I jumped up, looking around the room. The familiar tingle that I had during those times I'd thought about cutting had returned. Shaking my head, I wiped the sweat off my face and stumbled to the bathroom. Splashing water on my face, I cursed as the sensation grew, becoming more and more insistent as the seconds ticked by. I pinched, scratched, rubbed, and slapped my arm in an attempt to relieve it. Nothing worked; knowing the sensation would remain, I returned to my bed. As I went to search between the mattress and the box, I saw someone leaning against the wall. I looked up and for the first time saw that I hadn't been alone. I froze, hoping he hadn't witnessed my actions but after a moment, my eyes narrowed as I made out the figure, seeing that it was neither Rose or Mickey. "Are you alright?"

"What are you doing in here?" I snapped.

"I was just checking on you."

"Well I'm fine. You can leave."

"Cerys…"

"Just go. I want to be alone." I watched as he stared at me before deciding to leave. Once the door had closed behind him, my search was forgotten as I laid on the bed and soundlessly cried.

When an hour of tears and self-pity had passed, I cleaned myself up and made for the console room. As I walked down the corridor, I was thrown to the floor. Scrambling to my feet when the tremors ceased, I found the Doctor, Mickey, and Rose on the ground and air things hanging from the ceiling. "What the hell just happened?" I cried as I looked around the darkened room. It looked so devoid of life, so unlike what I was used to.

"We lost the time vortex."

"What?!"

"Everyone alright? Rose? Mickey?"

"I'm fine. I'm okay. Sorry. Yeah." The trio stood.

"She's dead. The Tardis is dead."

Rose followed him around the console. "Can you fix it?"

"There's nothing to fix. She's perished," he pressed a button, "the last Tardis in the universe. Extinct."

"We can get help, yeah?"

"Where from?"

"Well, we've landed. We've got to be somewhere," Rose frantically said.

"We fell out of the vortex, through the void, into nothingness. We're in some sort of no place. The silent realm. The lost dimension."

I walked to the door, with Mickey following behind me. Opening it, my eyes widened at the familiarity of the place. "Otherwise known as London," Mickey chuckled before we walked out followed by Rose and the Doctor. From the small grassy platform, we jumped down. "London, England, Earth. Hold on." He picked up a newspaper. "First of February this year not exactly far flung, is it?" Rose jumped down as well, grabbing onto Mickey as she almost fell.

"So this is London?" the Doctor questioned.

"Yep."

"Your city?"

"That's the one."

"Just as we left it?"

"Bang on."

"Even the Zeppelins?" I asked him, pointing up to the sky.

Mickey and Rose looked up. "What the hell?"

"That's beautiful."

"Okay, so it's London with a big international Zeppelin festival."

"This is not your world."

"But if the date's the same, it's parallel, right? Am I right? Like a parallel Earth where they've got Zeppelins. Am I right? I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yep," I answered with a smile.

"Must be."

"So, a parallel world where-" Rose started before glancing at the Doctor for help.

"Oh, come on. You've seen it on films. Like an alternative to our world where everything's the same but a little bit different, like, I don't know, traffic lights are blue, Tony Blair never got elected."

"And he's still alive," Rose said as she stared at an advertisement for Vitex Lite with a man on the front that I recognized as Pete Tyler, her dad. "A parallel world and my dad's still alive."

Rose began to walk down the street, leaving us to follow after her. "Don't look at it, Rose. Don't even think about it. This is not your world."

"But he's my dad and…" She touched the screen and it came to life. Startled, she pulled her hand away.

"Trust me on this."

"Well, that's weird. But he's real."

"Trust me on this."

"He's a success. He was always planning these daft little schemes. Health food drinks and stuff. Everyone said they were useless. But he did it."

The Doctor grabbed her arms, trying to make her look him in the eye. "Rose, if you've ever trusted me, then listen to me now." She looked back at the screen. "Stop looking at it. Your father's dead. He died when you were six months old. That is not your Pete. That is a Pete. For all we know, he's got his own Jackie, his own Rose. His own daughter who is someone else, but not you. You can't see him. Not ever." Mickey placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

I sighed, recognizing the look in Rose's eyes. Knowing she would do whatever she wanted, I returned to the Tardis, sitting in the captain's chair. I closed my eyes, concentrating on the Tardis, feeling as if a part of her was alive. Snapping my eyes open, I looked around, before getting up and grabbing the Doctor. Mickey and the Doctor gave me a puzzled glance but he allowed me to drag him away. Pulling him into the Tardis, I pointed to the grate. As he was about to open the grate, Mickey walked in. "I told you to keep an eye on her," the Doctor snapped at the man.

"She's alright."

"She goes wondering off. Parallel world, it's like a gingerbread house. All those temptations calling out."

"Oh, so just Rose, then? Nothing out there to tempt me?" Mickey asked.

"Well, I don't know, I can't worry about everything," he snapped. I shook my head, feeling bad for Mickey. He didn't deserve that.

"What about Cerys, huh? Think there's nothing out there to tempt her?"

The Doctor stopped and glanced up at Mickey, completely avoiding eye contact with me. I gave Mickey a thankful smile before turning away from the men, knowing the Doctor was going to avoid the question, which he did. "If I could just get this thing to-" he kicked the console.

"Did that help?"

"Yes."

"Did that hurt?"

"Yes," the Doctor sat down and rubbed his foot, "Ow. We're not meant to be here. The Tardis draws its power from the universe, but it's the wrong universe. It's like diesel in a petrol engine."

"But… I've seen it in comics. People go hopping from one alternative world to another. It's easy."

"Not in the real world. It used to be easy. When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, you could hop between realities, home in time for tea. Then they died, and took it all with them. The walls of reality closed, the worlds were sealed. Everything became that bit less kind."

"Then how did we get here?" Mickey asked.

The Doctor wiped his face, thinking. "I don't know. Accident? Should've been impossible. Now we're trapped." I cleared my throat, pointing to the grate again. I was beginning to get annoyed with the two, mainly the Doctor. "What's that?" he asked, looking to where I had indicated.

"What?"

"That, there. Is that a reflection? It's a light! Is it? Is that a light? I think that's a light. That's all we need. We've got power! Mickey, we've got power! Ha!" he laughed before he finally opened it and dropping down under the main part of the console. "Cerys, you're brilliant," he exclaimed as he moved to hug me. Just as I saw it happening, I jumped off the chair and backed away from him. I watched as his expression changed to pain, before it disappeared and was replaced with excitement. "It's alive!"

"What is it?"

After pulling a vast amount of things out, he stood, bringing with him a small object he held cupped in his hands. "It's nothing. It's tiny. One of those insignificant little power cells that no one ever bothers about, and it's clinging onto life, with one little ounce of reality tucked away inside."

"Enough to get us home?"

"Not yet. I need to charge it up."

"We could go outside and lash it up to the National Grid."

"Wrong sort of energy. It's got to come from our universe."

"But we don't have anything."

"There's me," he said before he blew on it. The green light brightened and he smiled. "I just gave away ten years of my life. Worth every second."

"It's going out. Is that okay?"

"It's on a recharging cycle."

"It'll loop around and power back up," I added, more for Mickey's sake than anything. I was still upset from the trip to Versailles, thus making this a trip of little words. I couldn't bring myself to speak to the Doctor or be around him much, knowing that sooner or later, my anger would well up and I'd explode and ultimately say something that would hurt him, as I usually did.

"And be ready to take us home in, oh, twenty four hours."

"So that gives us twenty four hours on a parallel world."

"Shore leave. As long as we keep our heads down. Easy. No problem. Let's go and tell Rose." The two men looked at me, waiting for me to stand. Sighing, I went out with them. Once with Rose, the Doctor showed her the power cell. "There you are. You all right? No applause. I fixed it. Twenty four hours, then we're flying back to reality." She didn't respond. Rose just continued to look forlornly at her phone. "What is it?"

"My phone connected. There's this Cybus Network. It finds your phone. It gave me Internet access."

"Rose, whatever it says, this is the wrong world."

"I don't exist."

"What do you mean?"

"There's no Rose Tyler. I was never born. There's Pete, my dad, and Jackie. He still married mum but they never had kids. Not even Cerys… she doesn't exist either." I stared at her shocked for a moment before I snapped out of it, thanks to Mickey placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Give me that phone." He went to grab from it but she pulled it out of his reach.

"They're rich. They've got a house and cars, and everything they want. But they haven't got me." She stood. "I've got to see him."

"You can't."

"I just want to see him."

"I can't let you."

"You just said twenty four hours!"

"You can't become their daughter, that's not the way it works. Mickey, tell her."

"Twenty four hours, yeah?" Mickey stood.

"Where are you going?"

"Well, I can do what I want."

"I've got the address and everything."

"Stay where you are, both of you. Rose, come back here! Mickey, come back here right now!" The Doctor glanced at me, silently begging for my help. "Cerys, please tell them." I shook my head and started to walk towards Mickey. While I might not exist in the universe, I wanted to see what it had to offer. A part of me was considering staying and no longer travelling with the Doctor. It was an odd feeling, especially considering all we'd been through since I'd first met him. Even then though, we had small spats that left us at outs for an adventure or two, but there were never romantic feelings involved. Falling for him seemed to be one of my biggest mistakes.

"I just want to see him."

"Yeah, I've got things to see and all."

"Like what?"

"Well, you don't know anything about me, do you? It's always about Cerys and Rose. I'm just a spare part."

"I'm sorry. I've got to go." Rose continued to back away from the Doctor as Mickey and I walked off, Mickey with his back to me.

"Go on, then. There's no choice, is there? You can only chase after one of us. It's never going to be me, is it?"

"Cerys…" I barely gave him a glance as I continued to walk off.

He sighed, torn between Rose and me. Groaning, he made his decision, knowing I'd be better with him choosing Rose. Her safety was always more important to me. "Back here, twenty four hours!" He then ran off after Rose.

"Yeah, if I haven't found something better," Mickey said as we walked on.

We wandered the streets in a comfortable silence. It was the longest Mickey and I had spent together, without Rose around. Considering the crap we'd been through, and our mutual dislike for each other, he wasn't that bad, if I were being honest. I did want to leave the past behind, and start anew with him. Thinking about it, the main reason we didn't get along was because of me. The man had been nothing but nice the first time we'd met and I was the hostile one. I made him feel like shit. The relationship we had, or lack thereof was my fault, not him. "Why did you come with me? You could of ran off with Rose and the Doctor but you chose me. Why?"

I glanced at the man, startled from my thoughts. "Well.. I was serious when I said I wanted to be friends. I figured this would be as good as a time as any other. Besides, I couldn't be around HIM. Besides, I'm also looking for something better. I don't know if I can keep travelling with him. "

"What happened between you two?"

"Me. I was always good at pushing people away. I thought he and I were… but then he kissed Rinette and I don't know if he even likes me."

"I know just how good you are at that. I was the only person who tried to defend you when you were being bullied and you ended up punching me in the throat."

"Sorry. It was a really bad day."

"I know, but the Doctor loves you. Rose and I can see that."

"But Madam de Pompadour… she's this amazing woman and I'm just some stupid, moody…. ugh!"

"That he loves. Trust me. After seeing him when you were stuck in France, there's no doubt of it. He'd be devastated if you left. Rose would be too. Who else is going to put her in her place and keep her safe. If not for you, I think she would have been dead a few adventures ago. If things aren't sorted in twenty four hours, then you can make your decision."

"Thanks, Mickey."

"No problem," he said with a smile before turning his attention from me to the soldier that approached us from the roadblock. "Are we alright to get past?"

"Yeah. No bother. Curfew doesn't start till ten."

"There's a curfew?"

"Course there is. Where you been living, mate? Up there in the toffs?"

We both looked up at the zeppelins. "I wish. See you." As we walked through, the other soldier lifted the block and dropped once we'd passed.

"Mickey, where are we going?"

"You'll see."

We walked for a few more minutes before I realized exactly where he was going. I smiled, knowing how much this would mean to him. Reaching Waterton Street SE15, Mickey hesitated to grab the knocker on door number one. I nudged him, giving him an encouraging nod. Taking in a breath, he grabbed it and knocked on the door. Moments later, we heard her, Rita Anne, Mickey's grandmother. He smiled at me, almost disbelieving to the fact she was alive. "Who's that there?" The door opened, revealing the woman. She had her white walking stick in hand and a pair of ear pods that worried me a bit. "Who is it? I know you're there. Shame on you, tricking an old lady. I've got nothing worth stealing. And don't think I'm going to disappear! You're not going to take me," she exclaimed as she waved her cane around.

"Hi." I silently chuckled at his timid greeting.

"Is that you?"

"It's me. I came home."

"Ricky?" She touched his face.

"It's Mickey." I smiled. It seemed to be something he constantly repeated.

"I know my own grandson's name. It's Ricky. Now, come here," The two hugged.

"Okay, I'm Ricky. Of course I am. Ricky, that's me." She slapped his arm. "Ow!"

"You stupid boy. Where have you been?" She continued to slap him.

"Ow! Stop hitting me!" I laughed out loud, alerting the woman to my presence, not that she said anything about it. She was too busy dealing with Mickey.

"It's been days and days! I keep hearing all these stories. People disappearing off the streets. There's nothing official on the download but there're all these rumours, and, and whispers. I thought that God had disappeared you! And who's with you?"

"I'm a friend of Mickey's. My name's Cerys. It's great to meet you."

"First time you brought a girl home." I sniggered as he threw me a glare before his attention went to the staircase.

"That carpet on the stairs, I told you to get it fixed. You're going to fall and break your neck."

"Well, you get it fixed for me."

"I should have done it way back." I placed a hand on his shoulder. "I guess I'm just kind of useless."

"You aren't useless, Mickey. Look at all the things you did for us."

"Now, I never said that."

"I am, though. And I'm sorry gran. I'm so sorry."

"Don't talk like that. Do you know what you need? A nice sit down and a cup of tea. You got time?"

"For you, I've got all the time in the world."

"Oh, you say that, but it's all talk. It's those new friends of yours. I don't trust them. I hope you can get him away from them, missy."

"What friends are they?"

"Don't pretend you don't know. You've been seeing them. Missus Chan told me. Driving about all helter skelter in that van."

"What van's that, then?"

"You know full well! Don't play games with me." I whipped my head around as I heard the squeal of tires as a blue van stopped in front of the house. I watched as a blonde man jumped out and grabbed our arms, pulling us into the van. As the door closed, we could hear Rita Anne calling out for Mickey.

In the van, there was a woman with blonde hair behind the wheel and the man with spikey blonde hair who had pulled us in. Both were dressed in black and the man was staring at us intently. I watched them, a bit on edge. I didn't know whether they were good or bad but I wanted to find out. "Ricky, you were the one who told us you don't contact your family because it puts them in danger," the man said.

"Yeah. Ricky said that. Course I did, just testing."

He turned his attention to me. "Who are you?"

"Ricky's friend. I'm Cerys."

He nodded and turned back to Mickey. "I saw them. I taped them. They went round Blackfriars gathering up the homeless like the child catcher. They must've took four dozen."

"The vans were hired out to a company called International Electromatics. But I did a protocol search. Turns out that's a dummy company established by guess who?" the blonde woman said.

"I don't know. Who?"

"Cybus Industries!" the two exclaimed as if it were common sense.

"Well, now we've got evidence."

"Bad news is, they've arrested Thin Jimmy. So that just leaves you."

"Leaves me what?"

"The Number One. Top of the list. London's Most Wanted."

"Okay, cool." I nudged Mickey, knowing he hadn't thought before speaking. "Say that again?" he asked, the man's words finally registering.

By the time the van had stopped, it was night. The four of us clambered out once it had come to a stop. We were in front of another house, in a different section. As we approached, I saw that a single light was on in the flat. "There's a light on. There's someone inside the base. Missis Moore, we've got visitors." The two pulled out guns and stood against the wall. I cringed a bit, a part of me not wanting to be near them with the weapons in hand. "One, two, three, go!" They burst through the door, with Mickey and me not far behind them. They lowered their weapons as they saw who was standing inside the room. I glanced at Mickey, a bit amused by his expression.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"What're you doing there?"

"What am I doing here?" the man I assumed to be Rickey questioned, walking towards the door. "What am I doing there?" The two quickly turned their guns on us, mainly pointing them at Mickey who immediately threw his hands up.

"Please put the guns down. At this point in time, I am not very fond of them."

They ignored me and the woman grabbed my arms, placing me in a chair and restraining me. The same was done to Mickey, except he was stripped down and the blonde man was scanning him as the woman sat behind a laptop. "They're clean. No bugs." Ricky approached us from a dark corner.

"But this is off the scale. He's flesh and blood. How did that happen?"

"Well, it could be that Cybus Industries have perfected the science of human cloning, or your father had a bike."

"And your name is Mickey, not Ricky."

"Mickey. Dad was Jackson Smith. Used to work at the key cutters in Clifton's Parade. Went to Spain, never came back."

"But that's my dad. So, we're brother?"

"Be fair. What else could it be?"

"I don't know. But he doesn't just look like me, he is exactly the same. There's something else going on here, Jake."

"Well done, Ricky," I sarcastically commented.

So, who are you lot?"

"We?"

"Well he did ask," I muttered, earning an eye roll from Ricky.

"We are the Preachers. As in Gospel Truth. You see?" He motioned to his ears. "No ear plugs. While the rest of the world downloads from Cybus Industries, we, we have got freedom. You're talking to London's Most Wanted, but target Number One is Lumic, and we are going to bring him down."

"From your kitchen?"

Ricky turned around and gave the room a look round. "Have you got a problem with that?"

"No, it's a good kitchen."

The woman had left our side and sat at a small table, typing away at the computer. "It's an upload from Gemini."

"Who exactly is Gemini?" I asked only to be ignored.

"The vans are back. They're moving out of Battersea. Looks like Gemini was right. Lumic's finally making a move."

"And we are right behind him. Pack up, we're leaving." We were untied and Mickey's clothes were returned. With everything ready, we went to the van. Mickey, Jake, Ricky, and I sat in the back. The three checked and loaded their weapons as the Ricky followed the lorry.

Reaching the destination, Ricky and Jake exited the van, leaving Mickey and me with the woman. "I don't know what they're doing, but this seems to be the target. Big house, fair bit of money. Now we have got to find a way to get in." Ricky said over the speaker.

The woman nodded and began to type away at her computer, leaving Mickey and I to our own devices. I was curious about her, and what her part was in the big picture. I crawled up to the passenger's seat, settling in. "What are you doing?"

"Seeing where we've stopped."

"What's your name?"

"Missis Moore. Why do you ask?"

She warily glanced at me. "Call it curiosity." I looked at the screen. "You figured it out."

"Yes." She pulled out her walkie-talkie. "I've identified the address. It belongs to Peter Tyler, the Vitex millionaire."

"Pete Tyler?" Mickey asked.

"He's listed as one of Lumic's henchmen," the woman continued, shaking her head, "a traitor to the state."

"But, we've got to get in there." I smiled, knowing he was worried about Rose. I was too but I knew she was pretty safe with the Doctor.

"No, shut it, duplicate. That's what I just said."

"Don't speak to him like that," I snapped at Rickey.

He was silent for a moment before he spoke. "What are they doing?" He paused, as if trying to figure out what was going on. "What the hell are they?"

After he was silent for a while, there were crashes and screams. Mickey and I looked at each other, silently deciding on what to do. Coming to a conclusion, we both jumped out of the van and raced towards the house. We spotted Rose, Pete Tyler, Jake, Ricky, and the Doctor; Ricky and Jake were shooting at the metal men as the other three watched. When it all stopped, I watched as Rose hugged Ricky, thinking he was Mickey. I chuckled as he pulled away from her. I quickly pushed Mickey forward. "Rose! That's not me. That's like the other one."

"Oh, as if things weren't bad enough, there's two Mickey's." I rolled my eyes as his eyes met mine. There was a flash of emotion and he quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me to him, embracing me in the comfort of his arms. I didn't pull away, not only because he left no room for me to do so but because I wanted to be there. There was no other place I felt safe than in his arms. Immediately, my mind was made. While I knew there would be turbulence, I wanted to travel with him.

"It's Ricky."

"But there's more of them," Mickey said.

"We're surrounded."

Ricky and Jake held up their guns, taking aim. "Put the guns down. Bullets won't stop them." Jake started to shoot at the metal men, and the Doctor stopped him. "No! Stop shooting, now. We surrender! Hands up." Everyone but me raised their hands. It seemed like a repeat of the time we had first met the Slitheen and I was ever so eager to do as was told. "There's no need to damage us. We're good stock. We volunteer for the upgrade program. Take us to be processed."

"You are rouge elements."

"But we surrender," I muttered, bringing the metal men's attention to me.

It scanned me. "You are incompatible." I jumped, not knowing exactly what that meant.

"But this is a surrender."

"You will be deleted."

"But we're surrendering! Listen to me, we surrender!" The Doctor pulled me closer to him, literally pressing my body to his so that there was no space between us.

"You are inferior."

I snapped my head up to the metal man that spoke, pulling myself from the Doctor a bit. "Inferior? You think we are inferior?" I barked out a strained laugh. "Metal men, that's what you are, a creation that believes the human race needs a metal shell. You are inferior! Tell me, after this upgrade, how will the species continue to thrive or will you invade other human societies, other worlds in order to continue the silly desire? You will be nothing but stagnant and that is what makes you so very inferior to humans."

"Man will be reborn as Cyberman, but you will perish under maximum deletion," the leader said, ignoring my rant. The others held out their hands towards us, all chanting. "Delete. Delete. Delete!"

I turned into the Doctor, looking up at his beautiful brown eyes that reminded me so much of the man the girl in my dreams had fallen for. As I continued to stare at him, it barely registered that he was returning my gaze. When it finally did, I stood to my toes and kissed his lips, knowing that if I were to die, I wanted that to be my last action and for him to know that I still cared about him, that I always would, no matter how angry I was. He was basically all I had, besides Rose and Jackie, just as we were all he had. Ultimately, he had a better chance of surviving what was to come but the rest of us weren't going to be so lucky. Pulling away, I buried my head in his chest and waited for our death.

Hello all! Wow, it's been a bit of time since I last updated. No excuses here, I've just been incredibly lazy. I have the time, especially considering I go to sleep at 6 in the morning but eh, I'm going to try to keep to my Tuesday/Thursday schedule.

So, after extensive editing (originally, Cerys was supposed to be extremely indifferent after the whole Rinette fiasco), I have a new chapter. While I am way ahead in writing, I haven't rewatched the chapters or added some things in. A LOT of Martha has been highlighted as points of editing.

I'm never truly happy with my work but I love that people are enjoying it. I honestly don't even have a schedule for updating anymore. It was seriously fucked when I went to Miami... and I'm still there until the 19th. But anywho, thanks to everyone to reads and reviews the story. I appreciate it more than words could describe.

yellowroseofthenw: The agony is right and this isn't even the end of it. The angst will continue for as long as Cerys is with the Doctor :) So glad you're enjoying the story.

I'm a Witch So Deal With It: Love the UN. Definitely understand how you feel about Cerys. She definitely has her weak points but there are also wonderful qualities to her. Either way, you're in for a bit of a ride when it comes to her. :)

idonothaveagentleheart1105: Ten snogs everyone! It irked me so much and I felt so bad for Cerys as I wrote it but, story progression. Their relationship is meant to be no where near easy. Rose is definitely the mother hen when it comes to Cerys and it is all for good reason. But I agree, free slaps for all *cue the evil laughter*

NicoleR85: Always have to torture the men. They won't learn otherwise. I hadn't thought of doing a Doctor's POV thing. Honestly, I don't think I would due to the fact I am terrified of muck it up. But I will have the letter be brought up in the future. I might have a certain heroine come across it in his room *hint hint*

I'm-a-Klaus-addict: Well if it were that easy, there'd barely be a story to write. I want them to get together and they might soon but it's going to take a lot more of Cerys being stubborn. As for Rinette, I needed her to apologise to Cerys. Well... more of a part of me thought that was something the woman would do. Rinette was a brilliant woman and with her entering the Doctor's memories and seeing a certain person, it was also meant to show her that she had no chance with him. And of course it would be Cerys to jump through. She has so little value to her life and self-worth that it made sense, as horrid as it you had a good day though. Partied it up and all :)

ABC: Thanks. The dreams will continue to pop up as the story progresses. They are a major part to the mystery.

Guest: Well, your wish has been granted.

Lorelei Tatsuye Marivaine: I honestly think the same thing when it's just Captain Jack. Normally I use their last names in my speech.

Pyra Sanada: So glad you're enjoying it. Have yourself an update :)

: Hope you enjoyed this chapter.