Yet another story idea but one more like myself. Not necessarily a SI as I've changed a lot since I wrote this but *shrug* hope you all enjoy it all the same. I'm going to post 2 more fanfic ideas later this week for you all since I was busy and didn't do it earlier.

I stretched with a grunt, feeling tight muscles stretch in my back after having hefted a number of twenty-pound buckets of chemicals for the morning shift. A dog barked nearby, having heard my grunt and begging for attention. I sighed, knowing it was time to do the last walk-through anyway and went up the aisle of dog kennels to check on them. Most were sleeping, a few lifted their heads or peeked their eyes open when I walked past. The one barking dog began to whine and fuss as I approached and I smiled down at the heterochromia husky, whose tail wagged as I wiggled my fingers at him in passing. Partway through, though, I heard a noise. It wasn't uncommon. Rumors were that the boarding facility was haunted and I'd heard the ceiling creak and groan before, but this was different. This sound came from one of the back storage rooms and I frowned before cautiously heading that way.

I swear if it's a robber or something I'm going to bash his head in with a scrub brush. I grabbed one of the said brushes from a janitor cart nearby and cautiously peered through the small window in the door. There was no one there, but I opened the door and poked my head in any way, just in case, and got a look around. Some boxes, decorations for events, but no people. Maybe it was a rat or something? It wouldn't surprise me if it was another runaway snake from the connected pet store. I caught the first one, but I never heard if they caught the other. They were small corn snakes though. Hardly loud enough to make whatever that noise was. I frowned and went to head back out before I caught something out of the corner of my eye. I went towards the light behind a couple of boxes and moved them out of the way as I heard the door to the facility open; signaling the arrival of the morning shift. I'll only be a minute. I pulled the last box away and immediately froze at the sight of a 'W' shaped crack of light.

"What is this?" I muttered. "Doctor Who?"

I scoffed at the thought, though wondered if management knew they had a crack in their wall. I sighed and went to head out and let the senior associate of the morning shift know, but something stopped me. As in literally pulled me to a halt. I turned, eyes wide to see a sliver of light wrapped around my right wrist. A chill went down my spine as I followed the light to the crack in the wall, beginning to feel light-headed. W-What the hell… I pulled against it but was abruptly yanked by the light back into the room. My left hand slapped against the wall above the crack as I struggled to pull away from it and I tried to call out to my coworkers, but nothing came out. My head pounded painfully and my vision darkened around the edges as my left arm began to weaken and grow numb. Then, with another yank jarring my shoulder, I fell. Not into boxes, like I'd expect, but into the crack that seemed to grow wider and swallow me up. Then, everything went dark.

I woke up and cringed at the ache in my chest, reminding me of the time when I was ten and accidentally rolled out of the top bunk while sleeping. I pushed myself semi-upright and looked around while blinking the fog from my eyes, before realizing that I was no longer at my workplace. I was in the hall of some fancy building and immediately cringed when I placed my hand in something on the floor. I slowly turned to see the puddle of red my palm was in and paled at the corpse of a woman in a cocktail dress. Dear God… My mind shut down for a split second as my eyes locked onto hers before screams in the nearby room startled me out of it. A lump formed in my throat and I forced myself to swallow past it and stand. Just a corpse. M-My first corpse, but I'll be going into forensics. I need to focus on what's going on. How the hell did I get here? I forced myself up, slightly annoyed at how my legs shook for a moment before another scream cried out nearby.

"W-What's going on?" I breathed out, backing away from the door where the screams were coming from and turning around to make a run for it, only to very nearly run into something that I never wished to experience.

"Delete. Delete. Delete."

I could feel myself drain of color at the sight of the Cyberman and, while a part of my brain screamed it couldn't be real—none of this could be real—another shouted for me to run and I would rather listen to that than find out I was wrong. I backed away from it carefully, eyes searching for a way out, and had no choice but to charge at either the large windows or the door where the screams were coming from. Screams mean more Cybermen. I-I can possibly outrun one, but a group? God, I hope those windows are easy to break. I turned and rushed at the window, scooping a large piece of rubble off the ground and clenching my fist around it as I grit my teeth and slammed my hand through the glass to escape.

Ignoring the sting of the glass cutting my hand, I hopped through the window and ran across the lawn. I looked back, but the Cyberman wasn't following and I started to slow until I realized that I'd made a second mistake. A group of Cybermen were out on the lawn and as I tried to find a way to get away, there was a bright light. Apparently, there had been a group of people in the circle of robots, and a number of said robots collapsed due to something they did; giving me an open route to run. A blue van pulled up with a few honks and—knowing that it would be my only escape—I hurried towards it with the group of people.

"Everybody, in!" The driver shouted and I climbed in with the rest of them unnoticed. "Finished chatting? I've never seen a slower getaway in my life!"

The last two people climbed in and shut the door as we hurried off and I quickly fought to catch my breath in a corner of the van; head in my hands. W-What the hell… What the hell is going on? I-I was at work. How could I be here? W-Where is here, and why the hell are there Cybermen?! I-I don't understand what's going on! Am I dead? In a coma? Dreaming? Unconscious? Why can't I remember what happened in the storage room? W-Why are Doctor Who villains suddenly popping up out of nowhere? Voices were speaking up around me, but I was ignoring them in favor of trying to figure out how I'd gotten here. Until someone pointed me out.

"Oi, you in the back. Who the hell are you?"

"My God is that… Kody?"

I hesitantly lifted my head upon hearing my name, and only felt myself grow paler and almost sick to the stomach at the group of people now facing me. Oh, no. No, no, no. T-This is insane. This is crazy. I'm crazy. Sitting in the van were Rose and Pete Tyler, Mickey and Ricky Smith, Jake Simmons, Mrs. Moore, and none other than the Doctor himself. I-I'm dreaming. I must be. O-Or a box or something fell in the storage room and I'm unconscious. I lied to myself; anything to keep me from losing it here in the van, though the pain of the cuts on my hand argued that this was very, very real.

"Kody?" Rose questioned, leaning forward in her seat and drawing my attention to her. "You okay?"

"I-I…" I didn't know what to say, but the Doctor spoke.

"We've got bigger things to worry about, Rose," he said, dismissing me shortly, which stunned me. "I'd take those ear-pods off if I were you. You never know. Lumic could be listening."

Pete did so and the Doctor sonicked them as I watched silently.

I felt rather detached from everything and I wasn't sure if it was just a coping mechanism, or shock, or what.

"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. And you." He whipped around to me and I shrunk back against the back of the van, greatly confused at why he was glaring heatedly. "You stay out of my way and you tell me anything—and I mean anything—you know. Do you understand?"

I hesitated and apparently, it was too long for him because he grabbed my wrist harshly.

"I said, do you understand?" He growled and I nodded, fighting back tears as he released me.

Rose looked a bit worried as I turned away and tried to calm myself enough to get rid of the lump in my throat. I don't understand what's going on. I-I mean, I think I know what episode this is, but… why am I here? Why is the Doctor acting like this towards me? I tugged my injured hand close to my chest as I continued to face away from everyone. I-I kind of know this is… real. I don't want to admit it, but… nothing makes sense right now. I don't know what to believe. I just wish someone would explain what's going on. What am I supposed to do? I let out a shaky breath as the van pulled over and wiped my unhurt palm over my eyes as I got out with the others to find people out on the streets walking like a group of unresponsive zombies.

"What the hell…"

"What's going on?"

"It's the ear-pods," the Doctor answered. "Lumic's taken control."

"Can't we just—I don't know—take them off?" Rose asked, reaching for a set on a man walking by, but I instinctively grabbed her hand and pulled her back as the Doctor went to do much the same.

"Don't," I said softly, glancing at the Doctor before wincing at his glare and turning away once more.

I don't do well with confrontations.

"It'll cause a brainstorm," he explained to Rose. "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."

"Hey. Come and see," Jake called out and we headed towards him to see Cybermen and people alike, marching somewhere.

"Where are they all going?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. Lumic must have a base of operations."

"Battersea," Pete replied. "That's where he was building his prototypes."

"Why's he doing it?"

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

"The thing is, I've seen Cybermen before, haven't I? The head. Those handle shapes in Van Statten's museum," Rose said and I remembered that this was her first time meeting living Cybermen.

"Ah, there are Cybermen in our universe. They started on an ordinary world just like this, then swarmed across the galaxy. This lot are a parallel version, and they're starting from scratch right here on Earth."

"What the hell are you two on about?" Pete asked, looking confused, but Ricky cut in.

"Never mind that. Come on, we need to get out of the city." He spotted Cybermen heading our way and handed out orders. "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 him," Mickey announced, kissing Rose and hurrying after Ricky as I winced.

Ricky's going to die and there's nothing I can do. I'm just… I'm no one. I can't fight Cybermen. And even if I could, if Ricky doesn't die, then Mickey has no reason to stay here and stop more Cybermen. He'd come back with the Doctor and could die, which would make 'The Parting of Ways' just a disaster zone. But the Doctor… I shifted my gaze hesitantly to the back of the man's coat as we hurried away from a group of Cybermen and hid behind some rubbish bins. He told me to tell him everything. Could it be… is he angry with me because I know what's going on? I winced when Rose grabbed my injured hand, but grit my teeth and stayed as silent as I could as a group of Cybermen stopped right in front of our hiding place. The Doctor's sonic rang out though, and they stomped off.

"Go," the Doctor whispered and we ran back down the alley with me picking up the rear.

I was already getting out of breath. I had gotten out of shape more recently and hadn't been to a gym or running out at the track by my home for months. So, this was a bit much. I'd always been a sprinter… not a long-distance runner… I thought as we finally pulled to a stop and I sat on the ground, gasping for air as Jake ran up.

"I ran past the river. You should have seen it. The whole city's on the march. Hundreds of Cybermen all down the Thames," he said in shock as Mickey ran up. "Here he is. Which one are you?"

Mickey panted by me. "I'm sorry… The Cybermen… He couldn't…"

"Are you Ricky? Are you Ricky?" Jake demanded to know, but Rose knew.

"Mickey, that's you, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Rose went over and pulled him into a hug as Mickey tried to console the upset Jake.

"He tried. He was running. There was too many of them."

"Shut it," Jake snapped.

"There was nothing I could do."

"I said just shut it," Jake said, louder this time. "Don't even talk about him. You're nothing, you are. Nothing."

I cringed at his words, a part of me wishing he'd aim them my way instead of Mickey's. I never cared for Mickey much in the beginning of the show, but later on, he'd sort of grown on me and I'd begun to feel bad for how easily he was dismissed. Now though, I felt that Jake's words applied to me more. I could have done something to save Ricky. I was nothing because I didn't save him. A part of me stood strong behind my reasoning for my decision to do and say nothing, though another part struggled. If this was real, then I'd allowed someone to die. It was the philosophical trolley problem with a bit of a twist. Do I switch the track to keep the train from killing Ricky and possibly kill others? Or do I stand back and do nothing as the train barrels down the track towards him with me standing at the switch to save his life?

"We can mourn him when London is safe. But now, we move on," the Doctor said solemnly, but I saw his gaze shift to me and a chill went down my spine that made me take a small step back.

He knows. He knows that I knew what was going to happen. The Oncoming Storm… Dear God, what do I do? I felt my body quivering and my breath grow short even as he turned away from me and got the group going, but my feet wouldn't move. My body felt like stone, completely petrified by the fire that had been in the Doctor's eyes being aimed at me. That lump was back in my throat and tears swelled up once more, but I forced them back when Rose hesitated to follow after him; her gaze shifting to me. I just… I want to go home. I thought sadly, ducking my head and trailing after the group; feeling more like a burden than ever before.

"It's freezing," Mrs. Moore complained as the Doctor and I climbed down the ladder after her into the cooling tunnels.

He had insisted I stay with him and I wasn't about to argue, though I did give Mickey a small wave when he left; knowing that he was rather upset about Rose and the Doctor's relationship. I was too, to be honest. Not that I loved the Doctor the way Rose did, but I always respected him while watching his show. He did the best he could with the situations he was given, even if that meant people would hate him. He always did what he could, did his best. However, I was more jealous that Rose could get him to smile and look at her like she was the most amazing thing on the planet. All he'd done is either glare at me or ignore me since I'd shown up. I'd given up on asking him anything about my situation here, at this point. He wouldn't tell me if he knew anything anyway. He hadn't even noticed my injured hand. Mickey had. He'd seen and pulled out a handkerchief and wrapped it for me with a small look of concern. I assumed we got along better than I did Rose and the Doctor if he was worried.

Lights flickered and I blinked to get my eyes to try and adjust as the Doctor and Mrs. Moore put on small headlights. She turned to me, surprisingly.

"Sorry. I only have two."

I opened my mouth to answer, but the Doctor cut me off before I could.

"She'll be fine. You haven't got a hotdog in there, have you? I'm starving."

Mrs. Moore chuckled as I closed my mouth and let out a soft sigh. I was beginning to get more annoyed now than upset, but I kept it to myself. I'd hardly win an argument with the Doctor, after all.

"Let's see where we are," the Doctor hummed, having a flashlight as well now and his beam slid along the walls until it landed on a Cyberman, making my breath hitch. "Already converted, just put on ice. Come on."

I kept close to him, despite the glare he gave me when I'd accidentally bumped into his back at a point, but I wasn't about to be left down here when the Cybermen woke. I-I don't know if I can tell him. He won't find out Mrs. Moore's backstory or her real name if I rush them. I clenched my good hand into a fist and vowed to stay silent, no matter what the Doctor said.

"How did you get into this then? Rattling along with the Preachers?" The Doctor asked her and I idly listened in while eyeing the Cybermen.

"Oh, I used to be ordinary. Worked at Cybus Industries, nine to five, till 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 techie, so I… I just sat down and taught myself everything."

"No such thing as ordinary," I murmured, loud enough to be heard, unfortunately, and I flushed when she gave me a small smile.

"What about Mr. Moore?" The Doctor asked, trying to keep her going and not bother with me, apparently.

"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 two? Got any family, or…"

My heart clenched as I thought about my family back home and a sudden thought occurred to me. I-If this is real… God, if this is real, then… can I ever go back? What about my parents? My brother and sisters? What are they going to do? What am I going to do? I didn't hear the Doctor's answer to that, nor did I see his slight glance my way. It was only when I spotted a Cyberman's hand shift, that I snapped out of my reverie and grabbed both their hands.

"Run!"

I pulled them along and soon released them as we ran to get away from the awakening Cybermen. We reached a ladder at the end of the tunnel and the Doctor went first with Mrs. Moore next and me at the bottom. Thanks to my rush and the few seconds I saved by pulling the Doctor along, I wasn't caught by the Cybermen and the latch was closed on top of them as I sat on the floor and caught my panicked breath.

"Good job. Kody, was it?" Mrs. Moore smiled, offing me a hand up that I accepted.

"I just… thought I saw one move and didn't want to risk waiting to find out if I was wrong," I muttered, hearing a short scoff from the Doctor.

I felt my blood boil, but forced the anger down, knowing that there were other problems we should be worrying about. Knowing that the others were having far worse of a time than we were at the moment. And what about Mrs. Moore? My mind questioned, knowing that we were running out of time. You going to do anything about her? Can you do anything? I glanced at the woman's back shortly and felt my chest ache. She was a great character, but now she was a person. A real person. Or as real as this can get. I reminded myself with a wince, but I wanted her to be real. I wanted the Doctor to be real, not because of fantasies of flying around with the man or having him love me. Just because of who he was and what kind of person he was. And if this did turn out to be real, if I really was living in Doctor Who, then I wanted to help this man as much as I could. But how can I do that when I can't say or do anything about this? I can't save people. Some have to die for things to go as they should. Others… I don't know how they'll affect things later if they live. I-I'm not psychic or have a connection with time like the Doctor and its effects. I can't predict the future; I just know how things should go.

"You are not upgraded," a Cyberman announced, making my blood run cold, but Mrs. Moore was on top of things.

"Yeah? Well, upgrade this."

She tossed a rod at the Cyberman and it latched on and shocked the Cyberman until it fell to the ground. I cringed though, feeling as if the cries it let out were more human than I wanted them to be.

"What the hell was that thing?" The Doctor gaped in shock.

"Electromagnetic bomb. Takes out computers. I figured it might stop the cyber-suit."

"You figured right. Now, let's have a look. Know your enemy. A logo on the front. Lumic's turned them into a brand," the Doctor said, sonicking off a portion of the chest plate and flipping it over. "Heart of steel, but look."

He pulled out some of the white stringy goop from inside it and held it up.

"Is that flesh?" Mrs. Moore asked.

"Mm. 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. Emotional inhibitor. Stops them feeling anything."

"But 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," the Doctor explained to her as I gazed sadly at the Cyberman unnoticed.

"So, they cut out the one thing that makes them human."

"Because they have to."

"Why am I cold?" The Cyberman suddenly said softly and a lump formed in my throat as I spoke.

"Doctor, please."

"Oh, my God. It's alive. It can feel," Mrs. Moore breathed out.

"We broke the inhibitor. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," the Doctor apologized, before turning to me with a snarl. "Why didn't you say anything?" He snapped, but I honestly didn't care at the moment.

I was too upset.

"Please," I repeated. "Just… Just end it."

He seemed to hesitate for a minute as he watched in confusion, but I didn't notice.

"S-Set the sonic. Give it to me. I'll do it, just… please stop her suffering," I cried, tears pooling up as this reality became too much. "I don't want to see her suffer. God, she was getting married."

"You knew her?" Mrs. Moore questioned in shock, misunderstanding, but I didn't correct her and the Doctor reached his sonic into the chest of the Cyberman and slowly shut it down to prevent the mind of the woman inside from suffering any longer.

"That's the key," the Doctor said once he had as I struggled to pull myself together. "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, they'd realize what they are."

"And what happens then?"

"I think it would kill them. Could we do that?" He asked, looking conflicted.

"We've got to. Before they kill everyone else. There's no choice, Doctor. It's got to be done," she said, making to stand, but I made a sudden, split-second decision.

"No!"

I reached out and grabbed her, pulling her back from the Cyberman that had snuck up behind us, only for it to grab only my wrist instead. A cry of pain escaped me as electricity shot up my arm and I fell to the ground cradling the appendage and quivering from the aftershock. I-I'm not dead. My mind registered, multiple reasons spinning through my head such as the placement of where the Cyberman delivers their shocks to whether it decided I was worth more than Mrs. Moore alive.

"Sensors detect a binary vascular system. You are an unknown upgrade. You will be taken for analysis," the Cyberman announced to the Doctor.

"Then, they come too," He snapped and I noticed now, Mrs. Moore's hands on my back supporting me.

Two more Cybermen joined and Mrs. Moore helped me onto my feet as we joined the Doctor and were brought to Lumic's office.

"Are you alright?" The Doctor asked me softly and I bit out a response, still not entirely pleased with him.

"F-Fine."

It was a lie, of course. I couldn't feel my hand and my arm was barely registering my injured hand cradling it to my chest, but making the Doctor worry wouldn't help stop this mess. If he'd worry at all. My mind mocked and I grit my teeth as we were brought into Lumic's office.

"I've been captured, but don't worry, Rose and Pete are still out there. They can rescue me," he said sarcastically, the duo not too far away as we approached them. "Oh well, never mind. You okay?"

"Yeah, but they got Jackie," Rose said softly as Pete elaborated.

"We were too late. Lumic killed her."

"Then, where is he? The famous Mister Lumic? Don't we get the chance to meet our Lord and Master?" The Doctor mocked, and a Cyberman responded.

"He has been upgraded."

"So, he's just like you?"

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

A door opened up and a cyberman in an oversized wheelchair was rolled out.

"This is the Age of Steel and I am its creator."

There was a beat of silence before screams suddenly rang out and the Doctor grinned as even I cracked a smile.

"That's my friends at work. Good boys. Mister Lumic, I think that's a vote for free will." The Doctor smirked with a click of his tongue.

"I have factories waiting on seven continents. If the ear pods have failed, then 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."

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

"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. But everything you've invented, you did to fight your sickness. And that's brilliant. That is so human," the Doctor said, standing before him. "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," he said, bounding around the room.

"You are proud of your emotions."

"Oh, yes."

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

The Doctor's eyes darkened. "Yes. 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," the Doctor answered seriously.

"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!" The Doctor said seriously.

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

"You just don't get it, do you?" He said, dragging a hand down his face. "An army's nothing. Because those ordinary people, they're the key. The most ordinary person could change the world," the Doctor said, tipping his head up to a security camera in the room. "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." He pressed, smirking. "Knows how to get past firewalls and passwords. Knows how to find something encrypted in the Lumic Family Database, under uh. What was it, Pete? Binary what?"

Pete seemed to see what he was doing as well and Mrs. Moore smiled beside me.

"Binary nine."

"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."

"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," Lumic stated.

"Yes. Delete, control, hash. All those lovely buttons. Then, of course, my particular favorite, send. And let's not forget how you seduced all those ordinary people in the first place." The Doctor smirked as Rose's phone went off. "By making every bit of technology compatible with everything else."

"It's for you," she said, passing it to him, but I caught it and looked at his surprised expression.

"Like this," I finished for him, putting the phone in the socket myself, and sparing him from the burden of torturing all of the Cybermen as their inhibitors went offline.

They wailed and screamed as I closed my eyes with a shudder and a whisper under my breath.

"I'm so sorry."

"What have you done?" Lumic shouted.

"She gave them back their souls," the Doctor answered for me as tears slipped down my face. "They can see what you've done, Lumic, and it's killing them."

"Delete! Delete! Delete!" Lumic shouted as the Doctor grabbed my arm and pulled me along as our group hurried out.

"T-The roof," I said, catching the Doctor's attention.

"What?"

"It's the only way out. Mickey will be driving the blimp," I answered, wiping my free arm over my face and the Doctor nodded.

He let me go as we hurried up the stairs and steadily began to climb up the ladder he let down for us after Rose got off the phone with him. Rose was first, then the Doctor, then Mrs. Moore hurried up with me then Pete. I was struggling though, still no feeling in my hand and fighting back the pain in my other. Then, the ladder jolted and we looked down to see Lumic climbing up after us.

"Pete! Take this! Use it!" The Doctor shouted, dropping his sonic to the man below me and he caught it. "Hold the button down! Press it against the rope! Just do it!"

"Jackie Tyler! This is for her!" Pete shouted, doing as the Doctor said and the rope snapped, dropping Lumic down into the fiery building blow us as it exploded.

I sat on a bench, rubbing my injured hand up and down my arm that had started to tingle as I watched from a distance Rose's upsetting parting with her father. I looked away and let out a heavy sigh as Mickey, Jake, and Mrs. Moore headed over; Mickey with the Doctor's coat.

"Here it is. I found it. Not a crease."

"My suit! Good man." The Doctor grinned, turning to Rose and Mickey. "Off we go then."

Not even a glance my way. I noticed but kept silent. That's fine. This isn't some story where I get whisked away by the Doctor happily. Hell, I still can't convince myself if this is real or not. The pain is, but… is it bad that I don't want this to be real?

"Oi, Kody."

I lifted my head slightly, sparing the Doctor a glance as he sharply gestured to the Tardis.

"In."

I hesitated, uncertain, but stood and started heading that way. I paused though, seeing Mickey close to tears and Rose in tears, and I managed a small smile at the man.

"Good luck, Mickey and…" I struggled before I spit it out. "I'll see you again. We all will."

He looked surprised and Rose looked suddenly hopeful as she rushed forward and wrapped Mickey in a hug, laughing. I headed into the Tardis and dropped my smile as the Doctor briefly glanced over his shoulder at me before going back to the controls. It gave me a chance to look around though and I felt my breath hitch in my throat at the sight of the Tardis. God… Bigger on the inside is right. Could I even imagine this amount of detail? I sat in the jump seat in my shock. This… This could actually be real… Rose came in soon enough and the Doctor sent the Tardis off to Rose's house as I dipped my head to stare at my lap as a rampage of emotions welled over me.

"Stay," the Doctor said shortly to me and I didn't move as he and Rose walked out.

A shudder ran up my spine then and a choked sob escaped me as I started to cry. I had woken up in another universe that I wasn't sure was real. I had no one here. I had lost everything except the clothes on my back and the only people here seemed to hate me. I had been doing my best up until now. I had been holding it all back and trying to help where I could. I saved Mrs. Moore today. I'd lost feeling in my left-hand today. I had run from Cybermen, been glared at by the Doctor, and gave Mickey Smith and Rose Tyler hope. But I had forgotten Jackie Tyler, ignored Ricky Smith, tortured and ultimately killed millions of people who had been converted into Cybermen. And no one, not a soul, would tell me what was going on, what happened, how I got here, or if I had done the right thing. I heard the door open again and quickly turned away from it; trying desperately to stop crying and wipe away the tears, but he'd already seen.

"Why are you crying?"

I grit my teeth, trying to keep my voice from shaking as I spoke. "I-It's not like I want to."

I wiped my face on the inside of my shirt as he stared.

"How's your arm?"

My lips formed a tight line as I purposely kept my gaze away from him, not wanting him to see my face while I was like this and a bit frustrated that he only seemed to care now.

"It's fine."

I didn't see he'd come closer until he pulled my arm towards him; startling me.

"Let me see," he demanded, though not as harshly as I expected and I begrudgingly allowed him to.

"I can't feel my hand still," I muttered, turning so he could look at my left arm after releasing my other captive wrist. "It tingles from about mid-forearm to my elbow though. I figure I'll get feeling back sooner or later."

He pinched the back of my hand, looking at me for a reaction, but I didn't feel it and he let me go with a sigh.

"You're probably right, but I expect you to let me know if nothing changes. Now let me see your other hand."

I lifted my cut hand and winced when he unwrapped Mickey's handkerchief from it and it stuck to the wounds. He too, cringed when he saw the damage to it.

"What did you do?"

"Broke a window," I muttered, a bit embarrassed. "A Cyberman found me in the hallway at the house. It was either that or running into a room of screaming people probably being chased by more Cybermen."

He hummed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a bottle of water and a rag to start cleaning it. He obviously wasn't used to it, despite being a 'Doctor' so I flinched a few times when he was a bit rough, but remained relatively quiet until he'd finished and bandaged it up properly. He didn't release my hand though and I swallowed nervously, concerned for whatever was going through his mind.

"Where were you before this?" He asked suddenly and I frowned in confusion.

"I was… I was at work," I answered slowly as he frowned.

"Work?"

I nodded, gesturing to the small logo on the front of my polo. "Yeah. I was working my night shift and then…" I paused, looking away as that uneasiness enveloped my chest. "I thought I heard something in the storage room. I went to go look, but then I woke up in a hallway with a Cyberman."

His eyes widened then. "You… You've never met me."

I hesitated but shook my head. "No. I-I… I don't even know what's going on. Is this even real?"

He didn't answer. "You've never been with me before? Any Doctor? Rose? Anything?"

"No…"

He dragged a hand down his face and sat beside me on the jump seat. "You don't know anything… You don't have the slightest idea what… and I just…"

I felt desperation well up in me and grabbed onto his sleeve. "Y-You know what's going on? How I got here?"

He looked at me, but I slowly released him.

"You don't… You just know about me." I understood, head starting to ache as I brought my hand up to it. "I'm just some idiot who knows too much and meddles in things. God, no wonder you hate me."

"I… I don't hate you."

I gave him a small glance and shook my head, knowing he was lying. If you didn't hate me, why have you snapped and glared at me ever since I showed up? My headache was getting worse. I started to feel dizzy and closed my eyes as I rubbed at my face.

"It's fine. Really." I lied to him, pushing myself up from the jump seat. "I get it. I don't like it that… that someone knows all about me… either."

I felt myself starting to fall, but the Doctor grabbed a hold of me and carefully lowered me to the ground. He doesn't even seem worried. I thought idly as I cringed and curled up in a ball on the floor with my hands clenched around my head against the pain. It felt familiar though. The fire swimming through my veins and the ache in my head. Then, it was gone and I slipped into darkness, tears slipping down my face because the Doctor had just stood there and watched. He had watched me die.