Green Eyes
"Come on, aren't you going to ask?" The Doctor grinned at his companion. "You know you want to." He taunted.
Rose fought to hide her own grin. "And what if I don't?"
The Doctor continued flitting around the console, twisting knobs and pressing buttons. "Oh, come on, just ask already!"
"All right, all right!" Rose laughed, leaning on the railing. "Where are we going this time?"
"There it is!" The Doctor beamed. "And to answer your question, Miss Tyler, we're going to Jotunheim!"
Rose wrinkled her nose. That was not the answer she was expecting. "Yoda-what? Is this another Star Wars thing?"
The Doctor laughed. "No, no, not Yoda, Jotun. The Jotuns are a species. The y live on Jotunheim, a planet that's completely frozen. They're blue!" He seemed inordinately pleased with this fact.
Rose shrugged and smiled. "Then to the ice Avatars we go!"
"To the Frost Giants!"
And with that, the Tardis went spinning through the Vortex, getting closer and closer to an event that would change her occupants' lives forever.
*dun dun dun*
Rose stepped carefully out of the Tardis, hands deep in the pockets of her parka. "Brr." She turned to the Doctor. "You weren't kidding about the ice thing."
"Yeah." He whispered. "Stay close."
They picked their way carefully over the frozen ground, navigating through seemingly organic ice formations.
They finally reached their destination, the old temple. Though somewhat in ruins, the central courtyard was whole, a ring of columns surrounding an altar made of stones. Everything was covered in a thin sheen of sparkling ice, the beauty belying its true purpose.
Rose looked around the empty space. "Aren't we supposed to be rescuing someone?"
The Doctor shushed her. "Not just yet. We're just here to make sure someone doesn't get eaten so someone else can rescue that someone."
"An indirect rescue, then. Where do we start?"
"Well, first we need to set these," the Doctor brandished four tripods with small devices on top. "force-field generators up around the temple courtyard. We'll wait to switch them on until the baby gets here though."
Rose grabbed two tripods. "Wait, what baby?"
"The baby we'll be rescuing, of course. The Jotuns-" He pulled a coil of wire out of his pocket and began to unroll it. "The Jotuns are a rather harsh people. They're a race of warrior giants, about 9 feet average. However, due to cross-breeding with other species', sometimes they're born short a few feet. The Jotuns consider these runts, and leave them to die."
"That's horrible!"
"And all in the name of racial purity."
"Bet they'd be best buds with Hitler."
"No kidding." The Doctor set up the first tripod and began attaching the end of the wire.
"So why this particular baby?"
The Doctor walked backwards, spooling the wire out from the first corner. Rose followed with the remaining corners.
"Well, this baby is the son of the Jotun king, Laufey. Normally this would save a runt, but he's also, unfortunately, a third son."
Rose wrinkled her nose as she handed the Doctor the next piece. "So we're saving him because he's royalty? That doesn't seem right."
The Doctor glanced up from his sonic-ing to roll his eyes. "No, we're not saving him because he's a prince. We're saving him on principle. And we're saving him in this convoluted fashion because he has a particularly important future. He is adopted by Odin, the King of Asgard, in," he checked his watch. "thirty-seven minutes."
"Is Asgard nearby?" Rose handed over the third post.
"Not exactly. The Asgardians have this device, called the Bifrost. It basically sucks you up like a straw and spits you out on another planet. They can only reach 8 other inhabited planets with it, the ones in range. So 'close' is relative"
"Is Earth one of those eight planets?"
The Doctor took the last tripod. "It is, actually, though they call it Midgard. I'm afraid they think humans are rather backwards. Another reason to save Loki, he impacts Earth quite a bit later in his life."
Rose stepped back as the Doctor secured the last post. "Loki? Like the Viking mythology Loki?"
The Doctor grinned as he pocketed the screwdriver. "That's the one."
Rose smiled. "Cool. So what exactly are we saving him from?"
Suddenly, they heard a quiet shuffling from the road. They both ducked behind a bit of broken wall to watch. A tall figure, hunched over the cloth bundle in their arms, came jogging down the path. They headed straight for the courtyard, not noticing the cleverly hidden force-field generators.
"We'll wait until he puts little Loki down." Whispered the Doctor. "Then we'll connect the last bit as soon as he leaves."
They watched as the blue person set the bundle gingerly in the middle of the columns, then strode out as if they hadn't just condemned an innocent child to death.
The Doctor waited until the Jotun turned a corner, then he ran for the first tripod, uncoiling the wire frantically.
"We need to get this thing on before the Vargr get here!"
Rose rushed after him. "What are the Vargr?"
The Doctor slid to his knees and began frantically wrapping wire around the top of the device. "Wolves. Big, scary, hungry wolves. They're another result of Jotuns breeding with other species."
Rose blinked in surprise as she stepped over the wire into the protected square. "They can have wolf-kids?"
The Doctor whipped out his sonic and began activating the device. "With trolls! Weird, right?"
Rose huffed a laugh, glancing behind her at the baby that was beginning to stir. "Doctor?"
"There, all finished!" he said, stepping back with a flourish.
"Doctor? What about Loki?"
The Doctor turned around, a regretful look on his face. "I'm sorry, Rose, but we can't do anything more. We're just going to have to wait until Odin gets here."
Rose winced as Loki began to cry in earnest. The Doctor placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She relaxed slightly as they walked closer to the little prince. Stopping a few feet away, the Doctor cautioned Rose once more.
"We can't touch him. The Jotuns are survivors by nature, and we know Loki has considerable magic. He can change his appearance, and we don't want to do anything to interfere with his 'adoption'."
A small wistful smile graced her face. "As long as he'll be happy. Is Odin a good father to him?"
The Doctor grimaced. "As good a father as he can be. I'm afraid he is a bit distant to Loki, favoring his two natural sons. But!" The Doctor spoke up as Loki's wails escalated. "But his mother loves him immensely. I met the Queen once. She turned me into a frog. I suppose I deserved it, but still, a bit rude-"
"Doctor!"
Rose broke the Doctor off before the rant could begin in earnest to point at a distant shape. Crouched low to the ground, its eyes glowed a pale luminous green.
"Is that one of the Vargr?" Rose asked quietly.
The Doctor squinted resignedly at it for a few moments before answering. "Yes." He confirmed. "That is a Varg."
An eerie howl rang out, sounding vaguely human. Rose shuddered. How the cute baby behind her could be one of these monsters was beyond her.
"They're not really monsters, Rose."
Rose started, not realizing she'd spoken aloud. The Doctor continued.
"The Vargr are outcasts amoung their own race, just like the Jotun runts. The difference is, the Vargr are strong, and can survive being abandoned in the wastelands."
"How can they survive? Do they have packs like wolves?"
The Doctor winced as a particularly piercing bay reached them. "Normally, yes. In better conditions, the Vargr have a hierarchical society that functions a bit like a wolf pack. But here," he glanced around. "Here it's kill or be killed. They do anything to survive, even if that means becoming like animals."
Rose looked sadly at the growing number of shapes in the distance. "Makes you feel sorry for them, don't it?"
The Doctor merely nodded, and a tense quarter hour began. The Vargr hid behind ice formations and broken rock, making quick forays at the protected courtyard. Each time one would be kept out, they would wait a few moments, then another would try. Rose could see the intelligence in their eyes, and the desperation. They snapped when another Varg got too close, and continually tried to get past the energy shield, one at a time. The Doctor put his arm around Rose's shoulders as the howling increased.
Just as the cries were reaching fever pitch, silence fell. The frantic movements stilled, and the Vargr began to slink away from the ruins. Rose was puzzled, until the Doctor suddenly let go of her and ran to the wire connecting two of the tripods.
"Rose!" he whisper-shouted. "When I say run, run."
Rose made her way to the edge closest to the Tardis, ready to bolt. She glanced back at the still squalling Loki, and made a quick decision. She ran back to the bundled up baby, tugging on her finger as she went.
"Rose!" the Doctor hissed. "What are you doing?"
Rose finally succeeded in pulling the ring off her finger. It was a plain gold band, with only a small green gem to adorn it. She had picked it up in an open air market on some planet they had visited, but wasn't super attached to it. It was a bit large on her, even on her thumb, and she hoped it would fit Loki even as a child. There were no special blankets, or trinkets, or anything around Loki of his past. Rose hoped this one gift would bring some comfort in regards to his origins. Ignoring the Doctor's quiet shouts, she tucked the band next to him, careful not to touch his bare skin.
"Good luck, Loki."
Rose hurried over to the Doctor, who was nearly frantic by now.
"Come on!" he gritted, using his sonic to cut the wire. He soniced it one more time and it began disintegrated back on itself like a burning wick. The two adventurers ran to the Tardis, not bothering to be careful about where they stepped now. They skidded behind the large chunk of ice just as Odin came into view.
"Ew." Rose got out between puffs. "He's all bloody and gross. Has he been in a battle or something?"
She was right. Though majestic, the king was covered in gore, his cloak leaving a red trail as it dragged the ground behind him.
The Doctor nodded. "The last great war between Asgard and Jotunheim. There will be an uneasy peace between the two for the next 3,000 years."
Rose sniffed. "I'm glad Loki won't have to grow up in wartime." She looked close to tears.
The Doctor took her hand as Odin bent to pick up the child. "Loki is going to be just fine, see?"
Rose watched as the king used the less bloody inside of his cloak to wrap up the now pale-skinned baby. The Doctor watched drops of blood like tears drip from Odin's wounded eye. He reflected for a moment that Jotuns and Aesirs both bled red before continuing.
"He's going to grow up in a loving home, with everything he could ask for." The cries of little Loki faded as Odin walked back the way he came. "What did you go back for, anyways."
Rose calmed herself a bit, answering, "I gave him that ring I bought on Yavin IV. Don't worry!" she interjected before the Doctor could. "I didn't touch his skin. I just thought he might need something to hold onto." The Doctor could tell she didn't just mean as a teething ring.
"Ah, that's my Rose. Always so domestic."
Rose smiled. "I think we all need a little domestics sometimes." She shivered. "Speaking of, I think some tea is in order after all our hard work."
The Doctor grinned. "You just might be onto something there, Miss Tyler."
"Lead the way then, Good Doctor."
Rose turned to stare after the now far-away figure before closing the door. Her eyes flashed green for a moment in the waning light.
"Good luck, Loki."
Sorry to have put my other stories on hold, but when the plot bunny strikes... And anyways, I'm really pleased with this fic. I think I like it better than any I've written yet. I hope you liked it!
I pictured the 10th Doctor when I wrote this, just because 10/Rose is just such a good dynamic, but any Doctor will work here. Well, 9, 10, or 11, anyways. I took a few liberties with Marvel canon in this fic, just because the original mythology is so fascinating. I don't want to Hermoine you too much here, so I'll just tell you to go Wikipedia it. Go Wikipedia it.
This is my first crossover and my first oneshot, so let me know what you think.
Until next time,
Citiesofowls