Does That Cat Have An Irish Accent?

Hello. 'Tis me. Right, okay, let's get this clear. I was not intending to make this
a series three with Rose series. It has developed into this, though, even though I didn't intend for it to happen.
This like that happen when you are writing. It will stop being series three at some point soon, when Rose has the baby.
It may or may not go back to series three once she has the baby, simply because
I really really want to do Blink with Rose. I may do some and not others. Butyeah … some people have been PMing me saying
'you said it wasn't a series three with Rose' and the like and I just wanted it to be cleared up.
Rant over =) Really hope you enjoy the chapter.

The first words out of Rose's mouth were pretty predictable, on many accounts.

"Why the hell do you always take us places where it rains?"

Rose had a scowl on her face as she buried her face deeper into the neck of her jumper to try and keep the rain from battering her face, not to mention her face was quickly going numb with the cold. Martha had zipped her leather jacket right up to her neck, her arms crossed around her chest, a deep line in her forehead as she struggled to see through the sheets of rain. The Doctor seemed indifferent to the cold.

"Will this help?" he asked cheerfully, waving the bit of metal around. Rose just shook her head in mirth, while Martha looked at him with an expression which clearly told him she thought he was mental. He struggled to get it back into the TARDIS, the doors not giving enough room for manoeuvre with metal poles.

"Anyway! A little bit of rain never hurt anyone! C'mon, let's get under cover before you look like drowned rats!" he said, grabbing Rose's hand and tugging her along the alleyway where they had parked.

"Year five billion and fifty-three, planet New Earth! Second hope of mankind! Fifty thousand light years from your old world, Martha, and we're slap bang in the middle of New New York. Although, technically it's the fifteenth New York from the original," the Doctor and Rose shared a smile, "So it's New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York. One of the most dazzling cities ever built."

"Time Lord version of dazzling, is it?" Martha said, rolling her eyes. "Loving the décor," she added, as they ran past overflowing bins and dirty streets. Rose kept quiet, as it wasn't all that different from parts of London where she had grown up. Obviously Martha was from a wealthier family, she almost seemed to look down on the dirt on the street with disgust.

"Same old Earth to me, on a Wednesday afternoon," Rose said.

"Looks like it." The Doctor's reply was short as he took in his surroundings.

"What happened to the New Earth we went to, Doctor?" Rose said, quietly.

"Hold on, what's that?" the Doctor asked the two women, pointing to what looked like a dead screen embedded in the wall. He ran over and pointed the sonic at it, the screen coming alive and into focus. "Let's have a look," he said, as he pounded the wall, the screen sharpening.

A woman - Sally Calypso, apparently - was giving a traffic report. The view switched from her to the same place Rose and the Doctor had went last time, showing the hill and the vehicles zooming overhead.

"Ah, that's more like it! That's where we went last time, wasn't it, Rose? This must be the lower levels, like some kind of under city," he trailed off, turning away from the screen to have a closer look at his surroundings.

Martha had a disgusted look on her face. "You brought me to the slums?" she said, indignantly and with disgust. Rose's opinion of Martha dropped slightly. She'd been brought up in an area that wasn't all that different to here, or at least what she could see of it - and Rose didn't like anyone criticizing where she'd been raised, some had called it the slums. Rose could imagine lots of worse places that could be defined as slums, not this place. This was just … the not-so-pleasant area of town. Rose could imagine, just from the way Martha talked and dressed and her good grades, Martha living in a nice four bedroomed semi-detached house with a large garden and garage and all the things Rose didn't have as a child.

The Doctor turned to Martha. "Much more interesting! It's all cocktails and glitter up there! This, this is the real city!" he said, and Rose beamed at him.

"Yeah - they are all stuck-ups up there." Rose pointed upwards, as if the city was literally one floor above them.

"You guys would enjoy anything, would you?" Martha's voice was slightly disbelieving.

"That's us! And the rain's stopping! Better and better … " he trailed off, looking around at the stalls. There was scrabbling coming from the stalls.

"What is going on?" Rose said, turning around as well, as a man flipped open the top of a large green box to reveal a vendor's cart. He was smiling away happily, and started shouting to them. Others around them were beginning to do the same.

"Oh! You should have said. How long you been there? Happy! You want Happy!"

"Customers! Customers! We've got customers!"

"We're in business! Mother, open up the Mellow, and the Read!"

"Happy, Happy, lovely happy Happy!

"Anger! Buy some Anger!"

"Get some Mellow, makes you feel all bendy and soft all day long!"

"Younger, them. They'll rip you off. Do you want some happy?"

They all were shouting at once, their voices a blur. The Doctor had deep frown on his forehead.

"No thanks," he said, quietly. Martha turned to him, her expression shocked.

"Are they selling drugs?" she asked, bluntly.

"I think they are selling moods," he replied, his tone dark.

"Same thing, isn't it?"

While the trio had been alone for a while, a woman had also entered the fray. She looked bedraggled and had dark circles under her eyes. Rose thought she needed a good wash, a cup of tea and a full night's sleep.

The woman walked with intent towards one of the stalls.

"I want to buy Forget," she said, talking to one of the vendors.

"I've got Forget, my darling. What strength?"

"My parents went on the motorway," she said, as if this was a valid explanation. Apparently, it was.

"I'm sorry love," the vendor said, before withdrawing a small patch. "Try this - Forget 43. That's twopence."

The woman handed over the money to the vendor and reached up to apply the patch, but the Doctor was faster.

"Sorry - but wait a minute, what happened to your parents?"

"They drove off." Her reply was stiff.

"They might drive back," the Doctor reasoned, but the woman shook her head.

"Everyone goes to the motorway in the end. I've lost them."

Rose frowned. "But they can't have gone far, it's only the motorway. You can find them," she said, soothingly, trying to make the woman see sense. The woman just shrugged, and reached up the place the patch on her neck.

"No, no, don't!" the Doctor said, but he was too late; the woman had already stuck the patch on, and the effect was immediate. Her whole face seemed to glaze over, and she seemed serene almost, as if everything was perfect.

After a moment or two talking to her, in which she seemed to know nothing of her parents going to the motorway or the motorway at all, the Doctor turned to Rose and Martha, who both had slightly disgusted looks on their faces.

"So is that what the human race is like five billion years in the future. Off their heads on chemicals?" Martha said, disgust evident on her face. Unbeknown to her or Rose, who was standing beside her, two figures had emerged from the shadows. The taller one made to grab Rose, who was roughly pulled away from the figure by the Doctor. The taller one came into the light, showing he was a man of average height, settled for Martha instead, as the smaller one - a woman - shoved a gun in the Doctor's face, who was still holding Rose tightly to his side.

Martha was screaming and shouting, doing her very best to loosen her captor's hold on her. Unfortunately he was stronger, managing to keep her steady. They were quick as they dragged Martha off into an alleyway, the Doctor and Rose following them.

"I'm sorry, really sorry," the man who was holding Martha said. "We just need three, that's all! We just need three!"

"No, let her go!" Rose screamed, running after them as best she could with her hand in the Doctor's vice-like grip and a eight-month-along pregnancy bump. Fortunately her new Time Lady genes meant that she could run without causing herself or the baby any harm.

"I'm warning you, let her go! Whatever you want, we can help, the both of us," he gestured to himself and Rose, "We can help! But first you've got to let her go!"

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," the woman said, reached a large green door. The three passed through it, slamming it behind them just as the Doctor and Rose were pulling up.

"Damn it!" the Doctor said, fishing around in his jacket pocket for the sonic screwdriver, as Rose was wrestling with the heavy door to no avail.

"Finally," he said, pulling it out and running it up and down against the lock, a satisfying click audible as the door unlocked. But he just wasn't quick enough; a car, with Martha in it, was hovering before pulling away at the sight of the two time travellers.

"MARTHAAAAAAA!" they screamed together, but it was useless; their friend had been taken.

"Why?" the Doctor asked Rose, or at least Rose hoped he was asking her; the alleyway was deserted except from them. First sign of madness, talking to yourself. Or was that looking for hairs on your palm?

"Well I don't know!" Rose said, wondering how on Earth the Doctor expected her to know why they had taken Martha. "Maybe one of those guys would know," she added, pointing to one of the now-closed stalls.

The Doctor banged on a door-flap with his fist, impatience ringing in every thud. The flap opened, and the woman behind it's grumpy face vanished, replaced by a smile.

"Knew you two would be back," she said, winking. "Do you want some happy happy?"

Rose was getting annoyed. "Oi! These people took our friend and we want her back! Where did they take her?"

"They've taken her to the motorway," a man said as he too opened his door-flap, curious to what was going on, although he said his statement in a somewhat bored tone.

"Looked like carjackers to me," the woman agreed, nodding her head. "I'd give up now, if I were you. You won't see her again."

Another vendor opened up and joined in the conversation. The Doctor and Rose's heads whipped around to look. "Used to be thriving, this place. So packed you couldn't move. But they all go the motorway in the end."

The Doctor frowned. "But he kept saying something about three, 'we need three'. What did they mean by three?"

"Oh, that's the car-sharing policy, to save fuel," the first woman said. "You get special access if you are carrying three adults."

The Doctor looked at Rose, who knew immediately what he was thinking; she looked straight into his eyes and nodded once, sharply.

The Doctor turned to the vendors. "The motorway - how do we get there?"

"Straight down the alley, turn left, you can't miss it," the man said, watching with a curious look at the two strangers who had gone without missing a beat. He bit his lip and raised his eyebrows at his colleague, who only shrugged in response.

The green door was pretty hard to miss, Rose admitted, much to the fact that it had 'MOTORWAY ACCESS' written across it in bold script.

"I guess this is it, then," the Doctor said, and Rose looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "Was meant to be a joke," he added, trailing off. "Apparently no-one finds me funny anymore ..."

"You can be funny when we've found Martha, how about that?" Rose said, snapping a little; her pregnancy was making her quite impatient.

The Doctor nodded, sonicking the door open. They stepped out onto the platform and the effect was immediate; Rose's lungs felt like they were being pressed in a vice, due the lack of oxygen. Even the Doctor was coughing, but Rose was close to coughing up at least one of her lungs.

The reason why was clear; in front of the couple were a few thousand cars, all with jet-black, opaque exhaust fumes spewing out of them. It was the worst traffic jam Rose had ever seen. Maybe all those who complain about traffic jams on the M1 should come and see this, then maybe they wouldn't complain as much.

There was a car hovering in front of the couple, and the door slid open to reveal something clad in protective clothing, evidently to keep the fumes from effecting them.

"Hey! You daft little street struts! What are you doing, standing there? Either get yourselves out or get in!" it yelled, and the Doctor, coughing up a lung as well now while Rose was close to asphyxiation, guided Rose into the vehicle.

"Honestly, did you ever see the like?" the creature said, as a dark-haired woman in the car passed an oxygen mask to the Doctor; he immediately passed it to Rose, without taking a breath himself. Rose clutched onto it gratefully, taking a few moments of breaths before she pushed it to the Doctor, who only took three deep breaths before passing it to Rose. She shook her head, but didn't refuse; she knew that it was for the baby's benefit, and he knew that she would be arguing a lot more if she wasn't pregnant.

"Honestly, they were just standing there, breathing it in!" the creature continued, speaking to his companion. He was removing all the protective clothing to show he was a cat, not unlike the cat-people they had met last time on New Earth. The Doctor and Rose exchanged a glance that was missed by the cat and the woman; they were both still a bit apprehesive about cat-people after that little escapade. Then something, a thought, made it's way into Rose's mind, now able to develop now her oxygen levels were stable again … was it just her or did that cat have an Irish accent?

She felt better, much better, and she passed the oxygen mask to the Doctor, who breathed in the oxygen gratefully.

"There was this story," the cat was saying, evidently to all three of his passengers, "back in the old days. On Junction Forty-Seven I think it was, 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!"

Rose had a hard time not bursting into laughter, and she could see the Doctor using the oxygen mask as a cover. The cat seemed deadly serious, but the woman scoffed at him.

"You're making that up!" she said, hitting the cat on the arm, but the cat paid no attention to her. The Doctor passed the oxygen mask back to Rose, who sighed, but took it anyway.

"A fifty-foot head! Just think of it. Imagine picking that nose!" the cat said, and the Doctor was now silently laughing, but pressed his face into Rose's hair to hide it; she could feel his breath tickling her and struggled to keep it in.

"Stop it. That's disgusting," the woman said, swatting him again on the arm.

"What? Do you never pick your nose?" the cat challenged her, Rose now burying her face into the Doctor's shoulder to stop herself from laughing, but felt the Doctor's shoulder vibrate with his silent laughter.

Suddenly all joking was forgotten as the car in front moved, and the honking of horns sounded all around. "Bran, we're moving," the woman said, and 'Bran' pulled a lever before drawing it back a couple of seconds later.

"Twenty yards!" he exclaimed, seemingly delighted with this. "We're having a good day."

Rose really hoped he was joking.

'Bran' and the woman turned to the couple, who separated a little; the Doctor still kept one arm around Rose's waist and his left hand was clutched in her right. "And who might you be? Very well dressed for hitchhikers."

"Thanks," the Doctor said, nodding. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose."

"Medical man! Well, I'm Thomas Kincade Brannigan - you can call me Brannigan. And this is the bane of my life, the lovely Valerie."

Rose smiled. "Nice to meet you," she said, as Valerie repeated it back.

"And that's the rest of the family behind you," Brannigan said, gesturing to a curtain. The Doctor pulled it back to reveal a basket of kittens, meowing adorably.

"Aww, aren't they cute!" Rose cooed, picking up a black-and-white kitten and stroking it, the little kitty meowing and nuzzling her palm. The Doctor picked up a little black one which was nuzzling into his hand, and played with it for a moment.

Rose was feeling really maternal right now, being at around eight months pregnant (in the space of four months) and the Doctor estimated it wouldn't be long until she gave birth; he'd said 'any day, really' but that if it was anytime now then he or she would be premature. Of course, the Doctor was hesitant about Rose going off on adventures and the like, but he knew that she would be fine. Didn't stop him worrying though.

"How old are they?" the Doctor asked, stroking the kitten in his hands.

"Just two months," Valerie said, smiling.

"Poor little souls," Brannigan said, and Rose frowned at him. "Never known the ground beneath their paws."

"What?" the Doctor asked, puzzled.

"Children of the motorway," Brannigan said, as if this was all the explanation needed.

"What, they were born in here?" Rose said, shocked.

"We couldn't stop," Valerie explained, "We heard there was jobs going, out in the laundries on Fire Island. We thought we'd take the chance."

"You've been driving for two months?" the Doctor exclaimed, and Rose's eyes locked on his shocked face.

"Do I look like a teenager?" Brannigan said, although not rudely. "We've been driving for twelve years now."

Rose couldn't speak; her mouth had gone dry just thinking about it. Twelve years of driving? And she thought two months had been bad. Just how far away was this Fire Island?

"Twelve years?" the Doctor repeated, evidently in the same shock Rose was.

"Yeah! Started out as newlyweds. Feels like yesterday to me," Brannigan said with a wink. Rose still had a hard time focusing on the present time, whilst thinking that they'd been driving for over half her life.

"Feels like twelve years to me," Valerie said, and Rose turned to put the kitten back into it's basket, the Doctor doing the same.

"How far did you come?" Rose asked, her power of speech regained.

"We started at Battery Park. It's five miles back."

Rose just stared. She was getting worried now. How were they supposed to save Martha if they were trapped in here for another twelve years? More to the point, she was supposed to give birth in a month (well, the Doctor estimated a month, but who knows …) and she was not, under any circumstances, giving birth in this car. No way, Jose.

"You travelled five miles in twelve years?" the Doctor said incredulously, as he felt Rose squeeze his hand just a little bit tighter, if that was possible. She had it in a death grip. He was sure she'd be leaving bruises.

"I think he's a bit slow," Brannigan said, as the Doctor coughed.

"Where are you from?" Valerie asked, kindly, as the Doctor shook his head.

"Never mind that, I've got to get out. For two reasons. One; our friend has been taken hostage and is in one of these cars, so we've got to get to her. And two; if you hadn't noticed, Rose is about to give birth, and trust me, she isn't giving birth in here. Her mother would kill me."

Rose glared at him.

"Anyway … we better get back to the TARDIS," he concluded, opening the door to nothing. The little lay-by they had found themselves on was gone, and from a quick look back, it was a while back; roughly around twenty yards. Brilliant.

He closed the door again, coughing.

"You're a bit late for that. We've passed the lay-by," Brannigan said, a little too late. "You're a passenger now, Sonny Jim!"

"When's the next lay-by?" the Doctor said urgently, squeezing Rose's hand in reassurance, which was clutching onto his with a vice-like grip. She was obviously terrified, but Rose being the wonderful woman she was, didn't want show it.

"Oooh," Brannigan said, a finger to his chin in consideration. He pondered it over for a second before answering. "Six months?"

Oh, bollocks.