AN: Thank you for all the birthday wishes last week, everyone! The fun keeps going this week with even more Protective!Doctor.
Chapter 12: Stuck in Traffic
Martha was practically vibrating with excitement when she walked with Rose back to the console room an hour after they'd left Shakespeare and an irate Elizabeth the First. The TARDIS' wardrobe room had stunned her into silence, but once she got past its immensity, Rose had shown her to a section with clothes that matched her own style, and she'd quickly chosen a new outfit.
"Ready?" the Doctor asked when they'd joined him. "Here we go then!" He danced around the console, making sure he'd entered the coordinates correctly and then pulling the lever. "Fifty thousand light years from your old world, and we're slap bang in the middle of New New York."
"Don't you mean New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York?" Rose asked, giving him a flirty smile.
The adoration in the Doctor's eyes made Martha blush, and she looked away when he leaned down to kiss his wife. When she looked up again, he was putting his coat on and smiling at Rose with his Rose-smile. One of his Rose-smiles, she amended, already aware he had several he reserved just for her.
"Absolutely correct, Rose. It's the fifteenth version of New York since the original, and one of the most dazzling cities ever built."
Rose opened the door, and they walked out of the TARDIS into a drenching rain. "Oh, that's nice," Martha said, reaching for the zip on her coat while Rose turned her collar up. "Time Lord version of dazzling."
"Nah, bit of rain never hurt anyone," the Doctor protested. "Come on, let's get under cover!"
The dodged the raindrops as best they could, darting through the alley, searching for cover. "Well, it looks like the same old Earth to me," Martha said, "on a Wednesday afternoon." She caught sight of washing hanging out to dry, and felt a moment of sympathy for whoever it belonged to.
"Hold on, hold on." The Doctor jogged over to an awning that protected a computer terminal. "Let's have a look."
Water dripped down Martha's neck and under the collar of her jacket while she watched the Doctor point his sonic screwdriver at the terminal and pound on it a few times. The lines of static resolved into a female news anchor.
"And the driving should be clear and easy, with fifteen extra lanes open for the New New Jersey expressway."
The picture changed to flying cars soaring away from a futuristic city, and Rose tapped the screen. "Oh, there's the New New York I remember! Wonder where we are, then?"
"This must be the lower levels," the Doctor said, then ducked his head down and peered up at the grungy buildings. "Down in the base of the tower. Some sort of under-city."
Martha stared at the flying cars, even less impressed with their current locale now that she knew what she was missing. "You've brought me to the slums?" she asked, not bothering to hide the distaste in her voice.
"Much more interesting. It's all cocktails and glitter up there," he insisted, pointing at the image on the screen. "This is the real city."
Rose laughed, and even Martha couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. His hair was plastered to his face, his suit was soaked through, but he still beamed like a kid in a candy store.
"You'd enjoy anything," Martha told him.
"That's me." The sound of rain slowed, and he smiled widely. "Ah, the rain's stopping. Better and better."
He stepped back out into the alley and Rose and Martha followed. "You mentioned apple grass before," Martha said to Rose. "So last time, you were up there, weren't you?"
"Yeah, but it wasn't exactly a picnic," Rose said, and Martha flushed when she realised how easily the other woman had sussed out her discontent. "We went to see this friend who was in hospital, only when we got there, we discovered these cat nuns were… well, long story short, we stopped them, but not before I got possessed by a piece of skin with an attitude."
Martha shook her head. "I'm not even going to ask."
The Doctor clenched his jaw at the memory of Cassandra. Rose reached for his hand, but before she could say anything, a weathered green stall in front of them opened up.
"Ah! You should have said," the owner told them. "How long you been there? Happy. You want Happy."
He ducked down below his counter, and more stalls opened up and down the alley, filling the air with a cacophony of vendors trying to sell their wares. The three travellers turned around slowly, taking it all in.
"Customers! Customers! We've got customers!"
"We're in business."
"Mother, open up the Mellow!"
"Happy, Happy, lovely happy Happy!"
"Anger. Buy some Anger!"
"Get some Mellow. Makes you feel all bendy and soft all day long."
"Don't go to them," the first man said. "They'll rip you off. Do you want some Happy?"
"No thanks," Rose told him.
"Are they selling drugs?" Martha asked.
"I think they're selling moods," the Doctor said, listening to the sales pitches still going on.
"Same thing, isn't it?" Martha said, and he had to admit she had a point.
Locals started to wander in, none of them looking like they were taking Happy. Dressed in rags, they trudged through the alley with no hope in their eyes.
"Over here, sweetheart!" one of the vendors called out to a young woman dressed in grey with a scarf wrapped around her head. "That's it, come on, I'll get you first!" she said.
She shuffled towards the stall, and the seller lowered her voice to a soft, soothing tone. "Come over here, yeah. And what can I get you, my love?"
"I want to buy Forget," said the woman, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I've got Forget, my darling. What strength? How much do you want forgetting?"
The Doctor slowly walked closer, feeling like there was something deeply wrong with this exchange.
"It's my mother and father." She paused for a moment and swallowed. "They went on the motorway."
"Oh, that's a swine," the seller cooed, then handed the customer a patch. "Try this. Forget Forty-three. That's two credits."
"Sorry, but hold on a minute," the Doctor said, putting a hand on the customer's shoulder. She turned around. "What happened to your parents?" he asked
She glanced down at the street. "They drove off."
The bleak look in her eyes didn't make any sense. "Yeah, but they might drive back."
She gave him a look that said he was impossibly naive. "Everyone goes to the motorway in the end. I've lost them."
"But they can't have gone far. You could find them."
She sighed, then shook her head as if he couldn't understand, and moved her collar and raised her hand to her neck.
"No. No, no, don't."
She placed the patch on her neck and drew in a deep breath. The grief seemed to melt off of her, and when she looked at the Doctor again, her eyes were clear and bright. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
The Doctor studied her. "Your parents." She looked at him blankly, almost as if she didn't know what the word meant. "Your mother and father. They're on the motorway."
"Are they?" She smiled vacantly and shrugged. "That's nice. I'm sorry, I won't keep you."
The Doctor turned to watch her walk away. He had a feeling the TARDIS had brought them to the under-city on purpose.
"So that's the human race five billion years in the future," Martha said in disgust. "Off their heads on chemicals."
Doctor!
He spun around at Rose's cry. A man had her in a chokehold and was pointing a gun at her head. and his partner stepped in front of them, holding a gun on the Doctor.
"Let her go!" the Doctor growled. Heedless of the weapon, he lunged forward and grabbed at Rose's hand, but the man shifted back a few steps and the woman moved directly between them.
"I'm sorry," the man said, slowly shuffling backwards away from the Doctor, pulling Rose along with him. "I'm really, really sorry. We just need three; that's all."
The Doctor reached for Rose again, but stopped when the woman waved her gun wildly—there was no telling where a bullet would go if she fired the weapon right now, and he wouldn't risk Rose getting hurt.
His hands clenched into fists at his sides. "I'm warning you, let her go!"
The power of the Oncoming Storm seeped into his voice, and fear flickered in the kidnappers' eyes. But instead of obeying his command, they slowly backed up towards a door.
The Doctor took a deep breath. "I don't know who you are or what you want, but if you take her, I will find you—no matter where you go in the universe, I will find you, and I will get her back. Now let her go." Instead, the man stepped through the open doorway with Rose.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Sorry," the woman said before she slammed the door in the Doctor's face.
Rose struggled against the man's hold while the woman locked the door. She shook her head. "That's not gonna keep the Doctor out for very long," she told the pair.
They dragged her through a covered alley, and Rose dug in her heels and squirmed as much as possible, trying to give the Doctor time to reach her.
Rose could feel the Doctor's anger over their bond, and for once, she didn't try to calm him down. She knew when he got the door open because he was suddenly coming towards her at a fast pace. Rose fought even harder against being forced down a staircase, hoping to give him time to catch up.
They stopped in front of a vehicle that looked like a tram car, and Rose's heart rate increased. She couldn't let them get her into the car. "You don't know it yet," she said, tugging even harder against the man's hold, "but you're having a really bad day."
She finally got free of his chokehold and started to run, but she'd only gone two steps when he grabbed onto her hand and jerked her back.
Rose glared at him. "I'm the last person in the world you should have chosen to kidnap, because there's nothing that man won't do to get me back."
The couple looked completely spooked, clearly remembering the rage on the Doctor's face when he'd tried to stop them.
"Give her some Sleep," the man ordered, pulling her head back to expose her neck.
"Don't you dare," Rose said, panicking at the thought of unknown pharmaceuticals in her new, not-quite-human body.
The woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a patch. "It's just Sleep Fourteen."
"Get that thing away from me," Rose shouted, squirming as the woman's hand got closer to her neck.
"No, baby, don't fight it."
Rose shivered when the patch touched her neck. Her mind remained conscious and alert, but it felt like her body was trapped in treacle, unable to move.
But she could call for help. Doctor! They put one of those patches on me so I couldn't fight.
"Get on board," the man said, pushing her along.
The door at the top of the landing burst open, hitting the wall with a clang. Rose met the Doctor's frantic gaze as the couple dragged her into the car, and even when the car door shut, she hung onto the hope that maybe he'd be able to get the door unlocked before they started moving.
They laid her down on a bunk in the back of the car, and the woman watched her while the man took the driver's seat. Rose heard him flipping switches, and knew he was starting the car.
"Engaging anti-gravs," the man said, dashing her hopes of an easy rescue. "Hold on." He released the brake, and she felt the car lift off the ground.
She quickly blinked back a tear of frustration that the Doctor hadn't gotten there just a few seconds earlier.
I'm sorry, love.
The words gave voice to his guilt, and she sighed. This isn't your fault, Doctor. I know you'll find me.
I will. I'm coming for you, Rose.
His vow made her feel better, and she focused on her body, testing her appendages, trying to get movement back. The woman bent down over her, obviously intent on giving her a quick look-over, and Rose glared at her balefully.
The woman's eyes widened and she took a half step back. "I don't think the patch is working on her," she told her partner. She looked at Rose in fearful amazement and moved up to sit in front. "Anyway, she's breathing, pulse is fine, and no harm done. She looks rich." Rose almost laughed at the thought. "She must have got lost."
You could say that, yeah. With some effort, Rose was able to shift her head just enough to see her kidnappers.
"Yeah, well, she's worth her weight in gold to us." The man picked up the radio. "This is car four six five diamond six. We have three passengers, repeat three. Request access to the fast lane."
The radio crackled and then a computerised voice said, "Access granted."
"Oh, yes."
While the couple kissed, Rose started slowly moving her arms and legs, pulling the patch off as soon as she could. Once it was removed, the drug quickly worked its way out of her system, and she slid out of the bunk and looked at her kidnappers.
"Okay, why don't you tell me who you are, and why you kidnapped me?"
oOoOoOoOo
The Doctor's fury focused his senses, and he could see everything even more clearly than he usually could as he raced after Rose.
He didn't hesitate when he reached intersections, following the tug of the bond. When she panicked and let him see a picture of the car they'd stopped in front of, he found an extra reserve of energy and ran even faster. If they got her into that car, it would take far longer for him to rescue her.
As he turned yet another corner, she cried out for him again. His anger swelled into rage when he heard the fear in her voice, and his field of vision narrowed until all he could see was the doorway at the end of the alley.
Rose's presence felt clouded, and she said, They put one of those patches on me so I couldn't fight.
The Doctor threw through the door open and stepped onto a metal staircase just in time to catch Rose's eyes before the car door shut. He put his hands on the railings and slid down, then whipped out his sonic and ran for the car.
But the engines started before he could open the door, and he stepped back when it lifted up off the ground. "Rose!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Her frustration answered his anger, and the Doctor ran a hand through his hair, yanking on it hard enough to hurt. I'm sorry, love.
He could almost see Rose shaking her head. This isn't your fault, Doctor. I know you'll find me.
Her confidence bolstered his own. I will. I'm coming for you, Rose.
Martha reached the staircase just as the Doctor turned around to retrace his steps. "What happened? Where's Rose?"
"Gone." The Doctor pushed past her, retracing his steps to the alley of drug dealers.
She jogged to keep up with him. "Well, what are we going to do?"
"Get her back."
"I'd worked that much out for myself, thanks."
The Doctor stopped and took a deep breath. "Martha, my wife was just taken from me for totally unknown reasons. Could you be quiet and let me think?"
He didn't care if it was rude; sometimes rudeness served a purpose. Martha was quiet the rest of the way back, letting him formulate a plan to rescue Rose. Finding her wouldn't be the hard part; he could track her unerringly no matter where on the planet they took her. Even if they took her off-world, he would know immediately and be able to follow before he lost the ability to sense where she was.
Getting to her was another thing. There wasn't enough room inside that car to land the TARDIS in it, even if he could get a lock on the proper coordinates. He needed a car, but first he needed to know where they'd taken her and why.
The stalls had all closed up, and the Doctor pounded on the closest one. The woman who'd sold Forget earlier opened up and smiled at him. "Thought you'd come back. Do you want some happy Happy?"
The Doctor breathed through his nose, his temper very nearly getting the better of him. "Those people, who were they? Where did they take my wife?"
"They've taken her to the motorway," said the man who'd first offered them Happy.
The Doctor spun around and glared at the drug dealers, who explained what had happened one by one.
"Looked like carjackers to me."
"I'd give up now, darling."
The Doctor's lips curled in a snarl. "Let me make one thing abundantly clear. I will never give up on Rose Tyler."
The vendors were silent for a moment, then the lone man spoke up again. "Used to be thriving, this place. You couldn't move." He shrugged. "But they all go to the motorway in the end."
"He kept on saying three, we need three. What did he mean, three?"
The first woman he'd spoken to answered, and he turned back around to face her. "It's the car-sharing policy, to save fuel. You get special access if you're carrying three adults."
The Doctor shoved his hand through his hair. Of course the kidnapping had been totally random. His jeopardy-friendly Rose—she'd simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"This motorway. How do I get there?"
The woman nodded towards her right. "Straight down the alley, keep going to the end. You canna miss it." The Doctor took two steps, then she called out, "Tell you what. How about some happy Happy? Then you'll be smiling, my love."
He spun back around, his temper finally at its limit. "Do you really think I'll let you drug me into forgetting Rose has been kidnapped?" he growled. The woman recoiled and the Doctor felt the muscle in his jaw twitch as he fought for just a bit of control over his anger. "Word of advice, all of you," he said after a moment, his voice raw and guttural. "Cash up, close down, and pack your bags."
Her smile faded. "Why's that, then?"
"Because as soon as I've found her, alive and well—and I will find her alive and well—then I'm coming back, and this street is closing. Tonight!"
oOoOoOoOo
The woman gaped at her. "Sleep 14 shouldn't have worn off that quickly. Even if you were waking up, it still should have been…"
"Superior biology," Rose said, making a note to tell the Doctor she'd finally gotten to use his quip. "Now that I'm awake, why don't you turn around and take me back to my husband?"
The woman shook her head regretfully. "We can't; I'm sorry. We're already on the motorway."
The Doctor's anger washed over Rose, strong enough that she felt her own body starting to react to the emotion. She drew in a breath; this was the first time since they'd bonded that either of them had experienced such a strong negative emotion.
When she had her emotions under control, she looked at the couple. "Well, if I'm going to be stuck here with you until the Doctor finds me, can I at least know your names?"
"I'm Cheen," the woman said, then nodded to her partner, "and this is Milo. What's your name?"
"Rose Tyler."
"I swear we're sorry, Rose. We're really, really sorry. We just needed access to the fast lane, but I promise, as soon as we arrive, we'll drop you off and you can go back and find your husband."
Rose raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?" Something didn't seem right about that.
"I swear! Look." Cheen moved her hair away from her neck, revealing a patch. "Honesty."
"Is this how people entertain themselves on New Earth then?" Rose asked, her anger getting the better of her again. "Kidnap a perfect stranger, force them into your car, then drop them off a few miles down the road?"
"We've got to get to where the air is cleaner," Cheen said defensively. Her eyes went slightly out of focus. "The view from the windows… You can see all the way out to the flatlands. Clear blue sky. They say the air smells like apple grass. Can you imagine?"
"Actually, yeah I can," Rose said, not swayed by this emotional appeal. "I've walked on it. With the Doctor!"
Cheen pressed her lips together and looked up at the roof of the car. Rose sighed. "So, clean air. This is exhaust then?" she asked, nodding out the window.
Milo nodded. "We're going out to Brooklyn. We couldn't stay in Pharmacy Town, because…"
His voice trailed off and he patted Cheen's knee. From the way the couple looked at each other, Rose suddenly knew what they were going to say.
"Well, because of me," Cheen said, wearing a goofy smile that matched Milo's. "I'm pregnant. We only discovered it last week." She laughed like she still couldn't believe it. "Scan says it's going to be a boy."
Rose raised an eyebrow. "You're pregnant, and you're wearing one of those patches? Has anyone ever done tests to see if they're safe for babies?" The couple exchanged an uneasy look, and Rose huffed out a breath of air. "Look, you know loads of things aren't safe when you're pregnant. That's why you're moving, yeah?"
Cheen bit her lip, then took the patch off.
"This'll be as fast as we can," Milo said soothingly. "We'll take the motorway to the Brooklyn flyover, and then after that it's going to take a while, because then there's no fast lane, just ordinary roads, but at least it's direct."
"It's only ten miles," Cheen added.
Something didn't add up. Why did they need to kidnap someone to go ten miles? "How long is it going to take?" she asked, afraid of the answer.
"About six years," Cheen said happily.
Rose tried to control her reaction, knowing the Doctor was already on edge, but that was worse than she'd expected. "What?"
Cheen rubbed her still-flat belly. "Be just in time for him to start school."
"It's going to take us six years to go ten miles." Milo and Cheen both nodded, neither of them looking like this was unreasonable, or just flat-out ridiculous. "How come?"
oOoOoOoOo
At the end of the alley he'd been pointed towards, the Doctor found a large metal door with a faded sign reading, "Motorway access." Martha crossed her arms and looked up and down the alley uneasily as he sonicked the lock.
He put his hand on the door, then paused. "Martha, I should have thought," he said. "This will probably be dangerous. I have no idea what I'm going to find. If you'd like to go back to the TARDIS…"
She shook her head. "You're not getting rid of me that easily," she said, and he admired her courage. "Open the door so we can find Rose."
The Doctor smiled for the first time since Rose had been taken, and turned the handle. The door opened onto a small platform just off a motorway chockablock with cars in all directions, as far as the eye could see.
Exhaust fumes hung heavily in the air, and the Doctor and Martha were both coughing in seconds. Martha pulled the collar of her jacket up over her nose, but the Doctor just put his hand over his mouth and engaged his respiratory bypass as he tried to figure out what to do next.
Serendipitously, the car door directly in front of them slid open, and someone in a bomber jacket, flying goggles, and a scarf called out to them in an Irish accent. "Hey! You daft little street struts. What are you doing standing there?" He moved away from the door and waved them into the car. "Either get out or get in. Come on!"
The Doctor ran down to the end of the platform and climbed into the car, Martha right behind him. Once inside, they coughed violently, trying to expel the fumes from their lungs.
"Did you ever see the like?" their rescuer exclaimed.
"Here you go." A dark haired woman held up an oxygen mask, and the Doctor pointed to Martha.
The man removed his scarf and the Doctor realised he was catkind, with an orange tabby pattern marking his face. "Just standing there, breathing it in." He shook his head, then turned to the woman. "There's this story," he said, "says back in the old days, on junction forty-seven, this woman stood in the exhaust fumes for a solid twenty minutes. By the time they found her, her head had swollen to fifty feet."
"Oh, you're making it up," the woman said.
He sat down in the driver's seat and looked over at her. "A fifty foot head! Just think of it. Imagine picking that nose."
Martha wrinkled her nose, and clearly, their hostess agreed with her. "Oh, stop it," the woman ordered. "That's disgusting."
"What, did you never pick your nose?"
She tapped him on the shoulder. "Bran, we're moving."
Martha offered the Doctor the mask. He took it gratefully and sucked in lungfuls of pure oxygen as his body filtered out the contaminants he'd inhaled.
"Right. I'm there. I'm on it." Bran put the car into gear, and every other car in a one hundred fifty yard radius started to move at the same time, honking and sending more exhaust into the air.
The Doctor handed the mask back to Martha and peered out the window, needing to watch their progress as he got closer to Rose. But they barely moved at all before they stopped again.
Bran shifted into neutral and leaned back in his seat. "Twenty yards. We're having a good day." He looked at the Doctor and Martha over his shoulder. "And who might you be? Very well-dressed for hitchhikers."
"Sorry, I'm the Doctor, and this is Martha Jones."
"Medical man! My name's Thomas Kincade Brannigan, and this is the bane of my life, the lovely Valerie."
Valerie smiled at the Doctor. "Nice to meet you."
Brannigan nodded towards the back of the car. "And that's the rest of the family behind you."
The Doctor pulled back a curtain and found a basketful of kittens. "Ah, that's nice," he said softly, picking one up. "Hello."
Martha reached down and petted the closest one. "How old are they?"
Valerie stroked her kitten's forehead. "Just two months."
"Poor little souls. They've never known the ground beneath their paws." The Doctor looked at Brannigan uncomprehendingly, and he elaborated. "Children of the motorway."
The Doctor and Martha exchanged a look. "You mean they were born in here?" Martha asked incredulously.
"We couldn't stop," Valerie explained. "We heard there were jobs going, out in the laundries on Fire Island. Thought we'd take a chance."
"What, you've been driving for two months?" the Doctor asked.
Brannigan snorted. "Do I look like a teenager? We've been driving for twelve years now."
His hearts stopped. "I'm sorry?"
"Yeah!" he said. "Started out as newlyweds. Feels like yesterday," he cooed to Valerie.
"Feels like twelve years to me," she said dryly.
Brannigan smiled roguishly and tickled Valerie's ribs. "Ah, sweetheart, but you still love me."
"Twelve years?" Martha repeated.
"How far did you come?" the Doctor asked. "Where did you start?"
"Battery Park. It's five miles back."
"You travelled five miles in twelve years?" A ripple of uneasy surprise spread both ways over the bond, and the Doctor had a feeling Rose had just learned the same thing.
"I think he's a bit slow," Brannigan told Valerie.
"Where are you from?" Valerie asked them.
The Doctor put the kitten back in the basket. "Never mind that. I've got to get out. My wife's in one of these cars. She was taken hostage. I should get back to the TARDIS."
He opened the door, coughing as the exhaust fumes poured into the car. Looking behind them, he realised the truth as Brannigan said it.
"You're too late for that. We've passed the lay-by. You're a passenger now, Sonny Jim."
The Doctor slid the door closed and looked through the windscreen at the traffic jam. "When's the next lay-by?"
"Oh, six months?"
oOoOoOoOo
Milo and Cheen had tried to explain traffic on the motorway, but Rose quickly figured out they didn't known much more than she did. She rubbed her fingers over her temples as she looked around at the packed road.
They dropped past several layers of vehicles, but the traffic never seemed to stop. "How many cars are out there?"
"I don't think anyone knows. Here we go." Cheen offered her some food. "Hungry?"
Rose, my rescue plans have hit a snag.
She thanked Cheen for the food, then replied to the Doctor. Tell me about it. Milo and Cheen have promised to let me go in six years.
She felt his vehement denial at that. I won't make you wait that long. I swear, Rose—I'll find you before then.
The bands around Rose's lungs eased a little. She'd known the Doctor would never let Cheen and Milo keep her for six years, but it was good to hear him say it.
Needing some kind of contact with him, she reached out and ran a light touch over the bond, imagining that she was running her hand through his hair.
I know, my Doctor.
She felt the briefest sensation of a kiss being pressed to her temple, and then the bond settled into the background of her mind as he focused on finding a way back to her.
Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then looked at Milo and asked, "How far down is it to this fast lane?"
"Oh, it's right at the bottom, underneath the traffic jam," he said, steering them in between rows of cars. "But not many people can afford three passengers, so it's empty down there. Rumour has it you can reach up to thirty miles per hour."
Rose rubbed at her forehead. "Impressive," she muttered. She looked around at the back of the car. "So how are you going to live in here for the next six years?"
"Oh, we stocked up." Cheen turned around in her seat and started pointing out supplies. "Got self-replicating fuel, muscle stimulants for exercise, and there's a chemical toilet at the back. And all waste products are recycled as food."
"Ah." Rose wouldn't throw the food away, not knowing when she'd get anything else, but she stuck it in her pocket to be eaten only when she was famished.
"Oh, another gap. This is brilliant," Milo exclaimed.
"Car sign in," the computer requested.
"Car Four Six Five Diamond Six, on descent to fast lane, thank you very much."
"Please drive safely."
oOoOoOoOo
The Doctor went numb for a moment. Trapped in a car without Rose and no obvious way out for six months.
Reluctantly, he reached out for her, taking what comfort he could in their bond. Rose, my rescue plans have hit a snag.
He felt her sigh. Tell me about it. Milo and Cheen have promised to let me go in six years.
Every muscle in the Doctor's body stiffened and he had to press his lips together to withhold a vehement denial. Six months would be difficult enough; he would not leave her trapped in that tiny car with her kidnappers for six years.
I won't make you wait that long. I swear, Rose—I'll find you before then.
He held his breath, hoping the promise would be enough for Rose. A moment later, he felt her hand card through his hair and he had to press his lips together to hold back a sigh.
I know, my Doctor.
He returned her telepathic caress with a soft kiss, and then, as much as he hated to do it, he pulled back from their connection so he could focus on finding her.
The Doctor looked around the car, searching for a way to contact the outside world. If Brannigan and Valerie had been on the motorway for twelve years and still hadn't reached their destination, the Doctor would need other help to get to Rose. Without asking, he pointed the sonic at the screen of the onboard communication system, dialling the New Earth version of 999.
The police department logo appeared on the screen, and he spoke into the radio. "I need to talk to the police."
"Thank you for your call," the automated system said. "You have been placed on hold."
He rested his forehead against the side of the car. "But you're the police."
"Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold."
He dropped the radio and turned back to his hosts, nearly hitting the mobile hanging from the ceiling. "Is there anyone else? I once met the Duke of Manhattan. Is there any way of getting through to him?"
Brannigan and Valerie shared a look. "Oh now, ain't you lordly?" he said.
The Doctor raked his hands through his hair. "I've got to find Rose."
"You can't make outside calls." Valerie put a gentle hand on his wrist and pulled his hand away from his head. "The motorway's completely enclosed."
"What about the other cars?" Martha suggested, just seconds before the Doctor was going to ask the same thing.
Brannigan nodded. "Oh, we've got contact with them, yeah. Well, some of them, anyway. They've got to be on your friends list." He turned around and looked at the screen on the control panel that listed nearby cars. "Now, let's see. Who's nearby? Ah, the Cassini sisters!"
He tapped their car number, and a picture of two older women popped up on the screen. "Still your hearts, my handsome girls," he said into the radio. "It's Brannigan here."
"Get off the line, Brannigan," a woman ordered. "You're a pest and a menace."
"Oh, come on, now, sisters," Brannigan wheedled. "Is that any way to talk to an old friend?"
"You know full well we're not sisters," she retorted. "We're married."
Brannigan leaned back in his seat. "Ooo, stop that modern talk. I'm an old-fashioned cat. Now, I've got a hitchhiker here, calls himself the Doctor."
The Doctor bent over the front seats and took the radio from Brannigan. "Hello. Sorry. I'm looking for someone called Rose Tyler. She's been carjacked. She's inside one of these vehicles, but I don't know which one."
"Wait a minute," a second voice requested. "Could I ask, what entrance did they use?"
The Doctor held his finger off the button and looked down at Brannigan. "Where were we?"
"Pharmacy Town."
"Pharmacy Town, about twenty minutes ago," the Doctor told them.
"Let's have a look."
"Just my luck to marry a car-spotter," the first woman said, and the Doctor felt a pang at the indulgent exasperation in her voice. It was a tone he knew very well; these two women were clearly married, no matter what Brannigan thought about that.
"In the last half hour, fifty-three new cars joined from the Pharmacy Town junction."
The Doctor rested his forehead on the hand holding the radio for a moment, then asked. "Anything more specific?"
"All in good time," she chided. "Was she carjacked by two people?"
His hearts leapt. Of course that detail would matter. "Yes, she was, yeah."
"There we are. Just one of those cars was destined for the fast lane. That means they had three on board. And the car number is four six five diamond six."
"That's it! So how do we find them?"
"Ah," she said regretfully. "Now there I'm afraid I can't help."
The Doctor looked down at Brannigan. "Call them on this thing. We've got their number. Diamond six."
"But not if they're designated fast lane." Brannigan shook his head. "It's a different class."
"You could try the police," the woman said over the radio.
The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose. "They put me on hold."
"You'll have to keep trying," the other Mrs. Cassini told him. "There's no one else."
"Thank you."
oOoOoOoOo
Rose watched through the front window as they moved downward through the layers of traffic.
"See?" Milo said, pointing to the screen on the the control panel that showed their movement. "Another ten layers to go. We're scorching."
A ominous growl sounded through the motorway, and Rose looked at her companions to see how they were reacting. Milo and Cheen both had nervous looks on their faces that didn't exactly encourage Rose.
"What's that?" she asked. They heard the growl again, and she picked up the direction this time. "It's coming from underneath."
"It's that noise, isn't it?" Cheen asked. "It's like Kate said. The stories, they're true."
Oh, fan-bloody-tastic. Stories. "What stories?" Rose asked out loud.
Milo rolled his eyes. "It's thesound of the air vents, that's all." He looked at Rose over his shoulder. "The exhaust fumes travel down, so at the base of the tunnel they've got air vents."
Rose immediately saw a logical flaw in that reasoning: if there were air vents down below, why was the exhaust getting worse instead of better? She kept that thought to herself for the moment though.
"No, but the stories are much better," Cheen said, apparently forgetting that she'd been worried just a moment ago. She turned around and shot Rose a conspiratorial smile. "They say people go missing on the motorway. Some cars just vanish, never to be seen again, because there's something living down there in the smoke." Some of the flippant humour left her voice, and with each word, she sounded more afraid. "Something huge and hungry. And if you get lost on the road, it's waiting for you."
There was a long, tense pause, and then Milo broke it. "But like I said. Air vents." He put the car back in gear. "Going down to the next layer."
"I hope they're air vents, Milo, because I didn't come this far from home to die in a tunnel in a tiny car." Rose glanced out the window. "But does it look like air vents are working to you?"
"No," Cheen said, sounding properly frightened now.
The noises from the bottom of the tunnel got louder, and Rose looked over at Milo. "Then what's down there?"
For a moment, he looked like he was thinking about it, then she watched him shove the fear aside and laugh. "Nah. Kid stuff." He picked up the radio. "Car four six five diamond six, on descent."
Rose fought to bring her fear under control. She needed the Doctor to remain level-headed, which meant being as vague with the details as possible. Still, as she stared out the window and watched layers of traffic go by, there was a strong feeling in her gut telling her this was the last thing they should be doing.
oOoOoOoOo
There was an obvious solution no one had suggested yet. "We've got to go to the fast lane," the Doctor said. "Take me down."
"Not in a million years," Brannigan said flatly.
"You've got three passengers." Brannigan's expression didn't change, so the Doctor tried again. "Mrs. Cassini said there's no one else, but that's not true. There's me," he said. "I promised Rose I'd get her out."
"That's your promise," Brannigan said. "I'm still not going."
The Doctor ground his teeth together. "Brannigan, she's my wife. What would you do if carjackers had taken Valerie?"
Brannigan wasn't moved by his appeal. "What if our positions were reversed, and I asked you to risk Rose to rescue Valerie?"
"She'd be the first to tell me to do it," the Doctor said honestly.
"That's a no," Valerie said fiercely. "And that's final. I'm not risking the children down there."
Risking… "Why not? What's the risk?" He looked back and forth at the couple, fear growing in the pit of his stomach. He should have known carjackers were the least of their concerns. "What happens down there?"
She shook her head angrily. "We're not discussing it. The conversation is closed."
"So we keep on driving," Martha said.
Brannigan stared straight out the windscreen, purposely not looking at either of them. "Yes, we do."
"For how long?" the Doctor demanded, their pigheaded blindness to the truth frustrating him.
"Till the journey's end."
The Doctor eyed Brannigan, then picked up the radio. "Mrs. Cassini, this is the Doctor. Tell me, how long have you been driving on the motorway?"
"Oh, we were amongst the first," she said. "It's been twenty-three years now."
"And in all that time, have you ever seen a police car?"
Brannigan and Valerie looked at him, both afraid and shocked that he would voice the unspoken truth.
"I'm not sure," her wife said hesitantly, but the Doctor heard the note of fear in her voice.
He held Brannigan's gaze, daring him to say he was wrong. "Look at your notes. Any police?"
"Not as such."
"Or an ambulance?" he suggested. "Rescue service? Anything official. Ever?"
"I can't keep a note of everything." The woman sounded flustered and frightened.
"What if there's no one out there?" the Doctor suggested darkly.
Brannigan grabbed the radio out of his hand. "Stop it. The Cassinis were doing you a favour."
The Doctor didn't back down. He leaned towards Brannigan and whispered furiously. "Someone's got to ask, because you might not talk about it, but it's there—in your eyes. What if the traffic jam never stops?"
"Doctor…" Martha said, but he ignored her, focusing on the driver who was refusing to take him to Rose.
Brannigan tried to laugh, but it came out more as a stuttered sigh. "There's a whole city above us. The mighty city state of New New York. They wouldn't just leave us."
"In that case, where are they, hmm? What if there's no help coming, not ever? What if there's nothing? Just the motorway, with the cars going round and round and round and round, never stopping. Forever."
"Shut up!" Valerie ordered. "Just shut up!"
The Doctor blinked at her, realising for the first time that she was just a frightened mother. Before he could say anything to apologise, or to explain, static buzzed over the monitor.
"This is Sally Calypso, and it's that time again. The sun is blazing high in the sky over the New Atlantic, the perfect setting for the daily contemplation."
Brannigan took a deep breath. "You think you know us so well, Doctor. But we're not abandoned. Not while we have each other."
"This is for all of you out there on the roads," Sally said. "We're so sorry. Drive safe."
An old Earth hymn started playing over the radio waves, and Brannigan and Valerie both joined in. The Doctor looked at them for a moment, and then, to his surprise, he heard a third voice behind him.
Martha had put the kitten down, and she looked at him sympathetically as she sang.
"On a hill, far away, stood an old, rugged cross,
the emblem of suffering and shame.
And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners was slain.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down.
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown."
oOoOoOoOo
In retrospect, Rose realised the daily contemplation shouldn't have surprised her. No matter where they were, humans tended to band together in difficult times. Clearly, those trapped on the motorway were no different.
She didn't know the words to the song, but the tune was beautiful and soon she was humming along.
Cheen looked at her when the song ended. "You have a beautiful voice, Rose."
The computer interrupted Rose's thank you. "Fast lane access. Please drive safely."
"We made it," Milo said. "The fast lane." He steered the car downward, and despite not wanting to panic the Doctor, Rose couldn't help but send a plea for him to come quickly.