A/N: Get ready for a new chapter! This one takes place during the part two-episode The Age of Steel.
I do not own Doctor Who. All I own is this story and my OC.
Please review and no flaming will be tolerated. Thank you :)
SOMETHING WORTH FIGHTING FOR
"Now the dark begins to rise. Save your breath, it's far from over. Leave the lost and dead behind. Now's your chance to run for cover."
– Breaking Benjamin: 'I Will Not Bow' (Dear Agony [2009]).
Outside the Tyler Mansion
They were surrounded by advancing Cybermen, ready to 'delete' them all for being inferior stock. At least, it seemed like they were all screwed, were it not for the Doctor pulling the recharging TARDIS power cell from his tuxedo pocket and pointing it at the Cybermen. Immediately, the dangerous group of metal humanoids bend backwards before being atomised by the golden energy. Everyone stares at the power cell in the Doctor's hands with both amazement and astonishment.
"What the hell was that?" Ricky demands, but the Doctor ignores him in favour of answering the atomised Cyberman's statement instead.
"We'll have that instead," He then turns and looks grimly at the others as he takes Katy's hand firmly in his. "Run!" He suggests, just before the Preachers' white van speeds up towards them, with Missus Moore leaning on the van's horn to signal to them.
"Everybody, in!" She shouts, and everybody except for Pete and Rose, who both hesitate momentarily to look back at the partially destroyed mansion. The Doctor hastily gets back out of the van to corral Pete and Rose inside.
"I've got to go back. My wife's in there!" He states, but the Doctor grabs onto his arm to steer him in the right direction.
"Anybody inside that house is dead," He tells Pete, regretfully. "If you want to help, then don't let her die for nothing. You've got to come with us right now."
"Come on! Get a move on!" Missus Moore was getting impatient, and Katy sticks her head outside the van door to hasten them along.
"We've gotta go! Come on!" She insists, and Pete frowns at her and gets in. But Rose still seems to hesitate still. The Doctor is getting frustrated.
"Rose, she is not your mother," He reminds her impatiently, but as gently as he could underneath the circumstances. Rose finally nods and turns for the van.
"I know," She gets inside followed by the Doctor.
"Finished chatting?" Missus Moore snaps, almost incredulously. "I've never seen a slower getaway in my life!" She puts the van into gear and floors it to get out of the property, just as more legions of Cybermen suddenly appear, stomping their way through.
The Preachers' Van
Ricky was still fixated upon the strange glowing green item clutched tightly in the strange brown haired man's hand, that had saved all of their necks in the nick of time.
"What was that thing?" He insisted, and the Doctor distractedly answers his question this time.
"Little bit of technology from my home," He replied, deliberately vague. Mickey was looking a bit worried.
"It's stopped glowing," he points out. "Has it run out?"
"It's on a revitalising loop," the Doctor reassures him with a tight smile. "It'll charge back up in about four hours."
"Right. So we don't have a weapon anymore," Ricky scowled in annoyance, earning a scowl from Katy for his negative attitude.
"I wouldn't exactly call that a 'weapon'," She retorted, indicating to the TARDIS's power cell, but both boys ignored her in favour of taking stock of what weapons they did have on hand to help take on the rapidly and disturbingly growing legion of cybermen.
"We've got weapons," Jake insists. "Might not be one of those metal things, but they're good enough for men like him." He indicates to Pete, who immediately looks defensive.
"Leave him alone. What's he done wrong?" Rose retorts in Pete's defence.
"Oh, you know, just laid a trap that's wiped out the Government and left Lumic in charge," Jake answers scathingly.
"If I was part of all that, do you think I'd leave my wife inside?" Pete questioned.
"Maybe your plan went wrong," Ricky theorised. "Still gives us the right to execute you, though."
"Talk about executions, and you'll make me your enemy," the Doctor warns sternly. "And take some really good advice. You don't want to do that."
"All the same," Ricky glowers at the Doctor. "We have evidence that says Pete Tyler's been working for Lumic since twenty point five." Both Rose and Katy turn and look at Pete with surprise.
"Is that true?" Katy asked.
"Tell them, Missus M." Ricky requested, shouting up to the front of the van where Missus Moore was still driving.
"We've got a government mole who feeds us information," she explains. "Lumic's private files, his South American operations, the lot. Secret broadcasts twice a week."
"Broadcast from Gemini?" Pete suddenly asks, earning suspicious looks from Jake and Ricky.
"And how do you know that?" Ricky narrows his eyes, as Pete rolls his own.
"I'm Gemini," He reveals. "That's me." The Preachers were momentarily silenced at that, before Ricky clears his throat, clearly trying to defuse the awkward tension that had suddenly developed in the van.
"Yeah, well you would say that."
"Encrypted wavelength six five seven using binary nine," Pete rattles off confidently, obviously intending on exonerating himself; but also making a point to these amateurs of not pointing fingers at people before getting ALL the information beforehand. "That's the only reason I was working for Lumic. To get information," He laughs exasperatedly. "I thought I was broadcasting to the Security Services. What do I get? Scooby Doo and his gang." He gestures flippantly at his surroundings. "They've even got the van," He added sarcastically.
Mickey waded in, trying to act the peacemaker.
"No, no, no. But the Preachers know what they're doing," He stated. "Ricky said he's London's Most Wanted."
Suddenly, said boy flushed in embarrassment.
"Yeah, that's not exactly…"
"Not exactly what?" Mickey pressed, frowning. Ricky groaned in annoyance.
"I'm London's Most Wanted for… parking tickets," He reluctantly admitted, and Katy looked at him, unimpressed.
"Seriously?"
"Great," Pete agreed with her. Ricky looked at them a bit defensively.
"Yeah, they were deliberate. I was fighting the system," He explained. "Park anywhere, that's me."
"Good policy," the Doctor nodded looking amused. "I do much the same," he admitted. "I'm the Doctor, by the way, if anyone's interested."
"Katy," the grumpy looking brunette piped up, earning concerned looks from the Doctor and Pete as a result.
"And I'm Rose," the blonde waved, looking at them all awkwardly. "Hello."
"Even better. That's the name of my dog," Pete sneers sarcastically. "Still, at least I've got my niece and the catering staff on my side." He shrugged, looking at Katy with obvious relief and confusion.
"Oh, I'm not—" Katy attempted to explain her presence there, ignoring the jealous scowls from Rose who immediately interrupted to take Pete's focus off her.
"I knew you weren't a traitor," Rose reassures Pete, who looks at her strangely.
"Don't mind me. I was just talking before," Katy mutters underneath her breath in annoyance as she returns the scowl at her sister and relaxes a little when the Doctor takes her hand and squeezes it in both reassurance and warning as Pete responds to Rose.
"Why is that, then?"
"I just did," Rose responded lamely, and Katy quietly snorts with sardonic laughter earning an eyeroll from her boyfriend and Mickey. Sometimes both sisters were as bad as each other.
"They took my wife," Pete points out, looking very worried.
"She might still be alive," Katy pointed out.
"That's even worse, love," Pete tells her with a small smile on his face, that told her that he appreciated the optimism but it didn't help. "Because that's what Lumic does. He takes the living and he turns them into those machines."
"Cybermen," the Doctor corrects him. "They're called Cybermen. And I'd take those ear pods off if I were you." Pete immediately reaches up and pulls his ear pods out and hands them to the Doctor. "You never know; Lumic could be listening." He pulls out his sonic screwdriver and zaps the ear pods with it, rendering them useless. "But he's overreached himself. He's still just a businessman," The Doctor stated, referencing Lumic. "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." He vowed, in determination.
Control Room
Lumic gazed upon the fruits of his 'labour' standing in front of him emotionlessly, waiting for their next orders. He wheels himself over to them.
"My everlasting children," He greets them, sounding almost proud. "Tell me, how does it feel?" He asked eagerly.
"We feel nothing," One of the Cybermen responded, dully.
"But in your mind, what do you think?" Lumic changed his question a little.
"We think the same. We are uniform."
"But you think of what?" Lumic asked, sounding puzzled.
"We think of the humans," the lead Cyberman replied. "We think of their difference and their pain. They suffer in the skin. They must be upgraded." Lumic offered a triumphant smirk.
"Excellent," He said. "Then let's begin." Lumic turns towards his large computer. "Computer, identify John Lumic."
"Voice print acknowledged," A computerised voice responds.
"Activate ear pod primary sequence." Lumic orders.
"Please state area of activation," The computerised voice requested.
"The City of London," Lumic stated. "I've just declared independence. Begin transmission!"
In a pedestrianised area, a Cybus download signal sounds causing everyone to stop moving. Back in the Tyler's Mansion, Jackie, who was hiding in the cellar from the group of Cybermen who had invaded the birthday party earlier, receives the signal also. She opens the door to the cupboard she was hiding in and walks robotically in a trance-like state past the Cybermen and out of the cellar.
"You will come to me, my dear children. The Immortal Ones," Lumic beseeches. Elsewhere on TV monitors throughout the city, a reporter gives out a breaking news report to all those who were unaffected by the Cybus Industries' ear pods.
"All of London has been sealed off," He reported disturbed and fearful. "There are reports of an army. An army of metal men. All citizens should remove their ear pods. I repeat, remove all ear pods. London has been placed under martial law," He warns, urgently. "If you are hearing this, stay in your homes. I repeat, stay in your homes!"
Outside the Battersea Power Station
Crane, who had been listening in to the news report, manages to rip off his ear pods just as they started to activate and change him into one of the motionless, trance-like victims of Lumic's Immortality scheme.
"Oh no, you don't!" He spat in disgust.
Street
The Preachers', the Doctor, Katy, Rose, Mickey, and Pete all observe in horror and confusion when nearly everyone around them start walking by them like zombies.
"What the hell?" Jake blurted out what they were all pretty much thinking at the same time.
"What's going on?" Katy questioned, as she stepped out of the way of a motionless person. The Doctor looked down at Pete's deactivated ear pods still in his hands in grim realisation.
"It's the ear pods," He said. "Lumic's taken control."
"Can't we just, I don't know, take them off?" Rose asked, stepping towards a nearby person and reaching up to take out their ear pods.
"Don't!" the Doctor reaches out and grabs Rose's wrist before she could do so. "Cause a brainstorm," he explains, frowning with pity and disgust. "Human race. For such an intelligent lot, you aren't half susceptible." He states, as Katy comes over to stand with him and Rose, looking also grim. "Give anyone a chance to take control and you submit. Sometimes I think you like it. Easy life."
"In this case, Doctor, I think you might be spot on, as much as I hate to admit it," Katy agreed looking disappointed.
"Hey!" They all look over to see Jake standing at a corner of a building at something. "Come and see." Everyone goes over to him and cautiously look round to see what he had discovered and find more ear pod-controlled people; this lot walking with a squad of Cybermen.
"Where are they all going?" Rose wondered out loud.
"I don't know," the Doctor replied. "Lumic must have a base of operations."
"Battersea," Pete piped up, coming to stand between the Doctor and Katy. "That's where he was building his prototypes."
"Why is he doing it?" Katy asked.
"He's dying," Pete explained. "This all started as a way of prolonging life, of keeping the brain alive at any cost." Then something suddenly occurs to Katy, and she grabs the Doctor's shoulder in her excitement.
"But we've seen Cybermen before, haven't we?" She tells Rose and the Doctor, the former frowning at her incomprehensively. "The head, remember? Those handle shapes back in Van Statten's museum." Rose's eyes widened in remembrance, while the Doctor nodded in acknowledgement.
"Ah, there are Cybermen in our universe. They started on an ordinary world just like this, then swarmed across the galaxy," He explained, solemnly. "This lot are a parallel version, and they're starting from scratch right here on Earth."
"What the hell are you three on about?" Pete demanded, although he was mostly directing this question towards Katy, whom he still believed to be his niece. However, before anyone could answer him, Ricky interrupts.
"Never mind that," He snaps. "Come on, we need to get out of the city." He then turns towards the group to formulate his plan. "Okay, split up. Missus Moore, you look after that bloke," Ricky indicates towards the Doctor, which in turn also meant Katy, Rose, and Pete too. "Jake, distract them. Go right, I'll go left. We'll meet back at Bridge Street," Ricky stated. "Move!" He and Jake scatter as Mickey turns towards Katy, Rose, and the Doctor with a resolved look on his face.
"I'm going with him," Mickey indicates to his doppelganger, before kissing Rose and hugging Katy, and turning to run after Ricky. Rose and Katy watching him go with worried looks on their faces.
"Come on, let's go!" Missus Moore hastens them as they have to duck and hide from some more Cybermen patrols. The Doctor scans about for a safer route.
"There!" He indicates towards a nearby side street, and the five of them head towards it.
Industrial unit
Ricky and Mickey make their way down side streets, trying to keep low and as out of sight as possible from any Cybermen that may be lurking nearby. Mickey looked about nervously, while Ricky maintained a calm, confident demeanour. A huge contrast between the doppelgangers.
"Which way? I don't know where we are," Mickey questioned, looking about for something that looked even remotely familiar about the place.
Ricky frowned.
"Did they see us?"
"Do they know where we are?" Mickey countered.
"I think they saw us," Ricky realised, much to his annoyance. "I bet they can see in the dark."
"I bet they've got satellites." Mickey theorised.
"I bet they saw us in the dark," Ricky insisted.
"They know where we are," they both said in unison, before Ricky observed Mickey curiously and with mild suspicion.
"I don't get it. What is it with you? You are exactly like me," Ricky stated, slightly disturbed.
"I don't know," Mickey shrugged. "I reckon you're braver."
"Oh yeah, ten times." Ricky agreed with him. "Still, your friends aren't bad, I'll give you that."
"Oh, that's the Doctor, Katy, and Rose," Mickey brightened at the thought of his friends. "I just tag along behind."
"Well, then, you're not that bad." Ricky admitted with a nonchalant shrug.
"Do you think?"
"Yeah, I suppose," Ricky confirmed. They both freeze when they hear the sound of heavy Cybermen feet clomping along the road behind them. Both boys swear underneath their breath.
"Cybermen!" Mickey panicked.
"Split up!" They said again in unison, before doing just what they said.
Alley
A group of Cybermen march down an alley nearby where Missus Moore, Pete, Rose, Katy, and the Doctor were crouched down behind some rubbish bins, observing them. It was a tense moment; and Rose grabs Pete's hand, while the Doctor wraps an arm around Katy's shoulders and pulls her in closer for extra protection. Pete glances at both Rose and the Doctor with a perplexed look on his face because of what they were doing, and Katy catches his eye and offers him a reassuring smile before focusing on the situation at hand. Some of the Cybermen get dangerously close to their hiding spot, so the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to transmat a signal, which causes the Cybermen to bypass the hiding spot and march on.
"Go!" the Doctor gives them the signal when the coast was clear, and they quickly move on.
Industrial unit
Mickey and Ricky are fleeing for their lives, while a group of Cybermen are closing in fast behind them. Both of them spot a tall chain-link fence and sprint towards it to climb up desperately. Mickey makes it there first and is up and over quickly, while Ricky was just about seconds behind him.
"Come on! Come on! Come on!" Mickey urges Ricky anxiously as he starts to climb the fence. However, just as he is about to straddle it and complete the climb down, a Cyberman grabs Ricky's ankle and electrocutes him. "NO!"
Ricky's lifeless body falls from the fence and lands in a heap at the Cybermen's feet. A tearful Mickey and the Cybermen stare at each other in silence before Mickey reluctantly turns and runs.
Control room
A group of Cybermen 'escort' a seemingly willing Crane into the control room, where Lumic eyes him with condemnation and disappointment.
"This one is unprogrammed," one of the Cybermen explain to Lumic. The wheelchair bound businessman scowls at Crane.
"Mister Crane, I thought you were one of the faithfuls."
"Oh, that I am, sir," Crane smiles falsely at Lumic. "My ear pod must've malfunctioned. For which I apologise. If I, er, might? I'd like to request an upgrade, sir. I've seen the future, and its copyright Cyber Industries." He steps towards Lumic with his hands behind his back, looking for all intents and purposes, submissive. "Sign me up."
"A willing volunteer," Lumic raises an eyebrow at Crane, looking somewhat skeptically.
"You've known me a long time, sir. Quite a team, you, and me. I've been with you all the way," Crane takes another step towards Lumic, who eyes him warily. "But believe me, sir, knowing you so well, I know exactly what to do." Without warning, Crane grabs Lumic's oxygen line then starts wrecking the life support system at the back of his wheelchair.
"No! Help me!" Lumic panics, as a Cyberman casually steps forward, grabs Crane, then tosses him across the room. Unfazed, Crane gets to his feet and glares with disgust at Lumic.
"Die, you!" He snarls, before being promptly electrocuted by the Cyberman who had saved Lumic. Lumic is letting out wheezing, painful sounding breaths and is rapidly turning a ghastly shade of grey.
"Help me!" Lumic wheezes.
"You are in pain," one of the Cybermen points out. "We can remove pain forever."
"No, not yet!" Lumic's eyes widen in fear. "I'm not ready!"
"We will give you immortality," the Cyberman promises.
"I told you. I will upgrade only with my last breath!" Lumic 'growls' as much as he could with his gasping words. The Cybermen approach Lumic's wheelchair.
"Then breathe no more," They take remote control of the wheelchair and wheel a protesting, dying Lumic off to be upgraded.
"No! No! I command you, no!"
Street
Everyone, minus Mickey and Ricky, finally meet up with each other in the street. Jake looked a combination of both impressed and disturbed at what he had apparently seen.
"I ran past the river," he announced, pointing back the way he came. "You should've seen it. The whole city's on the march. Hundreds of Cybermen all down the Thames." Mickey suddenly comes running into view. "Here he is!" Jake grins triumphantly at him, before remembering that there were two versions of the same man he knew. "Which one are you?" He asked.
However, Mickey didn't immediately reply. Finally, it was Katy who cottoned on first when she spotted the unshed tears in his eyes and the anguished, regretful expression on his face that told her exactly what she didn't want to know.
"Oh, no!" Katy muttered, putting a hand over her mouth in her horror, ignoring the questioning looks from both Pete and the Doctor. Mickey immediately attempted to explain the situation to Jake.
"I'm sorry," He stammered. "The Cybermen…. He couldn't…"
"Are you Ricky?" Mickey didn't reply. "Are you Ricky!?" Jake shouted, frantic. Rose stepped forward looking worried and concerned.
"Mickey, that's you, isn't it?" She asked, quietly. Mickey looked away.
"Yeah," He mumbled. Katy gave in to her relief and ran over to him, hugging him tightly. Rose copied; both sisters attempting to comfort a crying Mickey. All three look over at Jake to see the boy looking shellshocked and anguished. "He tried," Mickey attempted to comfort Jake. "He was running. There was too many of them—"
"—Shut it." Jake muttered, angrily.
"There was nothing I could do," Mickey ignored him and continued placatingly.
"I said, just shut it!" Jake shouted at him. "Don't even talk about him. You are nothing, you are. Nothing!"
"HEY!" Katy growled protectively, earning dagger eyes from Jake, despite having done nothing wrong. "That is enough! This is not his fault!" Jake opened his mouth to retort scathingly back at Katy when the Doctor immediately intercepted; his brown eyes sorrowful and full of sympathy, but also held a hint of warning not to try anything stupid when it came to any of his companions.
Especially, Katy.
"We can mourn him when London is safe," the Doctor reassures him, firmly. "But for now, we move on."
Waste ground
Everybody regrouped outside the Battersea Power Station where the entire population of London was being herded, like cattle for slaughter. The Doctor wore a serious, all-business expression on his face as he turned to brief the others on what they could possibly do.
"The whole of London's been sealed off, and the entire population's been taken inside that place. To be converted," the Doctor confirmed.
"We've got to get in there and shut it down," Rose stated.
"And how do we do that?" Katy questioned, looking a little doubtful as she eyes the zombified Londoners walking into the building.
"Oh, I'll think of something," the Doctor confirmed nonchalantly, discreetly taking her hand in his and holding tight to bring them some comfort. Mickey scowls at him accusingly.
"You're just making this up as you go along."
"Yep. But I do it brilliantly," the Doctor responds, with a false cheerfulness. Missus Moore approaches, armed with her Cybus Industries laptop, which she boots up and begins clicking away at the keyboard, pulling up necessary files.
"This is a schematic of the old factory," she explains pointing towards a blueprint soft copy of the Battersea Power Station. "Look! Cooling tunnels underneath the plant. Big enough to walk through."
"We go under there and up into the control centre?" the Doctor confirms, earning a nod from Missus Moore.
"There's another way in," Pete steps up, looking determined. "Through the front door. If they've taken Jackie for upgrading, that's how she'll get in." He pointed out, and Katy couldn't help but smile sadly at him. The odds that Jackie could still be alive were slim to nil, but she gave him points for optimism. Jake frowns at him, mistrustfully.
"We can't just go strolling up," He objected.
"Or we could, with these." Missus Moore pulls out some ear pods from her pocket and holds them out. "Fake ear pods. Dead. No signal." She explains. "But, put them on, the Cybermen would mistake you for one of the crowd."
"Then that's my job," Pete declared, reaching for one pair of ear pods. The Doctor frowned, understandably hesitant to let him go.
"You'd have to show no emotion. None at all," He warned. "Any sign of emotion would give you away."
"How many of those you got?" Rose unexpectedly spoke up. The Doctor, Katy, and Mickey's eyes widened in alarm when they realised the blonde's intentions. Missus Moore frowns at her, uncertainly.
"Just three sets," she responded. Rose nodded and reached for another pair for herself.
"Okay," She said. "If that's the best way of finding Jackie, then I'm coming with you." Rose stated.
"Why does she matter to you?" Pete questioned.
"We haven't got time," Rose easily sidestepped Pete's question as she looked at the Doctor. "Doctor, I'm going with him, and that's that."
"No stopping you, is there?" the Doctor realised, with a grim, disapproving but resigned look on his face. Rose shook her head.
"No." She confirmed. A third hand reached out and grabbed the last pair of ear pods.
"I'll go with them," Katy stated quietly, putting the ear pods on.
"NO!" Pete, Rose, and Mickey whisper-shouted in objection. The Doctor squeezed her shoulder.
"Katy—"
"Who else am I gonna go with?" Katy reasoned. "Besides, someone's gotta keep an eye on Rose." Katy muttered underneath her breath, low enough for only the Doctor to hear.
"No, it's too dangerous!" Pete objected, and Katy scowled at him.
"With all due respect, that's not exactly stopping either of you, is it?" Katy retorted, earning a parental-style glare from Pete, who reluctantly let it go.
"Tell you what," the Doctor piped up. "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 grinned at Jake. "Jakey-boy? Lumic's transmitting the control signal. It must be from over there." He waves his sonic screwdriver in the direction of the power station. The Zeppelin is parked on top, with a circle of red lights blinking on its bow, or stern. "There it is. On the Zeppelin, you see? Great big transmitter. Good thing Lumic likes showing off." A smirk grows on Jake's face. "Reckon you could take it out?"
"Consider it done," Jake replies with a nod, as the Doctor turns towards Missus Moore and with the politeness of a well-brought up gentleman, requested: "Missus Moore, would you care to accompany me into the cooling tunnels?"
"How could I refuse an offer of cooling tunnels?" She replied, smiling at him with mild amusement.
"We attack on three sides: Above, between, below," the Doctor stated. "We get to the control centre; we stop the conversion machines."
"What about me?" Mickey piped up.
"Mickey," the Doctor paused for a moment, thinking about what his third companion could do to help. "You can, er—" Unfortunately, Mickey misinterpreted the Doctor's hesitance.
"What? Stay out of trouble, be the tin dog?" He groused out of annoyance. "No, those days are over. I'm going with Jake." Mickey declared, indicating towards Jake who threw him a dirty look.
"I don't need you, idiot."
"I'm not an idiot!" Mickey shouted, fed up with being put down yet again. "You got that? I'm offering to help." Katy smiles at him, proudly. Jake rolled his eyes, which made Katy want to march right over to him and kick in his teeth.
"Whatever…" Jake folds his arms over his chest and turns away.
The Doctor gave Mickey a look of respect and nodded at him, approvingly. The young man had indeed come a long way from being a mistrustful, jealous, and paranoid person who got on the Doctor's last nerve most days, to a brave young man with self-respect and dignity, and who wasn't afraid to show it.
"Mickey," He called out to him, and Mickey turned to look at him questioningly. "Good luck."
"Yeah. You too," Mickey nodded and smiled at him, before looking over at the Tyler Sisters. "Rose, Katy. I'll see you later." He promises them. Katy walks over and pulls her best friend into a warm hug and kisses his cheek.
"I'll hold you to that," She mutters to him before stepping back to let Rose hug him too. She turns and catches the Doctor's eye. He was looking at her with worry, and she goes over to him to give him some reassurance. "Will you stop fretting? We're gonna get out of this alive, Doctor."
Wordlessly, he pulls her into a hug as well, but also kisses her firmly. Mickey spots this, and manages to keep holding Rose in a hug, to avoid her turning around and copping an eyeful. Pete narrows his eyes in disapproval, but thankfully holds his tongue as both couples pull apart.
"If we survive this, I'll see you back at the TARDIS," the Doctor promises and all three of his companions' nod in agreement.
"That's a promise," Mickey pipes up. He walks off with Jake after giving Katy a final wave goodbye, and spots Rose hugging the Doctor before frowning and stiffly turning away.
Cooling tunnels
The Doctor followed Missus Moore to where she had indicated the cooling tunnels were, and one by one they descended into it. Missus Moore shivered almost immediately.
"It's freezing," she commented.
"Any sign of a light switch?" The Doctor questioned as he started patting down the walls trying to find a switch to illuminate their path a bit clearer. Missus Moore shook her head.
"Can't see a thing," she replied. "But I've got these," she dug around in her bag of equipment and pulled free a torch and a headlamp from within. The Doctor grinned brightly. "A device for every occasion."
"Ooh!" the Doctor grabbed the headlamp and pulled it over his already messy brown mop of hair. "You haven't got a hotdog in there, have you? I'm starving."
"Of all things to wish for," Missus Moore shook her head in amusement. "That's mechanically recovered meat." The Doctor shrugged.
"I know. It's the Cyberman of food, but it's tasty," he reasoned. Missus Moore clicked on the torch. "Let's see where we are," He mused, then jumped back in fright, nearly colliding with Missus Moore, who also cringed away, when they saw Cybermen ranged along both sides of the tunnel. "Already converted, just put on ice." The Doctor realised, with disgust. "Come on." But out of curiosity's sake, he reaches out and taps one of the Cybermen on the face. It makes no reaction. "Let's go slowly," he suggests. "Keep an eye out for trip systems."
Outside Battersea Power Station
As Katy, Rose, and Pete approached the main entrance to the Power Station, they noticed that more people are being escorted in.
"Chamber six now open for human upgrading. Chamber seven now open for human upgrading." A Cyberman's voice announces overhead. The three of them keep out of sight. "Chamber eight now open for human upgrading." Pete slowly reaches up and puts the dummy ear pods into his ears. Katy and Rose follow suit.
"Just put them on. Don't show any emotion. No signs, nothing. Okay?" Pete instructs, and both girls nod stoically.
"Don't worry. We can do it." Rose reassures him, confidently.
"Here's hoping," Katy muttered, still doubtful that this plan was likely to come off without being noticed.
"Chamber seven open for human upgrading."
"We could die in here," Pete reminds both girls, looking more at Katy than Rose as he says this, much to Rose's annoyance.
"Yeah, don't remind me," Katy mutters nervously, earning a look of concern from Pete who places a hand on her shoulder.
"Why are you doing this?" Katy doesn't say anything, much to Pete's frustration.
"Let's just say I'm doing it for my mum and dad," Rose answers vaguely, ignoring the fact that the question had been directed towards Katy rather than her. They all wait for the right moment to move into formation. "Right, let's go." Rose gives the signal.
"Chamber eight now open for human upgrading." Taking a moment to squeeze each other's hands for luck, Katy, Rose, and Pete join the procession; plastering blank expressions on their faces.
"Chamber nine now open for human upgrading. Chamber ten now open for human upgrading. Chamber ten now open for human upgrading. Chamber eleven now open for human upgrading…" The Cyberman announcer drones on and on, turning Katy's stomach into knots with every step she took towards the main entrance of the Power Station.
Power Station roof
Jake and Mickey make it to the Power Station rooftop, with Jake clambering up the ladder first and making it to the top. He pauses, crouching behind some crates for cover when he spots some guards keeping watch near the Zeppelin. Mickey crouches down beside him seconds later.
"Two guards," He indicates to the two goons ahead of them, carrying weapons. "We can take them."
"Don't kill them," Mickey states, earning a frown from Jake.
"Who put you in charge?"
"If you kill them, what's the difference between you and the Cybermen?" Mickey points out, causing Jake to pause for a moment to concede his point. He shrugs after a few minutes and starts rummaging around in his bag of equipment.
"Well, I suppose we could use these," Jake holds up a vial of what looks like…
"Smelling salts?" Mickey looked at both the vial and Jake dubiously. How was something that was supposed to revive you, going to knock you out? Jake smirks at Mickey.
"Bit stronger than that," He explains. "One of Missus Moore's little tricks." He hands a second vial to Mickey who shrugs and palms it in his hand. "Should knock them out." They both wait for the opportune moment to strike. "Three, two, one."
Both Jake and Mickey run out from their cover behind the crates and run behind the two human thugs. They put the little vials under their noses, and the men collapse from the vapour. Mickey eyes them, then looks at the Zeppelin, doubtfully.
"There's got to be more guards on board," He points out.
"Then let's go get them." Jake states, before both boys embark the Zeppelin.
Cooling tunnel
The Doctor and Missus Moore travelled along the cooling tunnel for a good ten minutes, before he quickly grew bored and decided to strike up a conversation.
"How did you get into this, then?" He asked, curiously. "Rattling along with the Preachers?" Missus Moore gave a sort of sad little smile as she remembered her origins before meeting up with Jake and Ricky.
She sighed heavily.
"Oh, I used to be ordinary," Missus Moore replied, shining her torch around at the Cybermen lining the walls of the tunnel, and grimacing a little. "Worked at Cybus Industries, nine to five, till one day, I find something I'm not supposed to. A file on the mainframe," She explains. "All I did was read it. Then suddenly I got men with guns knocking in the middle of the night," She scoffed at the memory. "Life on the run. Then I found the Preachers. They needed a techie, so I, I just sat down and taught myself everything." The Doctor grinned, impressed by this woman's ingenuity.
"What about Mr. Moore?" He inquired.
"Well, he's not called Moore. I got that from a book, Mrs Moore," She clarified. "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," Missus Moore looks at him curiously. "What about you? Got any family, or…?"
"Oh, who needs family? I've got the whole world on my shoulders," the Doctor replied a little flippantly. Then paused. "But yeah, I've got Katy … she's, uh, she's all I have left." Missus Moore nodded looking sympathetic.
She knew a broken man when she saw one.
"The brunette girl?" Missus Moore questioned. The Doctor nodded, deliberately avoiding eye contact for the moment. "She means a great deal to you, huh?"
"More than she knows," He murmurs to himself, looking rather melancholy. A few moments pass before he pastes a fake smile on his face and changes the subject. "Go on then. What's your real name?"
"Angela Price," Missus Moore responding, accepting that the relationship between him and Katy was obviously a touchy one, and moved on. "Don't tell a soul."
"Not a word," the Doctor mimed pulling a zipper across his lips. Behind them, unbeknownst to them, a Cyberman turns its head as it is activated. It sends an alarm signal out. Not a few minutes later, both Missus Moore and the Doctor falter in their step when it seemed like a Cyberman had moved.
"Doctor, did that one just move?" Missus Moore questioned, cautiously.
"It's just the torchlight," the Doctor reassured, albeit sounding somewhat worried himself. "Keep going, come on." However, as they take a few more steps forward, it becomes very clear that the Cybermen were in fact moving. The Doctor curses underneath his breath. "They're waking up. Run!" Both of them run along the row, and the Cybermen fall in behind them and start clomping along. Missus Moore and the Doctor make it to a ladder at the end of the tunnel. The Doctor starts climbing it.
"Get up! Quick! They're coming!" Missus Moore hastens him. He reaches the top and pulls free his sonic screwdriver and starts using it on the trapdoor above his head. "Open it! Open it!" He finally gets the trapdoor open and climbs out of it. "Get up! Quick! Quick!"
"Come on! Come on!" the Doctor reaches down to assist Missus Moore out of the tunnel. They both manage to beat the Cybermen up the ladder and close the trapdoor again, when the Doctor seals it shut with the screwdriver. "Oh, good team, Missus Moore!" The Doctor hi-fives a relieved, but slightly shaken Missus Moore.
A/N: Be right back with the next chapter! Don't go away!