Terry trotted beside the Doctor as he searched outside the Tardis for their missing companions. For once, they hadn't strayed far and he quickly spotted Rose and Micky arguing by a bench not far from the Tardis.

"Oh dear, what're they fighting about this time?" The Doctor sighed. Terry shook her head.

"Let's go find out."

Together, they moved closer to the arguing pair, who went quiet when the Doctor called out to them.

"There you are!"

Terry observed silently as Rose turned away from Mickey, the blonde's lips folded with irritation. Mickey was looking frustrated but he stayed quiet as the Doctor and Terry joined them. Looking between the pair, the Doctor raised a brow before he decided to start by sharing his new discovery.

"Here!" He showed the other two the small power cell, which continued to glow a soft green. "I fixed it. Twenty four hours, then we're flying back to reality."

Rose didn't even look at the power cell, instead fiddling with her mobile nervously. The Doctor noticed the motion instantly and his smile dropped, as did his tone.

"What is it?"

Rose tensed at the Doctor's tone, but Terry prodded more gently, "Rose?"

Rose glanced up at the Time Lady before her eyes dropped back down to her mobile and she finally admitted, "My phone connected. There's this Cybus Network. It finds your phone."

Mickey had folded his arms by this point, his expression still one of an unhappy frown as Rose continued quietly, "It gave me Internet access."

"Rose, whatever it says, this is the wrong world." The Doctor warned, but Rose blurted out quickly, "I don't exist."

Terry tensed while the Doctor asked slowly, "What do you mean?"

"There's no Rose Tyler." Rose explained, not looking at the Doctor as she continued to play with her phone. "I was never born. There's Pete, my dad, and Jackie. He still married mum but they never had kids."

"Give me that phone." The Doctor gestured for Rose to hand over her mobile but she backed away from him.

"They're rich." Rose argued, her tone getting heated now as she stared at the Doctor with a mix of frustration and pleading. "They've got a house and cars, and everything they want. But they haven't got me. I've got to see him."

"You can't." The Doctor snapped, advancing on Rose sternly.

"I just want to see him!" Rose protested.

"Oh, like you just wanted to see him in the past?" The Doctor asked scathingly, clearly referring to the time Rose had gone and saved her dad in her past, creating a paradox and damaging the timeline. Rose bristled at the reminder.

"This isn't the same thing! I don't exist here!" Rose shouted back.

"You can't become their daughter, that's not the way it works!" The Doctor shot back.

Terry grimaced as she watched her friends argue. She had forgotten how this Doctor and Rose tended to fight. And she really didn't appreciate the reminder.

"Okay, timeout!" Terry finally interrupted as Rose looked seconds away from potentially slapping the Doctor, who looked like he wanted to shake Rose to knock some sense into her.

Terry firmly pushed the Doctor back with a hand to his chest but kept her eyes on Rose.

"Rose, you know that we care about you. So you know I say this with love: I know you miss your dad and you would love to get the chance to have him back, but the Pete in this world isn't your father and Jackie isn't your mother. What are you going to say to them if you do meet them? That you're from a parallel universe and you're their daughter? Do you think they'd even believe you?"

Rose frowned and turned her head, trying not to listen as Terry continued.

"There could be any number of reasons you don't exist: maybe they never wanted kids. Maybe they hate the idea of a child. Maybe they even aborted."

"My parents wouldn't." Rose protested and Terry nodded.

"Your parents wouldn't, Rose. But this Pete and Jackie might." She answered calmly. "Because they aren't your parents even if they look like your mum and dad. So."

Terry made Rose look at her in the eye as she asked brusquely, "Knowing all this, do you still want to go see them?"

Rose stared back at Terry while the Doctor watched them silently. He was still obviously cross with Rose but he was calmer now too as he listened and saw Rose also coming down from her emotional state. Rose mulled over Terry's words, letting them sink in properly for the first time since she'd seen her father's poster. But, even then, she knew her answer.

"I just want to see him." Rose whispered.

The Doctor exhaled sharply, but Terry just nodded.

"Okay." The Time Lady squeezed Rose's shoulder before letting go and stepping back. "Then we'll go see him."

"Angel-"

The Doctor started to protest but Terry said firmly, "We have twenty-four hours. And Rose is old enough to make her own choices, Doctor."

The Doctor grumbled but finally gave in. "Oh, all right."

"Right, now, Mickey-" Terry started, turning around before she realized Mickey was gone. "Mickey?"

"Oh, now where has he gotten off to?" The Doctor groaned but Terry knew the answer. So did Rose.

"His gran." Rose murmured, looking to the two Time Lords. "His gran died in our time, but… do you think she could be alive?"

"He can't go see her-" The Doctor sighed but Terry took his hand. He glanced at her curiously.

"We'll go find him in a few hours. But maybe he needs the time apart too." She suggested. The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her while Terry gestured for Rose to take the lead to find Jackie and Pete.

"You're being oddly supportive of their plans to potentially rupture reality." The Doctor said suspiciously in her head. "What are you planning, angel?"

"I'm not planning anything, Theta." Terry answered softly as she watched Rose almost bounce in her excitement to find Pete. "But you can't blame them for wanting a glimpse of what they lost. You can't say you wouldn't be tempted if you could have the chance for one day back on Gallifrey."

That, the Doctor had no arguments to.

"Besides..." Terry added grimly as they walked out onto a street filled with people and traffic blocking the roads. "All things happen for a reason."

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked, puzzled.

"Spoilers… but a hint will appear before you know it." Terry replied.

The Doctor glanced at her questioningly, but he got his answer the next second. Rose flinched a little in shock as everyone around them - civilians, police officers, all the cars - stopped dead when a beeping sound echoed throughout the city. The Doctor and Terry stopped too, and the trio all looked around at the still crowd in shock.

"What are they all doing?" Rose wondered.

"They've stopped." The Doctor pointed out unnecessarily as he slowly wandered between the still people.

Terry and Rose followed as the Doctor looked around before he stopped beside a man and examined the earpods she was wearing, like everyone else. The pods were all flashing when they weren't before.

"It's the earpieces." The Doctor realized, glancing back at Terry. "Like Bluetooth attachments, but everyone's connected together."

Rose pulled out her beeping mobile and she called to her friends, "It's on my phone. It's automatic, look."

She showed the two Time Lords her mobile and the Doctor pulled out his glasses to take a closer look.

"It's downloading. Is this what they're all getting? News, international news, sports, weather."

"They get it direct." The Doctor murmured as he looked from Rose's phone to the people around them and the flashing earpods. "Downloaded right into their heads."

He saw Terry staring at him.

"What?" He asked.

Terry shook her head; now really wasn't the time to tell him how good he looked in glasses. In fact, it wasn't the time to be mooning over him in glasses… although that ship had apparently already sailed.

"Nothing." Terry said aloud.

The Doctor eyed her skeptically, clearly not believing her. Terry wished her hearts would stop skipping when he peered at her through his glasses (huh, glasses fetish? That's new. She wondered to herself) but thankfully Rose hadn't noticed and was still talking.

"TV schedules, lottery numbers."

"Everyone shares the same information." The Doctor explained absently as he continued to eye Terry but slowly returned his attention to Rose's phone. "A daily download published by Cybus Industries."

The next download popped up at that moment: Joke. Everyone around them suddenly laughed at the same time, and Terry wrinkled her nose.

"Okay, that's creepy." She muttered. It was one thing to see it on a tellie, where it was funny more than anything else, but seeing it in person was almost chilling.

Terry watched as everyone around them unfroze and continued on their way, acting like they hadn't been completely frozen for a couple minutes in their lives. Rose also stared at the moving crowd while the Doctor sighed.

"You lot, you're obsessed." He complained even as he took Rose's mobile so he could scroll through it. "You'd do anything for the latest upgrade."

"Oi, not my lot." Rose corrected in annoyance. "Different world, remember?"

"It's not so far off your world." The Doctor scoffed. "This place is only parallel. Oh, look at that."

The Doctor showed Rose and Terry what he'd found on Rose's phone.

"Cybus Industries, owners of just about every company in Britain, including Vitex. Mr. Pete Tyler's very well connected."

The Doctor looked up to see Rose grinning at him triumphantly. He made a face.

"Oh, okay. I give up. Let's go and see him." He grumbled. Rose beamed, punching the air now that she had the Doctor onboard too, before she skipped away. The Doctor meanwhile turned to Terry suddenly, startling her.

"All right, now, really, what is it?" He asked impatiently. "You've been staring at my face for the last five minutes."

"Nothing." Terry said quickly.

"Angel." The Doctor spoke sternly in her head and Terry stuck out her tongue unhappily.

"Oh, all right, fine!" Terry grumbled before continuing telepathically so Rose wouldn't hear her embarrassing confession. "Your glasses suit you far too well."

The Doctor pulled up short.

"Really?" He asked, sounding far too pleased with himself, and Terry made another face.

"Don't let it get to your head." She grumbled.

"Oh, I don't know about that." The Doctor chuckled as he threw an arm around Terry's shoulders as they strolled down the street behind Rose. "A beautiful, clever woman such as yourself tells a man he looks good in glasses, it'd be hard for it not to go to his head."

Terry groaned. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything."

The trio crouched down amongst the hedges and trees at the edge of the Tyler's house front. By this point, the sun had set, blanketing the world in darkness and helping them remain hidden as yet another stretch limo drove past them and up the front driveway.

"They've got visitors." The Doctor commented.

"No! I thought they just had a lot of roommates who always dressed up." Terry joked.

The Doctor winked at her while Rose realized, "February the first. Mum's birthday. Even in a parallel universe, she still loves a party."

"Well, given Pete Tyler's guest list, I wouldn't mind a look." The Doctor mused, reaching into his coat pocket. "And there is one guaranteed way of getting inside."

He held up the familiar blank ID book and Rose grinned.

"Psychic paper." She beamed and the Doctor smirked at his two companions.

"Who do you want to be?"

Terry was fighting down her laughter as she followed a petulant Rose, carrying a serving tray of canapes, while the Doctor trailed behind her carrying a tray of champagne. The trio fitted right in with the serving staff as Rose and Terry wandered around in their black short dresses and white aprons while the Doctor strode about in a debonair suit complete with black bowtie. Terry had to admit… the bowtie might have made her a bit weak-kneed. It had taken a lot of self-restraint to keep her face straight and to not snog her future husband. Really, how the future Doctor had ever managed to keep his hands to himself around younger her was becoming a mystery to Terry.

Reaching the less busy entrance hall, Rose hissed at the Doctor out of the corner of her mouth, "We could have been anyone."

"Got us in, didn't it?" The Doctor kept up his smile as he offered champagne to the guests, who took the drink eagerly.

"You're in charge of the psychic paper." Rose complained under her breath while she and Terry smiled politely as guests paused just long enough to grab canapes before moving on without a second glance at the wait-staff. "We could've been guests. Celebrities. Sir Doctor, Dames Rose and Terry. We end up serving. Did enough of this back home."

"If you want to know what's going on, work in the kitchens." The Doctor answered before he nodded to a man who was talking animatedly to a small crowd of guests.

"According to Lucy, that man over there-"

"Who's Lucy?" Rose interrupted blankly.

"She's carrying the salmon pinwheels." The Doctor nodded to a pretty, smiling server across the room.

"Oh, that's Lucy, is it?" Rose asked scathingly.

Terry hid a grin as the Doctor, ever oblivious, continued, "Yeah. Lucy says, that is the President of Great Britain."

He nodded once again to the dark-skinned man he'd gestured at before. Rose frowned.

"What, there's a President, not a Prime Minister?"

"Seems so." The Doctor shrugged and Rose scoffed.

"Or maybe Lucy's just a bit thick." She muttered. The Doctor glanced at Rose questioningly while Terry tilted her head at the blonde curiously.

"You jealous?" Terry asked quietly so the Doctor couldn't hear her.

"No. But why aren't you?" Rose demanded just as softly, still glaring daggers at the Doctor who didn't notice as he served more champagne. Terry laughed.

"You don't need to worry about avenging me, Rose." Terry chuckled and the blonde companion looked at her curiously. "Besides, the Doctor doesn't know about Troy yet."

"Who's Troy?" Rose asked, just as the Doctor returned his attention to the young women. Terry nodded her head and both Rose and the Doctor looked over to see a handsome, blond young man serving up champagne and earning several appreciative glances from the female guests. As well as a few male guests.

"That's Troy?" Rose asked, in a very different tone from when she'd asked about Lucy earlier.

"Yep. And according to him, Pete is thick as thieves with Mr. Lumic, who owns Cybus Industries." Terry explained. Rose was still staring at the handsome man, but the Doctor frowned at Terry.

"When'd you get a chance to talk to him?" He asked. Terry smirked.

"You weren't the only one busy flirting while you were getting ready, Doctor." She answered.

The Doctor's jaw dropped but it was at that moment that Pete called for everyone's attention from the staircase at the front of the entrance hall.

"Excuse me! Thank you very much. Thank you if I could just have your attention, please?"

Rose instantly tore her eyes away from Troy, and moved quickly to get a better spot where she could have an unobstructed view of Pete as he addressed his guests.

"Um, I'd just like to say thank you to you all, for coming on this, this very special occasion. My wife's… thirty ninth."

Most of the guests chuckled and a man called out, "Don't believe that one."

The Doctor didn't get the joke but Terry smiled too while Pete grinned and winked as he held up his thumb.

"Trust me on this."

More laughter, and Pete nodded up the stairs.

"And so, without any further ado, here she is, the birthday girl. My lovely wife, Jackie Tyler."

The crowd clapped while the Doctor and Terry glanced at Rose, who was now staring wide-eyed and slightly slack-jawed as a woman who looked exactly like the Jackie they knew strolled down the stairs in an expensive black dress.

"Rose..." Terry murmured warningly as Rose took a half-step forward. Rose stopped but she couldn't stop staring as Jackie came to a halt beside her husband.

"Now, I'm not giving a speech." Jackie called. "That's what my parties are famous for. No work, no politics, just a few good mates and plenty of black market whisky."

There was a lot of laughter while Jackie added cheekily, "Pardon me, Mr. President."

The President just smiled good-naturedly and Jackie waved her hands.

"So, yeah, get on with it. Enjoy, enjoy."

She and Pete smiled at each other before walking down the rest of the stairs together amidst camera flashes and general murmurs of enthusiasm. But the Doctor and Terry's attention was on the blonde next to them as Rose couldn't take her eyes off the two people who looked like her parents even as they walked right past her.

"You can't stay." The Doctor repeated in a low voice. "Even if there was some way of telling them."

"Course I can't." Rose agreed, sounding like she was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince them. "I've still got Mum at home. My real mum. I couldn't just leave her, could I. It's just… they've got each other. Mum's got no one."

"She's got you." Terry reminded her friend.

"Angel's right. She's got you, those two haven't. All these different worlds, not one of them gets it right." The Doctor murmured, speaking the last sentence almost to himself.

"Rose!"

The three jumped, Terry also reacting despite herself, as Jackie called out lovingly from somewhere behind them. They looked around wildly before their eyes landed on the small dog running toward Jackie.

"There's my little girl! Come to mummy, come to mummy!"

Rose's jaw dropped while Jackie scooped up the dog affectionately.

"Yes, good girl! Good girl, aren't you?"

The Doctor burst out laughing despite himself. Rose stared at him, her eyes shining with confusion and hurt, while Terry elbowed him - hard - in the side.

"Ow." The Doctor hissed before he noticed Rose's expression. He quickly rearranged his expression to one of contrite apology. "Sorry."

Rose just shook her head before striding away. Terry stared up at the Doctor, unimpressed.

"Well done." She muttered and the Doctor grimaced.

"Well, you have to admit, it was a little funny." He tried but Terry shot him a stern glare.

"No, it wasn't." Terry was pretty sure she wasn't going to ever forget the crushed look that had crossed Rose's expression when she saw 'her mother' calling for her dog with such love.

"Okay, I said I was sorry." The Doctor sighed. Terry shook her head.

"You really can be such a child sometimes." She sighed. The Doctor perked up, sensing she was already forgiving him.

"And you know you love it?" He asked, sounding for a moment so much like Eleven that Terry had to shake her head.

"And to think you're supposed to be the more mature one." She mumbled. Which was ironic enough already considering the Eleventh Doctor was so much older than this Doctor.

The Doctor didn't quite understand but he did sense Terry's irritation had passed. He smiled winningly at her before glancing around and gesturing minutely to an uncrowded hallway.

"Let's go see if we can dig up anything about Cybus Industries, maybe in Pete's office." He suggested as he took Terry's hand.

Abandoning their serving trays, they slipped unnoticed into the empty hallway.

"So, any idea where we might start?" The Doctor asked knowingly. "You know this one, don't you?"

"I do." Terry admitted freely. "And I think that might be a good place to start."

She gestured to an empty room they were just passing. The door was open just a crack, enough for them to see a laptop sitting on the desk inside. The Doctor grinned at Terry before they snuck into the room. Terry closed the door carefully behind them while the Doctor soniced the laptop.

"All right, darling, talk to me..." The Doctor muttered, whipping on his glasses.

"Should I leave, give you two some privacy?" Terry asked with an amused smirk. The Doctor smirked back at her.

"Oh, I don't know… I think it's not as impressed by my glasses." He answered and Terry pulled a face.

"You're not going to let that one go." She sighed and he chuckled.

"Not a chance." He admitted just as the computer beeped. The Doctor looked back down and the smile disappeared as he watched a video of Lumic presenting his latest idea.

"The most precious thing on this Earth is the human brain…"

As the Doctor's focus turned fully to what Lumic was saying, Terry's thoughts wandered to Jackie, who would be attacked and lost tonight. But she couldn't save her. The Pete of this world had to lose his Jackie. It was the only guaranteed way he would turn on Lumic and further prompt him to work harder with Torchwood… and eventually, he'd make his way into Rose's Jackie's arms. Terry sighed to herself. Knowing she definitely couldn't save someone (two someones, because there was also Rickey who had to die tonight for Mickey to take his place in this world) was definitely not a pill she had looked forward to swallowing again.

"This is the ultimate upgrade." Lumic said from the laptop, breaking Terry from her thoughts. "Our greatest step into cyberspace."

"Cybers." The Doctor breathed in horrified realization, his head shooting up and he looked to Terry for confirmation.

But Terry was staring out the window as she heard marching feet and the Doctor turned to look as well just in time to see dark shadows marching toward the house. Dark shadows with square antennae.