Struggling To Adjust (Book Three of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Love and Asgard

I think putting those two through torture has been worth it. This was so much fun to write.

I think you're all going to like it, too. ;) Enjoy!

***

"The poison is from a Eukaryn Scorpion's venom," the Doctor explained to the Asgardian Healers as they worked on Jessie, moving as fast as they could. "It can kill even Time Lords, and make them unable to regenerate. It attacked the cells that could make her regenerate first."

"How long ago was this?" the head Healer asked.

The Doctor looked at Martha. "At least six hours," she replied.

The Healer nodded. "We will do our best," she promised, "but we do not know if we can succeed."

The Doctor nodded, swallowing. "Thank you."

"Do not thank us yet."

The two of them walked out of the room, and there was running down the hall. The doctor took a deep breath as Sif charged up, looking windswept and winded, and if the sword in her hand was anything to go by, she'd run straight from training. "Where is she?" she demanded. "What happened?"

"Sif, I'm sorry," the Doctor told her helplessly, "but there's nothing we can do right now. She has the Healers."

Sif looked behind him at the closed door, looking shell shocked. "I never thought," she whispered.

"I didn't, either," the Doctor admitted, wincing as Martha glared at him. "If I had just listened . . . "

"You were absolute rubbish as a human," Martha accused.

"Doctor."

The Doctor looked down the other end of the hallway to see six of the Royal Guards approaching, Odin between them, fixing him with a look. "Allfather," he greeted with a short bow.

"Tell your tale over what has happened tonight," Odin ordered. "Her life is in the hands of the Valar now."

***

"The Family wanted the life of a Time Lord," the Doctor explained that evening in the throne room, pacing as he explained, Martha standing behind him. "If they sensed that Jessie was half goddess, they would have taken her. I turned both of us human and hid us inside fob watches. We hid in the year 1913 and waited for the Family to die. Three months. That was all it would have taken."

"But they found you," Odin commented.

"Yes, they did," the Doctor replied. "I talked to Timothy about that. Baines had been acting strangely for a few days, as if he had a cold, and had been talking oddly."

"Then Jenny was taken over," Martha put in. "That was when I knew they'd found us. I tried to find the fob watches, but they had been taken."

"And it was this Timothy?"

"Yes," Martha replied. "The Family found us at the village hall. The Bad Wolf had found her watch and opened it, turning her back to herself. She saved everyone in there before helping us."

"That was when she was poisoned," the Doctor said in a growl. "When she was running, Baines shot her in the neck. Would have been a tiny poke, like a sting from a bug. When she slapped her neck to try and get the bug, it injected further into her blood."

Odin stared at the floor, thoughtful. "What I am concerned about," he began, "is what we tell of this SHIELD group."

"Only Tony Stark and Bruce Banner know she's still alive," the Doctor replied. "And Asgard. How did you know?"