Chapter Thirty-Three: The Age Of Steel

As the Cybermen advanced, Alex thrust out her hands, producing a silver, translucent forcefield in their path. She gritted her teeth as her arms shook, struggling to hold the shield. The Doctor grabbed the power cell from his pocket, raising it as she collapsed, gasping in pain. Golden energy shot out from the cell, blowing up the Cybermen.

"What the hell was that?" Ricky demanded, his eyes wide.

"You alright?" the Doctor asked, helping Alex to her feet. She was pale, staring at her own hands in shock.

"It's gone," she realised. She clenched her fists, trying to summon the energy, but there was nothing there.

"There's more!" Rose cried, seeing another legion of Cybermen advancing from the other side of the house.

The Doctor looked up, his eyes widening. "Run!"

A van pulled up on the grass and beeped its horn. The door slid open on the side, and a blonde woman called out. "Everybody in!"

"I've got to go back," Pete tried as the others headed for the van. "My wife's in there!"

"Anyone inside that house is dead," the Doctor told him bluntly. "If you want to help, then don't let her die for nothing. You've got to come with us right now."

"Come on!" the driver called. "Get a move on!" They ran to the van, the Doctor sliding into a seat next to Alex. "Finished chatting? Never seen a slower getaway in my life!" The van pulled away as Pete slammed the door shut.

"What was that thing?" Ricky demanded, his eyes wide.

"Little bit of technology from home," the Doctor replied, putting his arm around Alex's shoulders. She was still staring at her hands in shock, though it was starting to give way to worry.

"It's stopped glowing," Mickey noticed. "Has it run out?" After all, it didn't look like Alex was going to be able to recharge it.

The Doctor shook his head. "It's on a revitalising loop. It'll charge back up in about four hours."

"So we don't have a weapon anymore," Ricky said.

The parallel version of Jake Simmonds snorted. "Yeah, we've got weapons. Might not beat one of those metal things, but they're good enough for men like him." He glared at Pete.

Rose frowned. "Leave him alone. What's he done wrong?"

Jake rolled his eyes. "Oh, you know, just laid a trap that's wiped out the government and left Lumic in charge."

Pete sighed. "If I was part of all that, do you think I'd leave my wife inside?"

"Maybe your plan went wrong," Ricky pointed out, narrowing his eyes. "Still gives us the right to execute you, though."

Alex felt it when the Doctor tensed. "Talk about executions, you'll make me your enemy, and take some really good advice: you don't wanna do that."

"All the same..." Ricky shrugged. "We have evidence that says Pete Tyler's been working for Lumic since twenty point five."

"Is that true?" Alex asked, looking up at Pete with wide eyes.

"Tell them, Mrs M," Ricky ordered.

"We've got a government mole who feeds us information," she replied dutifully, glancing back in the rear view mirror. "Lumic's private files, his South American operations, the lot. Secret broadcasts twice a week."

Pete arched an eyebrow. "Broadcasts from Gemini?"

Ricky glared. "And how do you know that?"

"I'm Gemini. That's me."

"Yeah, well, you would say that."

"Encrypted wavelength six five seven using binary nine," Pete explained. "That's the only reason I was working for Lumic, to get information. I thought I was broadcasting to the Security Services. What do I get? Scooby Doo and his gang. They've even got the van."

Mickey shook his head. "No, no, no, but the Preachers know what they're doing. Ricky said he's London's Most Wanted."

Ricky hesitated. "Yeah, that's not exactly..."

"Not exactly what?"

"I'm London's Most Wanted for parking tickets."

In the back, Pete sighed. "Great."

"Yeah, they were deliberate," Ricky protested, trying to maintain what was left of his dignity. "I was fighting the system. Park anywhere, that's me."

"Good policy," the Doctor complimented, grinning. "I do much the same. I'm the Doctor, by the way, if anyone's interested, and this is Alex."

Jake raised his eyebrows. "Thin Jimmy's missus was called Alex, weren't she?" Ricky nodded.

Rose's eyes widened, seeing her sister had stiffened. "And I'm Rose," she said, mostly to distract the others' attention away from the ginger. "Hello."

"Even better," Pete muttered. "That's the name of my dog. Still, at least I've got the catering staff on my side."

"I knew you weren't a traitor," Rose told him, smiling.

His brow furrowed as he looked away from the Doctor and Alex's embrace, remembering his wife's predicament. "Why's that, then?"

Rose shrugged. "I just did."

On the other side of the van, the Doctor mumbled something that made Alex laugh, her eyes lighting up. Pete stared. There was something familiar in the action, something of Jackie Tyler in that girl. "They took my wife," he realised, putting his head in his hands.

"She might still be alive," Rose tried.

He shook his head. "That's even worse. Because that's what Lumic does. He takes the living and he turns them into those machines."

"Cybermen," the Doctor said, and Rose realised everyone was listening now. "They're called Cybermen. And I'd take those ear pods off, if I were you. You never know, Lumic could be listening." Pete handed the ear pods over, and the Doctor soniced them.

"He's overreached himself," Alex pointed out. "He's still just a businessman, and he's assassinated the President. We have to get to the city and inform the authorities before this goes any further. This has to end tonight."

***

Later, they'd come across huge groups of people all walking purposely in the same direction, their faces blank. Most of the group had gone over to look, but the Doctor and Alex were leaning against a nearby wall, trying to figure out what had happened to her energy.

"I think it's a similar thing to what happened with the TARDIS," the Doctor was saying. "Your energy comes from the other universe, but you can't get to it. Should be fine once we get back."

She sighed, leaned her head against his shoulder. "I hope so...." She glanced up at him slyly. "Kasai."

He blushed a little bit, reminded of how they'd started the day. "Shh."

"You need a nickname," she decided, poking him in the cheek to make him smile.

"What's wrong with Doctor?" he whined.

She raised her eyebrows at him pointedly. "After all we've done? That'd be like marrying a younger, hotter version of Alan Sugar then rolling over in bed and going 'morning, your Lordship'."

"Oh." He blinked. "I never really thought about it like that."

"What about Kas?" she suggested. "Close enough, without telling anyone else your real name."

He hesitated. She could tell he liked it. "But what if Rose or Mickey or someone asks what it means?"

Alex shrugged. "I'll lie. I'll be all, oh, he's actually the Mayor of Casterbridge, or like, I don't know, it's actually short for Castanets."

"Borrowed it off pop sensation Cascada," the Doctor grinned.

"He just really loves casseroles," she joked.

He made an appreciative noise. "I just think that bloke Casanova's really cool." They shared a look, and started laughing.

"What the hell?!" Jake exclaimed, bringing them back to the matter at hand.

"What's going on?" Rose frowned, waving a hand in front of the nearest person's face. They just kept walking.

"It's the ear pods," the Doctor told them. "Lumic's taken control."

"Don't suppose we could just take them off?" Alex asked.

"No, it'd cause a brainstorm," he replied.

She nodded. "Yeah, thought it'd be something like that."

He shook his head. "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." She rolled her eyes.

"Hey, come and see," Ricky hissed. He was kneeling by the corner, peering round the wall. Everyone gathered round to see more people being herded along by Cybermen.

"Where are they all going?" Rose wondered.

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "Lumic must have a base of operations."

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

"Why's he doing all this, though?" Alex asked, shivering in the cool night air.

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

"The thing is, we've seen Cybermen before, haven't we?" Rose pointed out, looking at the Doctor. "The head—those handle shapes in Van Statten's museum?"

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

Pete stared at them. "What the hell are you on about?"

"Never mind that," Ricky interrupted. "Come on, we need to get out of the city. Okay, split up. Mrs Moore, you look after that bloke and his mates. Jake, distract them. Go right, I'll go left. We'll meet back at Bridge Street. Move." He and Jake ran off.

"I'm going with him," Mickey decided. He kissed Rose quickly before chasing after his doppelgänger.

"I won't be a minute," Alex said, squeezing the Doctor's hand. "There might be others who've escaped the programming." She let go of him and disappeared in a blur.

Mrs Moore stared, then shook it off. "Come on, then." They headed down a side street.

***

Alex came to a halt near Tower Bridge, her eyes widening in horror. The whole city was marching towards their deaths. No, something worse than death. A life with no emotion, trapped inside a metal suit with no identity. Made into weapons and killing machines. Nobody deserved that.

***

A platoon of Cybermen turned onto the street as the group hid behind the bins. The Cybermen stopped nearby, but the Doctor transmitted a signal with the sonic screwdriver, and they marched on, oblivious.

As soon as the coast was clear, he stood. "Go." They hurried back down the street.

***

Alex appeared on Bridge Street just as the Doctor, Rose, Mrs Moore and Pete ran up. Her chest was heaving as she spoke. "It's everyone! We're the only ones left in the whole city!"

"I ran past the river!" Jake added as he joined them. "You should have seen it, the whole city's on the march. Hundreds of Cybermen all down the Thames." He grinned as Mickey turned the corner. "Here he is!" Then he blinked. "Wait, which one are you?"

Mickey shook his head. "I'm sorry. The Cybermen... He couldn't..."

"Are you Ricky?" Jake demanded. "Are you Ricky?"

Rose swallowed hesitantly. "Mickey, that's you, isn't it?"

"Yeah." She hugged him tight, and he met Jake's eyes guiltily. "He tried. He was running. There was too many of them."

Jake set his jaw, tears in his eyes. "Shut it."

"There was nothing I could do," Mickey tried.

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

"Hey," Alex cut in, shooting him a look. "It's not his fault."

"We can mourn him when London is safe," the Doctor added. "But for now, we move on."

***

"The whole of London's been sealed off, and the entire population's been taken inside that place," Alex realised later as they looked up at Battersea Power Station. "To be converted."

Rose nodded determinedly. "We've got to get in there and shut it down."

Mickey blinked. "How do we do that?"

"Oh, I'll think of something." The Doctor shrugged.

"You're just making this up as you go along," Mickey accused.

"Yep," he admitted. "But I do it brilliantly."

Alex grinned, and Mickey tilted his head in concession.

Mrs Moore brought up a diagram on her laptop, showing it to them. "That's a schematic of the old factory. Look, cooling tunnels under the plant. Big enough to walk through."

"So we go under there and up into the control centre?" Alex guessed, following the route with her fingertip.

"Mmm," Mrs Moore agreed.

"There's another way in," Pete interrupted. "Through the front door. If they've taken Jackie for upgrading, that's how she'll get in."

Jake narrowed his eyes. "We can't just go strolling up!"

"Or, we could, with these." Mrs Moore pulled two pairs of ear pods out of her backpack. "Fake ear pods. Dead. No signal. But put them on, the Cybermen would mistake you for one of the crowd."

"Then that's my job," Pete decided, taking one pair.

"You'd have to show no emotion," the Doctor warned. "None at all. Any sign of emotion would give you away."

"How many of those you got?" Rose asked.

"Just two sets," Mrs Moore replied.

"Okay." Rose took the second pair. "If that's the best way of finding Jackie, then I'm coming with you."

Pete blinked. "Why does she matter to you?"

"We haven't got time," she said quickly, turning to the Doctor and Alex. "I'm going with him, and that's that."

Alex smiled fondly. "No stopping you, is there?"

"Nope."

"Tell you what, we can take the ear pods at the same time," the Doctor suggested. "Gie people their minds back so they don't walk into that place like sheep. Jakey-boy? Lumic's transmitting the control signal. It must be from over there." He buzzed his sonic in the general direction of the power station. "There it is, on the zeppelin, see? Great big transmitter. Good thing Lumic likes showing off. Reckon you could take it out?"

Jake nodded. "Consider it done."

"Right, and Mickey can help you—" Jake's face fell, but the Doctor was having none of it. "He's brilliant with computers, Mickey, he can help you. Alright?" Jake nodded sullenly. Behind him, Mickey smiled.

"Right then," Alex said brightly, clapping. "Mrs Moore, Sir Doctor, would you care to accompany me into the cooling tunnels?"

"How could I refuse an offer of cooling tunnels?" Mrs Moore asked dryly, smiling.

"We attack on three sides," the Doctor decided. "Above, between, below. We get to the control centre, we stop the conversion machines. Mickey, good luck."

"Yeah, you too," he replied, bumping fists with the Time Lord. "Rose, I'll see you later."

"Yeah, you'd better," she told him.

"If we survive this, we'll see you back at the TARDIS," the Doctor ordered.

Mickey nodded, seeing something like friendship in the man's gaze. "That's a promise." He and Jake headed off.

"Good luck," Alex said, hugging her sister tight, and then the two groups split.

***

"It's freezing," Alex mumbled as she hopped down off the ladder, into the cooling tunnels. The Doctor and Mrs Moore followed.

"Any sign of a light switch?" the Doctor asked.

"Can't see a thing," Mrs Moore agreed, digging around in her backpack. "But I've got this. A device for every occasion." She brought out a powerful torch.

"Oh, you haven't got a hot dog in there, have you?" Alex asked. "I'm starving."

"Of all the things to wish for." Mrs Moore rolled her eyes. "That's mechanically recovered meat."

Alex laughed. "I know! It's the Cyberman of food, but it's tasty."

"Let's see where we are," the Doctor said, aiming one of the torches into the darkness. Motionless Cybermen lined the tunnel on one side. "Already converted, just put on ice. Let's go slowly, keep an eye out for trip systems." He led the way into the tunnel.

"So, how did you get into this, then?" Alex asked. "Rattling along with the Preachers?"

"Oh, I used to be ordinary," Mrs Moore sighed. "Worked at Cybus Industries, nine to five, till one day, I find something I'm not supposed to. A file on the mainframe." She shrugged. "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."

"What about Mr Moore?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, he's not called Moore," she admitted. "I got that from a book, Mrs Moore. It's safer not to use real names. But he thinks I'm dead. It was the only way to keep him safe. Him and the kids. What about you? Got any family, or...?"

"Rose is my sister," Alex confessed. "And I've got this one, and there's my mum back home, too." She glanced back, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Go on, then. What's your real name?"

Mrs Moore hesitated. "Angela Price. Don't tell a soul."

Alex grinned reassuringly. "Not a word." Something moved out of the corner of her eye, and her face froze. "Did that one just move?"

"It's just the torchlight," Mrs Moore told her. "Keep going, come on."

But another Cyberman moved just behind them. "They're waking up!" the Doctor realised. "Run!"

They ran. The Cybermen followed just behind. When they reached the ladder at the end of the tunnel, the Doctor went first, sonicing open a trapdoor and Mrs Moore followed right behind him. As soon as the way was clear, Alex sped up the ladder, the Doctor slamming the door shut behind her. They all sighed in relief.

Suddenly, a Cyberman marched onto their corridor, stopping at the sight of them. "You are not upgraded."

"Yeah, well upgrade this!" Mrs Moore exclaimed. She threw a small device at the Cyberman; it stuck to the metal breastplate. The Cyberman was electrocuted, and collapsed to the ground.

Alex's eyes widened. "Was that an electromagnetic bomb?"

Mrs Moore nodded. "Takes out computers, I figured it might stop a Cybersuit."

"You figured right," the Doctor chuckled. "Now, let's have a look." He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and soniced the disc on the Cyberman's chest. "Know your enemy. A logo on the front. Lumic's turned them into a brand." He removed the disc, revealing the innards. "Heart of steel, but look." He held up a strand of rubbery... stuff.

"Is that flesh?" Mrs Moore asked, making a face.

"Uh huh." The Doctor nodded. "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 at that," Alex gasped, pointing at a small device attached to the front panel. "That must be some kind of emotional inhibitor. That's how they stop them feeling anything."

Mrs Moore frowned. "But why?"

"It's still got a human brain," the Doctor replied. "Imagine its reaction if it could see itself, realise itself inside this thing. They'd go insane."

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

Alex nodded. "Because they have to."

"Why am I cold?" the Cyberman asked suddenly.

"Oh my God!" Mrs Moore gasped. "It's alive. It can feel."

"I broke the inhibitor," the Doctor realised, sounding pained. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Why so cold?" the Cyberman asked again.

"Can you remember your name?" Alex asked softly.

"Sally. Sally Phelan."

"You're a woman," Mrs Moore said to herself.

"Where's Gareth?"

"Who's Gareth?" the Doctor asked.

"He can't see me. It's unlucky the night before."

Alex closed her eyes briefly. "You're getting married."

"I'm cold," what was left of Sally Phelan lamented. "I'm so cold."

"It's alright," the Doctor lied. "You sleep now, Sally. Just go to sleep." He soniced the inside of the chest cavity, and the lights in the Cybersuit went out.

"Sally Phelan didn't die for nothing, because that's the key," Alex decided. "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 realise what they are," the Doctor agreed.

"And what happens then?" Mrs Moore asked.

"I think it would kill them." Alex hesitated, biting her lip. "Could we do that?"

"We've got to," Mrs Moore told her. "Before they kill everyone else. There's no choice. It's got to be done." She stood up, and a Cyberman electrocuted her. The Doctor and Alex leapt to their feet, eyes wide.

"No!"

"No, you didn't have to kill her!" the Doctor shouted.

The Cyberman was impassive as Mrs Moore's body fell to the floor. "Sensors detect binary vascular systems. You are unknown upgrades. You will be taken for analysis." The Cybermen surrounded them, marching them away.

***

The Doctor rolled his eyes sarcastically as they entered the control room. "We've been captured, but don't worry, Rose and Pete are still out there. They can rescue me. Oh, well, never mind. You okay?"

"Yeah," Rose lied. "But they got Jackie." Nobody asked about Mrs Moore, but then, they could guess.

"We were too late," Pete sighed. "Lumic killed her."

"Then where is he?" Alex demanded, turning round to glare at the Cybermen. "The famous Mr Lumic? Don't we get the chance to meet our Lord and Master?"

"He has been upgraded," a Cyberman stated.

"So he's just like you?" the Doctor guessed.

"He is superior," the Cyberman corrected. "The Lumic Unit has been designated Cyber Controller."

The wall in front of them slid up, revealing a Cyberman in a bulky steel wheelchair. "This is the Age of Steel, and I am its Creator."

In the distance, screams echoed around the factory. The Doctor grinned. "That's my friends at work. Good boys! Mr Lumic, I think that's a vote for free will."

"I have factories waiting on seven continents," the Cyber Controller stated. "If the ear pods have failed, then the Cybermen will take humanity by force. London has fallen. So shall the world. I shall bring peace to the world. Everlasting peace and unity and uniformity."

"And what about imagination?" the Doctor asked, raising his eyebrows. "What about that? The one thing that led you here, imagination, and you're killing it dead!"

"What is your name?"

The Doctor narrowed his eyes, noticing how Alex had straightened slightly at the change of subject. "I'm the Doctor."

"A redundant title," the Cyber Controller told him. "Doctors need not exist. Cybermen never sicken."

"Yeah, but that's it!" the Doctor exclaimed. "That's exactly the point! Oh, Lumic, you're a clever man. I'd call you a genius, except I'm in the room. Everything you've invented, you did to fight your sickness. And that's brilliant. That is so human. 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!"

"You are proud of your emotions," the Cyber Controller noted.

"Oh yes."

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

The Doctor's face darkened slightly. "Yes. Yes I have."

"And they hurt?"

He smiled. "Oh, yes."

"I could set you free," the Cyber Controller offered. "Would you not want that? A life without pain?"

"You might as well kill me," the Doctor told it.

"Then I take that option."

"Except it's not yours to take," Alex snapped. "You're a Cyber Controller. You don't control him or us or anything blood in its heart."

The Cyber Controller turned its head to look at her. "You have no means of stopping me. I have an army. A species of my own." She narrowed her eyes.

"You just don't get it, do you?" the Doctor groaned, looking directly into a security camera for a second. "An army's nothing. Because those ordinary people, they're the key. The most ordinary person could change the world. Some ordinary man or woman. Some idiot. All it takes is for him to find, say, the right numbers. Say, the right codes. Say, for example, the code behind the emotional inhibitor. The code right in front of him. Because even an idiot knows how to use computers these days. Knows how to gett past firewalls and passwords. Knows how to find something encrypted in the Lumic Family Database, under, er... What was it, Pete? Binary what?"

"Binary nine," Pete replied, coughing into his sleeve nervously.

"Any idiot could find that code," the Doctor said pointedly. "Cancellation code. And he'd keep on typing, keep on fighting. Anything to save his friends."

"Your words are irrelevant," the Cyber Controller told him.

"Yeah, talk to much, that's me," he admitted, tilting his head. "Lucky I got you that cheap tariff, Alex, for all our long chats on your phone." He made a 'call me' gesture with his hand, winking at her. She grinned.

"You will be deleted," the Cyber Controller threatened.

"Yes, delete, control, hash," the Doctor listed. "All those lovely buttons. Then, of course, my particular favourite, send. And let's not forget how you seduced all those ordinary people in the first place—"

Alex's phone buzzed, and she pulled it out, seeing a text from Mickey. "It's for you," she announced, throwing it to the Doctor, who caught it easily.

"By making every bit of technology compatible with everything else," he finished. "Like this." He plugged the phone into a docking station on a control desk. A short piece of code appeared on every screen, and the Cybermen doubled over in pain. Some of them exploded, while others lasted long enough to see their reflections and wail in horror.

Alex met one Cyberman's eyes, biting her lip. "I'm sorry," she said, remembering how scared Sally Phelan had been. "I'm so sorry."

"What have you done?" the Cyber Controller demanded.

"I gave them back their souls!" the Doctor shouted over the noise. "They can see what you've done, Lumic, and it's killing them!" A steel pillar crashed down between the two parties, and the Doctor, Alex, Rose and Pete fled the room. They headed for the emergency exit, only to find it was blocked with writhing Cybermen. The Doctor turned around, his eyes wide. "There's no way out!"

Rose's phone rang, and she pulled it out, answering. "It's Mickey! He says head for the roof!" They sprinted up a metal staircase with no hesitation, ducking past a falling Cyberman to make it to the top floor. They climbed out onto the roof to see a rope ladder dangling from the Zeppelin. "Mickey, where'd you learn to fly that thing?" Rose gaped.

Alex stared, stopping in her tracks. "Oh, you've got to be kidding." Even without the London Blitz complicating things, the prospect of dangling off another barrage balloon wasn't exactly filling her with joy.

"Rose, get up," the Doctor ordered. She did so, and he turned to Alex. "We've got no choice, Kez."

She swallowed, squeezing his hand. "Jeopardy friendly, right?" Then she started to climb, him right behind her. As soon as she reached Rose, she closed her eyes, clinging onto the ladder with everything she had. Before she knew it, the Doctor was on the other side of the ladder.

The ladder jolted, making them nearly lose her grip. Her eyes shot open, and she grabbed the Doctor, supporting them with her beating wings until they could find a foothold again, and the next thing she knew, Battersea Power Station was exploded beneath them as the zeppelin rose higher and higher into the night sky.

***

"Here it is," Mickey called later, carrying the Doctor's clothes to the TARDIS. "Not a crease."

"My suit!" the Time Lord exclaimed, grinning.

"Listen, Jake, we've gotta run," Alex said, "but there's one last thing. Mrs Moore, her real name was Angela Price. She's got a husband out there and children, and they've got no idea what she's been doing. Find them. Tell them she was a hero. Tell them how she died saving the world."

Jake grinned. "Yeah, course I will."

The Doctor clapped his hands together. "Off we go, then."

Mickey hesitated. "Er, thing is, I'm staying."

"You're doing what?" the Doctor asked.

Rose stared at her boyfriend. "You can't."

"It sort of balances out," he explained, "because this world lost its Ricky, but there's me. And there's work to be done with all those Cybermen still out there."

"But you can't stay!" Rose protested.

"Rose, my gran's here," he told her. "She's still alive. My old gran, remember her?"

"Yeah."

"She needs me," he reasoned.

"What about me?" Rose asked, tearing up. "What if I need you?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, but Rose, you don't. We had something a long time ago, but not anymore."

She swallowed hard, trying to smile. "Well, we'll come back. We can travel anywhere. Come and see you, yeah?"

"We can't," Alex told her sadly.

"I told you, travel between parallel worlds is impossible," the Doctor explained. "We only got here by accident. We fell through a crack in time. When we leave, I've got to close it. We can't ever return."

"Doctor," Mickey said, shaking his hand.

"Take Alex's phone," the Doctor told him. "It's got the code. Get it out there. Stop those factories." Suddenly, he smiled proudly. "And good luck, Mickey the idiot."

Mickey grinned. "Watch it."

Then Alex handed over her phone as the Doctor went back to the TARDIS.. "Mickey Smith, saving the universe," she sighed. "I guess we've both become something better."

I'll find her, you know," Mickey promised. "This world's Alex. And if this world's Jimmy is anything like the other one... I'll make sure she's alright."

At that, Alex teared up. "Thank you." She hugged him, squeezing as tightly as she dared, and then she followed the Doctor.

Mickey turned to Rose. "We've had a laugh, though, haven't we? Seen it all, been there and back. Who would have thought, me and you and Alex off the old estate, flying through the stars?"

Rose laughed quietly. "All those years just sitting there, imagining what we'd do one day. We never saw this, did we?" She hugged him tight.

He squeezed her shoulders, then stepped back. "Go on. Don't miss your flight." She nodded, released him, and ran back into the TARDIS. "Jake, you want to watch this." Together, they watched as the TARDIS dematerialised.

Jake stared. "What the hell?"

Mickey smiled proudly. "That's the Doctor in the TARDIS with Rose and Alex Tyler."

~~~