Chapter Text
Mobius didn’t have an appointment when he had turned up in Ravonna Renslayer’s office, but then he never did. He simply smiled and joked and then he explained his… controversial plan.
And of course, she said no straight away, he didn’t know why her saying no surprised him, it never did.
But then when he had explained it in more detail she still said no… which was more surprising.
“Come on, Rav.”
“Don’t call me that, and no .”
“He’s perfect for it.”
“So you say.”
“So his file says,” he stressed, waving the file in the air, ”How often do we see that rating on someone like him ?”
She hesitated for the first time, “Regardless, it doesn’t matter, there’s no one to take him in.”
“Hussein?”
“He’s too old, he’s retiring soon, he’s not going to accept any, especially like him.”
Mobius frowned, he picked at a stray threat on the chair he was sat in, until he felt Ravonna giving him a look, “How about Vie-“
“There’s no way they could handle him.” She sighed, “Look, Mobius, I get that you love trying to fix broken things, but there’s no one to take him, that’s even if he accepts this.” She rearranged some papers on her desk, deliberately not looking at the look of pleading on Mobius’ face, she sighed again, regretting becoming friends with him.
“The best I can do is have him stay in a cell until someone is found to become his guardian, which will take a while, especially when people then he can go through the machine.”
The offer clearly wasn’t enough for Mobius.
“Me.”
“Huh?”
This time Mobius raised his voice loud enough for her to hear him, “Me. I’ll take him in, I’ll become his guardian.”
She gave him a look... Then laughed.
“What?”
“ You ?”
“I have got a certification.”
“I know you do, I figured that was because you wanted a two bed apartment.”
Mobius smirked, “Sure,” he sighed as he watched Ravonna attempt to see through his snark. “Look, I just see something in him… potential.”
“He’s killed people.”
Mobius gave a ‘fair point’ kind of a shrug. “I think he can change, I’ve seen his life, it may have been his part to play on the timeline, but he could be different here.”
“What makes you think he can change?”
“He came back to the time theatre. I mean he was a little shit to steal my TemPad, and to put the collar on B-15… and threatened Casey…”
“He… what?”
Mobius made a shooing gesture with his hands, “Don’t worry about it. He did all of them but he came back to the theatre. He’s still there, probably still crying, which is how I left him.”
“Why is he crying?”
“Because he’s finally got the anger out of his system and he’s realised that he’s powerless here and his life goals were never going to work, and were always pointless,” Mobius told her flatly.
She sighed again, standing up, crossing her arms, walking around her desk close to Mobius, leaning back against her desk. “Have you already told him about this?”
“No. I don’t think he’s good at being stagnant, having to wait for us to have this talk would have had him climbing the walls.” He looked up at his friend. “I… I want him to have a second chance, he can change, and if there’s no one else to do it then I will. That’s how much I wanna do this. I mean c’mon, how often do you see me wanting something this much?”
There was silence in the office for a minute.
“A standard contract, he’s your responsibility, completely; and if he does something too far then he gets pruned, no matter how attached you’ve become.”
“I’m not gonna get attached to him. I’m just gonna reform him, then maybe one day he can go to an actual family.”
She shook her head slightly, “I’m only doing this because it’s you.”
“Because I’m your favourite,” he smirked, not without charm.
“You’re really not, but you’re the one who’ll annoy me until I want to prune you if I say no.”
Mobius smiled proudly.
When he got back to the time theatre Loki was still sitting on the floor, his knees to his chest, his back pressed against the wall, making himself as small as possible.
The room was dark, only lit by the Tesseract in Loki’s hands which he was holding onto like it was a nightlight.
As Mobius walked closer he could see tear marks still marking Loki’s flushed cheeks, he had clearly only just stopped crying. Mobius placed the file he had carried onto the table before closing the distance between him and the god of mischief.
Mobius reached into his pocket, he pulled out a handkerchief, crouched down in front of him then passed it to Loki; who took it looking both confused and out of it, “Dry your eyes, Loki.”
To his surprise Loki did as he was told, his movements slow and sluggish, not bothering to protest that he hadn’t been crying.
He was tired, Mobius realised, he hadn’t slept since New York, he would leave him to get some sleep but it would work out better to get this over with.
Loki held the handkerchief back to him, once he had done, much to Mobius’ surprise.
“Thank you,” Mobius told him firmly, better to start as he meant to go on, showing Loki how to be a better person. “I talked to the judge, we’ve got a deal for you,” there was a glimmer of hope on the demigod’s face, “shall we sit back at the table?” He stood up and took his place back at their table.
He could have sworn he heard a whine from Loki at being forced to stand up, he busied himself with the computer as Loki settled himself down, he could see the man's eyes scanning Mobius and trying to read the file, Mobius moved it just enough to point out that he had noticed him trying to snoop.
“What’s the deal?”
Mobius finally looked at Loki, “Hmm?”
Loki gritted his teeth, but when he spoke there were more signs of that tired whining Loki from the floor. “You said you had a deal for me, what is it?” He was silent for a second with just Mobius looking at him, he sighed, “I would like to know, please.”
Mobius gave him an encouraging smile, “Well, we obviously can’t have you on earth, or in your old home, sometimes we have people who are specialised in certain areas stay and work with us, but you’re too dangerous for that,” he was surprised that Loki only looked saddened by that, he knew what the only option was… or the only other option.
“So I’m to be pruned?”
Mobius nearly softened at Loki’s soft voice, “that or the deal I’ve negotiated, we get variants, sometimes, who are eligible for this, and you must have some friend in some higher place because the Timekeepers have marked it for you.” Mobius fidgeted with the machine as he spoke.”
“What’s the-“
“Shhh.” Mobius pointed at the projection appearing on the wall opposite them.
“ Hi y’all! ” Miss Minutes smiled at them through the screen.”
“Why-?”
“ Loki ,” Mobius reprimanded, “shh, watch and you’ll understand.”
Loki sank down in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, and glared grumpily at the screen.
The cartoon began to play, Loki picked the Tesseract up , turning it over and over in his hands as a cartoon in the style of the first one he had seen in the queue.
Loki’s glare faded to a look of confusion the longer it played.
‘ You’ve been identified as one of the few special Variants who could benefit from a second chance!
Some variants may have special skills which could benefit the Time Variance Authority.
I heal people! I work to help everyone feel better when they’re sick.
I am an engineer! I work to improve our city.
I’m a fighter! I work hard to protect our TVA family.
I work in retail! I help you find the things you need to live happily and healthily.’
Loki shook his head at the cartoons popping up.
‘But other Variants like y’all have been analysed to most benefit from a second chance in a way only our TVA family can provide.
Y’all may have had a stunted childhood full of abuse and pain, there may have been one or several events which caused you to…. verge into the path you needed to keep the sacred timeline… but here at the TVA you may be eligible for a second chance.’
The movie showed a sad variant stepping into a machine, a gust of stars washed over them, then suddenly the variant was a child, and was smiling.
‘Your new happy self will remember your life before you were given your second chance and you’ll retain some of your skills, but you’ll be born new! A new chance just for you, here in the TVA! You’ll be perfectly matched up with the perfect foster parents who can’t wait to meet you, you’ll
When it ended he stared at the blank wall until Mobius softly called his name.
“Do you understand?”
Loki stared blankly.
“Loki, I’m gonna need some form of an answer, preferably audible.” His voice was gentle but brokered no argument. Mobius watched Loki open and close his mouth, searching for words, but none came. “Do you need me to explain it a little more-?”
“-You want me to go through that?”
“ I don’t want it, necessarily, but we think you’ve got something special in you. It’d be a shame to prune you.”
“That’s it? What about one of those, those consultants? I could be one-!” He was cut off by Mobius shaking his head, he glared at him. “Why not?! I have skills!”
“Okay, let’s calm down here,” Mobius told him firmly, “I didn’t say that you don’t have skills, you have a lot of them, just none which would benefit the TVA.”
“I could help catch other Lokis, there must be plenty of us!”
Mobius gave him a sympathetic smile, “we already have several working for us. Loki, this isn’t a punishment.”
“Turning me into a child isn’t a punishment!?”
“No. It really is a second chance. You live here with a guardian, a kind of foster parent, you learn more about yourself, you get to have a happy childhood finally, then maybe in a few hundred years you’ll be ready to live with a family full time, at which point you’ll be slotted into the timeline as a new person and you’ll begin to grow again.”
“Begin to grow again? What does that mean?”
“You won’t grow here, we’re kinda in stasis, that’s why no one can have kids here. Some people foster young variants, it’s… fulfilling for them.”
Loki crossed his arms over his chest again, “this is ridiculous,” he mumbled.
“It’s… Unusual, sure. Loki, can you honestly tell me that you don’t think that the child version of you deserved more than Odin’s scorn and wrath? That you don’t deserve a chance?”
Loki dropped his eyes under the table, scuffing his sneakers against the floor. He didn’t answer, knowing that his opinion wasn’t shared with Mobius, the opinion Odin had forced upon him.
“You were a clever kid, a good kid… I saw how your father treated you,” he didn’t miss Loki slouching further down into himself, “that changed you. You deserve a last chance, Loki, if you won’t believe that then believe me, especially as I haven’t lied to you yet. And y’know what else I think?”
Loki rolled his eyes when Mobius paused, clearly refusing to answer until Loki said “What?”
“I think you’re gonna do it. You’re a survivor, Loki, that's what all versions of you do, survive . This is a way to survive, even if you don’t really believe that it’ll be good for you then at least you can believe that it’s better than dying.”
Loki refused to look at the man.
But it didn’t stop his words from sinking in.
He could feel Mobius’ eyes watching him carefully, there was something reassuring about it, especially as compared to the other goons who were around him Mobius seemed the safest.
He wasn’t about to let Mobius know that. He did what he always did when threatened, he put on a mask, then threatened him back. “You think that turning me into a child will stop me from taking over the TVA?”
Mobius gave him an amused smile, like he was a puppy taught to shake hands for treats, “I’m sure you could do whatever you set your mind to, Loki. But it’d be up to your guardian to punish you and to take responsibility for you, so I doubt that if you do happen to fail you’d like the punishment for that, which considering how you’ve seen how magic is useless here might happen.”
“What is the punishment for that, let me guess, I have to watch more of those stupid cartoons?”
Mobius gave him a flicker of a faint smile but otherwise remained serious, “Pruning.”
Loki didn’t like the sound of any punishment, especially death, but he carried on with his facade. “If I did this, I wouldn’t be acting grateful about it, the other option is certain death, and believe me, it’s a hard choice.”
Mobius simply sent him an amused smile, “Is this you warning me that you’re gonna be a handful? ‘Cause I really didn’t need to be told.”
Loki frowned, mostly because he was trying not to smile at the man's constant amusement, which should have been insufferable. “It doesn’t matter,” the words were out of his mouth before even his thoughts had caught up, “I doubt anyone would trust even a child version of me. So why did you even bring .”
Mobius tilted his head to the side in understanding, “There’s someone already lined up. And you know that trust is going to have to happen small, you’re not dangerous, but you are unpredictable, you’ll need to follow rules and earn that trust.”
Loki fell silent, staring at the glowing cube in front of him, he gave the useless block a twirl in his hands.
He gave one nod.
After a moment of silence he looked up at Mobius who was staring at him sympathetically. “What?”
“I’m gonna need you to use your words, Bud.”
Loki rolled his eyes, droning out, “I’ll do it.”
Mobius sighed and Loki felt a little bad, he must have been feeling tired because words slipped out before he realised they were going to, again, this time with feeling, and humility, “I’ll do it, please. I… I want another chance.”
He was rewarded with a proud smile, “Okay, let’s get this started, shall we?”
“Wait, I’m going to be turned into one now?”
“Well, once the paperwork's done.” Mobius pulled sheets of paper out of the file he had been looking over, “it’s pretty late but I managed to sweet talk the judge into witnessing us signing this, then we can get you into the machine and then get you home.”
“Wait… that’s it?”
Mobius gave a shrug, “Not much else to talk about I don’t think, unless you have questions?” He pushed a couple of sheets of paper over.
“Why do you even do this? Why not just prune us all?”
Mobius thought for a second, “I like to think that most of the people given second chances are because their story down there wasn’t fair. It’s not enough to break everyone’s timelines, but you deserve a second chance. A last chance.”
Loki didn't miss that pointed remark, he reached across the table to get Mobius’ pen, he twirled it between his fingers. “Do I not get to meet whomever is supposed to be… housing me? What if I don’t like them? What if I don’t want to live with them?”
This was the first time Mobius had looked uncertain, “You already have met them.”
“I don’t- not the guy who doesn’t know what a fish is?” Loki groaned, he was going to have to get himself pruned, clearly.
Mobius ducked his head to try and hide a laugh, “That’s Casey. And no. It’s me actually.”
Loki waited for the joke to come… but nothing… “ You? ”
“Yup. You need someone who can see through your bullcrap, and who knows everything about you, and someone who is secure. I’ve been trained like everyone else has, and I can’t be much worse than other people you’ve met here.”
“But I don’t want you.”
Mobius didn’t seem to take any offence to his words, “I’m the only one willing, so it’s me or….”
Loki sighed glaring at him.
“If looks could kill,” Mobius repeated the sentiment from earlier. “Look, this is it: this is the chance you get. You don’t have any options here, it’s me and this, or… poof .” He stared at Loki, trying to keep his face as blank as possible.
Loki gritted his teeth, ignoring that doing so probably made him look like he was pouting, he pulled one of the forms closer to him to read, refusing to word his defeat.
“How old will I become?” He allowed his eye to flicker up to the agent's face, he was met with a soft smile.
Mobius flicked through the forms finding the one he’d been searching for. “You’ll be aged down to the age you were when you started to change.”
“Well, my entire DNA was changed when I was a babe, and if I’m keeping my mind I’d rather take the pruning than that.”
“I meant you started to change for the worst, you weren’t born bad Loki. Seven,” he read off the form, “Midgardian years, I mean, it’s kinda how we measure ages here ‘cause most of us have human bodies, we can just live for a long time.”
“I became bad when I was…”
“ No ,” Mobius told him quickly, “You didn’t become bad then, you just started to think about… taking the path the timeline needed you to. I’m guessing it’s about when you started to fall out of favour with Odin.”
A muscle in Loki’s jaw twitched, his mind jumping back a few hundred years, he nodded his head. He remembered.
They went over a few other things, Loki had to stick with Mobius for two months, after that if he was still genuinely wanting someone else to be his guardian after the search would begin, he would live with Mobius, he would be set some form of schooling largely to keep him busy, and Mobius would be responsible for providing for him past the initial ‘kit’ he would be given.
The biggest thing, the thing that it all hinged on, was that Loki was to sign away his adult rights.
His freedom or his life….
He could gain his freedom back: he could gain it, or scheme for it, or steal it: he could kill for it if need be…
He couldn’t escape death, he had seen that in the time theatre.
Soon they found themselves in Judge Ravonna Renslayer’s office.
Loki was kind of surprised at how… kind of nice it was, if a little… orange… But Loki couldn’t really be bothered with snooping around, which was saying something…
It had been a long day, had it been just a day? He still had some cuts and bruises littering his body, he could feel the age in his bones each time he moved.
He wanted to sleep, anywhere at this point… but he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway, he could never sleep around people he didn’t trust… so he never slept around people.
“Mr Laufeyson, you understand everything in this document?”
Loki must have missed her talking, judging by the tone of voice she used, he nodded his head.
“Bud,” Mobius’ voice was barely above a whisper, pointed and encouraging.
“Yes, I understand it all. It doesn’t use long words or anything .”
“ Loki .” Mobius’ voice was louder this time, still pointed, but this time it was sterner, warning Loki of his bitter sarcasm.
Loki found himself sinking in his chair, and ducking his head. But he wasn’t going to apologise… that was where he drew the line.
“I think he’s tired,” Mobius mock- whispered to the Judge, as though Loki couldn’t hear him, but Mobius could see the muscle in Loki’s jaw jump in frustration at him doing so, but the demigod kept quiet and kept his head ducked.
Mobius smiled softly at his new charge, knowing he wouldn’t see, yes he was definitely tired, which perhaps would work in his favour.
Ravonna nodded her head at her friend, taking in the way Loki had reacted to Mobius, and how Mobius had seemed almost… natural at this. But the idiot had chosen to take in him …
She forced herself to move on, reading out everything she had to; normally other judges would be the one to deal with this sort of matter, but she knew the script, she would do it for Mobius.
“Okay, all that’s left is for you both to sign these, and I’ll take a thumbprint, then Mobius will take you to the second chance machine.”
Mobius went first, signing his name as though it was nothing, and pressing his thumb to the small pad, then held it as he passed Loki the pen.
Loki stared down at the contract, this was it… he wondered what his family would say if they could see him now… tired, broken… about to be turned into a child and sent to live with a moustached bureaucrat …. He didn’t want to think about it.
He signed his name, big swooping letters, he wondered how long it would be before he would do so again… he pressed his thumb onto the pad.
“I wish you both luck.” She told them as she pressed a stamp onto the paper, signing it and making it official.
“Mr Laufeyson the next time we see each other you will have a clean slate, but you will still be carefully watched. If you continue with the behaviour you exhibited on Asgard and on Earth here, then understand that you
will
be removed from existence, just like you were going to before Agent Mobius stepped in. I expect you, as your new guardian’s friend, to appreciate the chance that
he
has given you. Perhaps in time you will earn it.”