Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. They are the property of Marvel and of the Beeb. I wish they were, maybe in another life or a different universe. However, not in this one. Please leave a review if you have enjoyed what you have read. Thank you for taking the time to read my work
Glorious Purpose
Chapter 3
Loki hopped from one time period to another, it never took long for the TVA to catch up with her. Sometimes it was an hour or so, sometimes a few days, but they always found her. Wherever she went, she tried not to get involved with others in that time period. She didn't want what had happened to Sylvie and her family to happen to anyone else. Loki was now mourning her own family, and feeling a huge sense of guilt for what had happened to Sylvie. She stole food where ever she could find it, shelter was an ongoing problem too. On occasions she would also find herself in a location where a Blue Police Telephone Box also happened to be. She always stayed away from the man with the Blue Box, he'd noticed her in a way others hadn't. That was something she didn't need. She soon learnt that the best places to hide were the neglected places. Places where forgotten people survived, eking out an existence. These places seemed to allow longer before the TVA turned up, they also meant she could hide easier. The people in the forgotten places were too wrapped up in their own problems to notice someone out of the ordinary in the way that Sylvie had.
A few times during the early days Loki had returned home to Asgard. She had seen, though never interacted with, other Loki's. They had always been male, one had dark skin, another brawnier than Thor. She would spend her time within The Royal Palace of Valaskjalf, near her family. She feasted in their halls, listened to their stories, and invariably it ended up with the timeline being pruned. Loki couldn't bear returning to where she was not recognised and where she appeared to make things go wrong. She wasn't impressed by the other Loki's. They were whiney creatures who ever thought life was unfair or unkind to them, when it was themselves who were unfair and unkind to others. Often their tricks were malicious, cruel and hurtful to those unfortunate to experience them. Loki herself hadn't been this way, her tricks had been fun and light. She began to feel herself superior to the other Loki's she encountered and wished to distance herself from them.
Loki had been doing this for four years. She was worn out and traumatised with no space to figure out a plan other than to survive. She became bitter; rightfully blaming the TVA for removing her from her life and loving family. She wanted revenge but didn't know how to go about achieving that. She wanted to wipe the TVA from existence. To do to them what they had done to her.
Loki was curled up in a ball in a damp corner of a warehouse. She slept fitfully as a boom erupted through the warehouse. She stood immediately; she shook as adrenaline coursed through her thin body. She opened up the TemPad. LOW BATTERY, THREE JUMPS REMAINING flashed over the screen as she opened it. Loki gulped, she pressed a few buttons, the golden rectangle appeared. She stepped through the portal and the doorway closed.
~o0o~
Amy sadly kissed The Doctor goodbye outside her blue house, with its blue door open. Rory was exploring inside. The Doctor turned away from her; headed back towards the TARDIS he had left parked on the road. He lifted his hand in a gesture of farewell and smiled at her awkwardly, but it didn't reach his eyes. He heard her giggle tearfully as she waved in response and whispered "bye,". He closed the door of the TARDIS behind him and leant on it briefly before heading over to the control panel. He started the engine, the familiar VWROP, VWORP brought a source of comfort to him as the emptiness of the engine room prickled at him. Timelords weren't supposed to be alone, the shape console of the TARDIS was evidence of this. It was supposed to be piloted by six individuals, not one. He sighed closing his eyes. At least she was safe now, at least he wouldn't have her death on his conscience. The TARDIS moved herself through time and space to a point that sat above the nebula the humans knew as The Pillars of Creation. It was one of her Doctor's favourite places to think.
As The Doctor moved towards the doors of the TARDIS, he noticed a small foot poking out from under the ramp. "No, no, no, no..." he muttered urgently, changing direction to find out who this stowaway was. He couldn't have any more companions at the moment, he hurt them too much.
Just before he reached the underside of the ramp, he paused. Pulling out his sonic screwdriver he scanned the area where his stowaway was hidden. He pulled it closer to his face to check the results. Frost Giant. Now that was a surprise.
"Come out. I know you're there" he said crouching down and waiting for the stowaway to move out from their hiding place. After a minute or so a young girl with long dark hair stood up from her hidey-hole. The Doctor smiled gently as flashes of recognition popped up from his memory. Younger, not so thin or dirty. Carrying a wicker basket on a sunny day, in Provence. He sniffed, hard. She smelled of starlight. "And who might you be, Wicker Basket Girl?" he asked.
~o0o~
Wearily she looked around as she got her bearings. The sky was grey, making everything damp. The leaves had fallen from the trees to leave a yellow and brown carpet underfoot. She was in small, square park looked over from three sides by rows of houses. Somewhere suburban, the TemPad said England 2011. Loki sat on a bench, the streets surrounding her were quiet, no one was about in the dull weather. She kicked her feet and looked at the TemPad on her lap. LOW BATTERY, TWO JUMPS REMAINING flashed on the screen. She felt cornered, a sense of hopelessness consumed her. She was staring at the screen wondering what to do, when a VWORP VWORP caught her attention. She turned her head to find the source of the sound. On the other side of the fence appeared a blue police telephone box.
Loki had seen enough of the man in the Blue Box to know that he was also hunted by the TVA. She remembered a saying her father had used sometimes "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". Right now, Loki could use a friend. The man with the bowtie left the box with his two friends, he wasn't taking any notice of what was going on around him. Loki scrambled over the low wrought iron fence. He had left the door open while he chatted and hugged his companion. Loki ran inside and stopped. It was a lot bigger on the inside than she had expected. She didn't have time to explore, or take in her impossible surroundings, she could hear his footsteps approaching. Loki ducked under the railing and hid under the ramp. The man stopped in the doorway before he stepped through the entrance then closed the door behind him. The sound of the engine was much louder in here than when she had heard it outside. The ride was bumpy, though quick. Loki held on tight so that she didn't come tumbling out of her hiding place. She heard footsteps above her come to a halt, then head back the way they came. Maybe he had forgotten something? She mused. Nearby she could hear a high-pitched whirring sound.
"Come out. I know you're there" he said close to her ear, making her jump. Loki stood and looked him in the eye. "Who might you, Wicker Basket Girl?" he asked. Loki swallowed, he remembered her from the first time he had seen her. Skinnier now than the last time he had seen her, almost gaunt. Taller, her face almost haunted. I made her look old beyond her years. Her body was on the brink of womanhood, but still just a girl.
"My name is Loki, but I prefer to be called Sylvie" she said taking a deep breath "and I need your help." She began to cry, great heaving sobs. The man put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. He stroked her hair and her back and whispered "There, there," in an attempt to sooth her, "you're safe". It had been millennia since he had held a crying child, back when he had a family, a stationary home, a people he was part of. Loki brought him out of his reverie by pulling out of the hug and wiping her eyes. Words tumbled out of her mouth as she told him her story of how she had come to be here.
"I'm sorry," She said "I didn't ask your name?" She said finishing her tale.
"I'm The Doctor, and I'm very good at helping people. I've had some run ins with the TVA before now. Very heavy handed, zealous lot." He stood up and took her hand. He led her to the control panel of his ship. As she walked around the console, she trailed her hand behind her as she looked up.
"What is this place?" Sylvie asked, looking about her with interest now that she had the opportunity to take in her surroundings.
"This is the TARDIS, her full title is Time And Relative Dimension In Space..." He trailed off noticing that Sylvie wasn't really listening, she had stopped moving, her hand placed on the control panel. There was a slight smile on her lips, her eyes were closed.
Sylvie really wasn't listening to The Doctor; she was listening to the TARDIS herself. The TARDIS sung compassion, understanding and empathy to Sylvie. Sharing with her how she stole The Doctor because she longed for adventure. She showed her some of the times she had been mistreated, particularly by Uncle (though her time as Idris had been both bitter and sweet) and UNIT. Through all this threaded TARDIS's beloved Doctor. The TARDIS was thrilled to have someone onboard with whom she could communicate better than she did her Doctor. She communicated feelings of welcome, wanting to make Sylvie feel safe. The TARDIS often took her Doctor where he was needed, not necessarily where he wanted to go. She had been looking for Sylvie; she had noticed the time misplaced child before The Doctor had. Showing Sylvie an image of her going by perched on Sylvie's barrow the first night in Provence four years prior. The TARDIS had kept a look out for Sylvie, but she proved difficult to locate. Even if the TARDIS found her, she couldn't tell The Doctor why she had brought him to a specific time and location. Sylvie opened her eyes and looked at The Doctor mischievously. "Ewwww," said Sylvie, wrinkling her nose in disgust, "She says that not her name isn't the TARDIS, her name is Sexy." she chortled. The Doctor turned pink to the tips of his ears.
"Well, yes, when we're alone." he flustered, "what else did she tell you?"
"Not much, just that it's much more difficult for you to understand her when she hasn't got a body." Sylvie shrugged. She liked the TARDIS a lot, she was funny and compassionate. The Doctor listened to the sounds that the TARDIS was making, she liked this girl, she made similar sounds when River was onboard.
"So, Sylvie, what's your ultimate objective with regards to the TVA?" enquired The Doctor, by way of small talk. In his experience children and young people liked to be treated as you would an adult.
"I want to break the universe free, it craves chaos, not uniformity. That's why it creates beings like us, that create nexus event's where ever we go." She stroked the TARDS' console. "In my home in Asgard, we heard stories of your kind, we thought you were legend."
"Not legend so much as illusive, and a good job too with the TVA breathing down our necks." He changed the subject, "how old are you, Sylvie?" The Doctor had begun to think she was much older than her appearance suggested.
"283, we age slow and live long on Asgard. How old are you?" She asked
"Just shy of a thousand, give or take a few decades" he responded, as he waved the answer away as if it were nothing. "You are welcome to stay as long as you like. Make the TARDIS your home. There's a room with a bunk bed in it down there to the right, also a library and somewhere a swimming pool."
"Thank you," smiled Sylvie warmly, "The TARDIS already said as much"
"I bet she did." Muttered The Doctor as Sylvie left the control room.
"What have we got ourselves into, old girl?" he said patting the console panel, watching the various instruments for a response. He turned and headed up the ramp towards the entrance. He opened the door, lowered himself to sitting, with his feet dangling over The Pillars of Creation and sighed. This Sylvie was trouble if the TARDIS's response was anything to go by. The TARDIS liked trouble, particularly if it was female.
