Chapter Text
Loki groaned as he dropped himself back into his chair, sipping the drink he’d brought back with him. He shook the can wondering why it was half empty, he hadn’t drunk that much already surely?
“Welcome back, Loki,” Miss Minutes chirped at him, “and now that you’re sufficiently hydrated since that’s your fifth drink break today we can get back to finishing up these videos.”
Yet more TVA propaganda scrolled across the screen and Loki pillowed his head on his arms. His eyes slipped closed and when he opened them again the credits were rolling and Miss Minutes was rattling over a question to him.
“I don’t care,” he answered tersely, downing the last of his drink trying to dispel the scratchy feeling in the back of his throat that was making him more irritated than usual.
Thankfully depending on how one looked at it Loki was saved by Mobius coming in with a mission for them.
***
Not thankful he was not thankful Loki thought as the latest apocalypse had them once again being dumped on by rain. Really overloads of all of time and yet they couldn’t open their time doors to somewhere dry? He managed to get to a small area of cover and tried to dry his clothes as he had done before.
Nothing happened.
Loki frowned and tried again. A shimmer of green flowed over his body that time, but it only dried his coat and pants, leaving his hair plastered to his neck and his shirt stuck to his skin. As he crouched there in confusion he swallowed, his throat feeling tighter than before, and his eyes widened in dawning horror. Not for the mission or his variant counterpart no something far worse than all that.
He might be ill.
He closed his eyes and tried to focus, ignoring the movements of the others around him. His magic wasn’t combating the malaise as it should and that meant that it was already too far into his body to be eliminated by any healing spells, and when they went back his magic would be gone again anyway. Anything he did manage to do to combat it would be swept away along with any glamours or illusions he might cast to hide it. Perfect.
Knowing there was nothing for it now Loki tried to get back to the task at hand. Moving back out into the rain he managed to keep it together for a good five maybe even ten minutes before his body betrayed him. The sneeze came at the most inopportune time because of course it did. It was loud, giving away his position, and burned against his throat that felt raw without the relief of copious drinks. He doubled over coughing hard as the others tried to capture their target in vain.
Thus to put it simply mission: failed.
Loki was having a very hard time caring though as his world was starting to feel too cold and too hot at the same time as he was dragged back to the TVA.
Then he saw Mobius’ face, his very angry face.
“Mobius, I can explain-”
“Explain what? That I brought you on my team to help catch your variant and now we’re having the worst performance ratings of my career.”
“Fine, don’t listen to the explanation, but is there an infirmary anywhere in this bureaucratic nightmare? Or am I to believe the benevolent timekeepers don’t have a sick leave program?” he asked with a sniffle as water ran down from his hair and over his face.
Mobius rolled his eyes. “Really that’s what you’re going with? The prince of lies and the best you’re going to give me is faking a case of the sniffles.”
With a huff Mobius took him by the elbow and dragged him down the hall. Loki was expecting to be dumped in a chair again, but instead they went somewhere else, somewhere new and put a collar on him for good measure.
“Really? Mobius, you need me in a cage for this?”
“I can’t deal with this-you right now.”
A red door opened and with it a deep sense of foreboding.
“Mobius, wait-”
Mobius kept walking away as Loki was shoved through the door.
“Mobius!”
The other side appeared empty, but familiar, far too familiar. Loki turned and yes there is was that cursed glowing blue box.
“Both of you were born to be kings.”
Yes, king of the race that terrified children.
He winced as the light hurt his eyes and made his head pound. Still it called to him. He was of it after all. He touched it, his true nature coming through and sending a violent shiver through his body.
“Am I cursed?”
“No.”
Yes I am, cursed to be a failure.
“What am I?”
“You’re my son.”
The spare, never the heir, the adopted one, the unworthy one, the stolen relic.
“You took me for a purpose what was it?”
Silence that was the best that he would ever receive from the All Father.
“Tell me!”
The shout brought on another bought of coughs.
“I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day. Bring about an alliance bring about a permanent peace though you.”
A pawn in someone else’s game; just as he was now. Merely a ’consultant’ for the TVA, because they needed him to maintain the so called sacred timeline for a trio of space lizards.
“But those plans no longer matter.”
Because he wasn’t good enough.
“Because no matter how much you claim to love me! You could never have a frost giant sitting on the throne of Asgard!”
The accusation was torn from his lips despite his body’s protests and as Odin collapsed Loki did too, his lungs burning and rubbing at his swollen throat.
“What happened? Silver tongue turn to lead.”
Those weren’t his words, but the Warriors Three reminded Loki of Thor and how he’d left things back in New York. A fresh wave of guilt flowed over him, along with a bone aching chill, and a wrenching sneeze. He blamed it for the tears in his eyes as he sat on his knees and thought yet again of his brother and how he hadn’t said goodbye.
He immediately regretted that as said older brother smashed into him and sent him flying across the room.
“Where is the Tesseract?”
“Being used as a paperweight,” Loki wheezed.
“Do I look to be in a gaming mood?”
Thor hauled him up.
“I thought you dead.”
I am and it’s better for you to think so, brother.
“We we’re raised together, we played together, we fought together, do you remember none of that?”
A reel remembered that for him now. His own mind had pushed all that out of the sun for thoughts of jealousy, inferiority, and a need to be seen. A shadow cast on a relationship that hadn’t deserved it.
“I remember you tossing me into an abyss.”
It wasn’t true. He had seen with his own eyes that it wasn’t, but none of that mattered now. Just like then no one was coming for him. Left with the mad titan then, he was now left to stew with every mistake, every bad choice that had led him down this path. A path that he now knew was preordained.
“You were born to cause pain and suffering and death.”
And oh how he did. Even with his mind foggy and awash with fever it was still somehow less muddled than it had been then and he noticed properly the pain in Thor’s eyes, and a part of him twisted at the thought that perhaps he had meant it. That they’d mourned him, missed him.
“Come home.”
I can never go home.
***
Mobius adjusted his tie as he left Ravonna’s office. The meeting had taken longer than planned, but at least he’d calmed down enough to talk to Loki properly. He smirked, and with a little extra time in the loop Loki was sure to be humbled now too.
Approaching the time cell he took out his Tempad, only to be stopped by a very animated clock.
“Hold up there! The cycle isn’t finished.”
“Uh, Miss Minutes, you know we can pause the loop at any time.”
“Well you see, Agent Mobius, you didn’t pick a memory before you left. This loop is currently linked to Loki’s biometrics.”
He looked down at the pad. “No, I was sure…” Mobius paled as he realized she was right, he had meant to pick a specific point, but since he hadn’t the program would pick for him. Or rather the program would start chronologically and respond to Loki’s aura. But that technology was still in testing, and never with a non-human variant.
“And you left it on?!”
Ignoring proper protocol he rushed into the cell.
“Loki!”
A cliff side and an angry God of Thunder vanished leaving only Loki curled up on the floor, breathing raspy, and clothes stained with sweat.
“Loki, talk to me!”
Mobius knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder and the other pressed to his forehead.
Fever bright eyes looked at him in joy.
“Mother, I-I knew you’d come.”