Rising From The Ashes (Book Five of the Bad Wolf Chronicles)

The Oldest Trick

Second to last interlude here . . . and the Doctor and Jessie make a promise that will definitely kick them in the rear in the next book. ;)

***

"Hang on," the Doctor held up a finger as he walked around the console, Jessie holding her phone in one hand. "This was kept in Asgard's most private vault, yes?"

"Yes," Tony confirmed.

"Guarded by just about anything you can think of?"

"Yes." That was Steve.

"Even every trick Loki could make?"

"Get to your point, Doctor," Clint sighed.

"How in the hell did someone get into Asgard and steal that scepter from under Odin's nose?" the Doctor finally shouted.

"Your guess is as good as theirs," Natasha answered. "Believe me, we have no idea."

"Loki's trying to see if he can use the Tesseract to find it," Tony put in. "But for now, we have no idea where it is."

"If we have to guess, it's in HYDRA's hands," Steve added.

"Well, that's just great," Jessie rolled her eyes. "Loki's scepter in enemy hands. Again. Just what we need."

"That's why we called you," Bruce said. "Depending on where the scepter is, we may need your help in recovering it."

"What's the catch?" Jessie asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"No catch," Saleen answered. "We'd just need your help. Knowing HYDRA, they'd have nasty stuff waiting for us otherwise."

Jessie sighed. "Fine. We'll be there. Just let us know when you've got a lock, and we'll be there as soon as we can."

"But we'd already be go - " Bruce cut himself off with a sigh. "Time machine. Right."

"You're getting the hang of it, Bruce."

"Thanks, J," Tony said. "Enjoy your time."

"We will."

"What's going to be stolen next?" the Doctor mocked. "Thor's hammer?"

"I'd love to see someone try and steal Mjolnir," Jessie snickered. "That thief would have to be pretty worthy to lug that thing around. And Thor makes it look easy. The Hulk wasn't even able to lift it."

"Well, maybe the Tesser - ooo." The Doctor blinked, looking at a computer screen nearby. "Look at this!"

Jessie peeked over his shoulder. "That's a battlefield."

"An old battlefield!" the Doctor nodded with a grin. "More stuff to keep score with!"

"It's always museums with you, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

Jessie rolled her eyes and started locking the coordinates. "Fine. But only a few things this time, all right? The last time, you nearly filled MSI to capacity."

"Well, there was too much stuff!" the Doctor protested as the TARDIS landed. "You've seen Chicago's museums, they're massive!"

"Yeah," Jessie rolled her eyes as they headed out. "Fury called complaining about it."

"Well, in our defense - " The Doctor paused when they made it outside. "An alien battle field."

"Our last one was, too, wasn't it?" Jessie asked as they looked around.

The Doctor sniffed. "Except this one has life on it . . . "

Jessie frowned, then there was a shuddering warp behind them. They turned, surprised, to see the TARDIS doors slam shut, and the TARDIS herself disappear. "What?" the Doctor shouted, looking around.

Jessie quickly pulled out her sonic screwdriver and started scanning. "Who could have stolen the TARDIS?" she demanded.

"What?" the Doctor repeated.

Jessie blinked when she finally got a report. "Oh." She looked up with a frown. "What's a Shansheeth?"

The Doctor stared at her. "What?"

Jessie groaned and face palmed. "Oh, my God, Kasterborous . . . really?"

***

Ladies and gentlemen . . . we are definitely having the Doctor and Jessie in "Age of Ultron." :D And it will definitely be with the 11s. We'll see where it takes place, but it will be in a separate book, because the whole movie will not be one chapter.

"Death of the Doctor" will be up soon!