Chapter Text
You felt tiredness nipping away at every little nerve you had left. The pile of files stacked higher and higher on your desk, fingers stiff from turning page after page regarding the missing Loki variant.
Being Mobius’ partner meant you were often tasked to look deeper into the variants he’s going after or working with, sometimes delving deeper into other variations if needed. Usually Mobius would help, but a meeting pulled your friend away earlier than you had wished.
You leaned back in your chair, stretching your back and groaning as your spine cracked loudly, echoing throughout your empty office. It was no surprise that your legs felt stiff much like your fingers, as you haven’t stood up from your chair in who knows how long. A sigh left your lips, your skin feeling warmer around your spine and thighs, a dull ache radiating from both areas.
Mobius has been so occupied recently with securing another variant’s place amongst your employers, insisting regularly that he could be of great importance to the mission of finding the escaped Loki variant. He hadn’t said much about the new variant, mainly because he didn’t have the time, but Mobius had insisted that he could be useful. You knew not to interfere with Mobius' plans, knowing that even you wouldn’t be able to talk him out of it. You just wished he would stop shouldering all of the burdens that fell onto the TVA, and you wished that you could do more to help.
After reading the same three sentences over and over you finally sigh and roll backwards away from your desk. Tiredness clouded your brain, your eyelids drooping as you stared at the door. So with one last glance at the manila files laying askew in front of you, you groaned in defeat. You knew that if you kept going you’d find yourself in a pool of drool and ruined soggy files by whatever was considered morning in the TVA.
Your office was colder than usual, making you shiver as you picked up your bag slowly, arms as stiff as your legs. “Fuck.” You groaned when feeling your spine crack again, sounding louder in the silent room. Your fingers twisted the knob and opened the door hearing the faint creak of rusting hinges. The chatter amongst your colleagues served as a reminder that the office never truly went silent. Employees were always sitting at their desk working away, waiting for their shift to end and be filled by another worker. Like bees in a hive.
The sound of your boots against the tile was drowned out by the rustling of paper, and fingers hurriedly typing on keyboards. You walked down the familiar hallways, fingers feeling the ridges on your bag’s strap as you walked.
Your mind drifted to Mobius, wondering how he was doing with the new variant. He had seemed especially stressed today, but as usual he insisted that it wasn’t anything to worry about. Of course it was pretty hard not to though, especially after the same variant he was working with tried to make some grand escape the second he saw an opening.
Mobius was probably the closest person to a family you had in this big place, a firm connection established by trust and spending almost all your time together. A small smile made your lips curve upwards briefly, your wandering fingers prodding the files in your bag.
You cursed quietly when you felt the smooth spine of a binder against your fingertip, completely forgetting you had borrowed something from the library earlier in the day.
’ Well I guess I should return it.’ you thought to yourself, letting out a tired sigh and continuing down the hall with your new destination in mind.
The library was always so dark, shelves upon shelves lined up neatly with thousands of books and files holding all kinds of important timeline information. You went up to the front desk, sliding the book towards the lady sitting behind the counter. You rang the bell and stood silently waiting for her attention to be drawn to you.
“Yes?” She asked in a monotone voice, not bothering to turn away from her computer.
“Returning this binder.” You answered with a tired smile “Oh, those case files I asked for yesterday, are they back in?” She sat for a second thinking over your words before nodding.
“They were brought back earlier today.” You instinctively looked towards one of the bookshelves in the distance of the vast room, “I’m sure you can find them, Agent.”
“Thank you.” You pushed yourself off the counter, taking off towards the bookshelf.
Your eyes scanned the binders carefully. It was a binder of case files Mobius had been looking for on all the locations the Loki variant has gone to since escaping, hoping that analyzing the steps she’s taken would open any new doors or if it would be a dead end like always. It felt like the closer you got towards stopping her, she was always ten steps ahead, outsmarting even the smartest and strongest minute men. You just wished there was something more you could do rather than sitting in your office-
“Oh shit-” You gasped, accidentally bumping into another person when you rounded the corner of the bookshelf. You quickly distanced yourself, looking at the man in front of you. “Sorry, I didn’t see you.” You chuckled quietly. Knowing you probably looked as tired as you sounded.
“It’s quite alright.” He smiled charmingly at you. You looked at him for a few more seconds before nodding and walking past him, continuing your search for the files on the escaped Loki variant.
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“Look what I found!” You said cheerfully as you slapped the files down on Mobius’ desk, as if finding them were some impressive feat harder than any other. Smiling down at him proudly, taking a seat in the chair next to his desk. He picked the files up and flipped the first one open, scanning the first few pages that documented encounters and all the information regarding her escape.
“Well I’ll be damned.” Mobius smiled at you, “Maybe there’ll finally be something that sticks out this time.” He praised, sliding it across his desk towards you.
“I doubt it. But hey, it's worth looking at I guess.” You answered, kicking your boots off and crossing your legs in your chair. You always spent more time in Mobius’ office than in your own, finding it easier to be with him while looking for clues so you could bounce your ideas off of him.
Once you were fully settled into your seat you looked back up at the man across from you, his brows drawn together in concentration “I ran into your little Loki variant last night. I didn’t know you were letting him free-roam.” You chuckle.
Mobius looked up at you over the rim of his coffee cup “I wanted to keep him busy while I was in my meeting. But either way he’s practically harmless compared to that other Loki.” He said, sliding in closer to his desk and setting his cup back down.
You played with the string sticking out of your sock lazily, “Didn’t he give you the slip recently?” You smirked.
Mobius rolled his eyes, smoothing his mustache down with his thumb and index finger “Yeah, yeah. I already had Ravonna get onto me for that one, I don’t need to hear it from you, again .”
A quiet laugh came from you, and you crossed your arms over your chest, cocking your head to the side and narrowing your eyes at him, “Mhmm… I’m just saying, I think it’s a stupid idea.” You raise your hands up in surrender, and open up one of the folders, flipping through the first few pages, “I trust you Mobius, I just don’t want this variant getting you into any trouble.”
Your partner sighed softly, taking another sip from his coffee mug. “I know… I just don’t know what else to do at this point.”
You knew what he meant. The never ending game of cat and mouse was getting tiring, the hunters always on edge when preparing for a mission, your nerves wearing thin from the endless searching, and Mobius’ stress only stacking higher as he tries his hardest to find a possible solution. You all wanted this to come to an end, and if using a Loki to find a Loki would help, then you would reluctantly take that route.