So there's a part where it looks like the paragraph repeats-ish, it's supposed to be like that. And looking back, i wish i wrote this is present tense, i personally think it's easier to read. Anyways, im about halfway through and 20,000 words in. There will be a crossover with the infernal devices and other fandoms, just say which ones you'd like to see. and if i can, ill write them. I'm getting close to about halfway through, it'll be around ten chapters at least i think, or am hoping at this point.
Rose shot up from the couch, Loki's arms fell off her. She paused, wondering when he did that. Natasha shuffled at the movement. The clock next to the TV said it was seven A.M., it was just now she remembered they were supposed to pick Tony up at the mansion in an hour and watch him all day. Jackie would be mad if Rose didn't show, no matter how much she loved both her kids, she claimed she needed just this one Saturday off to be with Pete. The thought of what they were doing made Rose shudder. If she missed picking Tony up, even if it was something as important as what was going on right now, she would never hear the end of it from either of her parents. Maybe she could just bring Tony here, she had been meaning to bring him into work just to meet an alien. It could be fun, or if Tony said something wrong and Gamora and co. got offended then it could mean trouble. She'll go with fun.
"We have to pick up Tony." Rose hissed, shaking Loki awake. He waved her away at first before he sat up and yawned quite loudly. Clint shot up, staring at them for a good two minutes as Rose tried to smooth her hair down. She would have to run back to her flat, dressed in day old clothes coming from the direction of a foreign apartment, Jimmy lived on the way back to her flat. Think of the rumor's he'd spread around Torchwood. Loki was already in action, standing up and moving to the kitchen to grab a jar of peanut butter and a spoon. He waggled his eyebrows at Clint and Natasha, who were watching him eat peanut butter out of a jar.
"Where do you think you're going?" Natasha asked, watching as Loki's clothes shifted into a dark blue shirt and Rose to a different t-shirt and jeans, her hair smoothing out. Rose grinned, her tongue poking out between her teeth.
"We'll be back in an hour. I have to pick some stuff up at my flat and my little brother." Rose said. They ran out the door before anyone said anything.
Loki was grinning as they slipped into her car. Several boxes were stashed in the back seat, containing clothes and various things from Torchwood that may be needed as well as a few games to keep Tony content. Perhaps Jane would let Tony watch TV, though she doubted he would sit still long enough to watch anything. In the middle of the boxes was Tony. He sat happily in the middle, just because a few months prior Rose realized that Tony would kick the back of Loki's seat. He would really do anything to annoy Loki, who had never yelled at him and always tried remained calm. Rose had a feeling Loki was the favorite of the two of them. She was just happy to see the two get along.
"Rose, Rose!" Tony shouted excitedly, obviously just remembering something. "Ms. Pink loved the toy Tardis. Though she didn't believe you traveled the universe, that was easy to tell. But the other kids loved it and asked me all sorts of questions about the Daleks and what else they said besides, exterminate! I didn't know what else so I said that's it. And then the Cybermen?! You will be deleted! Everyone loved that, Annie came up asking me to do my impersonation of them again! She thought my voice sounded the coolest! And then these other two kids came up and tried to punch me... But, Ms. Pink stopped 'em and yelled at them! Her eyes got all big and wide! I thought it was funny. Max and Issac got in big trouble though! Ms. Pink seems to like me more than them, which I think is awesome! Ms. Pink said that she want's to talk with you about the Tardis. She remembered the name from somewhere but it couldn't remember. Isn't that sad?"
Tony finally stopped to take a deep breath. He would bounce around a lot, Jackie had gotten him tested at one point, but that doctor just said Tony had pent up energy and would grow out of it at some point. Jackie didn't think that was promising. But Loki dealt with Tony well and managed to entertain him a lot. The one thing that Rose thought was strange was how easily he could read people, it got a little creepy at times. She considered it to be a side effect of Jackie and Pete's dimension hopping, but Rose never looked into it more, as long as Tony was happy and safe.
"Where are we going, Rose?" Tony leaned forwards, trying to peer out the window as much as he could with his car seat restraining him. Loki glanced back at him as Rose pulled into a spot. She wasn't sure what Loki said, she had been too busy trying to make sure the Milano was invisible. Thankfully it was, or they had left. Rose had wanted to at least talk with them, she hadn't come across something that looked like a raccoon that spoke before in her travels. And Quill, she wanted to know why he called himself Star Lord, which sounded a lot like Time Lord. And then of course everyone probably wanted to know why she had such high energy readings, stuff that was similar to an Infinity Stone.
Loki had been unbuckling Tony's seat belt and tossing him over his shoulder like a potato sack, something that always made Tony giggle. Tony reached out, grabbing one of the boxes on top, which just happened to be chess. Rose turned back, smiling at the two of them before she slide out, locking the doors as they went. Rose had changed when they stopped at her flat, Loki's ilsuions made them appear neat, but Rose hated the way she felt after not showering for a few days. She had braided her hair, bangs pieces falling into place, it reminded her of the hairstyle she had did when the Doctor and Jack were still around. Loki toyed with one, wrapping it around his finger as she joined them on the sidewalk. She whacked his hand away, causing Tony to grin.
They made their way into the apartment to find everyone from last night inside. Tony's face lit up when he saw Gamora, and then his mouth dropped when his eyes fell on Groot. Quill was next to Groot, talking to Rocket about something that Rose couldn't make out. Next to them was someone quite muscular and covered in something that looked like tattoos, Rose had a feeling each one meant something special to him. Gamora was at the table, eating breakfast with Natasha and Darcy. Natasha and Gamora were talking about something quite serious while Darcy simply looked bored. Her eyes lit up upon seeing Tony and she darted over and grabbed Tony off of Loki.
"Tony! I haven't seen you in forever! Do you remember Auntie Darcy?" She said, grinning and tossing the seven year old up and down in her hands. She nearly dropped him as he started squirming to be released from her grip.
"No," He said. Tony glanced back at Loki, trying to wiggle back to him. As a last restort he tried to slam the chess box over Darcy's head. Loki grabbed it before he could, and to Rose's surprise and delight, he apologized to Darcy. Stark looked up from where he was fixing a lamp in the corner of the room and complaining about something to Steve and Clint. Steve stood up and walked towards Rose and Loki while he was in mid sentence. He coughed and stopped, handing the screwdriver to Clint and following Steve. Clint groaned and jerked his hand back as the lamp sparked.
"He's your kid?" Stark asked bluntly. He moved past Steve to get a better look at Tony Tyler. He ruffled Tony's hair, which caused him to bat away Stark's hand.
"No. My name's Tony Tyler. Rose's my sister. Our parents are at the mansion having fun without me. But that's okay because Loki is going to play chess with me."
Stark blinked in surprise. "Do you know who I am?"
Tony was straining his neck to see past Stark, not really paying attention anymore. He was trying to get a look at Groot, who was smiling at him. "I don't really care."
"My name's Tony Stark." He said, plowing through and giving him a reward winning smile.
"That's my name. Pick another one." Tony said. He managed to squirm out of Loki's arms and drop to the floor, ignoring the laughter from Steve and Loki, to go meet Groot. Stark watched him interacte with Groot for a good two minutes until he turned back to Steve and started laughing. Rose looked at Loki, somewhat embarsed that her little brother just insulted a billionaire, she knew that when Tony got home he would tell Pete, and he would be proud of Tony, because Pete Tyler hated how Stark would get into all the papers with his publicity stunts. If Jackie wasn't as stubborn the kid would have been named Charlie or something.
"Truthfully, I didn't think you were coming back." Steve said. He still managed to smile and play it off like it didn't matter how rude it was, he was just rusty with his manners. Rose decided she liked him best of the Avengers, he didn't seem as murderous as Natasha and Clint could be. And Rose, like a lot of other people felt bad for him, even if the Tardis was still working, she wouldn't have been able to take him back, him being unfrozen was a set point in time, he had to help out with the Avengers, otherwise they probably wouldn't have won.
"Thank you, Captain." Loki replied, dryly. He moves on to go check on Tony, who was happily playing with Groot. Rocket had paused, asking Loki something that Rose couldn't make out. So she looked back at Steve and Stark, and grinned at them. The pair exchanged a glance before Steve looked like he was about to say when Gamora strolled over, playing with one of Natasha's knifes. She tossed it in the air, and watched Stark's eyes follow the knife. She smirked at him before turning to Rose.
"I'd like to speak with you, Rose." Gamora flicked a piece of hair from her face before slipping the knife into on of the holsters on her pants. Her eyes landed on Stark and Steve. "Alone."
Gamora grabbed Rose's arm and then glanced over at where Loki was kneeling next to Tony, telling him, Rocket, and Groot something. Quill was behind them, silently grinning at whatever Loki was saying that made the others appear grim. Stark and Steve walked back to the lamp. Nether of the girls missed the glances the pair gave them. Gamora stared at the kitchen table, obviously deciding where to go before making a beeline to the small balcony, closing the glass door behind them.
"Everything on this planet is so fragile." Gamora started off. She didn't make eye contact with Rose, she stared at the cars moving along on the road several floors below them. "I could toss this knife down, and at the right angle it could easily kill one of these Terrans. They don't have the right materials. I don't understand why Thanos would want this planet, it's too easy for taking."
"Earth gets invaded a lot. The excuses are resources and humans are easy to control. There are four different blood types and I've seen people get controlled by that before. They consider the planet easy. Where I'm from, things are different. There was never any mention of the Avengers or what you guys call yourself, simply someone called the Doctor. I, uh, traveled with him for a while, helping him save the universe. I've never heard anything about the Infinity Stones. Loki's the closest link I have to one."
"They call us the Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter asked me to try and figure it out, which is understandable, I know much more about this than him. Did you ever run across anything strange? Quill and I discussed this last night, perhaps you are the reason Thanos wants this planet so much? The Infinity Stone energy could perhaps be used to track down the final two."
Rose looked at Gamora, who was steadily not looking at her, instead, silently counting the cars that drive by. "What else is there?" Rose asked, glancing back at the living room through the glass door, Loki was staring at them but looked away quickly, his eyes flicking back towards Tony and Drax, who had appeared next to Tony as Rose looked over. Drax glanced up at Rose and she looked back at Gamora.
"One time I looked into the Heart of the Tardis... I don't know much about what happened during those five minutes before he got it out." That seemed to intrigue Gamora, causing her to look up and practically stare Rose down. Loki had told her that Gamora and Nebula were assassins, not spies, they weren't trained on reacting to emotion of different species, they were supposed to kill their target and then witnesses, only one or two had every made it away, spreading the rumors about Gamora and Nebula.
"Who is this he you speak of?" Gamora leaned forwards, over the balcony peering down at something. Rose squinted, unable to see anything but the blurs of figures hurrying across the sidewalks.
"The Doctor. He's a Time Lord." Rose said. Gamora stepped backwards, her eyes were wide, her mouth dropped open. She leaned back against the railing.
"They're the creatures frozen in space on the planet Gallifrey hidden in the corner of our universe. No one's been able to solve how or why. Thanos seemed worried of the planet. He thinks they're warriors waiting for the right moment to strike against everything he's accomplished. Are they?"
Rose seriously had no idea what Gamora meant, the Gallifrey Rose had only briefly heard the Doctor mention the Time War in passing, saying he had destroyed his home planet. Of course the Doctor had been wrong in the past? But he should be certain if he committed genocide. Rose hoped. She decided that she would go check it out, of course she had to figure out a way to travel there. She went through her limited amount of options, there was the Bifrost, if someone could jolt her dying Tardis back to life or maybe even something like what the Guardians came here on.
"You want to visit there?" Gamora asked. "Do you think there's anyway your Doctor could help us?"
The door swung open, saving Rose from having to answer. Jane poked her head out, Thor was behind her, his arms full of plastic bags. He grinned, his flannel shirt falling down his arms, revealing bare skin underneath. Gamora turned around and made a quick face at Rose before she faced Jane. She tilted her head, smiling at Jane.
Everyone had organized themselves into a circle around the coffee table. Loki was sitting on the couch with Tony on his lap, there was just enough room for Rose to squeeze in next to him with Quill on the other side of her. Groot was standing behind the couch, one of his branches resting behind where Rocket was sitting, Drax stood next to Groot. The Avengers had either pulled up chairs (Natasha) or were sitting on the floor (Clint). Steve was perched on the table, obviously deciding he was the leader as he ate from his to-go container. Loki juggled two in one hand, and happily gave Rose his extra one as she sat down next to him. She couldn't help but feel caged in by the way everyone was sitting. She wondered if they meant it that way.
Steve stared at her, expecting something from her. Thankfully, Gamora spoke up.
"Rose and I talked of Gallifrey and of the Tardis," Rocket gave a low whistle, "I have reason to believe that perhaps the Time Vortex that she had believed was removed wasn't fully-"
Tony interrupted, looking at Rose, "Oh. Does she mean the story about you bein' Bad Wolf and defeating the Daleks?"
Gamora and Drax froze, their mouths dropped open. Steve looked at them, confused. Quill shifted awkwardly. Rocket nearly dropped whatever gun he was making. Even Loki and Thor looked a little shocked.
"I am Groot?" The Bad Wolf? He whispered.
Personally, Rose had no idea what was happening. She barely remembered anything about what had happened that day, as she had told Gamora only minutes before. And then Rose remembered the stories her Doctor would whisper to the people they would try to save, whenever something would happen and someone demanded a name her Doctor would whisper something Rose couldn't hear, and they would look up at her in awe, before they ran off to spread the news. She would pester him about what he had said, he would simply grin at her before running off, his trench coat billowing out behind him as he ran into the Tardis, trying to distract Rose with something new. And when she finally full blown confronted him about it, he had told her he was sick, dying really. She was too concerned with his failing health to worry about whatever her Doctor told them.
"What? It's just a thing me and the Doctor used to find each other. I don't get what the big deal is." Rose's embarrassed grin was fading, and she was simply looking at the shocked faces of everyone who recognized the name Bad Wolf.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Loki asked, shocked. For once even Tony had stopped moving, sensing the mood. She wondered if Tony felt overwhelmed by the emotions or if it were just instinct holding him still.
"Well if I knew your eyes were goin' to fall out of your sockets I would have told ya sooner." Rose replied.
"My eyes will not fall out." Drax stated. "I am simply shocked I am in the presence of the Bad Wolf."
Stark laughed at that, but easily covered it up as a cough, nestling his face into the sleeve of Steve's grey hoodie. Darcy frowned, whispering something in Jane's ear. Jane frowned and asked Thor. Rose couldn't hear, she was too busy having a stare down with Loki. Clint shifted the edge of Thor's chair back and forth, asking something. Rose couldn't hear what, she realized her ears were ringing. Loki wiggled his eyebrows at her, and she realized that they were still staring at each other, so she grinned at him, her tounge poking out between her teeth. She wondered exactly what was happening and why Bad Wolf was such a big deal. She hadn't used it since she was universe hopping, and why her Doctor brought it up then... Oh no.
Steve raised a hand to his face, looking like he was coughing, trying to get attention back to him and off of Rose. She liked him even more now. His mouth was moving and the ringing in her ears finally faded out right after he finished speaking, so she completely missed what he said. She could probably catch up, if she listened to what everyone else said.
"Bad Wolf," Gamora started. Rose jumped a little, wondering if Gamora noticed she wasn't paying any attention. "How would we meet this Doctor?"
Rose frowned, standing up and lifting Tony on to her shoulders. "My name's Rose. Not Bad Wolf. They're just words scattered across the universe. I could have picked anything." But for some reason she had decided on Bad Wolf during her hyped up Heart of the Tardis moment, she wondered why, if it was the Tardis, who saw the future and decided Bad Wolf was the best words or if it was Rose, picking the story because she loved Little Red Riding Hood when she was little. She was starting to wonder.
"He's in a different universe." Rose said, she walked out of the circle, feeling trapped. Everyone's eyes followed her but she didn't look back, grabbing a cup from the first cabinet she looked in(lucky guess?). "It's closed off. No more cracks left. The weakest point was Bad Wolf bay up in Norway."
Gamora nodded, Rose wasn't sure how she knew that given her back was turned.
"You're nervous, Rose. Why? They want to help." Tony whispered in her ear, his voice low as the others began talking and drowning them out.
Rose was spared from having to explain her feelings when Jane stood up. "No way are we getting back the Aether. It might not even work!"
"If Rose, according to legend has the Time Stone inside her, then we need this Doctor's help." Gamora reasoned with Jane. Rose pretended to busy herself with the water, even though she was listening in. They'd be stupid to think she wasn't. She wasn't quite sure how everything had jumped so suddenly. Gamora lowered her voice. "Thanos needs all the Stones to take over the Galaxy, if we can at least seal her away somewhere, then Thanos won't have control of everything."
Rose's mouth dropped and Tony squeezed his arms around Rose's neck, holding on tight, scared they would take him away from her. Rose turned the facuet off, taking a sip of her cup before dumping the rest out in the sink, she felt to sick to drink any else. Perhaps Loki was wrong in saying that Gamora and Nebula weren't crafty in ways that didn't involve killing. Because Gamora had Rose believing that she cared for her on the balcony. Of course, Rose hadn't told Gamora anything about the Bad Wolf. What had her Doctor told everyone? If she let Loki come home with her, she would make him tell her the story.
"We're not locking her away." Loki said, his voice ice cold. Rose pretending to talk to Tony about something that happened at school. He gladly went along with it, telling her about John, Danny and Sam, who were some of the coolest, but strangest kids in the school. Rose really loved her little brother for going with the flow so easily.
Natasha blinked at Rose, her eyes following her every step she took. Clint rolled over on the blankets he had been sitting on, covering his face and moaning about how tired he was. Natasha reached over and kicked him, he yelped and sat up straight, the blankets falling around him. Steve rolled his eyes, and Rose was pretty sure he was going to apologize to the Guardians, but then he saw Quill pinning Rocket to the couch, angrily whispering something. Groot's branch/arm reached down and lifted Quill into the air, and then turning him slightly so he was sitting up. Quill rolled his eyes and Rocket stuck his tounge out at him. Steve quickly looked down at Stark, who was playing on his tablet. Rose started to wonder if they had been doing this the entire time, she wasn't looking back at them, maybe she was wrong?
"The Time Stone," Rose asked, "what exactly does it do if it's inside someone?"
"The stones rip people apart. I mean it should have killed us when I picked up the Orb. I don't think anyone really knows how the Time Stone is inside you. Can you use it? Like when Ronan had the Orb, he used a staff to control it, but can't you use your mind?" Quill asked, pushing his hand down on Rocket's face and grinning at Rose.
"The Aether, isn't that the Reality Stone? That could, maybe, break a hole in the universe to get to other ones without everything collapsing." Rose looked at Thor as she said this, trying to keep her eye on Jane. See if she said anything like she did before. Tony crawled over to Rose, climbing up on her back.
"You're nervous, Rose. Why?" Tony whispered in her ear. Rose frowned. He had just said that to her moments prior. Of course she was nervous, they wanted to lock her somewhere else.
"No way are we getting the Aether!" Jane said, jumping up from her chair. "It might not even work."
"If Rose, according to legend has the Time Stone inside her, then we need this Doctor's help." Gamora reasoned, moving from where she stood at the back of the couch and sitting next to Rocket. "Thanos needs all the Stones to take over the Galaxy, if we can at least seal her away somewhere, then Thanos won't have control of everything."
Rose's mouth dropped. Why were they repeated all of this?
"We're not locking her away." Loki said, his tone ice cold. Rose stood up and Tony wrapped his arms around her, squeezing tightly, trying not to let go. She brushed him off, setting him down on the couch next to Loki. And then Rose blinked, everyone was back to their original spots and began repeating the same dialogue. They acted like Rose was there, saying her parts. She stood up, silently edging her way past Stark, who's legs were stretched across the floor. She went over to the glass balcony, staring down at the cars below, the same ten cars waiting for the light to change and when it did they would drive off, the same cars taking their place. Rose blinked, staring down at her hands in confusion.
She walked back into the room, they were still repeating the same exact things over and over again. She went back to her spot next to Loki, Tony climbed back around her neck, whispering the same thing over and over again. What the hell? She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, she had been through stranger things before. But this time she was on her own, no one else seemed to be having the same experience as Rose. She turned around, staring at Loki, whose eyes were blank as he started at Gamora, as he recited his line. He would turn his head to look away in a moment. She wasn't sure if she thought it would help, but the next time it repeated and he began to turn his head away, she slapped him, her hand hurt from the impact but it wasn't broken like it would have been otherwise. Loki raised a hand to his face, and he stared at her, his mouth opened in surprise.
"Are you upset with me for defending you?" He asked. Everyone fell silent. Rose laughed, falling into Loki's shirt with a siigh of relief. "Are you alright?" He asked, patting her back awkwardly as if to comfort her. Rose sat up, grinning as she explained herself.