Spoilers for: The Time of the Doctor

Disclaimer: Don't own Thor or Doctor Who

Chapter 2 – Never Let Me Down

Loki sucked in a deep breath, fighting the urge to cough as his lungs filled with Svartalfheim dust. His hands reached for his abdomen, feeling for a wound – but found nothing. His clothes were still torn and sticky with blood, but there was no evidence of the mortal wound.

"I knew there was a reason I kept those things. You never know when you need to bring a friend back from the brink of death."

"Not the brink," Loki growled. He looked up and saw the face – well, one of the faces – he had been expecting to see. "You should know, being a Doctor and all."

"I thought I told you my doctorate was only honorary?"

The Doctor placed a hand on his shoulder as he pushed himself into a sitting position. The movement made his head swim; he raised a hand to his temple.

"Doctor, what have you done?"

Loki froze. Lowering his hand to his lap, he looked up and saw that there was someone else there, standing just behind the Doctor: a tall woman with wild hair and a terrified but angry expression on her face.

The Doctor turned to her. "I brought him back."

She shook her head slightly and looked for all the world like she wanted to back away from the scene before her.

"Time can't be rewritten. You know that better than anyone."

"This isn't rewriting time. I can sense when something is fixed, and not only is this not, but it was never supposed to happen in the first place."

The woman raised her brow at the Doctor. "And you're sure about that, are you?"

The Doctor looked back at Loki. "Positive."

Loki sneered and pushed himself to his feet. The Doctor stood as well.

"Well, as soon as the two of you stop gawping at me, I think I'll…"

He trailed off, coming to a sudden realisation.

He had nowhere to go.

If he went back to Asgard, he would just be sent straight back to his cell. He could go somewhere else, but he couldn't stand the thought of the possibility of getting stuck in the Void again. He wouldn't always have the Doctor around to pull him from that particular fate.

Loki turned to the Doctor. "Why did you save me?"

The Doctor's eyes darkened. "I owe you," he answered simply. "Why are you here?"

"The Aether was released. Jane Foster found it, and Malekith was after her. She had to be brought to safety, so Thor and I came here to get Malekith to release the Aether from her so that we could destroy it." Loki winced. "We failed."

"And you were killed."

Loki glared at the Doctor. He turned to the woman instead. "And who might you be?"

The woman took a moment to look affronted, but then extended her hand to Loki. "Professor River Song."

Loki took it, bringing it a little closer before he caught a glare directed at him from the Doctor, and he thought better of it.

"I know who you are," River interrupted as she brought her hand back, interrupting Loki as he opened his mouth to introduce himself. "I was hoping on meeting you today, though I was hoping you'd be a little less… undead."

The Doctor sighed. "He's not undead. This is why you shouldn't study archaeology. You don't get taught about nanogenes studying archaeology."

"Well, you didn't even pass your exams at the academy. Not the first time, anyway."

The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"I should never have let you read my two hundred year diary."

He turned back to Loki. "The question is, why were you helping Thor at all? I was under the impression that the two of you didn't get along anymore."

Loki was afraid that the Doctor would try to pull at that particular thread. He must have known what had happened; it had been a previous version of himself the last time, at least. He shot the Doctor a pointed look, and hoped that the Time Lord would understand.

The Doctor's eyes darkened. "Frigga."

Loki looked away sharply, forcing the memory of the guard's words from his brain. When he was slightly more composed, he rounded on the Doctor.

"You said you owe me."

The Doctor nodded. "Indeed I do. I still do."

Loki chuckled. "Is bringing me back from the dead not enough?"

"I fear not."

Loki snorted. "I hardly believe that. Though if you're still looking for ways to repay me, I would appreciate transportation from this godforsaken realm."

The Doctor gave Loki a sad smile. "Oh, I can do more than that."

The Doctor walked back off towards the TARDIS, with River and Loki following obediently behind. The Doctor ignored all of Loki's attempts to find out what he was planning, instead giving him a wry smile and continuing on his way.

The journey within the time ship was as disastrous and dangerous as Loki had always remembered. The ship shook violently, and even his strongest grip on the rails was not enough to keep him upright the entire time.

As they landed and he picked himself up off of the floor, he glared at River, who had, annoyingly, managed to remain completely balanced since they had taken off.

The Doctor pulled the last lever with a final flourish and ran for the door. As Loki and River tried to follow him, he held his hand up at them.

"I just have some quick business to attend to. I'll be back before you know it."

River scoffed, crossing her hands over her chest. "You know, I don't like being told what to do."

"No one worth their salt ever does." The Doctor smiled as he closed the door behind him.

Loki grit his teeth, staring at the closed door of the TARDIS. His hands balling into fists at his sides, he made to follow. He was stopped when a hand reached out to his chest.

"Not a good idea. The man may act like an idiot most of the time, but there are occasions when he knows what he's doing. He'll be back. This is his home, after all." River lowered her hand and stared wistfully up at the ceiling of the control room. "The only other woman he loves more than me."

An almost smug hum filled the room, and River's lip curled.

Loki turned to her fully, taking her in properly for the first time. She was certainly confident, and held herself in a certain way that spelled nothing but danger. Even so, something didn't quite add up…

"I thought the Doctor loved another."

River rounded on Loki, raising her brow. "Not at the moment. I am not so naïve to think I am the first, but I am the current, and that is enough for me. When you live as long as the Doctor, you get to know quite a few people."

"How old is he now?"

"He claims to be just over 1100. I doubt it, though. When I look in his eyes… I see so much more time. Far too much time."

"But he'll just keep changing and living on."

River shook her head. "Not now. This is his last face. He told me a while ago. He still has some regeneration energy, or at least he did. Not enough to completely change again, and he probably has nothing now." River lifted her hand, bending her wrist back and forth a couple of times. "The stupid fool."

Suddenly, the door to the TARDIS opened loudly, banging against the wall before being slammed shut again. The Doctor ran over to the console and began to flick the controls again. Loki made his way over to the railing to hold on for dear life.

It wasn't too long before the ship landed again. The Doctor was more solemn by this point; he stared at the ground, letting out a small sigh before he straightened himself up from where he was leaning against the control panel.

He gestured for Loki to leave first.

The trickster obeyed, curiosity getting the better of his frustration. He opened the door carefully and stepped out.

He faltered.

They were on a high ledge over a waterfall. At the banks, some hundreds of feet from where they stood, a boat was being pushed out.

Loki's knees felt weak, and if it weren't for the Doctor's hand dropping onto his shoulder a moment later, he felt that he would have fallen.

"Is that…" Loki breathed, staring at the boat as it neared where they were standing.

"Yes."

Loki gulped down the painful lump in his throat, though he couldn't stop the tears from falling. A flaming arrow soared through the sky and ignited the boat as it continued on its way towards the waterfall. It was followed by hundreds more: the other casualties of Asgard's brief but devastating battle with Malekith.

Loki only had eyes for one.

It floated off of the edge of the waterfall, though gravity soon took hold and pulled the boat down; its contents exploded into an uncountable number of glorious shining lights which drifted up into the dark sky.

On the banks, people began letting go of glowing spheres.

The Doctor patted Loki on the shoulder, but he couldn't look away from the scene before him.

"Loki," the Doctor said softly.

Reluctantly, Loki turned his head. The Doctor was holding a ball out to him.

"Go ahead," the Doctor told him softly.

With a grateful nod, Loki took the ball from the Doctor and lifted it to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss against it before releasing it into the sky. It floated up and out of sight.

When it was all over, the Doctor steered Loki gently back to the TARDIS, and took off once more.

Once the ship had landed, a moment passed in silence before Loki spoke.

"Where are we?"

The Doctor looked up from the control panel. "Exactly where we were before, the day that River and I were having our picnic on Asgard." He rolled up his sleeve and checked the watch on his wrist. "We should be heading to the palace to find you're not in your cell right now."

Loki's brow furrowed. "You are returning me to Asgard? For what purpose?"

"You don't have to stay here. I know you know other ways than the TARDIS to get to other worlds if you want. But right now, out there, they all think you're dead. Or at least, they will do pretty soon, if you want them to."

Loki's breath quickened. He tilted his head slightly and took a half-step away from the Doctor. "What are you saying?"

The Doctor sighed and ran a hand over his face. Suddenly Loki could see all of the years that were under the Doctor's belt: he looked so old – too old.

The Time Lord walked around the control panel and placed his hands on Loki's shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Loki, this is the last time you'll see me. I had wished that it would have been under better circumstances, but I hope that you can forgive me for all I've done to you. I won't have another face after this. This is my last life. I'm truly glad to have known you. But I want… no, I need you to do something for me."

The Doctor licked his lips and tightened his grip on Loki's shoulders.

He smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes.

"I want you to start over. Make your life what you want it to be. Don't run into Thanos again. Be the boy I saw all that time ago in the library in the palace. Please, will you do this for me?"

Loki could barely remember what it had been like to be that person, who had only wanted to escape from training by hiding out in the library. It seemed like such a trivial problem now, compared to all that he had had to deal with since…

Yet staring at the Doctor's eyes now, and seeing the pain and age within them, he couldn't help but think that all the problems he'd had since then were just as trivial.

But what would he do without them?

"I will," he told the Doctor, and for a second, he almost saw the Time Lord's smile reach his eyes.

"Excellent."

The Doctor pulled Loki into a hug. "I'm so proud of you. I hope you're happy, in the end."

Loki found himself returning the embrace with fervour. Over the Doctor's shoulder, he saw River give him a wink.

"I hope so too."

A.N.: There is only one more story in the series after this! It's been a long time coming, so I hope you enjoy it.

UPDATE 13/06/2016: The last part of the Loki and the Doctor series, The Flaw in the Calculations, has been posted.