddy from seeing my father.
"Doctor!" I called, walking into the library where the Doctor was reading Les Misérables.
"How do you feel about seeing my father?"