Oh, I mean that I rewrote Coulson's backstory so that he came from distinctly Doctor-Who origins. Spoiler for the fic, but I made it so that the reboot of the universe at the end of the eleventh Doctor's firstcseries was imperfect...
I'm struggling to explain it succinctly, so here have this scene I wrote -
"I have to ask, though," said Loki one day, sitting in the green drawing room of the TARDIS. It was a room she had only let Loki into, of all the companions. Even the Doctor had seemed surprised to see the place, but Loki liked it. "What leverage did a man like Philip Coulson have over you, to convince you to take me?"
The Doctor pursed his lips at a man like Coulson, but let it pass. Teaching Loki to respect lesser races like Humans was something that had to be done slowly. "Maybe I just enjoy your company."
"Don't give me lazy lies, Doctor, I deserve better than that. You hadn't met me before Phil Coulson called you. And I didn't do much to endear myself those first few weeks, even if I hadn't just been terrorising your favourite alien race. No, Agent Coulson had something on you. He said he was calling in a favour."
He set aside the book he'd been reading and looked the Doctor in the eye. The Doctor sipped his tea, and nodded slowly. "All right. I suppose I should stop trying to lie to you." The two of them shared a secret smile. They both knew he would never stop. "It's difficult for someone as old as me to pay all my debts. Usually when I do something that leaves a person completely alone in an unfriendly world, I try to do my best to help them, though, before I leave.
"Phil Coulson wasn't exactly easy to help. Very self-sufficient man, that. See, a while ago, I blew up the universe."
Loki smiled. "I do enjoy the way so many of your stories start with those words, Doctor."
"All my stories start there. That's where the universe began this time. Because a friend of mine, she put it back together, out of the thoughts in her head, and the memories. I know you'll appreciate that that's not the most efficient way to build a universe.
"But it was the best way for her. Because she got to take back all the things she lost in the old universe. She sorted out all the things she couldn't see and had never seen, put you back in, and all of your gods... and then she fixed all the things she had seen. And just wished she hadn't"
He shrugged. "That's dangerous, but I let her do it. I suggested it -- I asked a lot from her, it seemed only fair, and besides." He smiled distantly, without humour, and Loki recognised that smile from his mirror. From all the days he took the lower path and told himself he didn't care because he didn't have to. "I was relying on it.
"It wasn't just my life she saved though, or Rory, or her parents. I don't think she knows even now that she did it, but... Everyone she ever met, who crossed her path and then died afterwards -- she brought them back too. And, a little while before all of that happened, we had visited SHIELD in New York."
Loki leaned back in his chair, thinking. "You met Coulson, and your friend didn't see him die," he said, but the Doctor shook his head.
"We met a lot of SHIELD agents. And Amy couldn't be bothered to tell them apart. She decided to give all of them the same name and pretend there was only one SHIELD agent, the SHIELD agent."
Loki didn't give any outward sign of surprise, but he knew the Doctor could hear that he'd stopped breathing. "...I did wonder why Agent Coulson seemed so preternaturally suited to his work. If there was ever a man who knew his place..." He swallowed. "So, before the Pandorica opened...?"
"There was no such person as Philip Coulson. It's because of me that he exists, but when I offered it, he didn't want my help."
The Doctor watched the wall for a second, and Loki watched the Doctor. In the Doctor's hands, his tea had gone lukewarm-cold. Loki twitched the mug from his unresisting fingers, warmed it with a brief spell, and pressed it back into his hands. "You're not alone in that feeling, Doctor," he said softly. "Our children are born to break our hearts."
If the Doctor looked at all like he wanted to argue that thought, he hid it away, and lifted the cup to swallow it.
Being fair, I'm aiming for heart-achy fluff instead of plain heartache - there are some sweet Idris/Loki scenes, and the scene where Loki gets his photo taken with Jesus of Nazareth and then Thor sleeps with it under his pillow to remind him what Loki's why-am-I-doing-this smile looked like.
But, yeah, if all goes as planned Coulson will be wiped out of reality :(
I'm struggling to explain it succinctly, so here have this scene I wrote -
"I have to ask, though," said Loki one day, sitting in the green drawing room of the TARDIS. It was a room she had only let Loki into, of all the companions. Even the Doctor had seemed surprised to see the place, but Loki liked it. "What leverage did a man like Philip Coulson have over you, to convince you to take me?"
The Doctor pursed his lips at a man like Coulson, but let it pass. Teaching Loki to respect lesser races like Humans was something that had to be done slowly. "Maybe I just enjoy your company."
"Don't give me lazy lies, Doctor, I deserve better than that. You hadn't met me before Phil Coulson called you. And I didn't do much to endear myself those first few weeks, even if I hadn't just been terrorising your favourite alien race. No, Agent Coulson had something on you. He said he was calling in a favour."
He set aside the book he'd been reading and looked the Doctor in the eye. The Doctor sipped his tea, and nodded slowly. "All right. I suppose I should stop trying to lie to you." The two of them shared a secret smile. They both knew he would never stop. "It's difficult for someone as old as me to pay all my debts. Usually when I do something that leaves a person completely alone in an unfriendly world, I try to do my best to help them, though, before I leave.
"Phil Coulson wasn't exactly easy to help. Very self-sufficient man, that. See, a while ago, I blew up the universe."
Loki smiled. "I do enjoy the way so many of your stories start with those words, Doctor."
"All my stories start there. That's where the universe began this time. Because a friend of mine, she put it back together, out of the thoughts in her head, and the memories. I know you'll appreciate that that's not the most efficient way to build a universe.
"But it was the best way for her. Because she got to take back all the things she lost in the old universe. She sorted out all the things she couldn't see and had never seen, put you back in, and all of your gods... and then she fixed all the things she had seen. And just wished she hadn't"
He shrugged. "That's dangerous, but I let her do it. I suggested it -- I asked a lot from her, it seemed only fair, and besides." He smiled distantly, without humour, and Loki recognised that smile from his mirror. From all the days he took the lower path and told himself he didn't care because he didn't have to. "I was relying on it.
"It wasn't just my life she saved though, or Rory, or her parents. I don't think she knows even now that she did it, but... Everyone she ever met, who crossed her path and then died afterwards -- she brought them back too. And, a little while before all of that happened, we had visited SHIELD in New York."
Loki leaned back in his chair, thinking. "You met Coulson, and your friend didn't see him die," he said, but the Doctor shook his head.
"We met a lot of SHIELD agents. And Amy couldn't be bothered to tell them apart. She decided to give all of them the same name and pretend there was only one SHIELD agent, the SHIELD agent."
Loki didn't give any outward sign of surprise, but he knew the Doctor could hear that he'd stopped breathing. "...I did wonder why Agent Coulson seemed so preternaturally suited to his work. If there was ever a man who knew his place..." He swallowed. "So, before the Pandorica opened...?"
"There was no such person as Philip Coulson. It's because of me that he exists, but when I offered it, he didn't want my help."
The Doctor watched the wall for a second, and Loki watched the Doctor. In the Doctor's hands, his tea had gone lukewarm-cold. Loki twitched the mug from his unresisting fingers, warmed it with a brief spell, and pressed it back into his hands. "You're not alone in that feeling, Doctor," he said softly. "Our children are born to break our hearts."
If the Doctor looked at all like he wanted to argue that thought, he hid it away, and lifted the cup to swallow it.
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"I know you'll appreciate that that's not the most efficient way to build a universe."
Oh, Doctor.
"Our children are born to break our hearts."
Oh, Loki.
...It's going to be that kind of fic, isn't it?
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Being fair, I'm aiming for heart-achy fluff instead of plain heartache - there are some sweet Idris/Loki scenes, and the scene where Loki gets his photo taken with Jesus of Nazareth and then Thor sleeps with it under his pillow to remind him what Loki's why-am-I-doing-this smile looked like.
But, yeah, if all goes as planned Coulson will be wiped out of reality :(
Temporarily :)
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So look as it's only temporary.
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