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"Okay. Maybe we, uh... think a bit more about this, huh?"
As he watched the crew of a liner being swallowed up by Alioth in the distance with the other Lokis, Loki had to face the fact that he needed another plan.
A sound of a car in the background made them turn around.
"Car. "
"What?"
"Along the horizon."
Loki asked, "Is that bad?"
Kid Loki replied, "Well, usually it means cannibalistic marauders or cannibalistic pirates."
"Delightful." Loki wondered if there was an end to the troubles one could accumulate in a lifetime, because in the space of a few days he had had his fill...
"Now they're slowing down."
"What are they doing?"
"Just stay on guard."
Suddenly Loki recognized the figure that emerged from the car, "Sylvie."
He started to run as if his life depended on it.
He stopped in front of her. They both looked equally surprised.
Sylvie stated, "You're alive."
Loki did not answer and asked, "What happened? You okay?"
His gaze, focused on Sylvie, was drawn to a figure approaching them.
He gasped. It was Mobius! His Mobius! He had found him again!
Mobius was smiling and Loki could not hold back the joyous cry that came from his lips.
"Mobius!"
He wanted to throw himself in his arms, but realizing that they were not alone, he held back and instead asked, his eyes going from Mobius to Sylvie, "How did you..."
Sylvie replied cheekily, "We thought you could do with some backup."
Loki, unaccustomed to this, felt a particular warmth in him, finally understanding the meaning of what it was to not be alone.
While he was bickering with Sylvie -more by principle than anything else-, about what they should do next, Loki couldn't help but throw sidelong glances at Mobius. He wanted to check that he was really there, that he wasn't dreaming. He drank in every detail, wanting to touch him, to make sure he was real.
The other Lokis went forward to a ramshackle shack on a hill.
Mobius asked Loki and Sylvie with a playful smile, " Should I drop you off somewhere?"
Sylvie shook her head, "I'll follow the... Lokis by foot. You boys can just take the car." She started to walk, then turned as they got into the car and added with a wink, "And no fooling around."
Once they closed the doors, Mobius started the car and they made the short trip without speaking. When they arrived, instead of getting out of the car, Mobius just put his hand on Loki's knee and looking for his eyes, he asked, "Are you okay?"
Loki laughed a little jadedly, ran his hand over his face and grabbed Mobius' hand on his knee, almost elated at this first contact with Mobius since the limbo where they had met before appearing on their own on this planet.
"I don't know if I can give you a quick answer, because it's all jumbled up there." With his other hand, he made a windmill gesture showing his brain.
Mobius smiled, "That I can understand." He returned his hand into Loki's, tangling his fingers with his, then added, "What's on your mind, right now?"
Loki looked down at their entwined hands, and replied softly, "In all this chaos, the first question that comes to mind is, was that real?"
Mobius saw at once what Loki was talking about and went to reassure him. He brought Loki's hand to his lips and after kissing it, he said looking Loki straight in the eye, "Everything I said and did was real. Everything."
Loki swallowed as he remembered the exact words that were embedded in his mind.
"Loki, listen to me! I am not dead, I am not gone. When you wake up, think of me. I am still here. You'll have to find me. We will break the curse that separates us! Our love is stronger than anything, no hell, no heaven, no time keepers, no one will separate us! I swear to you that we will find each other. Don't ever lose your faith! I will always have faith in you."
"Loki, we will find each other again because what binds us is stronger than anything. I love you."
"Mobius, I..."
Mobius put a finger on Loki's lips, "You don't have to say anything back to me, I'm not afraid to say it again. I love you Loki. It was true yesterday or I don't know when, it's true now and it will be true tomorrow. I've known it for a long time. Because I feel like I've known you for a long time. Give yourself time. When this is over, take all the time you need to think, I won't go away. I'll wait."
Just as Mobius was about to get out of the car, Loki grabbed his hand to hold him back, "Mobius, wait."
Mobius turned around, "What?"
Loki hesitated again then said, "Even if I don't say it, it doesn't mean the feelings aren't there."
Believe me! Loki begged inwardly.
Mobius just nodded and smiled, "I know Loki."
Just that certainty. From the beginning, Mobius had unwavering faith in him.
Loki would prove himself worthy of that faith and then...
Sylvie was waiting for them on the doorstep.
Mobius looked at both of them and said, "I think you two should talk," before heading back to join the other "Lokis."
Sylvie and Loki looked at each other and Loki said with a chuckle, "He really knows us better than we know ourselves."
They walked to a corner of the small meadow in front of the house and sat down side by side.
After a few moments of silence, Sylvie said softly, "Mobius isn't so bad."
Loki wondered why she had chosen that as a conversation starter.
He replied, "Or so good." That's exactly why he's perfect for me.
He added aloud with a chuckle, "I think that's why we get along."
Sylvie was not fazed by Loki's attempt to divert the conversation, she added seriously, "He cares about you."
But it was too much, Loki didn't want to think about that, not now, because there was so much going on, so he chose to deflect the conversation again.
"It's cold."
Sylvie, not fooled for a moment, however, entered his game. "Mmm-hmm."
Loki conjured a blanket to cover his shoulders and offered, "I could conjure one for you, if you like."
"You could conjure me a new outfit. You have no idea how uncomfortable something like this is."
They talked for a while about what they were going to do, about Mobius' theory. When finally Sylvie looked serious and said, "How do I know that, in the final moments, you won't betray me?
"Listen, Sylvie, I..." Loki sighed deeply before continuing, "I betrayed everyone who ever loved me. I betrayed my father, my brother... my home and lately Mobius. I know what I did. And I know why I did it. And Mobius is the only one who has forgiven me, and even more who has continued and continues to trust me. Thanks to him who showed me who I could be and thanks to you who showed me that I could fight for someone other than myself, that's not who I am anymore. Okay?"
He was desperate to convince her because the bond he had formed with her was precious to him. He continued, "I won't let you down."
"You sure? 'Cause if we make it, and the TVA is gone, there might be a timeline for you to rule."
"Ah. And then I'd finally be happy." Except that wasn't what he wanted anymore.
He asked Sylvie, curious, "What about you? What will you do when this is all over?"
She shrugged, "I don't know."
Loki admitted to her, "I don't know either. Maybe... Maybe we could figure it out... together."
She looked at him with a small knowing smile on her lips, "You mean together with Mobius, right?"
Mobius...
Loki felt guilty for not responding to Mobius' statement. Yet it was only three damn words. It's not like he didn't know how he felt about Mobius. Of course he loved him. If Loki had one certainty, it was that one. So why couldn't those words pass his lips?
Seeing that Loki was not reacting and was lost in his thoughts, she called out to him, "Hey, Loki, are you okay? Is everything okay with Mobius?"
Loki came out of his reverie and took his head in his hands.
He told Sylvie everything that had happened after he was pruned. Mobius' declaration. What he had said to Loki in the car before. And his inability to express his feelings to Mobius.
She put her hand on his shoulder. "Loki, Mobius is right, give yourself time."
He shook his head, "But I don't need time, I know how I feel, so why can't I say it?"
Sylvie smiled softly, "I'm not an expert in romantic feelings, but I think that when the time is right, you'll know and it will come most naturally."
"But that's the problem! I might not have time!"
She stood up and held out her hand to help him up, "How about we just go fight and break that cloud's head so you have all the time in the world to tell him."
He grabbed her hand and together they went to join the others in the house.
As they approached, he heard Mobius and the Lokis talking apparently.
The young Loki asked him "Mobius, assuming you do get back to the TVA, what exactly are you getting yourself into?"
Mobius replied with a chuckle, "I don't know. I'd like to let people know the truth."
Old Loki retorted, surprised, "So just like that, you're turning on the very thing you devoted your life to."
Mobius replied calmly, without a tremor in his voice, "Well, it's never too late to change."
Loki stopped, overcome with emotion at Mobius' words. Just as he had believed that Loki was capable of change, he applied his own words to himself. He had never known anyone like him. Whose convictions about life and people were so unwavering. No matter what fate put in his way. How could anyone have such faith. And even more, what had Loki done to be the lucky beneficiary of such faith?
He heard Sylvie's voice in his head, "I know you want to tell him now, but now is not the time."
"I know!" replied Loki in thought, frustrated.
"But now you know you're ready." she winked at him before entering the house.
A few moments later, he had said goodbye to the other Lokis and only he, Sylvie and Mobius were left.
Sylvie was going to try to enchant Alioth and Loki would help her while Mobius would return to the TVA to do what he could.
Once again they would have to part ways. With no certainty of ever seeing each other again.
Mobius opened a timedoor with the Tempad that Sylvie had given him.
He addressed Loki with a smile, "Looks like you got away in the end."
Loki tried to joke too, but pretending had never seemed so hard, "I always do." He smiled before turning serious again and asking Mobius, "What will you do at the TVA?"
Mobius again showed that smile and determination in his eyes, as if there was only one possible answer, "Burn it to the ground." then he added, looking at Sylvie and then Loki, "Thanks for the spark."
Loki remembered their first discussion, the anger that had filled him and those words he had spat, "I'm gonna burn this place to the ground."
Then Mobius turned to Loki and held out his hand, saying, "Well, see you later, Loki."
Loki hesitated, but nothing like the first time Mobius had held out his hand in the elevator, this time he didn't want to refuse the hand, it just didn't seem right. After all they had already been through, after all they had already shared, this extended hand was not enough for Loki.
But, knowing Mobius, this gesture made sense, he was giving Loki a choice.
True to who he was and true to what he said until the end.
But Loki wanted more, because Mobius had shown him how to want more.
So he gave in to the impulse, and moved forward to embrace Mobius.
Finally, he had Mobius in his arms, and let out a long sigh.
As if all the pieces of the puzzle were in their right place.
A feeling of adequacy and fullness.
"Thank you, my friend."
He heard Sylvie's voice in his head, "Idiot! Thank you, my friend! You deserve to have me make you disappear!"
"Get out of my head!"
Sylvie said loudly, "You moron!"
Mobius raised his head and said to Sylvie with a smile on his face, "You're my favorite!" before putting his head back into the crook of Loki's neck and tightening his arms around him.
Loki couldn't see Sylvie's head but heard her chuckle.
"I love you. »
He felt Mobius' body freeze before relaxing.Then he felt her lips land on his neck and then Mobius who simply whispered, "I know."
Loki couldn't help but let a few tears spill from his eyes.
"I don't want you to go."
"I don't want to leave either, but I have to Loki. We each have something to do.It's time we got this over with."
Loki moved back a little and grabbed him by the shoulders, "Promise me you'll be careful, don't do anything reckless."
Mobius shook his head, "You know that just walking through that door is already dangerous right?"
"Mobius you know what I mean."
Mobius nodded and took his chin in his hands, "Only if you promise to do the same," then he looked over Loki's shoulder at Sylvie, "Look out for each other. Remember, you two can do anything you want, I have faith in you both." he added into Loki's ear, "I have faith in you."
Loki leaned over and kissed him desperately.
After a few moments that were too short, they reluctantly parted, still holding hands.
Sylvie spoke to Mobius, "Look for hunter B-15, she is on our side, she knows the truth. You can count on her."
He nodded.
Then he let go of Loki's hand and before heading for the door, he said to Loki, looking into his eyes, "Third time's a charm. The next time we meet again, you won't be able to get rid of me. Don't forget, I love you."
Loki, his throat tight with emotion, could only nod and whisper, "Me too."
Then he watched as Mobius walked through the door, which disappeared behind him.
He turned, looked at Sylvie, and said determinedly, "Let's go!"
