No. 13 Paternoster Row

Everything hurt. That was the only thought that could enter Loki's brain for the first five minutes after he regained consciousness, every part of him hurt. He was sure that even his hair and fingernails hurt. Slowly, other thoughts crept into his mind. A logical thought was the first to appear. He reasoned that if he was in pain it meant that he must be alive, that was always a positive. The next thought was, 'where am I?', and he spoke the question out loud.

"No. 13 Paternoster Row, London" came a smooth reply, "I think the more pertinent question is 'when'?"

A memory stirred in Loki's pain-addled mind. He knew that voice, he had heard it before. The voice threw him back into his boyhood...

"You eat people?" a young Loki asked incredulously. It had only been his Third trip in the TARDIS.

"You mean the creatures that woke me with their digging?" had been the cold reply, "indeed I do".

"Surely they don't taste very nice?" the Doctor said in an offhand manner, "why don't you try banana bread? Bananas are good, aren't they Loki?"

Loki stared incredulously at the Time Lord in reply "...she eats people!"

"Loki?" the voice asked bringing him back to the present, "can you hear me?"

"Madame Vastra?" he enquired with his eyes still shut. He spoke in such a meek child-like voice, that Madame Vastra could almost picture the Asgardian as the young boy she had once met. Indeed, he looked small and vulnerable enough as he lay pale and still in the large guest room bed. The Silurian woman sat at his bedside and watched Loki with concern.

"Yes" she said gently, "you are in London, the year is 1895".

Slowly Loki opened his eyes and looked at her reptilian face with confusion "1895?"

"The TARDIS crashed" Madame Vastra told him, "very nearly took out the Tower Bridge too".

"The TARDIS..." Loki murmured. Slowly the memories began to place themselves in his head like a jigsaw. Yes, he had been in the TARDIS. What had he been doing again?

"What have you done with the Doctor?" Vastra asked. Her tone was a little more severe this time.

Loki blinked at her blankly a few times, and then slowly a malicious smile spread across his face. "I see he has told you of my 'misdemeanours'".

"What makes you say that?" the Silurian enquired.

"You didn't just ask me where the Doctor was" Loki pointed out, the smile still on his face, "you immediately assumed I had done him harm".

"Have you?" Madame Vastra asked him pointedly.

"No" Loki replied innocently, "I merely... 'borrowed' the TARDIS to run a few errands".

"And that included blowing up the TARDIS core?" Vastra said with a stern look.

Loki half sat up, propping himself up on his elbows and wincing in pain as he did. "That wasn't me. There was a... power surge of some sort, something in the time vortex. At least I think so, but I'm not sure. I need to examine the data in the TARDIS system".

"Certainly not" Madame Vastra said shaking her head, "the TARDIS is locked away in my training room. No one is going in there without the Doctor, it is far too dangerous. You were lucky enough to survive the explosion itself, if you had not been an Asgardian you would almost certainly have been killed".

Loki's strength seemed to leave him and he slumped back on to the pillow with an exhausted expression. He didn't feel right. Yes, he was injured, but there was something else. It felt as though something was missing. And there was a nagging feeling in his mind that he had forgotten something important.

In the TARDIS... he remembered running, throwing his arms out as the blast hit. No wait, that wasn't right. He threw himself over... wrapped his arms around...he was trying to protect...

Loki looked soberly at Madame Vastra "there was someone else in the TARDIS wasn't there?"

Slowly Madame Vastra nodded, and the final jigsaw piece which contained blue eyes, blonde hair and a china doll face slotted into place.

Loki tried to ignore the sympathetic look in Madame Vastra's eyes and asked "is she alive?"