Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[Takes place shortly after Pompeii, an alternate timeline replacing the post-Pompeii cafeteria talk. Mobius and Loki have been researching apocalypses, but haven’t found any leads, yet.]

“I thought I told you to keep looking for more potential doomsdays hideouts.” Mobius chided, dragging Loki by the arm down the cement hallway. 

“I was .” The god of mischief kept pace clumsily, needing to hunch a little.

“Yeah, okay. You know, the more you play around the more often you’ll be wearing one of those.” Mobius gestured at the Time Collar freshly fastened around Loki’s neck. “And the longer it’s gonna take us to catch this guy. What’d you do this time, anyways?” Mobius waved the pruning stick in his hand that he had, moments ago, confiscated from a jab-happy Minuteman who had almost deleted the Asgardian prince.

“I made a few friends in the Analytics department so I could steal some records.”

“Just ask for files, like a person , you don’t have to steal them.”

“In the excitement, I may have also broken some of their belongings… and some evidence, too.”

Mobius stopped dead. He turned to Loki, frustration pulling at his tired face, “Okay, hey, don’t go messing with my team. I’m in enough hot water already. Now I gotta answer for every time I turn my back and you’re on the loose clawing at the curtains.”

“Where are we going?” 

Mobius picked up the pace again, “Well, I can’t leave you alone anymore. I figured we’d come to an empty theater to keep researching on our own. Nobody uses these rooms besides us, anyways.” He brought them to the door of their familiar stage, their old interrogation room. “No one wants to see me around, either. I figure we can take it easy in here and let everyone cool off for a bit. Including you.” He fiddled with his keycards, eyes and fingers clumsy from hours of page-turning. 

“It’s really their fault for not being more guarded. If anyone here had any intelligence they wouldn’t just let me wander and talk freely.”

“Well, thank god we’re not so smart, ‘silvertongue’.” The keycard sensor beeped affirmatively. “It’d be harder for you to help us from a cell.” The door opened.

Loki enjoyed hearing that old moniker, flattered by the TVA agent’s breadth of knowledge about him. As long as they let him talk, at least he had one last power at his disposal even here in the disturbingly magic-less walls of the TVA. 

“Now, get in there.”

“After you.”

Putting away his wallet, Mobius cracked a smart grin, “Nuh-uh, I’m still keeping an eye on my back around you. Who knows if you nabbed a letter opener back there or something.”

Pleased, Loki commended, “At least someone knows who they’re dealing with.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m a real genius.” Mobius gave the god a playful push into the room, Loki received it with only feigned resistance. 

Trying to ignore his memories of this particular theater, Loki approached the table. There was an assortment of alcohol, carbonated beverages, and bagged snack foods waiting for them. It was the typical vending machine food available in these rooms for agents, but the liquor looked like a personal touch. Did Mobius keep this here for himself?

“What delicacies,” Loki commented flatly.

Mobius dropped the heavy bundle of doomsday files that had been tucked under his arm onto the table with a thud and they cascaded onto the tabletop.

“I know it’s not Asgardian mead, but, here. Drink.” Mobius put the pruning stick down on the far end of the table and grabbed the stout bottle of brown liquor in one hand, two short glasses in another, and he sat down stiffly. He swore his bones were aching from the stress. “Just try to relax.”

Loki took a seat. 

“Peanuts?”

The prince gave a silent 'no' . 

Mobius shrugged, took a swig from a glass, and ripped open a foil bag for himself. “Sometimes it’s good to just take a moment, turn off the cameras, and catch your breath. All these late-Earth apocalypses are weighing me down.” He took a deep breath, leaned back, and closed his weary eyes, chewing. A rare moment of non-vigilance from the agent.

Looking around at all the files, Loki added, “Yes, this is what happens when you let mortals govern themselves. They’re very nearsighted. As god-king, you know, I had a whole plan, including just a bit of forced labor, on how to help restor-”

“Just get to work, please. I’ll stay and babysit you, but I need some ‘quiet time’,” Mobius interrupted the campaign speech as he leaned back and draped an empty folder over his face to block out the light. He wasn’t going to engage with the troublemaker again until he had at least a half hour of peace. 

“Bu-”, Loki’s attempt to keep the man’s attention was interrupted by Mobius lifting his palm up in a universal gesture of ‘I’ve had enough’. Mobius laced his fingers together and let them rest on his stomach, his face still covered by the folder. 

Although Mobius wasn’t an idiot like every other TVA agent in this godforsaken prison, he wasn’t much fun. Deprived of conversation, Loki glumly started to sift through the folders in front of him. He was grateful to be out of sight of the moronic Minutemen as well as the painfully dull bureaucrats, but he had long since lost motivation in their research. 

None of the files seemed to have a lead. 

Boredom overwhelmed him. He toyed with the idea of running, but he knew how that would end. He’d be back in this chair and Mobius would just be even less fun. Scoffing with an attitude for no audience in particular, he begrudgingly opened a random folder. Without anything else to do, thanks to his collar and his dozy babysitter, he resumed the research he had been shirking. 

After what felt like an eternity, Loki grumbled and shoved the Ice Cap Disaster file across the table, disgusted with fatigue. He wasn’t made to do paperwork. He was supposed to be causing apocalypses not reading about them. He aimlessly shuffled papers with frustration. In response, Mobius let out a tired sigh, fully relaxed. Loki paused. He ducked to peek under Mobius’ folder a little. Was he asleep? Did TVA agents sleep? Either way, Mobius seemed unaware of Loki now. Satisfied that the coast was clear, the prince saw an opportunity. He had been saving it for later, but the boredom was too much now. He couldn’t wait any longer. He reached into his jacket and pulled out yet another folder, one he had taken care to hide on his person, adding it to the pile in front of him. However, this wasn’t just another dreary doomsday. It had been ridiculously easy to steal, all he had had to do was track down the right department, throw a couple trinkets around, and everyone left their desks unsupervised to report him. Imbeciles. 

He opened it, glancing at Mobius for signs of stirring. Nothing. He turned his attention to the file completely, starting with the cover page:

“MISSION SUMMARY.

 

Investigating Agent: Mobius M. Mobius. 

Supervisory Board Member: Judge Ravonna Renslayer 

Criminal Variant: Loki Laufeyson Variant L0852

Consultant(s): Loki Laufeyson Variant L1130.”

Loki glanced at the forms in the beginning of the file. Boring. He flipped through the pages to find more about himself, of course. That was why he stole it. What were they planning for him? He stopped flipping when he found his handsome mugshot paperclipped to a form: “Character Summary of Variant L1130 of Sequence Violation 780-29”. His description was short, but perfect: 

“This variant is insubordinate, stubborn, and unpredictable.” 

He grinned. Nothing else in his summary was new. He flipped to the most recent additions, not sure what he was looking for. 

“NEXUS EVENT REPORT. 

Event Details

 

Time Status: 1985 - Earth

Cause of Displacement: Unknown

Event Analysis: Suspect Variant L0852 attacked Hunter C-20 and team during routine reset mission.

…

Loki Laufeyson Variant L1130 obstructed the jurisdiction of Hunter B-15 and Agent Mobius M. Mobius by halting the investigation of the crime scene until a near red-line nexus event forced termination of investigation. Subject is highly confrontational, manipulative, and cannot be trusted in the field. Immediate supervisory response requested.” 

Lovely. 

Flip . 

“PROPOSED RESOLUTION.

 

Agent Mobius M. Mobius has accepted full responsibility, accountability, and custody of L1130. Agent Mobius has agreed to terms that, upon repeated obstruction of the ongoing investigation, L1130 may undergo deletion immediately at the order of Agent Mobius when determined by Agent Mobius to be necessary for the integrity of the mission or the Sacred Timeline. 

 

Furthermore, it has been determined that, due to the volatile nature of L1130 and its Variant status, at the cease of investigation and the closure of L1130’s Consultant Status through either the successful arrest of the criminal variant, reassignment of case load, or termination of investigation as determined by Supervisory Board Member Judge Ravonna Renslayer, Agent Mobius will assume responsibility for the immediate deletion of L1130 or the delegation of such responsibility thereof. 

Supervisory Signature: R. Slayer

Acceptance of Terms Signature: MMM ” 

He re-read the last, dry paragraph several times: “At the cease of investigation… Agent Mobius will assume responsibility for the immediate deletion… or the delegation of such responsibility….” 

Loki’s eyes flickered between the sentences and the signature of “ MMM ”. The corner of his mouth twisted. He had guessed he’d find something like this, but seeing it was different. He glanced at the man across from him. Mobius had conveniently overlooked this detail in their talks about Loki’s rewards at the end of the investigation. The man had avoided sharing that Loki’s efforts weren’t for profit, but to simply prolong the inevitable. Loki wasn’t an idiot. He knew this was a possibility. The prince just hadn’t expected to see it in black and white. His betrayals had always been elegant and personal; delivered with a grin and flourish, just as his prey felt comfortable. He always gave his victims a show- made them feel a little special. Loki hadn’t expected to see Mobius’ signature confirm, so impersonally, his planned participation in the god’s deletion. Loki’s throat felt dry as he remembered what deletion looked like. A cascade of sparks and then nothing. Loki was ancient and had seen his fair share of death, he had even dispensed it on occasion, but this was different. Deletion in the TVA was worse than any death he had seen before. Despite how little he showed his captors of his true nervousness, deletion curdled his blood to even think about. There was no valor, no feeling, and, without his powers, almost no chance for escape. The killers in this world didn’t even react to their victims’ screams of annihilation.  Would he, the once-godking of Midgard who had waged galactic wars against the strongest of the universe’s soldiers, be quietly disintegrated by a numbered henchman between coffee breaks? Or by this strange gray man sighing sleepily in front of him? Would Mobius dispatch him with an electrical fizzle and return to his files before moving on to the next Loki who might be useful as nothing more than a tool?

Loki’s stomach turned, his eyes a little wild. How would he get out of this? The TVA was a cage unlike anything he had experienced before. Even infinity stone were useless here. His magic and any powers that made him a god were gone. He was just a tool here. The walls were closing in on him. 

Staring at the folder, Loki was looking at a knife in his back, but it had no flourish- no punchline. It had no drama. No poetry. It was just a sheet of paper with a few scratches from a pen, stuffed in a dusty folder that had been lost in some awful cubicle.

Surprisingly, this side of betrayal had never felt quite like this before. 

He had expected it. After all, every time he turned on someone he considered it a necessary preemptive attack- he knew everyone, and anyone, would turn on him eventually. That’s why it was important to betray them first. This, however, felt different. It was ugly. Worse: it was plain. Did they really think they could snuff him out, an Asgardian Prince,  with so little ceremony? Loki Laufeyson wouldn’t meet his end without a bang, even if he had to think of some way to make it himself. 

Minutes ticked by in ugly silence until, “... Mobius.” 

“Mm?” Mobius hummed wearily without moving.

“Why am I here?” He hid the stolen case file under the mess of papers in front of him.

“What?” Mobius removed the folder from his face to look at Loki, squinting as his eyes adjusted.

“Why did you stop my sentencing? You must’ve known I was going to cause trouble.” He put on an amiable expression.

“You mean, why’d I stop them from pruning you when you first got here even though you’re literally a cosmic pain in the ass?” Mobius reached into the little purple bag and popped a couple peanuts in his mouth. Loki waited, back straight. After a second, Mobius realized the prince wanted a real response. He sighed as he chewed and wiped his hands on his legs, thinking. “Well, I- I knew you’d be our best bet. I mean, I tried . I tried finding the Variant on my own. I thought maybe if I knew more about ‘Loki’, I could get in his head. See how he ticks, predict his next move and catch him in the act. But nothing. You know, I've reviewed your timeline so many times, all the files, all the known variants. But there was always something missing. Something I couldn’t get at.” Mobius swished the liquid in his cup before taking a careful sip. He didn’t notice how calculated Loki’s expression was. 

“You’ve said that before. What do you mean you’ve ‘reviewed’ my timeline?”

“ You . ‘Loki Laufeyson’. Start to finish. More times than I can count.” His tone was playful, ‘w hat a chore’ . 

“You've willingly watched my entire existence?”

“Yep, every second. And everything you would do, at least before you broke off the timeline,” he popped another peanut in his mouth, mindlessly.

Loki paused. “… Oh no.” 

“What?”

“You are a fan.” Loki’s crocodile smile widened as the joke landed. 

“Ah, I know you’d love that. Nah, I only said that to calm your feathers.” Chuckling, Mobius leaned back, opening a fresh bag. He checked Loki’s expression. He scanned his charge, he seemed down. He knew Lokis weren’t meant for paperwork. In a moment of pity, Mobius conceded, “Ok, I'll admit it, I've been dubbed the ‘Loki Expert’ by the other analysts. And that’s not the compliment you think it is. I do have your records unofficially permanently checked out, but that's been because you're always breaking the Sacred Timeline. We’ve had more Lokis on our hands than we’ve known what to do with. For once, I wish you’d just stay put.”

Loki raised his eyebrows, ‘ Chaos is my thing’.

“But even with all that, I could never understand why you’d do this. Why ambush our people like this? It can’t be for fun. Where’s the fun in petty ambushes and mugging?” As if alone in the room, the analyst continued, “I know you, I know your story. Abandoned. Vengeful. Always looking for attention.” He spun peanuts on the table, getting lost in thought, “Scared, alone, rejected, afraid of weakness, in yourself and in others, on and on, yeah, it's all there, but this Loki isn’t-”

He stopped his analysis as he looked up. Something had flashed in Loki’s smile, a microscopic flinch he had seen enough times in the video files to take seriously. Something was definitely bothering this god of mischief. Mobius eased up, lifting his chin to emerge from his offensive psychobabble. For a moment, Mobius had forgotten to be a bit careful with his Loki. No matter how the ex-god touted himself as infallible, few others had seen just how thin that veneer of confidence was. Lokis were temperamental. Sensitive. 

“This Loki has just been hard to get a bead on,” Mobius leaned back, looking around. Something was tense. He remembered that it had actually been here in this room where he had stripped this Loki of his “glorious purpose”, inflicted the worst possible existential trauma on a Loki on him- for the sake of the case. He knew Loki had tried to process what he’d learned quickly- maybe too quickly-, but this Loki was different now. Mobius had seen how emotionally volatile he’d become since coming to the TVA. Without his theatrics, powers, or purpose, this Loki had become more unpredictable. Mobius knew, better than most, that Lokis in captivity never do well. Mobius glanced at the collar. 

Clearing his throat, he continued, “I guess... I knew I couldn't do this alone. You Lokis are just too hard to figure out. Too complex. Too… tricky. I, uh, I needed a real expert.” He paused to let the compliments sink in. Loki’s posture responded well. Mobius didn’t mind acting dumb. He was used to using his Loki Expertise to manipulate him, however, Mobius hadn’t anticipated using it to soothe a ruptured ego. 

The god was quiet. 

Not good.

He glanced at Loki’s face. He was thinking. That was dangerous. Never let a Loki think too long. 

Mobius searched for compliments to distract him. “You know, you're one of the cleanest Lokis to make it into the TVA, too. I mean, it’s been a while since we’ve seen such a good example of a Loki. So close to what the Time Keepers planned for-”

“The Time Keepers didn’t plan for me.” 

“Mhm. I sure didn’t, either.” Mobius cracked a friendly smile, taking another drink. 

They shared eye contact; a moment of recognition of just how strange their situation has been. Loki almost wanted to drop the interrogation. He knew he could drop it and carry on his plans to betray Mobius and escape, but he wasn’t satisfied yet. He reached for his own cup and poured himself a healthy serving of tawny liquid.

“Yes, it's true, you all were failing miserably. Everyone here is an idiot. I really was your only hope.” He swung back the entire glass. Mobius eyed him, wary. “Your mistake was that you can’t know my, or any Loki’s, motivations just because you're obsessed with me.”

“Woah, hey, I’m not obsessed. You think I liked watching you leave a wake of death and destruction behind you everywhere you went? Making the worst choices possible at every turn. Have you seen your life? It ain’t exactly pretty.” Mobius tapped his heel a couple times, eyes locked on his conversation partner, not sure what this energy was. It was starting to feel like he was under investigation. 

Loki nodded curtly, taking the jab, and poured himself another drink. 

“I’ve lived a very long life, Mobius. It must have taken many years, or whatever it is you have here, to see all of my history and more than once, at that. You’re either incredibly dull with nothing else to fill your boring existence,” swig , “or you’re harboring a twisted fascination with me.” Pour . “Maybe that's what made you want to keep me.” His stomach turned as he said that. More alcohol scratched its way down his throat. His adam's apple chafed against the tight collar around his neck with every swallow. He had never felt more trapped than in this moment. There wasn’t enough air in the room. 

Mobius took offense amicably. “Yeah, yeah, very funny. You know, they still want me to prune you - they keep nagging me to ‘clean up my mess’. Your theatrics don’t help either. People don’t like the idea of you hovering around here causing trouble like you did today.”

In light of what Loki had just discovered, those playful words bit down hard. Mobius was talking to him like he was disposable. Just another Loki. He poured another drink. Mobius didn’t stop him- best not to tell him what to do right now. 

They were both growing more tense.

“As they shouldn’t. I can’t blame them. Of course they’d want you to get rid of me. They know how much of a threat I am. You’d be an idiot not to kill me,” Loki rationalized humorlessly. People only kill things they’re afraid of. He was still frightening. Still powerful.

“Sure, champ.” The agent dismissed what he had heard as a veiled threat, taking a sip. 

The silence soured between them. 

Loki let out an ugly breath of a chuckle. He pushed back another double with attitude. Mobius lowered his cup away from his lips, watching Loki, losing the last of his brief relaxation.

“So, why don’t you? If I'm such a liability, why not just reset me now?” Before Mobius realized what happened, Loki had picked up the pruning stick he had forgotten about. The prince stood up and walked a few steps into the room. He assumed that regal posture he wore around enemies, twirling the stick in his hand like his old staff.

“Hey, hey, that's not a toy,” Mobius warned. “They’ll kill me if they see you with one of those.”

Loki stared down at him silently. Mobius wasn’t even bothered enough to stand up. Anger tightened Loki’s chest. Why wasn’t he responding? Why did he assume nothing would happen? By behaving this way, Loki knew he was endangering his own plan to win over this man’s trust before killing or betraying the Time Keepers, but even he didn’t know what he’s capable of doing right now. Loki would often surprise himself with his own decisions when he was backed in a corner like this. Mobius’ calm frustrated him to his core. The agent fished out a few more peanuts from his bag with a tired sigh, as if a child was standing in front of him throwing a tantrum. As though he was certain nothing would happen. How could this senseless, pathetic, bureaucrat assume to know, better, the mind of a god ?

Activating the pruning stick's glow, Loki pushed his bluff further, “What happens to someone when they're pruned? Should we find out?” The glowing end of the stick extended towards Mobius’ face. Mobius leaned back, annoyed. He reached into his pocket, readying the Time Collar remote. “How close could I get to the Time Keepers if you disappeared right now?” The TVA agent only ticked his head left and gave his captive an impatient stare. The belittling silence broke a dam in Loki. No one was scared of him. Everything was closing in. “How far do you think you’d get without me ?” The god suddenly pointed the glowing end of the stick under his own chin, the buzz of it secretly terrifying him. “You’ll lose your precious promotion.”

The peanuts fell to the tabletop. Mobius leaned up, finally serious. 

Good . Loki grinned, feeling a whisper of the kind of rush of power he used to feel on the Timeline. Looks like Loki’s silver tongue still worked. 

“Hey, okay, calm down,” Mobius raised his voice, nervous. He realized he might’ve underestimated how volatile a Loki without purpose was.“Loki,” the agent called.“I've seen you at your best and at your worst. Put that thing down. This isn't your M.O. You’re not gonna do it, I know you.” 

Wrong answer.

“Do you? What do you think you know? I've been here with you, what - a week? If time even moves here- you know, it's truly insufferable how little this place makes sense.” The pruning stick crackled. 

Mobius knew Lokis need to be able to lie to feel safe. They needed to be able to deceive. They rebelled against being known. But no one on or off the Timeline knew Loki as well as Mobius did. He could call a bluff from the ex-god better than anyone. Where most people would back off, Mobius knew something else that was crucial about Loki that the prince might not have known about himself: Deep down Loki wanted to be known. He wanted to be seen, like all tricksters do. Loki wanted the attention he misbehaved for.

Mobius stood up, “I know you're bluffing. You won’t prune me or yourself.”

“Why, because I'm actually just a ‘hurt little boy’ inside? Isn't that what you called me? Is it because you actually think I want to be ‘good’? Spare me. I've killed people for suggesting less.” Loki hated it as he said it. He sounded like his old self. A pathetic dog, barking from a corner.

“Oh, I know, I’ve seen the body count. If we were somewhere or somewhen else I don’t doubt I wouldn’t last long up against a full-powered Loki Laufeyson. But…”, Mobius cracked a knowing smile,”... you don’t want to die , Loki. You always want to live. You want to see the Time Keepers. So, that's why you're going to give that back to me and then we’ll finish our drinks together. We’ll forget it. No harm, no foul.” Mobius tried to lay on a little of his dusty charm, nervous, “What do you say?”

Loki scoffed. “This isn’t your beloved timeline. Anything could happen here. No second chances here. It's ironic but the TVA might really be the last place where choices and chaos have any real meaning anymore. There’s no timeline here, right? I finally have free will. Maybe this is exactly what I should be doing. This is what I’m meant for.”

Mobius flinched. This was getting out of hand. Loki was falling back on old habits, talking about destiny. It’s so hard to get through to him when he falls into glorious purposing again. With a grunt, Mobius reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the Time Twister dial.

“Really? Such a boring answer, Mobius.” With the butt of the stick, Loki hit the Twister out of Mobius’ hand in an instant. It flew across the room. “Just more manipulation. Keeping me on a short leash- your little pet. Throw me scraps, dress me up, give me a drink, act like you need me, then erase me. You think I don’t know what's going to happen once I help you find the Variant?”

Mobius kept a straight face despite what he thought was just a good guess.

“If you think you know me from watching me my whole life, cataloging my deeds - if you know me so well then what's going to happen right now?What does the Loki Expert say?” He started to backstep towards the door.

Mobius followed, calmly, raising a hand. Anxiety rising in his chest, but not in his voice. “Loki,” he called quietly. “Come on. The alcohol’s going to your head.” Mobius suggested lightly.

“No.” Maybe.

“Loki, come on. We can talk about this.”

Loki laughed, “It's so amusing. You have no idea how trapped you are…. And I- I'm the prisoner of a prisoner . Worse, the plaything - an animal. A collar on my neck and a brand on my back.” Frustrated more than ever, Loki started to pull at his jacket. He was sick of being covered in this grotesque place. “I... am a god! A born king! I can’t be shackled by these-” After one arm was free of the jacket, Mobius took the opening as Loki tried to free his other arm of its sleeve. Suddenly, Loki felt the man grab the stick and step between his legs, a foot hooking around his left ankle. With a push, they both stumbled onto the steps by the door.

“Ok, easy. Easy.” Mobius fixed his grip on Loki’s hands on the pruning stick in an effort to prevent him from pointing it anywhere but away from them. He didn’t know why he thought this was a good idea. Mobius knew that Loki, even without powers, was a better fighter than him. Even living in a timeless world Mobius still felt a creak in his joints while the ancient Asgardian he was crouching over was still an ageless entity in his prime; roughly in his twenties in Asgardian years. Mobius felt just a fraction of Loki’s strength pushing back against him and it was almost more than the gray-haired man could handle. Mobius tucked away a new jealousy as expertly as he tucked away any sense of ego or desire, it was all useless in the TVA. The question remaining was why wasn’t Loki resisting such a half-baked move?

“What is it then? How many of me have you pruned?”

“What are you even talking about?” 

“I can’t be the first. You know me so well, you know when I’m lying. No one can do that. Your job is to hunt me for sport. I can’t trust that this is the first time you've caged a Loki. This isn’t your first time poking and laughing at me, is it? I'm nothing but another Loki that can't be allowed to go on-”

“Hey! It's my job , Loki. None of this is personal.” This was getting too serious. Loki stared up at him, unblinking, with enough anger to worry about. 

“Have we had this talk before? Shared drinks before? Are you acting out a sick dream - was watching me not enough? You had to catch a Loki, take away his destiny, his power, make him trust you, beg for freedom, and then start it over and over again. Did you ever delete me yourself or did you just send me off to the slaughter like chattel?”

“You're the first! The only.” Both paused in reaction to Mobius’ unprecedented frantic tone. Mobius leaned himself away from Loki, disgusted. He couldn’t let go, yet. He couldn’t trust this wasn’t going to get worse if he did. “Don't flatter yourself. You think I could handle more than one of you? You're exhausting. I wouldn’t do this again if I had a choice, are you kidding? I don’t want to ‘cage’ you. Not all of us are obsessed with power and control… and ‘chattel’ ? Come on. That's not what we do, we’re just trying to-”

“Then, will you do it? When I’ve served my purpose?” The god leaned up, his face too close. His question hitting Mobius square in the chest. 

“... I don’t know,” His surprise at the question let a real answer escape. He had tried not to think about the end of this. He had almost convinced himself this could go on. The look Loki was giving him reminded him of what he’d seen in the video files of the painful first fight he had with Thor. But this Loki had been wilted and changed by the TVA. Mobius had been noticing that Loki had already lost some of his clever regal flare. The prince’s shoulders slumped these days more like his own. The weight of being powerless had finally touched the uncatchable, unsinkable, young Prince-God of Mischief. Loki was losing himself- losing his color. He was fading. Something like pity lapped at the edges of Mobius’ consciousness. As the one with the key to the collar wrapped around Loki’s neck, Mobius felt uncomfortably responsible. This was getting too complicated. He sighed, “That’s enough, Loki, please let’s just get back to work. Who knows what’ll happen after we catch this guy, but maybe we can figure somethi-”

“Mobius, there is no ‘figuring something out’. You say you know me but I know power . After you find this other me, I won’t have enough to bargain with anymore. The Time Keepers won’t want me after we're done. I'm a threat. And they're right. I'll kill them at the first opportunity.” 

Mobius flinched at the mental image of Loki killing the keepers, but he knew Loki was being honest. 

Loki continued, “After we’re done, you'll get the victor's parade- ‘Oh, clever Mobius, the hero of the TVA’, and I'll turn to vapor.”

Mobius knew Loki was right. That was exactly the plan. There wasn’t anything either of them could do about it. He had been ignoring it till now. If Loki hadn’t done this, hadn’t said this or looked at him with the wild expression he had on now, Mobius would’ve just gone on pretending. For a moment, the gray curtain of bureaucracy had been lifted and Mobius saw something more than the paperwork and signatures. He saw Loki. Real, breathing, and scared, staring at him. This Loki wasn’t just a video anymore. He knew his name. He was asking, or threatening, him for help. Was he really going to delete him? Had that really been the plan? Could he actually do it? 

He’d have to. 

What choice did he have?

Something tense filled his chest. Anger? At the TVA? When did that get there? It wasn’t right. Since when did Mobius want anything the TVA didn’t want? This was dangerous territory. This conversation had to end. He shook his head free of those strange thoughts.

“Loki. What's with you? What’s with the monologuing and scare tactics? What happened to the smiley scheming guy who never shows his cards because he believes, no matter what, he’ll figure out a way to win on his own?” 

“I’m not the Sacred Timeline Loki you think you know anymore. I need to know who I can trust.”

Surprise shook the analyst. ‘Trust is for children and dogs’ wasn’t so long ago. What had happened to the Loki he knew? This Loki has been growing in new ways, quickly. Before he could try to figure that out, he was hit with another question. 

“So will you do it? Will you delete me? Or just have D-30 or X-11, or whatever those ants out there are called, do it? If I had nothing more you wanted would you do it now ? Why not save yourself the time - mustn't get too attached.” The buzz of the pruning stick approached their ears as Loki easily overpowered the man.

“Hey, stop!” Mobius struggled uselessly, debating calling for backup. “I can’t help the orders that come down to me.”

“What an absurd joke.”

“These forces are bigger than me or you or what we want,” he raised his voice. “I know you want chaos, but if you get what you want, we’re all dead- why don’t you get that? Balance is what keeps the universe and us safe.”

Loki noticed Mobius’ composure was strained for the first time since they met. He liked it. He pushed harder. “Us? Who is this for? I'm as good as dead in their hands. And you, you're nothing in this world or in the timeline down there. No one knows or cares about you. You're less than a ghost. There is no one and nothing for you. This balance you're defending is a poison. Complacency and idle evil keeping us from-”

“From what? ‘ Glorious purpose’?” Mobius mocked, landing a hit.

Loki paused,“Keeping us from choosing to take what we want. From being fully alive. Don’t you, for one second in your empty, pointless, pathetic existence as a peon, want anything?”

With that Mobius released Loki’s hands. He should’ve known better than to duel words with a Loki, he knew right where to hit.

He pushed off of Loki, getting onto his feet slowly. 

“Yeah, okay. You got me…” He exhaled wistfully. He turned his back, leaving Loki on the steps with the pruning stick, and made his way back to the table. He leaned against the edge. He didn't care about subduing him anymore. For the moment, he knew Loki wanted to live, even if just to hurt him, and for that moment Mobius wasn’t too bothered about whatever happened to himself. “I'm not sure what I want. I don't think I can. I wasn’t made to want. I was made to catch bad guys.” 

Mobius’ candor brought Loki to his feet. 

“I have one wrinkled magazine of something I feel I could want. A stupid jet ski… what would I do with one? Ride it down the hallways?” Pain leaked into his chuckle. 

“There has to be something you want beyond what the Time Keepers ordained,” Loki pushed, trying to prove a point Mobius couldn’t understand yet.

He looked at the ‘cosmic pain in the ass’ in front of him. The anger in them had subsided, replaced by a different intensity neither of them had the capacity or experience to name. Mobius understood Loki wanted a real answer. He also knew he had to be honest or risk being betrayed within the next few hours. “Alright. Alight, uh... I think I wanted something…” 

Loki’s interest was piqued, the feeling of doom fading finally. Maybe Mobius wasn’t just another TVA ant. “Power? Fame?” Loki offered. 

“I wanted you.”

He received a surprised, quizzical look.

“Alright, hey. No. Don’t get too excited. Not that way. I wanted to… help you.”

“You wanted my help,” A correction.

“Yeah, I wanted your help. Of course, that's what I wanted mostly. But I also- I think I was making excuses. That never happens. I never do that. I heard that there was a new Loki here and… it was you. Not some strange Loki I'd never seen before. It was you , fresh off the Sacred Timeline. Wild, self-obsessed, deluded… lost.” Mobius smirked at the ground the same way he had when they first met in the courtroom. “Exactly as I'd seen so many times in those video files. I saw you and you still had so much life in you. I couldn’t let them do it. I knew I could convince Ravonna to let you off the hook to help me, so I did.” Mobius exhaled, stern and embarrassed. Ravonna’s words came back to him, ‘I know you have a soft spot for broken things ’, he cringed to himself.

“You wanted to help me?”, Loki jeered. “Why would I need your help? Keeping me captive isn’t the aid I needed.” True to Loki fashion, give him your vulnerability and he swings it back at you like a blunt object.

“Oh, come on. You were seconds from being pruned. You were shaking in your boots. You got a glimpse at the man behind the curtain and saw your life purpose - all that fire and ambition - was just a script. A role. You found out you were a pawn in someone else’s story-”

“I'm no paw-” 

“A tool for someone else to use. Just a gear in the machine that's only there to keep other gears turning. A footnote in someone else’s story. An ant… A peon .”

Understanding washed over Loki. “Like you.”

“… Like me .” 

Leaning on the table, Mobius crossed his arms and ankles, uncomfortable. Exposed. Loki took a few steps closer. Something was changing in him as he considered Mobius’ words. 

“You and I are opposites, Loki. I’m literally made to protect balance and harmony and you for-”

“-the annihilation of all who oppose me on my ascension to power.”

“... Yeah, that. But I was gonna say ‘chaos’ . Anyway, somehow our stories are the same. We're not the main characters. We're just stepping stones. We're target practice. Tools for the big guys.” They paused. Mobius, embarrassed, tried to end it. “Ok, that’s it. That’s me, Loki. ‘Empty’. You happy?” Mobius rubbed his face with an exhausted sigh. 

The pruning stick clattered to the floor. They checked each other. After a moment, the remaining tension left both their shoulders. Loki approached Mobius’ side, voice low. He leaned against the table, facing Mobius’ profile. The agent crossed his arms again and looked down at the floor in front of him, avoiding eye contact as the god stared at him.

“I'm not in the Time Keeper’s story anymore, Mobius. And neither are you.” His voice was soft. It was the closest to comforting as Mobius had ever heard it. He waited- what could a Loki gain from being kind right now? “Don’t you see? We don’t need them. We’re here. Safe from the Timeline. Alive and free.... We could chart out a new future.” Surprised, again, Mobius turned and looked up at Loki, his blue eyes searching him so closely. Mobius felt a vague sense of stage fright. No one had ever looked at him this intently before, no one had ever wanted something from him like this before. No one had ever wanted something from him at all. Is this what it felt like? “We can make our own story. No TVA, no Time Keepers, no more gears.” Did he know he was whispering now? Mobius kept eye contact. “We could bring healthy chaos back into the Universe and finally give chase to what we want. Together.” Loki’s bright, wide eyes seemed to plead for confirmation, but there was also an excitement. It was a familiar, wanting glint. Mobius had seen it when Loki would occasionally seduce his prey to his side. He never knew he'd be at the receiving end - it didn’t seem real. Maybe his Loki-expertise was failing him again. Despite the fact he knew Loki’s track record with keeping allies, Mobius finally understood how people fell for it. Loki’s words and intense stare made his dusty heart swell, if only for a moment. Loki had successfully gotten a microscopic rise out of this old, want-less analyst. 

Mobius stopped holding his breath. He managed to look away and cleared his throat. “Nice try. But I won’t fall for any of those infamous seductive wiles of yours. I've seen you use them too many times. You're a dish, Loki, but it’s not enough to endanger reality for you.” Mobius expertly deflated the moment of any drama or expectation, the young god blinked with confusion. The spell of his words had been broken for both of them. 

Loki fought against the haze of the previous moment, he had lost himself a little in his attempt to get through to Mobius. “No,no. I-I think you misunderstood me, I was just discussing a partnership, a rebellion - I wasn’t-” 

“Yeah, yeah, cool your pants down.” 

“I don’t mean. It's not that I'm not flattered- Or that you're not appealing-”. 

“Oh, stop, you’re making this old man blush,” Mobius slapped the confused prince’s knee and pushed off the table, walking towards the door. “Come on. Let's go for a walk, the energy in here is weird now.” He grunted as he picked up the pruning stick, “You done almost killing us for today?” 

Mobius turned back to Loki. Loki’s face softened into a small grin. 

“Good. I can’t take all the dramatics anymore.” Mobius picked up the jacket from the floor, “No more drinking for you, ever. Just soda pop from now on.” He held out the jacket to Loki, who accepted it gently before putting it back on.

“I'm over a thousand years old, you know.”

“And?”

“I believe I’m the senior here, ‘old’ man.” Loki untucked his hair from his collar with his usual flare. He straightened out his silhouette handsomely.

“Oh. I don’t know how old I am, if I am an age. But, yeah, I know you’re older than dirt. Like I said, I know almost everything about you - from your first prank on Thor to.. well, now .” Mobius turned to the door.

“Yes. How discomforting.” Loki followed closely behind.

“But Loki,” Mobius paused with his hand on the door. He looked over his shoulder. “For better or for worse… I, uh, I realize you're not the Loki I thought I knew anymore. Maybe it's the stale air here in the TVA or the new digs, but you’re… new. I’ve never seen this before.” Mobius looked him up and down. The god’s eyes panicked under the close assessment. As Mobius had deduced, Loki was simultaneously scared of and excited to be seen as he was.

Mobius thought back to the moment of want that Loki inspired- to the fire that Loki wanted to believe existed in Mobius even if there was nothing more than an ember. He appreciated the god’s faith in him, regardless. “You’re still a pain, but… I think I’ll like this new you. Free will looks good on you.” Mobius smirked as he said that dangerous phrase. It wasn’t like him, but he had to say it to see how Loki’s expression softened because of it. His hand lingered on Loki’s shoulder after a friendly pat.

“Just, please, stop trying to trick me, I can see right through it, you know.” Mobius straightened himself up as Loki watched him, thinking, “Ok. Let’s go.” Mobius quickly opened the door and started them on his usual fast-paced jaunt through the halls of the TVA. 

Keeping pace with Mobius, the revitalized Loki started to scheme again. However, something was different now. Knowing Mobius’ sympathies for him changed things. Even though the agent hadn’t confirmed their alliance against the TVA, Loki could sense new cracks in the man’s commitment to the institution. 

He could work with that.

If he played his cards right, he might have an ally. Loki’s resolve returned. He might have power over someone. A chance to make a difference. He wasn’t going to die here. He would try to trust this man; his custodian, the TVA agent who had agreed to delete him, the analyst who knows him ‘from start to finish’ like some kind of paper-pushing guardian angel.

Loki peaked down at the tired, kind face of the man beside him, the agent was already lost in thought again, brow creased. For the first time in a long while, Loki started to hatch a plan that involved saving someone else, too.

He lifted his chin, “Since you know everything about me, I feel things are a bit imbalanced. You'll need to tell me more about you. I need to have leverage for our next fight.”

Happily, he had teased another smile from the gray-haired man.

“Another time, champ.”

Chapter Text

"Okay, pick a good one." Mobius ordered.

"Me? Why should I pick?" 

"I don't know, at this point I figured you could try to use your Loki senses to hone in and feel out which one you'd like to visit. Which apocalypse do you want to see?"

The two men stood side by side and looked down at their neatly stacked folders on the library table. Each file had been consumed front to back at least twice after countless hours of research shared between the two. Loki concentrated on the pile, ‘honing’ .

"... I haven't an idea." 

“Okay, well, if you had to spend time anywhere besides Asgard where would it be?” Mobius prompted impatiently, grasping at straws.

“Midgard.”

“Okay, great.” He stared back at the table.“That narrows it down to just a couple thousand....”

“Well. Actually.” Loki perked up, remembering something.”I'd always been fascinated by stories of a particular Midgardian apocalypse.”

“Yeah?” The agent took his hands out of his pockets, ready for a lead.

“… The lost city of Atlantis.” Dramatic pause.

They stared at each other.

“I can’t believe this,” Mobius sighed.

“What?”

“You really wanted to rule the entire planet of Earth and you didn't bother learning that Atlantis was just a myth?”

“W-well, you can never trust mortal historians. They die so quickly . When I first heard about it hundreds of years ago, it was fact ! How am I supposed to know it had been a myth? I was a myth, too, you know. It's a lot to keep up with-” 

“Sh, sh. Okay, okay, let's just think.” The agent tried to refocus.

Loki looked back at the messy pile. His eyes widened with a new idea. “No. Actually, let’s not.” He lunged over the table suddenly and started mixing up the folders into a random order.

“Hey, what are you doing? I just organized those.” Mobius stomped lightly, annoyed, as the prince continued to shuffle away his work.

“We have a pile of possible hideouts here based on their ease of access to supplies and the amount of time a Variant could hide in one without triggering any Variance Energy or being caught up in the apocalypse itself. These doomsdays had hideouts that had a grace period of at least 48 hours, right?” 

“ Yeah ,” Mobius confirmed curtly.

“So why don’t we just...” Loki scrunched his eyes shut dramatically and held out an arm over the pile.

“Play hide and seek?” The agent mocked.

Loki’s shoulders slumped, “No. Why don’t we just pick one?” He closed his eyes again, outstretched his arm, swayed it back and forth. He finally landed his finger on one file. He scooped it up excitedly. Mobius watched the whole ceremony in disbelief.

“Either your brain is fried or this is a ploy to get out of reading more paperwork. Either way it's a terrible idea.” 

“Why is it terrible?” Loki raised his voice.

“Sh!” A neighbor at a nearby table interrupted them. Loki gave them a bratty glance. Mobius waved apologetically. The analyst grabbed Loki’s shoulder as he turned back to him, leaning into a huddle to stay quiet. The variant was so enthusiastic Mobius had to smirk as he leaned in to listen to the ex-god’s whispered babbling. “If this Variant is a Loki, spending years on the run, he would think of this eventually, as well. If I got this idea, he would, too. Additionally, he couldn’t possibly stay in one doomsday his whole life, he would need to jump from one apocalypse to another and another.” 

“Okay, true.” That was actually making some sense.

“We’ve curated this selection for the optimal conditions. This is the best of the best. The Variant would’ve made a similar list. Who’s to say he isn’t hiding out at any one or all of these right now? But we won’t know unless we start searching!”

Something clicked, “Okay, wait. Either I’m just as loopy as you, or you might have a point.”

“Yes!” Loki looked down at him with a wide grin, pleased with himself.

“SH!”

Mobius chuckled as Loki gave their neighbor an intimidating sneer this time. His energy was contagious. “Okay, so, what do you got there?” Mobius gestured at the file Loki had eenie-meanied out of the pile.

“Oh, um…” He flipped it open, “A meteor crashing into ‘resort moon’, Pylea. 1120, Rigel cluster.” He didn’t know what he was reading, this file had been one of Mobius’. 

“Fancy. How long’s the grace period?”

“50 hours.”

Mobius nodded, crossing his arms. Loki watched him closely, waiting anxiously.

“Better start packing up.” With that Loki flashed a, somehow, even brighter grin - an alarmingly charming alternative to his typical predatory smiles. Mobius quietly enjoyed how he could bring out that side of the god, which had been so rare in the video files, so easily. A smile like that had been reserved for only Thor or similarly ranked Asgardians. Mobius must’ve been doing something right, he figured.

Loki made a running start towards the locker room, barrelling ahead of a now less-annoyed Mobius. 

“Oh, and Loki!”

The god stopped, turning back to him.

“Try not to be so excited.” Mobius reminded him, “This isn’t a theme park we’re going to.”

Loki gave him a look that said, I beg to differ , before resuming his bee-line to the locker room. Mobius was starting to understand, now, how Thor fell into so many traps. It was hard to think straight with a Loki having so much fun around you. 

After preparing their effects in the locker room, they decided to meet at the library. Mobius took time to collect the supplies as Loki paced in the stacks, catching a concerned eye or two. It felt like an hour before he saw Mobius approach, clad in his fieldwork jacket and juggling a couple of devices. Loki looked around the man as he approached, confused. “Where’s the team? My favorite hunter?” He asked ironically.

“Uh, they’re not coming,” Mobius was breathless from his fast pace. He pointed deeper into the stacks as he kept walking past Loki. 

“What, did they turn us down?” Loki followed.

“I, uh, I didn’t tell them we were going,” Mobius abbreviated. In truth, he hadn’t wanted to talk to Ravonna. Strictly speaking, he should have asked Ravonna’s permission to go out in the field and he should have gone with an entourage of Minutemen and their leader, B-15. But he was already on thin ice because of Loki’s troublesome behavior, and he didn’t want to risk what they had going in case this was a bust. After all, their eenie-meenie method wasn’t exactly ironclad. Ravonna probably wouldn’t even approve it. If he kept it off the books then no one needed to know if it was a waste of time. As long as they were careful, everything would be alright. Mobius stopped several rows deeper into the archives, no one was around, but the shelves seemed to be even closer together, a little claustrophobic. 

“Agent Mobius,” Loki mocked in a scandalized tone, meeting Mobius where he stopped. “Are you saying you’re going to be using TVA resources without permission? What about your precious Event Detail forms? Aren’t there mountains of papers to fill out for these excursions?”

“Oh, mountain ranges, ” Mobius corrected as he took out his TemPad. “But since this isn’t a real lead, I’m not gonna bother Hunter B-15 and her team. They’re sick of us, anyway.” He tapped the coordinates into the little screen. 

“We’re leaving now? Here?” Loki was surprised. 

“No time like the present.”

Loki nodded, anxious to feel a reality that wasn’t the TVA again.

“But, Loki, if we see anything try not to engage, okay? This is strictly just a reconnaissance mission. If we can verify that the Variant is there, if we see him or just see an obvious anachronism, we come straight back and get backup. Since this isn’t a nexus event, as long as we return to the same time coordinates, he’ll still be there no matter how long we take to prepare back here at the TVA,” Mobius explained. He checked through his pockets, confirming he brought everything. He looked calm, but his mind was racing. He was breaking so many rules. If anyone found out, they’d both be in trouble. Loki might even get pruned. What was he doing ? Was this Loki’s influence? Maybe, even though he had felt guilty for caging a Loki, he had forgotten he was in the cage with him. He had always been a famous stickler till now. They were both changing a little. 

“Before we go,” Loki interrupted Mobius’ worrying, “would you mind if you….” He trailed off, pointing at the collar around his neck.

Mobius froze. “Oh, right.” Still uncomfortable about the collar, he went to reach into his jacket for the Time Twister. His rational mind woke up suddenly. “Wait. What if you make a run for it?” He realized that taking Loki out onto the Sacred Timeline without a collar had been fine before because they could catch him if he ran off by tracking his Variance Energy, but where they were going, Loki could slip away undetected.

“To die on a desolate moon?”

“I don’t know- I’ve seen you have crazier plans. Sometimes you run face-first into danger to get out of it. You’re slippery.”

“Mobius.” Loki’s voice dropped to a soft, solemn register. “I swear, on my heart, that I will not attempt to escape your captivity."

Mobius smirked at the obvious teasing, worry fading.  “Heart? You got one of those to swear on?”

“Last I checked."

Mobius cleared his throat. “… Alright. But if you get yourself in trouble,” he retrieved the Time Twister from his pocket, “I won't be able to help you. These guys aren't kidding anymore. One more slip up and they’ll make me- you know.” 

“Delete me?” 

Mobius gave him a curt nod. Loki appreciated how bothered Mobius seemed to be, now, at the idea of killing him. That had been a rare compliment that only Thor and a few others had afforded him. Most, on or off the Timeline, would rather see him dead than free.

The agent gestured to Loki to come closer. He obliged, leaning down a few inches. Mobius fumbled with the dial for a moment before reaching up. He brushed some of Loki’s hair aside to get to the lock. Loki stretched his neck for him. Looking at Mobius’ shoulder, Loki noticed the smell of aftershave. He glanced at the side of his face. He wasn’t sure if he had ever had what others would call a ‘friend’; someone more than a means or an end. Maybe this was what it felt like.

As Mobius unlatched the collar, pulling it from around his neck. Loki’s voice almost startled him, " If something happens, I promise I won’t put you in that position." A compromise, rare for Lokis, but not quite convincing enough.

The agent gave him a look. “ Nothing’s going to happen. Right?” 

Loki smiled like he had a secret. Mobius searched his face, losing a little ground. They had less than a foot between them. The cart of an archivist squeaked nearby, the analyst flinched away. He tucked the Time Collar in his pocket. “I’m holding onto this, okay?” He failed to sound intimidating.

“Okay, let’s go.” Mobius pulled out his TemPad and after a few taps a gate appeared. With one last glance at each other they stepped through it and it closed quietly behind them. 

Loki was immediately blind by alien sunlight. He squinted, too used to the dim flourescents of the TVA. Looking around he saw Mobius ahead of him, and in front of them an olympic-sized swimming pool adorned with fountains, a mini-bar, and a couple dozen life forms wandering around. Loki stumbled behind Mobius, who had already shut the gate behind them. Mobius had walked through thousands of gates in his life, he knew how to adjust fast. He came to a stop just as they approached the side of the pool. Loki kept walking, Mobius put out an arm to block Loki from falling in.

“Where is-” Loki was interrupted.

“Welcome to Pylea! We hope you’re enjoying your stay!” A robot greeted them as it rolled by them, playing soothing Muzak. “Be sure to try our specials at the Star cafe today!” Mobius gave it a little nod. Loki watched it roll away, trying to understand what was going on.

The agent took a deep breath, the air was fresher than on Earth and the sky was mostly a vibrant orange, and beyond the pool was an endless, untouched landscape of alien hills, cliffs, and mountains to enjoy. “This is nice,” he judged, hands on his hips, surveying the 5-star resort-style pool amenities in front of him and the scenery beyond.

Loki blinked, watching what he assumed was a family of alien life forms crawl over to the pool on their tentacles. Loki had never kept up with his studies of other aliens, he had always just stayed close to the Nine Realms. Everyone, whatever they were, seemed calm and peaceful. “Yes. Lovely.” Another couple of more bug-like aliens enjoyed a glowing drink under the shade of a large umbrella. “You know… this isn’t the desperate inferno I was expecting,” he whispered as he approached Mobius’ side. 

“You disappointed?” Mobius raised his eyebrows, “Were you hankering to see some prolonged suffering?” He started walking towards the enormous glass doors that led into a lobby of a hotel built to accommodate creatures much larger than themselves. Loki haphazardly followed behind.

“No, but-” Loki bumped into a strangely textured alien he didn’t even get a good look at as he struggled to keep up, “... this isn’t how I’d picture the end of a world.”

Mobius stopped abruptly, “First, I know you had your fun at Pompeii, but we’re here for a sensitive mission this time. No ‘end of the world talk’. These people have no idea what’s going to happen, we don’t want to cause a panic and alert the Variant.” Loki opened his mouth to combat the use of the word ‘people’ here, but Mobius, knowing the prince had nothing good to say, kept talking. “Second, it’s a resort moon, not a world. Third, this place was made for the rich to wine, dine, and schmooze - they didn’t keep a very good planetary defense team.” 

Mobius glanced over Loki’s shoulder, seeing another guest coming their way. He grabbed Loki’s arm and pulled him off to the side, next to the perfectly sculpted pink topiaries. He continued, in a whisper, “The meteor that’s going to hit us in about,” he checked his watch, “twelve and a half hours actually slingshots off that the gravitational field of that planet which accelerates it so fast no one here saw it coming until about an hour before the impact.” Loki squinted up at the planet Mobius pointed at. He realized that the sky he had thought was orange was actually an orange gas planet that took up most of the sky - the sky was blue, like on Earth, but you could only see a small patch of it near the horizon. Loki stared into space as Mobius continued his history lesson, “You know, this is actually why they don’t build on moons so close to their planets anymore. And they upped Meteor Watch regulations for the entire galaxy.” He peered into the distance, lost in thought, “Not that this situation never happened before to smaller moons, but all it takes is a couple of scared wealthy folks and suddenly….”

Mobius looked at Loki to see if the implication landed. He saw Loki adjust to his surroundings, squinting with distaste at the aliens enjoying their last vacation. Mobius remembered how sheltered the prince had been before New York. Loki looked at Mobius, again, obviously not catching the implication about wealth disparity.

“Yeah, you probably wouldn’t get what I meant by that, but, just so you know, most people in the history of the universe weren’t hand-fed dinner by servants every night till they were 53,” Mobius teased, adjusting Loki’s jacket. 

“How’d you-” The prince almost asked, but he remembered the answer. “Right.”

“Come on, follow me, Dorothy.” The joke was lost on the Asgardian, of course, but Mobius just liked saying it. 

Ding .

Mobius rang the counter bell and waited patiently. 

“How can I help you?” A lizard-like alien with 4 arms and a pair of colorful glasses greeted Mobius in a language Loki knew wasn’t English, but was still somehow translated into English in his mind.

“Hi, My name’s Mobius, I just had a question about one of your guests here.” He asked casually, somehow also speaking the otherworldly language fluently. 

“Wait, how’d-” Loki tried to ask.

“Don’t worry about it.” Mobius replied in English, waving the question away. “TVA secrets.” Mobius turned back to the receptionist and spoke in mostly tongue-rolls, “We’re meeting a friend here. A humanoid, alone, a drifter. Might look like my friend here.” Mobius put his hand on Loki’s shoulder. The lizard blinked through their glasses at Loki, expressionless, either by nature or choice, it wasn't clear. “Isn’t he handsome?” Mobius suggested, trying to put some charm on his request. "You'd remember a face like that, right?"

The lizard stared humorlessly at Mobius before replying, “A moment, sir.” They turned to their computer-like device and started typing.

Mobius exhaled through tense cheeks, tough room . Loki was staring at him.

“Just a bit of humor."

“It’s not a joke, I am handsome,” Loki objected.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

The receptionist leaned back their way, “I have no bipedal humanoids staying here except a Kree couple on the 5th floor.”

“Right. Well, thank you.” Mobius tapped the table and pushed himself away from it. The Variant they were after was probably not a Kree couple. 

Loki followed Mobius into the middle of the giant, swanky lobby, “So, was that supposed to be a dead end?”

“Hey, it was worth a shot,” Mobius defended. “Wouldn’t you want to stay in a fancy resort room, silk sheets and private pools? You’re a pampered prince.” Loki heard the insult in Mobius’ tone, but didn’t understand it. Mobius persisted, “You’d like to be comfortable, right?”

“Well, yes, I do have high standards,” he conceded, “ but I wouldn’t ask for room.”

“Good point. Let’s go.” With that, the pair power-walked to the elevator.

After a moment of figuring out the buttons, Mobius was able to decipher the complicated system as he was well-familiar with the elevator at the TVA which was much more complicated. They arrived at the next floor with a ping .

Mobius walked into the hallway, taking lead, “Okay, we should probably try to scope out any vacant rooms in case he’s squatting in one,” he said in English for Loki. A couple walked by him, they, of course, wouldn’t know English as it hadn’t been invented yet, but he gave them a neighborly nod as they stared at him. They probably weren’t used to seeing humanoids. Wait, they had only been looking at him. Mobius realized he had lost sight of Loki. He turned around, looking anxiously.

“Loki!” He whisper-yelled.

That’s when he spotted him. He was pushing a room service cart.

“What are you doing?!” 

“Blending in!” Loki answered as if it were obvious. Before Mobius could scold him, he saw the real Room Service, big and mean-looking, come out of a room down the hallway. The alien looked around for their cart in a panic. 

“Nevermind, just get in there!” Just in time, Mobius grabbed a master keycard laying on the top of the cart and opened the nearest door, pushing Loki in first. By some miracle, Room Service had just missed them and the room they dove into was empty. 

Mobius caught his breath. This had been a bad idea. 

“I thought you were the God of Mischief and Espionage, not the God of Almost Getting Yourself Caught!”

“Hey. It’s been a rough time for me with disguises and espionage, losing my powers has slowed me down. They take consistent practice,” he doled out his excuses defensively. “But I’d like to remind you that I’m the one who has had all the ideas!”

“You’ve had two ideas:”, Mobius put two fingers up and counted them off, exasperated, “Apocalypses and Eenie Meenie Minie Moe. That's it!” 

Loki took it upon himself to assume the cool-headed leader role, now that it was apparently vacant. “Mobius, it’s alright, we just have to calm down.” He approached the man, putting his hands on both his shoulders, wearing a confident smile. Mobius looked off to the right, annoyed. Loki insisted, “Between the two of us, we’ll figure something out.”

Click .

“And here is your room, we hope it’s to your liking...” A voice spoke in the alien language from the door that was opening behind them.

“Get!” Mobius grabbed Loki, who was already grabbing him. 

Panic set it and they pulled each other into the bathroom, scrambling onto the floor. Loki closed the door behind them and locked it loudly.

“Shush!” 

“Shush.” Loki responded, indignant. 

They waited for a second. They heard voices engage in small talk with the bellhop. Mobius looked around at himself and Loki, crouching on a dark bathroom floor, hiding from people who were about to die anyway, no leads, and no good ideas between them. He sat down, leaning his back against the tub. How’d he get caught up in this?

“Loki, what are we even doing here?”, he whispered. “That’s it. I’m calling this off.” Mobius dug into his jacket for his TemPad.

“No, no. Not yet,” Loki grabbed Mobius’ hand crouching over him. "We still have a chance."

“Look at us!” 

“I know this isn’t the most ideal of circumstances, but it’s too early to give up now.” 

They glanced at the door as they heard the guests laughing together, still distracted. 

“Mobius.” Loki asked for his focus. “We can do this. We don’t need a team of Minutemen to find a Loki. You and I are the best team for finding him. Between us there’s nothing we don’t know about him. Most importantly, we know we can find him because Lokis tend to attract attention .”

“That’s exactly the problem!” Mobius gestured at the scene-causing Loki in front of him. “Even if these people are gone soon anyways, if we make a scene getting ourselves thrown out of the hotel, we might tip off the Variant that we’re here. And that means one of two things: either the Variant abandons the site and we’re back to square one, or, worse, the Variant decides he’s hungry for some more TVA blood and no one’s going anywhere.” As he said it out loud Mobius realized he’d been picking up bad habits from Loki; he had brought them into this situation without clearance, protection, or even notifying anyone who could help in an emergency. For what? Adventure? To show himself and the TVA that they could do this? Mobius’ panic solidified into a stone in his stomach, he was catching Loki’s poor judgment.  

Loki, exhilarated by the fresh air and the chance to be right, continued making his case, “But! Now that I’m not in the TVA, I can do things like this.” Loki’s suit suddenly transformed into his typical King Loki regalia: leather, horns, and all.

Mobius’ fight or flight response kicked in for a moment, “Stop that! You’re freaking me out. That’s like waving a big ‘I’m a Loki’ sign over your head! That's the last thing we need with this Variant on the loose!” He gave Loki a shove with his foot and the illusion fell away.

“Mobius, Mobius. Relax.” Loki touched his shoulder, “Forget that. But think about it. The Variant only ever kills Minutemen and steals reset charges. We don’t have either of those.” Mobius begrudgingly accepted that he had a point. 

“And you’re forgetting. I’m not TVA. I’m a Loki. And I can protect us.” The god offered. 

Loki, volunteering as a protector. For a TVA agent. It was too outlandish. 

“A Loki against a Loki. I don’t know about those odds, but, thanks. I appreciate that. Can I have my hand back now?” Mobius looked down at Loki’s hand still grabbing his own.

“Oh.” Loki realized and quickly released Mobius. He leaned back. A moment passed, the panic dissipated. The muffled voices continued.

“Okay, here, I've got an idea.” Loki stood up. He offered a helping hand to Mobius. He looked up at Loki and with an amused shake of his head, he accepted it.

Outside the bathroom, the three aliens continued to talk, deep in an engrossing conversation, when suddenly they heard the bathroom door open. Out came two humanoids. One tall with dark hair, dressed as a bellhop and the other a gray-haired humanoid in a suit.

“Very good, well, thank you for providing a tour of this suite. I don’t think I’ll take it. Do you have a bigger room?” The non-bellhop asked woodenly.

“Right away, sir.” The bellhop directed the man to the door theatrically with perfect posture. He gave a wide smile to the trio in the middle of the room. The non-bellhop went out the door in a hurry before the bellhop said, “On to the honeymoon suite,” before closing the door behind him.

The three in the room stared at the door in confusion for a moment and then returned to their conversation, a little thrown off but still unbothered. 

Loki and Mobius caught their breath for a second outside the door. Mobius shot his bellhop friend a dirty look for enjoying his role a little too much. Loki grinned and the costume fell away.

“Okay, now that we’re out of that, we need to lay low for a couple hours. The less we do, the more likely we won’t be noticed first by the Variant. What we need is a stake out.” Mobius walked back towards the elevator.

“Should we go to the bar?” 

“Not after the last time you had alcohol in you.” Mobius wagged a finger at the idea. “Besides, it’s too out in the open. We need a place where no one will see us, but we see everyone.”

And like that Mobius felt the realization hit him. He stopped for a second, looking up, and sighed with frustration that he hadn’t thought of it sooner. 

A sleepy security guard adjusted in a squeaky chair, ignoring the security camera screens, instead fiddling with a personal communication device. Suddenly, a knock on the door. 

“Hello?”, the guard called in the alien language, peering out the doorway.

“Hello.” Loki’s voice rang out from the empty air, playful. Before the guard could react to the disembodied voice, a thud landed on their head and they fell to the ground. Loki appeared, invisibility wearing off.

“You’re too good at that.” Mobius remarked as he came around the corner and stepped over the unconscious guard into the security room. It was disconcerting to see one of Loki’s old tricks done in person.

“Centuries of practice.” Loki dragged the guard into the room. He noticed a utility closet that would do nicely. 

Mobius locked the door behind them before picking up the schedule on the console and giving it a glance. “Okay, looks like the next guard won’t be here for another 7 hours. Hopefully, that’s enough time to see something.” Mobius sat down in the squeaky chair, getting familiar with the screens.

Loki wiped his hands on his sides, the unconscious guard successfully hidden away.

“Thanks for that. Go ahead and take a seat. It’s gonna be a long haul, I can tell," Mobius invited, pointing to another chair folded in the corner. Loki grabbed it and opened it next to Mobius.

They both took a moment to get oriented at what they were looking at. Mobius fiddled with a few controls.

“We can see everyone, but no one can see us," Loki appreciated the stealth and intel afforded by their new position. "Just one problem: we don’t know what he looks like.” Loki stared at the guests milling around on the screens. He hoped he didn’t look like himself too much, he’d like to keep some form of unique identity. 

“Well, he should be a humanoid, according to reports of his past attacks, which makes it easier for us given the typical clientele here have more than six limbs. Besides that, like you said, a Loki usually stands out naturally. Whether you want him to or not,” Mobius teased. Loki nodded, fair . He took his seat and started mentally mapping out where the cameras were posted. Seemed simple enough.

“And now, we wait.” Loki narrated.

“... Now, we wait.” Mobius agreed with a deep breath.

The tension from before dissolved after some time. They had the perfect hideout for a calculated stake out. Mobius leaned back, crossed his arms, and spent a few minutes watching each feed. Loki propped his feet on the console, doing the same. They both sighed, starting to relax. 

Loki watched the aliens wander from screen to screen. They talked, socialized, and enjoyed the bar and live performances in the theater. Some were savoring what they didn’t know was their final meal in the cafe. The longer he watched the more it bothered him. Fate had never sat well with the prince, naturally, but watching it play out when no one knew what was going to happen felt sick. If it hadn’t been pre-ordained, Loki wouldn’t have minded - people die every day. He used to help arbitrate who died and lived. It was just how the universe worked. One moment you're enjoying a fine meal, the next you're a crater. Just and fair chaos. But this was different. These beings weren't waiting for chaos to roll the dice on their lives, they were moving along a conveyer belt towards a neat and orderly demise. Loki's expression slowly turned into a sneer. There was no chaos here. It was unnatural. Mechanic. These beings were going to die because the TVA deemed it so. Loki had killed before, but the TVA were the only true executioners in the universe. 

"How meaningless."

"What’s that?" Mobius asked, a little groggy from the mixture of sitting still for too long and the gentle humming of the monitors in front of them.

"The Time Keepers."

Mobius sighed, clasping his hands and resting them on his stomach, "Here we go again."

"The Time Keepers decided this is going to happen. They plan every apocalypse. They decide who lives and who dies, but we're the ones labeled murderers."

"The Time Keepers didn't make your decisions for you, Loki. You killed those people because you wanted to. They just happened to let you do what you wanted.”

“And if I had spared my victims, I would’ve been found guilty as a Variant and executed. I became what I was because that was all I could become.” 

“Uh-huh,” Mobius eyed Loki, who was glaring at the aliens in the cafe. “Since when did you care about labels you don't give yourself?"

"I don't." 

"Yeah. Sure." 

Loki heard Mobius’ doubt, but couldn’t find a retort. His frustration grew, “This doesn't bother you? Seeing others die because lizards tell you they should?”

“Not really.” Mobius shared without looking away from the screens. “I mean, yeah, sometimes the stories people play out don’t have happy endings, but everyone has an ending.”

Loki remembered what would’ve been his own ending, happy to be rid of it. He looked at Mobius, “Everyone except you.”

The agent gave a slow, thoughtful nod. “I don’t know how long I’ve existed. Sometimes it feels like forever. Other times, it feels like I woke up in the TVA last week.” He adjusted his legs into a new position. “But, you’re right, I don’t have a specific ending written for me. Not yet, at least.”

“How does that work?” Loki had been trying to put the pieces together since he first got to the TVA. “Why is there even a TVA if you have your keepers dictating the start and finish of time?” Loki asked as he eyed an individual in the theater that looked humanoid, but saw quickly they had an extra 3 appendages under their robe. 

Mobius glanced at Loki, bothered, “Well, the Time Keepers aren’t done, yet. They haven’t… planned how it ends. Not completely. That’s why we’re here. We exist to protect the balance until the Time Keepers are done. Then, once they finish the ending, we meet at the end of time, in peace,” he finished with a small, religious smile.

“They’re not done, yet? Isn’t that their job? What else have they been up to this whole time?” Loki mocked.

“Yeah, yeah. Listen, it’s more complicated than that, could you imagine having to untangle infinite timelines? You can't even untangle your own. One day they’ll be done. And when that happens I’ll have my ending, I guess. We all will.” 

Cosmic dread drummed in Loki's chest, “But how can you be okay with that? Work until you die? What about your right to live? What if the Time Keepers come out of their cave, or wherever they are, tomorrow, and declared time finished. Will you head to the slaughterhouse willingly?” Loki leaned forward in his chair, trying to get Mobius’ attention. He hated the idea of Mobius quietly, dutifully reporting for annihilation. There had to be more.

“If the Time Keepers said they were done, I wouldn’t have a choice. What else would I do, anyways? It’s not like there's anything at the end of time to do.”

“So you and everyone in the TVA are going to die, just like that, at a moment’s notice?”

‘Die’ ? Mobius hadn’t thought of it as death. He stayed silent. 

Loki bristled. “You all are so meek. If I did usurp the Time Keepers, you’d all be the most frustratingly easy world to control, you all just do as you’re told.”

“Hey-” 

“I’d just have to wave my hand: ‘Work for me until you die’, and you would all just go back to your files and records and while the rest of eternity away. It’s astounding no one else has come in and done it yet-”

“Loki,” The analyst warned.

Loki leaned forward, deadly serious, “Mobius, you have to want more than this.”

“Why are you so fixated on that? You don't get it. This isn’t just ‘work’ - this is my life. I never had what you had. I never had the delusion that I could do or be whatever I wanted. This has been my life since day one. I don’t know or need anything outside the TVA.”

“I think that’s a lie.” Loki leaned closer.

“Oh, really?” Mobius wasn’t surprised Loki still couldn’t understand. Lokis were driven by desire, to a world-ending fault. Lokis were never happy with what they had. It was almost more, more, more. Anything to fill the void. “It might shock you, but not everyone is like you, Loki. I’m not you. I don’t want more.”

Loki shook his head, “I think you know you can have more than this.” 

Mobius smiled insincerely, shaking his head, “What could be more than this? I was literally created for this.”

“Why should that matter? You honestly believe you were made for paperwork? To prune Variants? To reset innocent people?” Loki started to raise his voice.

“Hey, I don’t need to hear judgment from a Loki about hurting innocent people.” That landed its hit just as he meant. He watched as Loki was revisited by the ghosts of his past. Loki deflated slightly, “I didn’t mean- I’ve seen you, Mobius. You’re more than the TVA. You have free will. And last time we spoke, if you remember, you showed me a glimpse at how unsatisfied you are with your story.”

Mobius had hoped Loki had forgotten. “Do we have to talk about this now? We’ve got a job to do.” 

“I think it's only fair. You forced me to reconsider my true nature.”

Touché . Mobius gave him an inch, rubbing his legs with tension, “Okay, okay. Fine. You want to know if I'm unsatisfied? Honestly, it comes and goes. Some days I’m numb. I just do what I have to. Other days, I find the drive to keep going, I enjoy what I do. Lately, it’s been... pretty okay.” Loki caught an implication from a smirk on Mobius' face. “But some days... I look around and I- I wonder what I'm doing. What am I actually doing? But, in the end, I always come back to the same answer. My life is what it was meant to be by the Time Keepers.” Mobius’ eyes kept track of the figures on the screens half-heartedly.

Loki pressed, “What about your life? Experiences? Family? Love? Do you even know what love feels like?”

“Do you ?” Mobius heard himself say it without thinking. He surprised himself with that reaction. 

Loki's posture changed. Mobius tucked his chin, slightly ashamed for pulling that card. 

They were silent for a moment.

Loki spoke, surprising Mobius again, “I know it must not have seemed that way to you, but… Someday, I had hoped….” The god of mischief tried to share. What didn’t this man already know? Who else would listen to him? Loki wanted to practice being honest, but lost his words. Instead, he asked, “On the timeline, was there anyone?....”

Their eyes met, Mobius gave him a look that confirmed Loki’s fear: even if he was back with the rest of creation, he never would have known, either. On or off the timeline, Loki was only a prisoner; a pest to be contained by collars and muzzles. No one was waiting for him.

Mobius saw Loki’s expression twitch, “I’m sorry, Loki.” 

The prince gave him a reconciliatory smile. Mobius, again, realized how little this person resembled the timeline Loki anymore. The god he'd seen before would have never talked like this. Loki was changing and growing every day, every hour. Mobius almost envied him for it. The Variant beside him was trying to fill a thousand year vacuum of lost meaning and purpose as quickly as possible and Mobius understood he had become one of the only resources Loki had to make sense of himself again. It didn’t feel right, though. He let go of the tension from before. 

“Well, you’re a free man, now. At least free from the timeline. You don’t have an ending set in stone anymore.” Mobius offered, brushing aside all the obstacles they both knew were in the way between Loki and genuine freedom.They both quietly remembered Mobius’ signature under the orders to delete the prince. Mobius pushed it to the back of his mind - he instead entertained the idea of this Loki making it out of here, starting a life, experiencing what he’d been denied on the timeline. For the very first time in his existence, Mobius felt himself almost rooting for a Variant to get away from the TVA.

“True.” Loki was still working on his plan to escape. If he got out, maybe he could have a future. Where? With who? There was only one person he felt anything for anymore. He looked at Mobius. Friendship didn’t feel like he expected it to.

“Are you not free, Mobius?”, he asked, changing the subject. “You don’t have a collar or a timeline. There are plenty of... people in the TVA. You could be living a life full of unplanned experiences.” Loki had grown too accustomed being at the center of Mobius' attention - the idea of Mobius splitting that attention with someone else didn't sit well with him. After all, Mobius was the only one who made him feel nearly real anymore. To anyone else, he was Variant L1130: a walking vapor just waiting to be pruned. Disgust and fear bubbled under the surface of Loki's mind as he waited for a response.

Mobius cleared his throat, the question was almost too personal, but he was still glad Loki asked. “Nah, that’s the privilege for those on the timeline. They can collide, fight, fall in love, as the Time Keepers decree. They don’t know it’s pre-ordained, but I’ve seen them feel….” He didn’t have the vocabulary for the passion and love he’d seen on the timeline. He’d seen people die for one another without a second thought. He had seen people start wars and end them in the name of love. He had also seen quiet, loyal love between two people growing old together. He had always wondered what that was like. Something in his chest twitched. He didn’t know what to call that feeling. He shuffled again, “The Time Keepers didn’t see that for me. Us at the TVA, we don’t feel those things so deeply, if at all. We don’t need them. But, at least, unlike everyone on the timeline, I don’t have to struggle with never knowing my purpose.”

“There’s more, Mobius. There’s more than duty or purpose. Believe me. There’s fire, rage, and passion....” Loki heard these unfamiliar words come out of his mouth. He stopped. “I think you can do and have more than the Time Keepers made you for.” 

Mobius had nothing he could say to that. The idea hardly made sense to him. He felt Loki’s eyes on him. “Maybe”, was all he could muster. 

That was more than he would’ve given before they met: Maybe .

He saw Loki almost smile. They were both half-pleased, half-disturbed by Mobius' answer. The agent could feel something slipping. He could feel a crack of doubt forming in his existential foundations. All this talk about 'more' was dangerous. He had to be careful or Loki would do what he had done to him when they first met: alienate him from his ‘purpose’.

They both fell silent, deep in thought. They watched the screens and listened to them hum. They replayed the conversation in their minds for hours. 

Chapter Text

“That might be our guy.” Mobius got up from his seat and leaned closer to the monitor. Loki got up for a closer look, too. “But we can’t be sure, it could just be a kid,” Mobius continued.

They watched as the petite hooded figure started taking food from the pantry shelves in the cafe kitchen. It wasn’t exactly the kind of criminal activity they were looking for.

“Who would steal food on one of the richest moons in the solar system?” Loki reasoned. This person wasn’t from here. His stomach turned as he realized he could be looking at another him.

“You’ve got a point, but let’s go take a look to be sure.” Mobius started putting his jacket back on in a hurry.

“Really?”

Mobius straightened out, getting ready. “Yeah, I need to see him up close before I can bring a team. If I bring them here and it's just a hungry kid, that’ll be our third strike and you know what that means.” He whistled as his finger made a slashing motion across his own neck, reminding Loki of the stakes.

“So, we approach him?” Loki felt a moment of stage fright at the idea of getting too close to his doppleganger. 

“Yeah, but j ust to get a good look. He won’t be there long, so we gotta move now. Let’s see...” He looked at the map of the hotel on the console which he had nearly memorized already. “Okay, if we split and flank him in the kitchen one of us will be able to get a look at him. I’ll go right and enter through the main entrance, you go left through the servant's entrance.” Mobius reached around the back of his belt and produced a small baton. He activated it, it was a miniature pruning stick. He turned it back off, having confirmed it was in working order.

“... Why do I have to go left?” Loki questioned.

“ What ?”

“I’m a king. I’m not a convincing servant.”

“Loki, it doesn’t matter! It doesn’t matter,” he waved his hands emphatically. 

“Right. You’re right." They stared at one another. "But-"

“Nope," Mobius dropped it and walked away towards the door. "Geez. Okay, you ready?” 

Loki took a breath. He composed himself and nodded.

Mobius unlocked the door and checked that the hallway was clear. He glanced at his watch to keep track of the time. Loki went to walk into the hallway, Mobius stopped him with his arm. “Um, wait a second. Here.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two small daggers. “These are for you. Just in case.”

Loki’s face lit up as if he’d been reunited with a beloved friend.

Mobius enjoyed Loki's expression, happy to have done something for the troubled prince, but doubled-down with a warning: “Just don’t go waving them around unless you really have to.” 

Loki took the daggers and held them as if they were sacred. For once, not a single scheming thought passed through his mind as he conjured the daggers out of sight. What replaced his usual thirst for power whenever he held a dagger was a strong desire to, instead, use them to help the man in front of him. Was this that 'trust' people always talked about?

“You understand? Whatever you do, try not to engage or stand out. I know that’s all against your nature. You’ll want to talk with him or fight, but don’t . You hear me? Don't ." Mobius ducked his head, getting Loki's eye contact before pantomiming locking a key on his own lips and throwing the key over his shoulder. "Capisce?"

Loki nodded, an excited grin stealing his lips.

"Once you have confirmation, find me and we’ll head back to the TVA for backup. I need you to focus, okay? This is what we've been working for.”

“I understand. Use these only if I need to.” Loki held back his impulse to make that a lie. He needed to try this 'trust' thing.

“Okay, when I say ‘go’ you head down the east hallway and swing left. I’ll flank the right hallway.”

“Wait, Mobius.” 

“Okay, fine , you can go right if you really want it that much!” 

“No, no,” Loki reached out both hands and tugged at the collar of Mobius’ jacket. His fingers brushing the man’s neck accidentally. Mobius flinched away from his touch. Having a Loki touch you was always a 50/50 chance of something bad happening to you. “You look like a TVA agent,” Loki tugged the jacket for emphasis, and grinned as he noticed Mobius' tension under his hands.

Mobius, attempting to brush off how his heart had jumped, looked down at his brown suit and the TVA insignia on his jacket. “You’re right. I forgot. Dammit.” The TVA almost never needed to conduct undercover operations, they would just enter situations with all their uniforms and logos because everyone who saw them would be reset anyway.

“Just a moment.” Loki placed his open palms on the junctures of Mobius’ shoulders and neck. The man stiffened under his hands peculiarly. In an instant, the jacket and everything else on Mobius transformed from a TVA uniform to a fine dinner suit that matched the resort’s swanky aesthetic. Loki was also now in a waiter’s uniform.

Loki admired his work openly. Mobius, feeling exposed, looked down and contained how impressed he was. He double-checked his weapons and devices were still in place. Experiencing Loki’s power firsthand was very different than watching it.

“Yeah, that’s good. Thanks.” He adjusted his new jacket, shocked at how real it felt. There was something a little invasive about being shrouded so suddenly in Loki’s magic, but he didn’t mind it as much as he thought he would.

“Better than good.” Loki’s tone sounded less mocking than teasing. He looked over Mobius’ tailored silhouette for a second too long. 

“Okay, very funny, that’s enough,” Mobius waved his hands, embarrassed and slightly panicked. “We’re gonna lose him if we stay here.” The agent cleared his throat,“ You go left, I go right.”

“As you wish.” 

“I’m sorry, sir, the cafe is closing now” 

“I forgot something at my table. It’ll just be a second,” Mobius excused himself, walking past the waiter who was busy escorting other guests out of the cafe. He walked into the empty eatery and, after checking over his shoulder, slipped over to the kitchen entrance, out of sight. Carefully, he approached the door from the side and peaked through the circular window into the kitchen. 

Loki approached from the opposite doorway, across the kitchen. Loki looked through the window of his own door. He couldn't see any movement in the empty room. He saw Mobius at his window, across the room. Mobius was scanning the room from his angle. Nothing. Loki kept eye contact with Mobius and gently nudged his door open. Mobius gave him a signal to stop, and, of course, Loki ignored it. 

Mobius saw Loki give him a reassuring nod, I have this , before opening the kitchen door completely. "And there he goes…" Mobius whispered to himself, annoyed. 

Loki let the door swing silently closed behind him. He looked around the kitchen. Nobody. He walked silently, in only the way Lokis can, to the pantry with a dagger poised invisibly in his hand. He reached for the pantry door. He hesitated, worried equally whether he'd find someone or no one. He threw open the door. 

It was empty. 

What ?

He started to turn around, but felt himself lean into something sharp pressed against his flank. Of course . 

" Me , I presume?” He asked, putting his hands up.

“Why is it that every time I meet a Loki, they think they’re the original?” A gruff voice responded. “Turn around, slowly,” they ordered.

Loki, holding his breath, turned around slowly. This was it, he prepared himself. What he saw when he turned was an alien in a chef’s uniform, complete with a ID badge, brandishing a kitchen knife. Loki reeled for a moment, was his Variant actually an otherworldly alien chef? He reassessed the situation and quickly realized his other self wouldn’t have gone undercover as a chef here and had an ID made just to steal some food. 

“Shapeshifting?” He asked, a little delighted to see the magic of another Loki.

“In a manner,” the alien replied. “Now, what do you want?” 

Loki glanced at Mobius through the window for a millisecond. The man looked very displeased. Loki put on his most charming smile for both of them to see. “As a fellow Loki, I wanted to meet the Loki who was causing the TVA so much trouble. Your work has been… impressive,” he flattered as he would’ve wanted to be flattered.

“The TVA. You're the one they brought in to find me? Let me guess: You want to team up?” They asked sarcastically.

“Actually, I came to see if you were worthy of my help. Perhaps you need a mentor,” he tempted.

Mobius watched the two of them talk, but he couldn't quite hear them. The alien wasn’t the Variant, but they were obviously hostile. Every second that passed, one of them could do something to set the other off. That’s it. He reached behind him and retrieved his pruning stick from his belt. He twisted the barrel and it began to glow. He steadied his nerves as he started to open his door. 

“Your ‘help’ ?” The chef asked. “What kind of Loki helps anyone ?”

“Well, you see,” Loki looked over the chef’s shoulder as Mobius opened the door, “I'm not just any Loki. And I'm not working alone.” He smiled at the agent proudly as a dagger appeared in each of his hands, springing a satisfying ambush.

Mobius entered the kitchen, but Loki’s smile quickly vanished when he saw the pruning stick being held under the man’s chin. Wielding it was the hooded figure they had seen on the security cameras. They had pinned Mobius' arm behind his back and was escorting him into the room. 

“A flimsy facade, Loki. You don't want to help me, you’re working for the TVA.” A feminine voice emerged from the hood, her features barely visible. She shook the pruning stick as evidence for her TVA deduction. Mobius recoiled his head away from the glow. “A TVA pet who can’t lie properly? Are you sure you’re even a Loki, at all?” 

“Mobius.” Loki called to him. 

"I'm fine," Mobius gritted out, trying not to move.

"Wait. A Loki that cares about someone besides himself?" She teased. 

Loki readied his blades in front of himself. He didn’t care about meeting another Loki anymore or the surprise that she turned out to be a god dess of mischief. He needed to get Mobius away from her.

“No,” she ordered, puppeteering the chef to step between them, kitchen knife raised.

“Where are your hunters and Minutemen?” She asked Mobius.

“We don’t have any,” he confessed quietly, matter of fact.

“Don’t do anything to him, he’s just an analyst,” Loki interrupted as she processed Mobius’ answer. 

“It’s all the same. He prunes innocent people who have no idea what they’ve done - he resets them all in the name of the TVA,” anger rippled her voice. 

Mobius cleared his throat, trying to lean away from the pruning stick, “You’re right. Loki knows that. Don’t mind him. This is his first rodeo so he’s a bit panicky,” Mobius owned his sins softly. He kept an eye on the pruning glow two inches from his face, “I was just showing him the ropes for the case. I’m actually the one who’s been trying to find you. I'm Mobius. Mobius Mobius, but just 'Mobius' is fine. It’s nice to meet you, Loki.” The agent never forgot his manners.

“Don't call me that. It’s Sylvie."

Mobius noticed the disgust in her voice.

Loki watched them talk, he inched closer. Mobius held out his open palm towards him, telling him to stop.

“Alright, ‘Sylvie’ . That’s a nice name. Fancy,” Mobius complimented. “As you can see, we don’t have a team and we don’t have any reset charges, either. There’s nothing for anyone to gain from killing anyone. So how about we go our separate ways and call it a day?” He offered from a disadvantage.

“No reset charges? How fortunate for you,” she said menacingly. “I will take your TemPad, however.”

“You’d leave us to die here?” Loki accused, stepping forward.

“You work for the TVA, you leave everyone to die," she bit back, pulling Mobius' arm painfully until he grunted.

“Alright, let’s all calm down,” Mobius spoke up, keeping eye contact with Loki. He started to move his free hand, “I’m reaching for the TemPad, Sylvie. Okay?” She stayed silent, staring at Loki, as he reached into his pocket and produced his TemPad, lifting it upward towards her hand.

She took it from him quickly, and after inspecting it she put it in her right pocket. “Thank you for your cooperation,” she quoted Miss Minutes with a pointed twang. She looked at Mobius and then Loki. 

"Now release him," Loki ordered, knives pointed at her.

She started to walk backwards with Mobius, making for the exit, “A TVA agent, out here in an apocalypse, without any hunters to protect him? Breaking all his precious rules? And a Loki that worries about a TVA agent?” She mocked. “You two are a bizarre pair.”

“Who said there were only two of us?” Loki asked. Sylvie’s eyes widened as she heard something in her blindspot. 

“Hello.” A grinning Loki appeared behind her right shoulder. He had been standing there, invisible, until that moment. After spotting the new Loki, she turned her head to the possessed chef who immediately lunged at the Loki she’d been talking to. The chef simply fell through him and the false Loki disappeared. The chef hit the floor, unconscious. Sylvie quickly released Mobius, swinging the pruning stick at the real Loki at her side. Poised and ready, he grabbed her arm as it spun to him, the hum of the stick close to his face. Their eyes met, her hood fell to her shoulders. He studied her features for a moment, unable to find much of himself in her, but he saw the spark of a Loki staring at him from her eyes, true enough. Before he could feel the depth of the moment, she used her other hand to reach for the sword on her hip. 

“Better not,” he warned her. Her face soured with angry surprise when she felt his other blade pressed against her side, just as she had done to him. 

"How very alike we are," he gave her a grin. But the element of surprise wore off quickly. She leaned back and dealt a powerful blow to his stomach. Sent backward, but still holding her arm, he steadied himself and twisted her wrist until she dropped the pruning stick. Loki lunged at her with his daggers, she dodged left, and used his momentum to send him into the middle of the room where Mobius was. Mobius and Loki collided. She stood her ground, crouching into a fighting stance, and unsheathed her blade, ready for more.

Loki and Mobius regrouped for a moment. “Are you okay?" Loki checked.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Mobius dismissed the fuss. 

“Look at you two. I've seen a lot, but this is ridiculous,” she judged. 

Loki and Mobius looked at one another, reacting briefly to her assessment of them.

Loki readied his daggers, ignoring Mobius’ “Don’t.” 

“You want more? Do you want to see who the superior Loki is?” He challenged. The retrieval of the TemPad was another goal for the fight he was suggesting, but, of course, he was also desperately excited to win against himself. Loki was just about to dart forward when darkness suddenly engulfed the room. A few seconds of pitch black was followed by red lights and sirens blaring.

“Please remain calm,” a robotic voice spoke from speakers in the ceiling. “This is an announcement from the Planetary Defense Department. Meteor impact imminent. Please report to the docking stations immediate-”

“Times up.” Sylvie sheathed her sword with a smile and ran through the kitchen doors into the cafe.

Loki immediately ran after her. Mobius picked himself up to follow them. Entering the cafe, they were met with more sirens, lights, and now the sounds of screaming and panicking guests in the lobby nearby. Running behind her, Loki saw Sylvie take out a TemPad and enter new coordinates. He couldn’t let her leave with their only way to get back. He reached for her cloak, trying to slow her down, but in a flash she ran through a gate and disappeared. The gate closed behind her immediately. 

“No!” Loki stopped, out of breath, sirens ringing in his ears. How were they going to get out of here? He looked at the air in front of him. They were stuck at the end of a world.

Mobius jogged up beside him, exhausted. “Oh, don’t worry about it, champ.” He patted Loki’s shoulder.

Loki shot him a look, “‘Don’t worry about it’?”

“Yeah, I’m sure we’ll see her again someday. You’ll get to ask her all your questions eventually."

“Mobius, we’re trapped on this dying moon! What are you-!”

And just like that, Mobius lifted his hand and in it was the brass slab of a TemPad.

“You got it back.” Loki looked at him, amazed. 

Still catching his breath, Mobius grimaced a pained smile as he rubbed his sore arm, “Thanks to you. That illusion-projection trick of yours distracted her just long enough.” 

Loki sighed with relief. 

“It was a good move. I didn’t even see it coming. Though, I mean, I should have. It’s one of the oldest tricks in your book. You do it every time. It's actually a little overused.” Mobius teased as he fiddled with the TemPad, checking it was in working condition. He smiled at Loki, maybe those mischievous wiles of his could be useful in the field, if used for good like this.

“... ‘Duplication-casting’,” Loki corrected, beaming. 

“Yeah, yeah. Take it easy.” Mobius brushed the quip off as he tapped on the TemPad and set it to return them to the TVA. Loki patted him on the back. Mobius could feel him grinning down at him. A gate opened. Loki gestured, ‘after you ’. They both walked through - out of the sirens and into the sudden quiet of the TVA library. 

Mobius closed the gate behind them and quickly took a tired seat on the floor between the archive stacks. He noticed Loki’s magic had worn off; they were back in their TVA attire like nothing had happened. Mobius caught his breath and patted the carpeted floor beside him, inviting Loki to join him. The prince sat beside him, shoulder to shoulder. They both stayed quiet for a second, adjusting. Loki looked at Mobius, who turned to him. Loki let out a tired, grateful laugh. Mobius joined. Nothing was as exhilarating as a close shave. Even if it had been highly irresponsible.

“We did it,” Loki celebrated quietly. “We found her.” He loved being right, almost as much as he loved Mobius seeing he was right.

“Yeah, we did it,” Mobius joined in their quiet celebration. “This is the first time we’ve ever seen Variant L0852.” 

“But, Mobius, I’m sorry,” Loki interrupted the moment. “I let her get away.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mobius reassured. “We got a good look at her because of you. She even gave us a good initial impression of her motivations. It’ll be helpful for analysis. You did good out there. For your first field excursion.” 

“Really?” Loki searched Mobius' smile for sarcasm that wasn't there.

“Yeah. We just have to work with what we learned today to find her actual hideout. It was obvious that Pylea isn’t where she spends most of her time. She probably just used it for the good grub. Can't say I blame her,” the wheels in his head were already starting to turn.

“Can’t we go back in and find her before she makes it to the kitchen?” Loki suggested.

“No, unfortunately, if we try to go back now we’ll run into our previous selves or vice versa and risk destabilizing the entire flow of time. We can't risk a paradox. Our only shot was to catch her before she fled the site. But we need to find her main hideout, anyway. She’s planning something big and we need to know what resources she’s dealing with.” Mobius put away his TemPad in his jacket.

“But won’t she now know that we know her doomsday method?” Loki feared it might make her change her patterns.

“Yeah, but where else is she gonna go? If she leaves her doomsdays, we’ll see her Variance Energy and find her anyway. She’s stuck, and we have the advantage.” Mobius considered that the worst case scenario would be that she would escalate her plans, whatever they were, now that she probably felt close to being caught. He pushed it from his mind, that was always going to be a risk. Instead, he looked at the exhausted Asgardian beside him. “For now, let’s regroup, recuperate. And then work on our next lead.” Mobius stood up. He offered Loki a hand. The prince accepted it too happily.

Mobius paced his way back towards the direction of the elevator. Loki followed the agent, still on a rush from before. “Mobius,” he called before they were back in earshot of others. “I just wanted to say…”

Mobius paused, recognizing Loki’s tone as a request for his attention.

“We might be a bizarre pair,... but I think we make a good team.”  Loki offered his hand to Mobius. This was a sign of 'trust', right?

Mobius looked down at the incomplete handshake, taken aback. He knew this fresh-from-New-York Loki - always alone and always working for and by himself - had never worked willingly or honestly with others before. Again, this Loki continued to surprise him.

“Me too,” he answered, taking Loki’s hand into a firm and warm handshake. “Now, let’s see if we can find her again.”

Chapter Text

“Did you enjoy your getaway vacation with your Loki?” Judge Ravonna Renslayer asked from her desk as her office door closed behind Mobius. “I hear…,” she checked her file, “ ‘Pylea’ is beautiful.”

Surprise and then dread pricked at Mobius before he let out a fake chuckle, putting his hands in his pockets. "Oh, yeah, I'm super relaxed now," he answered ironically. There was no point in trying to hide his rule-breaking now. The best he could do was try and not make a big deal out of it. What was more important was how Ravonna found out. “So, what, you're bugging my TemPad now? Is that why you wanted this ‘urgent’ meeting with me? To slap me on the wrist?” He took a seat on a couch, his smirk hiding his nervousness.

“I had to take measures against L1130 escaping again,” she explained, neatening the papers on her desk.

“It hurts that you don’t trust that I can handle this on my own,” Mobius quipped.

“You let him escape once, Mobius, while you were interrogating him.”

“I didn’t let him escape, he just kind of slithered away. I got him back, though….” Mobius could tell his nerves were showing, despite his best attempts at staying humorous and aloof. He cleared his throat.

Ravonna stared at him silently for a second. “I didn’t think I’d have to remind you of this, Mobius, but this is a very sensitive case you’re on.”

“Oh, I know. And I’ve got a pretty sensitive Loki to show for it, too,” he joked. 

“No, you apparently don’t know . If you did, you wouldn’t be breaking the rules like this.” She sounded serious. 

He cocked his head, doubling down. “What’s going on? You know these things happen sometimes,” he lied. “Come on, we got some good information from this. It was all for the mission. We saw the Variant-”

“These things don’t happen, Mobius. You know unapproved field work is strictly prohibited. I’m honestly shocked you would do something like this.”

He was, too. He didn’t have a good excuse, either. He had to try and shine a light on the good, though, “We almost got her! We were this close,” he pinched his fingers together, “We just need more time. Another field trip. I’ll put him in a collar, just in case. A nice short leash, come on. What do you say?” He tried to sweeten his deal, hoping his confidence would work its magic.

“That’s not good enough, Mobius.” 

He recognized her tone. This was going downhill fast . 

Ravonna looked him over. He felt her assess him. She spoke before he could think of what else he could say, “You’re different today, Mobius. You don’t seem yourself. Neither does your Loki. The two of you. You look like twins, walking down the hallway together. Bantering .” 

He could hear a thick and disapproving accusation in her tone. “... We just get along,” he tried to play it down. 

“‘Get along’? ‘Get along’?” Her tone raised to a nervous pitch. “Mobius, you’re not supposed to be friends with a Variant.”

“I know, you’re right,” he didn’t fight it.

She sat up straight and added, “It’s inappropriate.”

“Yeah, it is .” He nodded, looking down, swaying his elbow nervously. He should’ve left it alone, but he couldn’t. “But… he’s different- he’s changing.” He stood up again, approaching her. She started shaking her head at him, but he couldn’t stop, “He isn’t a ‘Loki’ anymore… Well, he’s still a Loki, but he’s cooperative. He saved my skin on Pylea. He had a chance to make a run for it, but he didn’t. He stayed to help me with the Variant. Don’t call me crazy, but I think we can trust him. He wants to do better-”

“Mobius.” She raised her hand to silence him. “He stole this.” The judge picked up a folder by her elbow and tossed it to the edge of her desk in front of him. 

“What?” He picked it up and opened it to the cover page. It was the Mission Report for the case they were currently working on. He thought it was still in processing after the last time he met with Ravonna to get the Resolution Proposal signed. “He took this? When?”

“You tell me. You’re supposed to be supervising him.”

It took him a second, but now Loki’s outburst in the theater made sense. He had found the resolution to prune him. Loki had known, this whole time, that Mobius was his promised executioner. Mobius dropped his head and groaned at how messy this was getting. “Listen-”

“No, I’m done listening.” She stood up, assuming authority over the space. “You had one last chance with L1130… consider it spent.”

Mobius blinked, breathing out a scoff. She couldn’t mean that. “ Ravonna. ” He tested her, his tone full of disbelief. She didn’t flinch. She just stared him down. She was serious. His face fell and his heart dropped, “No. No, you can’t do this.”

“Yes, I can. In fact, it’s overdue. Remember, you told me that if it didn’t work, you’d prune him yourself. Mobius, it didn’t work . And we can’t risk this getting further out of hand.” 

“Ravonn-” 

“You have five hours , starting now,” she ordered as a judge, not a friend.

He knew he was expected to accept the orders and excuse himself. He considered it, but quickly rejected it. He took a step forward and spoke quietly, “I can’t.” He looked her in the eye. “He’s too valuable to the case. I promise I can handle him. I mean, who knows when we’ll get another one like him! He’s the only one who has a chance against Sylvie!”

“‘Sylvie’?”

“The Variant goes by ‘Sylvie’.”

Ravonna took a second. She pursed her lips and circled her desk to approach him. She spoke slowly and quietly, “The Mobius I considered my friend would’ve known better than to deny the orders of a superior. Take this as evidence that L1130 is a corruptive influence.” She lifted her hand towards Mobius, her palm up, "Give me your TemPad."

“What?”

She flexed her hand, demanding his TemPad.

Mobius eyed her, complying.

She broke eye contact with him and opened the TemPad. Mobius watched warily as she typed something in. “If he isn’t pruned by the time this goes off, I’m afraid I’ll have to consider your integrity as an agent of the TVA compromised.” She handed it back to him. At the top-right of the screen was something new: a red timer that now read, "00:04:59:57". It was ticking down with every second, closer to zero. He hadn't seen this before, but he could guess what might happen if it ran out and Loki was still in existence: he’d find himself in a collar and jumpsuit shortly after someone pruned Loki behind a closed door. He might even end up getting the same sentence.

“Five hours,” she insisted.

Her tone and expression were as unmistakable as the ticking from his TemPad. There was no room for negotiation. She wasn’t listening to his humor or confidence or logic. There was no point fighting this now. 

“Yes, Judge Renslayer,” he heard himself accept her orders. 

He looked at the timer on the screen tick down. He had five hours to figure out how he was going to do this. He flipped it closed. What was he going to say to Loki? How was he going to set this up? Something overwhelming -something he didn't have a name for- started to pool in his chest. He was about to turn around, but stopped, “Just- just let me do it my way, okay? Let me set it up how I need to. I… I can't prune him just anywhere.”

The request made her brow crease. She thought for a second, wary, but nodded curtly. At least their friendship had afforded him this much flexibility. He knew her kindness to him was not having Loki pruned in front of him right now. She also hadn’t arrested him for breaking the rules. For Ravonna, this was merciful. 

“Good. Thanks.” He turned to leave, numb.

“Mobius.” Ravonna’s voice called him before he left, guilt seeping into her tone. He turned back towards her, not looking at her. “Maybe you could ask B-15 to do it. Take some time off. Come back when you have another lead, when you’re rested,” she offered.

“Yeah... That’s probably a good idea,” Mobius responded blankly as he opened the door.

“For all time?” She called after him.

He hesitated, “Always.” 

She dismissed him with a gesture.

Mobius closed the doors behind him. He stood there, looking at his shoes for a moment. He was stuck where he was. Another step away from her office was a surrender. It would be his final acceptance of her orders. Maybe he could turn around, go back in there, and convince her to take the sentencing back? He knew that wouldn't work. He'd known her for centuries, she never took anything like this back. That's why she's a judge now. If he went back in there, she might even take back the mercy she showed. She might arrest him and call for the immediate deletion of Loki over the intercom. He had to take what he got.

Mobius took out his TemPad and flipped it open again, "00:04:57:14". Time was ticking by as he stood there. This wasn't the timeline. There was no way back. Only forward. 

He put away his TemPad and made himself take a step forward. Then another. He let his feet take him down the hallway, picking up the pace, and turn corners out of habit as his mind turned its own corners in a rapidly growing maze of thoughts about pruning Loki Laufeyson. 

How was he going to do this? How was he going to prune Loki? Was he really going to prune him? Did he really have to? Maybe there was a way he didn't have to. No . This was it. He knew it. It was always going to happen. Mobius had signed those papers before. Loki was never going to last in the TVA forever. Mobius had just thought they'd have more time,... but that’s what everyone thinks in the end. 

Mobius nodded at an agent who greeted him in the hallway, too lost in thought to recognize who they were or to stop. His mind worked best when he was in motion. This was turning into one of the toughest puzzles he could remember having to solve.

Was he going to trap Loki in a room and do it? That felt wrong. Would he just surprise him on one of their walks so he couldn't escape? No. The thought of ambushing Loki made him feel queasy. He could imagine the moment of betrayal on Loki's face as it would happen. Mobius quickly shut down his imagination after Loki's face in his mind made him feel worse than he thought he was capable of feeling. That was weird.

He returned to the cold logistics. Maybe he could take him to a nice TVA solarium, with the false sun of UV lights pouring over them as they walked among the aisles of fake plants, and do it? No. Could he just get him drunk, have a few last laughs, and do it in a theater? Again, wrong. Nothing felt remotely correct. 

"Get a grip, Mobius," he told himself as he walked faster, drawing a concerned glance or two. 

He had pruned thousands of variants before, most of them without even thinking. In fact, he had pruned millions, maybe billions, if you counted resetting branched timelines. It was his job. This was what he was made for. He was made to prune variants like Loki. He had seen countless Lokis die - on and off the timeline. So why was this so difficult? 

He passed the same reception counter for the second time. The receptionist watched him, puzzled.

Why couldn't he just say, 'Sorry, old pal' and send Loki to the great beyond with one last friendly pat on the shoulder? That would be infinitely better than the glee B-15 would take in trapping and prodding Loki in captivity. His last moments would be full of anger and despair. But why did that matter to him? Anybody else at the TVA would leap at the chance to do this. They wouldn't need to circle Reception and the Armory three times to work up the nerve to even brainstorm a time and place to do this. They wouldn't feel like someone punched them in the gut when they’d imagine Loki realizing they had been hiding a pruning stick behind their back. They wouldn't feel something crushing their chest at the idea of Loki fizzling away like a sparkler into thin air, leaving the TVA dimmer and more drab without him. Mobius imagined the moment after pruning Loki. The empty, quiet air left behind. The empty, quiet hours that would follow.

Weaving that thought into a complete picture in his mind made Mobius stop in his tracks, in the middle of the hallway. Some surprised agents sidewalk-shuffled to walk around him, giving him a look as he stood there with one hand on his hip and the other rubbing his face. 

He wasn’t any closer to figuring this out. And Loki was waiting for him in the Library. The longer he took, the more suspicious Loki would get.

He checked his TemPad, “00:04:03:21”.

“Dammit,” he cursed to himself a little loudly, worrying the agents who heard him. He had wasted an hour thinking about this. He was way off his game. 

If he was going to do this right, he needed to get back to Loki and use this time well. How , he had no idea, but he’d just have to figure it out as he went. 

“This one goes over here,” Loki muttered to himself as he organized the files on the table in chronological order. Since meeting his other self, a new energy had taken him over. He had seen her, heard her speak, and saw her powers. Another him. Free and off the timeline. He had to learn more about her. How did she get away? What was she planning? Did she want to usurp the Time Keepers, as he did? Could they work together? The thought was simultaneously tantalizing and troubling to him. Overthrowing the Time Keepers was his only chance at having a life he wanted, or rather, a life at all. As long as the TVA existed, they were going to want him dead eventually, no matter what Mobius said. 

Mobius . Loki paused his calculations for a second as he considered the man who saved his life. Or, at least, postponed his death sentence. Where did Mobius fit into all this?

After Pylea, betraying Mobius felt even less appealing. He recalled Mobius’ smile as he gave him his new daggers. The relief Loki felt when Mobius showed him the TemPad he stole back. He looked at his hand, remembering the sensation of their genuine handshake. The only one Loki remembered ever having. His initial plan to gain Mobius’ trust and use him to gain access to the Time Keepers was fading by the second. The agent didn’t deserve the same fate as the rest of TVA. A new thought entered Loki’s scheme: could he gain Mobius’ alliance? Not the tenuous or circumstantial partnership they had for this case and for Loki’s temporary survival, but a true and strong alliance that might supersede the agent’s devotion to the TVA?

If Sylvie knew how to take down the TVA, could he convince Mobius to come with him? 

He knew the analyst. He had made it clear, during their discussions, that he was a being of frustratingly strong faith and loyalty. The Time Keepers were all he knew and he followed them exclusively. Was it possible for Loki to convince him to join him in betraying them?

Leaning back in his chair, contemplating the puzzle in his head, Loki sipped his cold, stale coffee.

Loki had seduced several people into betraying their superiors before. But never anyone as smart or insightful as Mobius. Mobius was also one of the only beings in the universe who could tell when Loki was lying. Manipulating him wouldn’t work. Mobius, despite being a loyal follower of the TVA, had too strong a mind to be swayed against his will. 

“Infuriatingly perceptive,” he groaned to himself, complaining about Mobius. Growing frustrated, Loki loosened his tie a fraction and slipped off his jacket.

Maybe Mobius was a lost cause. He could steal a TemPad from any one of these dopey agents right now and hide in apocalypses until he found Sylvie. He could join her on his own. Mobius could choose whatever side he wanted. Loki could leave Mobius here to face his fate as part of the TVA. He could wage war against the TVA and, when victorious, decide whether or not to pardon Mobius. Falling into old habits, Loki entertained the idea of saving a defeated Mobius from the wreckage of a collapsed TVA and earning his loyalty then. He imagined that reality: a Mobius without his own glorious purpose. 

Loki’s face twitched. That felt wrong. But why? That daydream would’ve been everything he would’ve wanted before. Loki swallowed as he realized something: he was changing. He didn’t want Mobius to suffer, even if Mobius didn’t choose his side. 

He stood up swiftly, in a bit of a panic, surprising some of the others in the library. Loki laughed at himself darkly, pushing his hair out of his face and with his other shiny locks behind his ear. “That’s odd,” he narrated to himself. What was this? What was he turning into? Why didn’t he want to hurt this imaginary Mobius who would betray him? Something strange was happening. It was like Loki had reached for his arm or leg and found it missing: Where was his bitter jealousy? Where was his desire to control? He paced on the spot, tapping on the back of the wooden chair anxiously.

“Quiet, please,” a neighbor requested.

“Oh, quiet yourself! Don’t you all have anything better to do than hush people in this awful, putrid library!” 

Terrified by Loki’s outburst, they scurried, grabbing their books, and power-walked to the other end of the library. 

That made Loki feel a little better, but his gut was still turning. If he didn’t want to manipulate Mobius or see him suffer, what did he want? What else was there to want? 

Loki scanned the files in front of him. The key to finding the answers to all these questions was finding Sylvie again. Whatever information she had would change everything. He needed to know what she knew about the TVA. He had to know how to overthrow the keepers. He needed to figure out what he wanted. She was the spark that would set off everything else. What she knew and what she was planning would Mobius pick a side. He had to find her. She was in one of these doomsdays, preparing her next move, he knew it. 

He heard familiar steps behind him, his heart jumping.

“Mobius, finally!” He spun around and raced over to the agent. He felt the false versions of Mobius and Loki in his imaginations fall away as they were replaced by who they were in this moment. They were partners. For now, at least. The rest was for later. Before the man could speak, Loki pointed at the table and explained his progress, “While you were gone, I narrowed down our options to these doomsdays. We know she has to have a main hideout somewhere where she’s been hoarding the reset charges and TemPads she’s taken from the agents she’s ambushed. I figure she would need the space and means to use them. Energy of some kind to keep the TemPads charged and with supplies to live off of. Most importantly, she’d need square footage- she has to have a safe place to hide and store her loot in an apocalypse with a long grace period so she could keep coming back, like a base or building. Take a look at these,” Loki finished his presentation by grabbing Mobius’ arm, pulling him towards the table with the files.

Mobius shook his arm free from the prince’s slender grip, disturbed by his touch. It felt like being touched by a ghost now. “Uh, hold your horses, Loki. Just gimme a second,” his voice was tired.

Loki turned back to him and finally realized something was different, “You look pale, Mobius. What’s wrong?”

Mobius let out a tense exhale, looking down. Why did this Loki actually have to be considerate? This would be easier if he was more of an asshole. “It’s nothing. I just overdid it back on Pylea. It’s catching up with me. We’re not all so spry.”

As a professional liar, Loki sensed a lie. A big one. He took a few mental steps back, “Where were you just now?” 

Mobius felt a pinch of panic, Loki was already onto him, “Oh, I was just, uh… I was talking with Ravonna.” He couldn’t bring himself to lie, but he’d play it down.

Loki’s expression darkened and he turned to face Mobius, serious. “Renslayer. Why? What did she say?”

Mobius glanced around at the library. Too many people were around. “Uh, walk with me.” He flicked his fingers, gesturing for the variant to follow him. 

“Mobius-”

“It’s fine. It’s fine. Don’t worry,” Mobius reassured with his usual smile, doing his best to seem normal. “I just can’t stand this library anymore, you know?” Loki hesitated, pointing at his files. Mobius nodded, “We’ll look at those later, thanks for all the hard work on getting those together, it’s nice seeing you grow a new leaf for paperwork,” he joked.

After Loki put his jacket back on and straightened out, they started their jaunt through the halls. Loki pressed again, “What did Renslayer say?”

Mobius thought fast, “Oh, nothing. She found out about our trip to Pylea and I just got a bop on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.”

“She found out?” Loki sounded worried as he sped to catch up with Mobius.

“I didn’t tell her. She bugged my TemPad,” Mobius explained.

Loki put two and two together, and stopped in his tracks. 

Mobius realized he was alone after a second and turned back to the prince.

“Mobius.” Loki looked at him, his expression grave. “You’re not taking me to some backroom to delete me are you?” 

Mobius’ face fell. He realized there was no way to trick a Loki without him thinking through all the possibilities first. “No. No, of course not,” he reassured quickly. “I wouldn’t do that.” Not in some dingy backroom. “Don’t be so paranoid. Come on, let’s go.” He was starting to feel a little ill from this situation.

Loki didn’t move, he kept searching Mobius’ face.

Mobius sighed, exhausted, putting his hands on his hips. He was trapped between the countdown on his TemPad and Loki’s eyes. This was going to be worse than he thought. He exhaled again, loudly, smiling politely at some curious passersby. He turned on the spot and patted his legs casually. He broke the silence, “Actually, you know what I need. I need to get out of here for a little bit. Let’s take a break.”

Loki gave him a look, “A break? But we’re so close to-”

Mobius walked over to Loki and grabbed his shoulder in a friendly way, trying to guide him forward, “It’ll all be waiting for us when we get back.” He pushed Loki back into a walking pace. “I never thought I’d need to convince a Loki to play hooky.”

Mobius took out his TemPad.

“Where are we going?” Loki asked, apprehensive.

“Someplace where I can think,” Mobius answered as he tapped in the coordinates.

A time gate slid open in front of them. Mobius motioned Loki in.

Loki looked at the gate and then Mobius. “Someplace you can think?”

“Yeah, a little getaway.”

Loki didn’t know what was waiting for him, but he could sense something strange. He reassured himself that he was always good at making last-minute escapes. He had his daggers in his jacket pocket, as well. No matter what, he stood a better chance on the timeline than in the TVA, at least. He took a breath and walked into the time gate.

As soon as Loki was out of sight, Mobius’ smile was replaced with a scowl. This was going to be a long day. He checked the timer on his TemPad one more time, “00:03:53:06”. He patted his belt, confirming that his pruning stick was still there, and stepped through the time gate before it closed behind him.

Chapter Text

Loki squinted as he walked through the time gate into a bright, open area. He shielded his eyes with his hand, straining to adjust. “Where are we?” He looked around and saw endless pastures of tall grass in front of him. Green took up much of his vision, the land was so verdant. On either side of their gate, miles into the distance, were gently sloping hills that gradually rose into low, lush mountains covered in healthy plumes of shrubbery. They were in the middle of an enormous valley. The vast landscape was pristine and undeniably beautiful, but the most breathtaking view was that of the sky. Unobstructed by buildings or aircraft, the sweeping miles of field in front of them served up the deep blue of the sky like a platter. On this platter was a sky full of voluminous clouds that reflected the sun proudly, brightening the valley so that it almost glowed. A gentle wind rippled through the silky grass and pulled at Loki’s hair and jacket. 

After slingshotting between the dusty halls of the TVA and dreary doomsdays, Loki felt himself take a deep breath of the clean, open air, as though he had emerged from underwater.

“Yeah, soak it in. Go ahead.” Mobius walked up beside him, admiring the sky with his casual stare, as if he had seen it many times before.

“Where is this?” Loki almost expected it to be an alien world, but he knew Midgardian soil too well to doubt this was Earth. 

“981 AD. Somewhere in Central Mongolia,” Mobius answered, still appreciating the vista. “If I remember correctly, I don’t think you’ve been to this part of Earth before. At least not while you were on the timeline. B-15 picked up in the Gobi, though.” 

“Right.” He recalled the altercation in the desert at the beginning of all this when he had just escaped with the Tesseract: his crime against the Sacred Timeline. “That was very different from this place. I’ve never seen this before.” 

Despite his intent to rule it, Loki had never visited most of Midgard. His family had developed a strong hold and home nearly four thousand miles west of here. It was beautiful there as well. Loki had rarely strayed from it and when he had it was in favor of metropolitan cities to conquer or use as a stage to strike fear in the world stage. Memories of the screams and carnage returned to him. He pushed them from his mind, frowning. 

“Earth has a lot of places you don't know. This is one of my favorites. Truly peaceful.” Mobius seemed lost in thought as he spoke. “Nobody here except us and some sheep,” he pointed at a few spots of white in the distance grazing in the plentiful green, living in what must have been heaven on earth for sheep.

“Why did you bring us here?” Loki asked, without taking his eyes off the horizon. The longer he looked at the pastures, the more it reminded him of their Midgardian home. Something in him ached.

Mobius turned around and started walking away, “I come here to think sometimes. This is what I like to call a Blindspot.”

At that new knowledge, Loki looked away from the hypnotizing view to check Mobius, “A ‘Blindspot’ ?”

Mobius walked up to a large stone embedded in the ground just a few paces from them. It was the perfect height to take a comfortable seat. “It’s a rare timepoint where, if you stay still, you don’t set off any Variance Energy. No one can be around to see you, you can't interact with anything, and it doesn’t last long -maybe a few hours-, but you can use it to just to enjoy some fresh air and a new perspective.” Mobius took a seat on the large stone, easing down like his body was tired. 

Loki studied Mobius as he crossed over to him, “We’re here for a ‘new perspective’?”

Mobius huffed impatiently at Loki’s interrogation, “ Yeah . I thought we could take some time to clear our heads. It’s been a long case. Sometimes you just need a change of scenery for a spark of inspiration.” 

“I see.” Loki came to a stop beside Mobius. “And this has nothing to do with your talk with Judge Renslayer?”

Mobius rolled his shoulders with an animated slump, “Jeez, you’re like a dog with a bone. Forget about that for a second and just enjoy the moment. Siddown.” He patted the space on the stone beside him.

Loki stared at him before hesitantly taking a seat.

“See, was that so hard?”

The prince turned to the analyst, “I think we could be using our time-”

“Yak, yak, yak. I thought Lokis were hedonistic- you’re turning into a workaholic. We don’t need to count the seconds. Just enjoy this.” Mobius gestured towards the beauty in front of them. His other hand fidgeted with the outline of the TemPad in his jacket pocket, as though he were thinking about it. Something seemed different about Mobius, something that Loki couldn’t ignore. His smiles seemed false. He stared at his captor. Mobius looked away almost immediately.

The agent couldn’t bring himself to look Loki in the face. He exhaled. No matter how normal he acted, the usual feelings of certainty and purpose -his faith and devotion to the TVA- wouldn’t arrive to help him do what he needed to do. Even the view wasn’t helping him find any peace with this. 

Silence trickled between them. 

Mobius' mind was stuck on the pruning stick on his belt. He considered reaching for it. It would only take a second. He could do it now. 

His arm wouldn't move. 

This wasn't getting any easier. 

He glanced at Loki beside him again. He watched him for a second. The god's eyes searched the fields as though an answer to everything might be out there somewhere. His handsome face was tense and concentrated. Mobius imagined trying to prune him now. Loki would probably overpower him. 

A grin flinched on his lips; maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Mobius entertained the idea of Loki doing what he did best: escaping. Surviving. 

But Mobius knew the truth. If Loki got away, Ravonna would have his head instead. And Loki, on his own, would get caught eventually. They'd both die just for a little more time.

Mobius imagined winning. He imagined being quick enough and seeing this almost-god-king fizzle away beside him until nothing was left - until Mobius was sitting here alone again. Alone, just like always. 

Something in his chest squeezed painfully. Worse than before. Looking at the person you're trying to get up the nerve to execute made it much harder. He couldn't do it. Not yet at least. This was better than doing it in the TVA, but still not right.

Mobius let out a frustrated groan that caught his partner's attention. 

Running out of ideas, he surrendered for a moment, “Alright, you win.” He'd kick this can further down the road. He took out his TemPad, anxious to check the time again, but refraining. “Before we go back to the TVA,... tell me what you thought about Sylvie.” He had to keep Loki thinking about the case so that he’d stop thinking about what he was up to. And maybe, just maybe, they’d figure something out before time was up. He pushed forward, “What do we know about her?” 

Loki seemed pleased with the return to analysis while Mobius regretted it. Maybe they really were bad influences on one another. “She’s isolated. Independent. She hates the TVA.”

“Yeah. Seemed kinda personal for her.” Mobius agreed, staring at his hands as they revolved the TemPad a few times. 

Loki stood up, pacing in the soft grass as he thought. “She’s been on the run for years. Forced to live in hellish places, struggling to survive. Her vendetta seems justified.”

“Sure,” Mobius agreed half-heartedly. “And what’d you think of her, as a Loki?”

Loki assessed his memories, “She was odd.” Mobius saw Loki grade her harshly, his face screwed up slightly, “Her powers are interesting. Some kind of enchantment where she can inhabit the bodies of others and make them do as she wishes.”

“Spooky,” the analyst added lightly.

“She was a bit more brutish than I expected.” 

Mobius chuckled, “Yeah. She didn’t have the same sort of showmanship you do. Say what you will about what you did, at least you did it with style.”

“Exactly.” Loki heard a compliment where Mobius meant to tease. That only made Mobius crack another smile. He put his TemPad away, leaning into the conversation now as he thought of a new, arguably the , question, “So, what does she want?”

“My guess is she wants to destroy the TVA. Completely.”

Mobius agreed. It sounded right. “To rule it?” He offered. It was a solid guess. Lokis want to rule.

“... It’s possible.” Loki paced once more. “However, like you said, she didn’t seem fit for it. To rule.”

“Because she didn’t tell us to ‘kneel’ before her?” He poked fun.

“Because she didn’t want to be seen,” Loki wasn’t taking the bait. He was serious, “Mobius, half the fun of ruling is the persona. It’s being feared. Loved. She wasn’t interested in making herself known.”

Mobius thought for a moment, “I don’t know. That sounds like a Loki to me.” 

“What do you mean?” Loki stopped his pacing.

“One of your powers is to turn invisible. How much more obvious can it get? You want people to look at you, but you don’t. You’ve slipped in and out of situations your whole life, trying not to be noticed. Trying not to be known. Unless it’s on your terms, of course. And even then you just pump people full of lies-”

“Invisibility is very important for mischief, you know,” Loki defended. “You can only set up the best schemes with invisibility. When you’re invisible you can see more than anyone else in the room since you don’t have to play a part in what’s happening around you-”

Mobius laughed. No matter how much Loki liked his own voice, he never seemed to hear what he was actually saying, “That’s the point! All that sneaking around, not letting yourself be held accountable. Maybe sometimes you should play a part in what’s happening around yo- wait a second.” He stopped. “I just thought of something.” 

“What?” Loki crossed to him, expectant.

Mobius suddenly realized he had more available to him than he thought. He hurriedly checked his TemPad. Three and a half hours. Maybe they could afford one more field trip. He could do something good before he had to do something terrible.

“Loki,” he stood up from the rock quickly. “What was the happiest day of your life?”

“What?”

“The happiest day of your life. You had one, right?”

The god looked at him like he had lost his mind. 

“Just try and think of something,” Mobius pushed, his mind racing.

Loki thought for a second, his expression growing dark. “It was going to be the day I seized New York, before everything….” 

Mobius realized that asking a Loki when he had been happy was probably the problem itself. 

Mobius waved that response away, “You know what, I think I’ll take a stab at it.” After only a moment of thinking through his catalog knowledge of Loki’s life, Mobius tapped new coordinates into his ticking TemPad. He remembered one specific day that had been special to Loki. One of the best days to be a Loki. It was also just the beginning of Loki’s downward spiral into his destined villainy. But it was his best guess.

A time gate slid open in front of them and Mobius gestured Loki towards it. Loki gave him an unsure look. “Where are we going?”

“Come on. Humor me.”

Stepping through the gate, Loki didn’t need to ask where they were. He didn't even need to look up to know. He could smell it on the wind and feel it in the familiar sunshine on his skin. He could hear his people cheering in his native language. He could hear their music. His shoes touched down on the polished, gilded tile he had tread every day from infancy till only recently. 

“Asgard,” he said aloud so softly his voice tremored. 

He looked up and was met with the sight of his home, in all its untouched splendor. The palace spires gleamed, as they always had, in the crystalline light. The Asgardian banners swayed proudly in the wind. He spun around to take it all in. Hundreds of Asgardians rushed by him, milling towards the castle courtyard. They were shouting joyfully at each other, beckoning everyone to join the procession to the games. Loki smiled, breathing out a hitch in his throat. He never thought he'd see this again. 

His gaze followed the river of his people around him towards the stage at the base of the palace. It was the stage he had been atop dozens of times. But that was when Loki realized this wasn’t his Asgard. This was an older Asgard, the Asgard of his youth. The fashion of the Asgardians around him were outdated, a few towers and spectator stands weren’t in existence yet, and a few walls that should’ve been lost to his battles with Thor and his friends were still standing. He wasn’t home. He was in his younger self’s home.  A sick free-falling sensation pulled at his sense of reality, tugging his heart down grotesquely. He looked back just as the time gate closed itself. Where was Mobius? He scanned the crowd for him.

“Mobius!” Loki called out. He was losing his existential balance and he needed to find an anchor. He turned on the spot, searching almost frantically for his custodian in the throng of people. The crowd was so dense and distracted, and no one was minding him. They weren’t making way for him like they usually would. No one could recognize him as their prince. Was he really that changed? No one was even looking at him. “Mobius!” He shouted again, fear coloring his voice against his will.

“Loki, over here!” He heard Mobius’ voice and relief washed through him. 

He weaved his way through the crowd towards the agent's voice. When he saw Mobius’ face it felt like he was returning to a safe harbor. He pushed through the crowd until he was in front of him. He gripped Mobius’ shoulders, as if to find his balance.

“This is Asgard,” Loki reported uselessly, breathless and reeling.

“Yeah, I thought you might recognize it,” Mobius laughed. His hands clasped Loki’s forearms as the prince was leaning onto him and was dangerously close to pushing Mobius back a few steps, but he didn't mind. Mobius glanced at the loud and beautiful Asgardians shuffling and cheering around them, he had never had a chance to see Asgard or its people up close till now. The video files didn't do it justice. He looked up at the palace, which seemed to climb up into the sky forever. Mobius could hardly crane his neck back far enough to find the top of the shining castle. It took a lot to impress an agent of the TVA, but this was fitting the bill and then some.

Loki looked around, dazed. “How? I thought we couldn’t come to the Sacred Timeline," he said over the noise.

“We can’t. We can only stay if you make us invisible. I just got the idea back in Mongolia. We’re causing some Variance Energy just being seen here so, if you don’t want Minutemen to show up with reset charges, it’s time to practice your magic again.”

That got Loki’s immediate attention. “Right.” He concentrated through his shock and, with a green shimmer, both he and Mobius disappeared from sight.

“Now let’s get out of the way so we don’t get crushed underfoot and give you a second to get your bearings,” Mobius pulled at Loki’s arms, drawing him out of the crowd and near the outer wall of the Asgardian courtyard. No one would bump into them here. Mobius kept his grip on Loki’s arm with one hand, the prince looking around again, and retrieved his TemPad from his pocket with his other hand. He flipped it open to check the Variance Energy levels. There had been a small peak about ten seconds ago when one or two Asgardians saw them in TVA uniforms, but the energy was already dissipating down to optimal levels. The TVA wouldn’t have been able to notice the small blip in energy since their sensors were set to higher thresholds than the small spike they set off.

“Good. Okay, we’re in the clear," he called to the distracted Loki. "But we have to be ghosts here. Ghosts of Christmas Past and all that. If we trigger even a two-unit peak of Variance Energy, we’re done for.” He flipped the TemPad shut and checked Loki’s expression. It was like the god had seen a ghost. A ghost of an entire city. Mobius realized his mistake, “Sorry, Loki, I should’ve told you where we were headed.”

“Mobius...”

“You know, invisibility would really be a game-changer for the TVA. We could do more excursions like this without causing any Variance Energy,” Mobius was getting distracted by this exciting loophole he had discovered and the newfound freedom that came with it. With Loki’s magic, he was finally able to see the Sacred Timeline up close. It was like walking into a movie. The movie of all creation.

Loki swallowed, his throat dry, “What are we doing here, Mobius?” He asked over the rising clamor around them, ceremonial horns blaring in the distance.

“You okay?” Mobius realized Loki was shaking. He gripped onto Loki’s biceps, trying to steady him.

“Why are we here?” The god demanded now. He was looking Mobius in the eyes.

His gaze was so suddenly serious, so electric, that Mobius almost told him the truth: ‘ I wanted to give you a few good memories before it’s all over .’ Instead, he cleared his throat to make way for a lie, “This’ll be good for our research. I have an idea that we can use this to tell us more about our Variant’s motivations.”

Loki searched Mobius’ face, looking for the lie he thought he heard, but before he could focus Mobius started moving again. He was pulling Loki by the arm. 

“Hang on to me! Letting go would break the spell, right?” Mobius revisited his Loki-expertise. Before Loki could respond with a confirmation, they were on the move. Mobius was gripping him tightly, pulling him towards the sounds of horns.

“How about we go see the games everyone’s excited about,” Mobius invited him casually. 

Loki followed him, unable to think clearly as he was slowly acclimating to being almost-home again. The closer they got to the stage, the closer he wanted to be. He could hear the songs and chants and roars from the Asgardian crowd demanding more entertainment. It used to be his favorite sound in the world. He could smell a feast being prepared; his favorite dishes made with his homeworld produce. Everything was vibrant and strong and filled his senses completely after what felt like an eternity in the watered-down TVA. Memories and sensations that felt like they were from three lifetimes ago were being resurrected sweetly, and painfully.

He followed Mobius, the agent’s hand tight on his arm, allowing himself to be pulled closer to the stage. He kept his eyes on Mobius now to save himself from overwhelm. He focused on his partner's confidence and grip, almost afraid he'd get lost without it. 

He couldn’t remember what day this was supposed to be, wherever Mobius had brought them, but he wanted to see what he had forgotten.

Chapter Text

Judge Renslayer scratched her signature for the hundredth time that day. She flipped the page, expecting another line to sign on, but it was the end of the file. That didn’t seem right. She checked again. Everything was as it should be. She realized she had just lost track. That never happened. She was distracted. 

‘Ravonna ?’ She kept hearing her name in her head, in the voice of the analyst who most recently said it. She revisited the way he had said it. The way we had looked at her. She slapped the file shut, frustrated. Why was he acting like she was the one who was out of line? She was just protecting the TVA. 

She tapped her pen on her desk impatiently, replaying her conversation with him. Why did she feel like she had to justify herself to him ? He was the one jeopardizing the mission.  

Her sharp, dark eyes flicked to the clock in her room. He had a little over three hours left. 

She hoped he had already gotten it over with. The sooner he dealt with his variant, the better. The sooner he deleted that Loki, the more reassured she’d feel about Mobius’ devotion to the cause.

She dropped her pen and took out her TemPad. She tapped through the options in its little terminal until she was brought to the interface that allowed her to check on TemPads she was tracking. Despite her best hopes, she saw what she’d been afraid of. 

“What do you think you’re doing, Mobius?” She whispered to herself, troubled. 

He went to 10th century Mongolia an hour ago and then… Asgard. She stared at her TemPad and clenched her jaw. What was going through his head? Why would he take a Loki onto the Sacred Timeline? Why would he take him to his own life on the Timeline? This could cause a cataclysmic nexus or maybe even a paradox. Was he betraying her? Had Loki stolen the TemPad?

Apprehension gripped her at the thought. Her fingers flinched as she considered calling the hunters. 

‘Just let me do it my way, okay? Let me set it up how I need to.’ She remembered his request.

Maybe this was part of his alarmingly drawn out execution? Fighting her instincts, she resolved herself to give him until time was up but not a minute longer. She snapped her TemPad shut, a pit growing in her stomach. She grabbed the next file and readied her pen. Mobius wouldn’t betray her. Not over a Loki. He’d prune the variant and, after some time, everything would be back to how it should be.

-

“Come on, these have to be the best seats in the house.” Mobius pulled Loki around the edges of the crowd, ducking under a golden chain railing, and up to the very front of the courtyard just beneath the stage. They had the small area to themselves besides two unsuspecting guards minding the crowd’s attempts to cross the chains. They were closer to the tournament than anyone else now.

Loki looked around at the thousands of people gathered. A thousand were standing in the arena around the stage, but the large majority of spectators were seated in stands that enveloped the courtyard, creating the effect of a coliseum. It was simultaneously staggering to witness, again, but altogether smaller than he recalled. Despite the immense crowd and noise, he seemed to remember there being more. More people. More everything. There hadn’t been. He had just seen more since these days. He had since discovered how large and alien the universe and its many variations truly were. 

“Just like you remember?” Mobius asked up at him, smiling.

Interrupting any thought of a response, the voice of the herald on stage rang over the entire crowd, “Asgard’s finest and strongest are soon to take the stage!” 

Cheers erupted in a deafening roar. Horns bellowed, meeting the crowd’s ferocity. A strange involuntary patriotism swelled in Loki’s chest at the sound of his people. 

The voices only quieted when the herald spoke again, “Let us rejoice! Rejoice in the plenty of the season and the beauty and strength of our young Asgardians!” 

Another wave of cheering agreed with the herald. He was draped in white linen and was stamping a wooden staff on the stage, bidding for the attention of all of Asgard. Loki began to remember him a little. He had been one of the strongest warriors in the kingdom. He had since perished in a skirmish with Frost Giants, Loki recalled. Seeing him alive was strange, but Loki was quickly acclimating. 

The herald continued, “Here to preside over today’s acts of heroism and strength is our king: Allfather Odin!” He raised his hand towards the throne at the other end of the courtyard.

“My people!” The voice of the Allfather boomed, louder than the herald -loud enough to send vibrations through everyone’s chest-, from the royal balcony.

Father , Loki almost said aloud as his eyes found the king. 

Mobius felt Loki’s grip on his arm tighten. He saw the prince’s eyes on Odin. He watched emotions rise and fall on the prince’s profile. 

Fear, anger, and tenderness filled Loki’s heart in a war that had always waged in him in his father’s presence. Now that he had seen the TVA video file of his father’s upcoming end, the tenderness had begun to win. His throat tightened as his father’s voice cascaded through the crowd again, “It brings me great joy to see you all here, gathered for this particular tourney.” 

The people stared up at him, love and awe in their eyes and hearts. 

“As you know, my sons -of whom I am most proud-,” Loki’s breath hitched, “have risen in the ranks of our greatest warriors and will be sparring in today’s games for the first time.”

The crowd roared louder, horns meeting their voices. 

His first games, Loki realized. He flinched. He was starting to remember. His first public fight against Thor. Loki could almost feel the bruises and sweat he had worn to prepare for these games. He had secretly trained, in hidden training rooms he had commissioned in the palace, twice as much as Thor had. While the oaf spent nights drinking, feasting, and bragging about how easy it had been to qualify for the games, Loki had trained so relentlessly he had nearly broken bones just to skim by and into the tournament roster. This was centuries ago, but the stakes were coming alive in his mind again: a chance to show Asgard he was as strong -no, stronger - than their favorite prince. 

The Asgardian people used what was available to them to create more noise; their feet, hands, and tankards. Mobius, with his tired and delicately tuned senses -which were far more fragile than an Asgardian’s-, could barely withstand the noise. He winced with each wave of noise as the herald goaded the voices higher. He looked around at the faces in the crowd - each of them smiling, joyous, and a little drunk already. They were all more beautiful than the average human, taller and stronger as well. If he hadn’t been so close to the stage he probably never would’ve been able to see what was going to happen. He would’ve had a view of Asgardian shoulders the whole show. 

Seeing them and this place in real time was more mind-blowing than he had expected. He had watched this day and many like it so many times he thought he knew what he was getting into, but being in the physical space was different. Seeing the royal family in person, even if they were nearly a half-mile away, was more daunting than he thought it would be. Even he felt a strange urge to bow to them or something. 

But, of course, he had been among Asgardian royalty this whole time. He kept forgetting that. He glanced at Loki, who was still transfixed on the royal balcony. This prince beside him, no longer wanted on any balconies or stages, was still as beautiful as his people, but he was grayer and smaller than his homeworld now. His wings had been clipped. Guilt singed at the edges of Mobius’ mind.

Loki, unaware of his partner’s appraisal, became unaware of almost everything else around him when he saw the queen. Walking up the steps behind his father, escorted by her maidens, was his mother. A deep sting of grief burned into his chest as he watched her smile at her people. Her death would be his fault, he remembered. A dark pain welled in him. He envied his timeline-self for the years of memories and conversations he would still have with her. With his father. With his people. 

All at once, the prince half-wished he would have thought twice before betraying these people. As few as they were, they were home. For as strained his relationships with his adopted family were, they were family. And his home and family, as he saw in a dingy doomsday file named ‘Ragnarok’, were far more fragile than he had known.

“But today is not about the royal family,” Odin continued. “Today, we celebrate a new generation of strong and courageous Asgardians that will carry our legacy forward with a bright and unyielding light.” The king took his seat on his grand, golden throne, signaling the end of his speech.

Despite the applause around him, a new sorrow crept into Loki, something close to regret. He had snuffed out his Asgardian light long ago in favor of an ambitious fire. A fire that consumed everything. He had forsaken everyone and, now, he had paid for it. He had been beaten and chased, here, to become a mere specter at the edge of time, outside of the universe. Everyone he had ever cared for were but ghosts to him now. In his betrayal, he had not only lost his home, but he had lost the home of his home. 

Loki faltered, stepping back. His mind struggled to keep up with his existential unraveling. “Mobius. I shouldn’t be here,” he gripped Mobius’ jacket behind him, his head rushing.

“Hey, hey, you’re alright.” Mobius’ hand landed on his back.

“No, I don’t belong here. I’ve seen too much. I’ve done too much-”

“Loki.” Mobius turned Loki to face him. “Loki, listen to me.” He grabbed his shoulders, looking up at him. “None of that matters right now. You’re different and you’re here now.” The man’s hands squeezed reassuringly, “You deserve to be here. No matter what you’ve done or seen, you’re Loki , and this is Asgard . This was your home. All this,” he gestured around them, “this was your life, too. No one can take that away.” 

He stared at Mobius, his eyes on his own, as he made sense of what he was saying. Something woke up in the Asgardian prince. Something new. It was strong and warm. The dread and terror he felt a moment prior quelled as if it had been a fire doused by the man’s words. He had never been gifted this feeling before, whatever it was. It was a strange sense of calm. It almost felt like pride, but not quite as sharp. It was foreign to him, but he realized he had been waiting centuries -maybe eons- for something like it. Loki’s fingers closed around Mobius’ wrist and stayed there. A confused relief settled in him.

Mobius continued, “Just ignore all that noise in your head for a second and appreciate a good memory.” 

Mobius considered that maybe bringing him here had been a bad move. He almost reached for his TemPad, but the agent remembered what was waiting for them after this. He couldn’t go back now. This was Loki’s last chance at closure. This was Mobius’ last chance, too. He needed a clear conscience. 

“Say the word and we’ll leave, but this might be your only chance to see any of this again. Don’t you want a little more time?”

Loki found a reserve of calm and ease that he hadn’t known was there. He held onto Mobius. He may have been smaller in stature than him, but Loki felt the man’s inner stability. Mobius, more than most he’d known, was concrete and steady. He had a clarity and constancy that was missing in Loki. He was borrowing some of it now.

“You’re right. I’ll stay.”

“Good.” Mobius felt he had dodged a bullet. Or at least prolonged its arrival. “‘Cause I’m dying to see these games in person. It feels like one of those monster truck rallies, just cooler.” He patted Loki’s arm with encouragement. “You’re gonna be okay.”

“In the south corner, let us welcome Audun, the Courageous!” The herald began introductions. A handsome Asgardian with golden robes and nearly-golden skin jogged onto the stage. He was bare-chested and captivatingly attractive, even more than the average Asgardian. He had a strong and sure smile that complemented his stone-carved jaw. He greeted the crowd with a battlecry, to which they responded in like. 

“In the north, Gyda, the Just!” 

A muscular and refined woman took to the stage. She wore a helmet that covered her face. She nodded stiffly to the crowd, raising her spear to them. They paid her a respectful and reverent applause that suited her stoic nature. 

“And, in the east, our prince: Loki! Master of Illusion!”

Loki’s stomach jumped as he saw himself. The young Loki, who looked nearly indistinguishable in stature and maturity from his current self, appeared instantly behind the herald, giving him and the audience a shock. He remembered he had wanted to make a show of his stealthy invisibility for the crowd. It won the audience over with a surprised gasp followed by laughter and hollering. They cheered for young Loki as he raised his arms up, savoring their noise with a devilish smile on his face.

“Go Loki!” Loki was surprised to hear Mobius yell from his side. The agent was clapping for his younger self. He had rested his elbow on Loki’s arm, careful not to break the invisibility spell by losing contact with him. Mobius winked at Loki, Loki smiled at him. 

Mobius watched as the younger Loki swayed on stage, twirling his daggers in his hands. The timeline-prince was dressed in lightweight emerald robes made of materials that seemed to glow. His hair was pulled back with fine Asgardian oils that made his raven hair shine in the sun. A small golden horned circlet hugged his head, its shine enhancing his blue eyes. 

It was different seeing timeline-Loki in person. His serpentine stride was more fluid and free. There was something inherently elegant about each of his movements that didn’t translate into the video files. The Loki by his side was elegant, but not quite this free or cocksure anymore. Every step and sway was his own, unshackled by time collars or cuffs. The robes complimented him and his movements perfectly. This was a free and wild Loki, full of fire and bravado. Mobius could see it clearer than ever now - he could see why Loki was considered one of the most desired Asgardians. He could see why people wanted to trust that alligator smile. Loki really was strangely compelling. Wait. Mobius dropped that abnormal thought quickly, pulling his eyes away from the preening Loki on stage. 

Loki watched his younger self turn slowly on the spot, prolonging his applause as far as possible. Seeing himself, a true duplicate of himself and not a simple illusion, was far more strange than he had anticipated. He was him . Just a little less than he was now. And a little more.

“Finally!... In the west!...” the herald ramped up, teasing the crowd, “Our firstborn prince! Thor ! Master of Thunder!”

Swirling clouds quickly converged over them, blocking the sun momentarily. Thunder boomed overhead and lightning crackled as it touched down onto the stage. Something followed the lightning and landed on the platform with an impressive blast that forced the crowd to shield their eyes. Both Lokis refused to look away. When the audience looked again, Thor Odinson lifted his head and stood to greet the crowd, cocky. They repaid the bombastic entrance with the loudest cheers they had created that day so far. 

Seeing Thor’s face inspired a mixture of bitterness and fondness in Loki that had only grown more confusing since he watched their reconciliation on the TVA video files. Despite all that, he couldn’t forget New York. His Thor was probably still celebrating Loki’s defeat somewhere on the timeline. His Thor had a home as a victor and savior with the rest of reality while Loki was here, this .

“Whatta show-off,” Mobius commented up to Loki’s ear, bumping his shoulder against Loki’s bicep. Loki noticed he wasn’t clapping for Thor. 

The comment earned its desired effect, sneaking a small smirk from Loki before he looked away again. 

Mobius watched him carefully, uneasy. Was it really alright to bring him here? This had turned into a landmine field of emotional triggers for the displaced god. It was probably testing everything in Loki’s nature to stand here and think whatever he was thinking while staying calm. Mobius watched Loki’s face, uninterested in Thor’s theatrics, for signs of distress or brewing betrayal.

That was when they heard timeline-Loki’s voice. By the grace of being so close to the stage, they could hear the private exchange clearly, “You might want to allow them to rest their voices, brother. It’s not as though you’ve won the match.”

Thor chuckled smugly, “But I will win, little brother. We both know that.”

Young Loki bristled, “I advise that you don’t underestimate me.”

“... I estimate you fine, brother.” 

Mobius cracked up. “A real smooth talker, that Thor.” 

Thor continued, “Victory will be mine and the festival will be in my honor, but don’t worry, I shall share some of the winnings with you.”

Young Loki shot him a glare. 

“Warriors! To your corners!” The herald directed. All four opponents found their respective corner of the diamond-shaped stage. “The rules!: Defeat your opponents by forcing them from the stage or by forcing them to yield! Killing blows are prohibited!” The crowd stomped in unison, getting ready for the fighting to start. “All weapons and abilities are allowed.” Audun and Gyda stared at one another, at opposite ends. “The victor shall be Lord, or Lady, of the Festival!” Thor and Loki looked at each other. “Good fortune to all of you,” the herald bid them good wishes quietly as he walked out of the center of the platform and towards the sidelines. The stomping in the audience grew louder and faster. 

“Ready!” 

All four combatants crouched. Audun drew his sword, Gyda readied her spear, Thor lifted Mjolnir, and Loki’s daggers shimmered back into his hands. 

The herald brought down his hand swiftly and the horns blared louder than ever, commencing the match with a deafening bellow.

Just like that all four opponents sprung from their corners and into combat. Gyda ran towards Audun, spear extended towards him. Audun’s sword rose high above his head. Thor drew back Mjolnir, aiming for Loki. In the instant the pairings met in the middle, Audun’s sword swung down on the hilt of Mjolnir, disabling Thor’s swing. Gyda, momentarily confused by Audun ducking her challenge, found herself needing to use the staff of her spear as a shield against Loki’s daggers. He smiled down at her as the end of his blades scratched sparks off her helmet. He pushed forward, testing her strength until her arms tremored. With a grunt, she mustered the power to steer the staff of her spear to her right, his daggers sliding away from her face with it. Loki and Gyda leapt a pace back in defensive stances, calculating their next move against the other. 

Thor shouted as he deflected swing after swing of Audun’s broadsword. On the last slash, Thor swung Mjolnir against the flat face of his opponent’s blade which made it wobble awkwardly, throwing Audun off balance long enough for Thor to make a running start towards Loki. 

Before Thor could get far, Audun grabbed Thor’s shoulder and pulled him off his course and back into their own match. Loki was left to focus on Gyda. She stomped forward, jabbing her spear in his direction. He slid to the side, dodging it. She jabbed at him again, he ducked to the right, narrowly -yet confidently- escaping it again. She made a third attempt with the same result. It was quickly becoming a dance. The more frantic she became the wider Loki smiled. The audience hollered his name with delight as he continued to step and stretch, coolly, just out of her reach. Then, she swung for him with such ferocity that when he stepped aside, he was able to grab the hilt of the spear and pull her off her balance. As she stumbled, Loki spun and bowed to the crowd, showing he was more interested in entertaining the populace than a quick and easy win.

Mobius laughed. Classic Loki. Always making the show about him. Mobius clapped along with the Asgardians as he watched young Loki continue to duck and maneuver around Gyda in a circle. Thor and Audun, both burly and brutish, stomped around in the back. Loki really was different. His graceful limbs and movements were nothing like Thor’s. The way his tall and slender posture arced and twisted as he dodged Gyda’s spear was mesmerizing. Instead of the simple show of strength that the others were giving Asgard, Loki was focused on fighting beautifully. He was full of life and freedom. Mobius wondered what that felt like.

He glanced over to his own Loki. It struck him, again, that the same person was right here- in a TVA uniform. It had been too easy to forget Loki’s true nature. 

Mobius, clapping but distracted, recognized the same long and elegant lines in this Loki’s posture, the same proud profile, and the same broad shoulders. The TVA uniform, despite its utilitarian seams, still hung from Loki’s frame more gracefully than they did on anyone else who had ever worn them. But seeing young Loki in those emerald robes, it reminded Mobius what Loki was made for. At the TVA, this Loki spent his time hunched over files, sleeping on library desks, and quietly thumbing through manila folders. It was a shame, Mobius considered. A Loki shouldn’t be forced to be so small. Mobius was made for files and analysis, but Loki was made for a stage and a crowd. A throne. He was gregarious, untamed, and unrestrained. Chaos incarnate - in all its charm and danger.

He imagined, again, pruning the Loki whose shoulder he was leaning against. He imagined those elegant lines of his posture unraveling into nothing, those broad showman’s shoulders fizzling away, and that refined and royal profile contorted in pain until it, too, was gone. He imagined all that charming chaos neatly deleting out of existence to make way for more of Mobius’ ‘balance and harmony’. A small ache twisted in his chest. 

What was this feeling? Something new. ‘New’ meant different, which meant change. Change didn’t belong to a TVA agent. Whatever that feeling was, it was probably bad.

Mobius realized he had been staring at Loki this whole time and turned back to the fight, forcing himself to forget those thoughts. 

After landing a kick on Loki’s leg, Gyda jabbed at him again. He caught the blade of her spear between his daggers. She tried to pull it back, but he pushed the spear backwards so forcefully that the blunt end hit her sternum, winding her. She coughed a few times, trying to breathe in. Loki spun his daggers in his hands with a twirl and approached her slowly. The crowd started shouting for Loki to make his move. He smiled up at them as they chanted, “ Loki , Loki , Loki ,...” 

When he had his fill of listening to his name, Loki approached her. She pulled back, catching her breath, and spun her spear in fast circles to force him away. Loki calculated her spins and lunged at opportune moments, trying to get her arms. He feigned attacks to the right and left, and slipped under the radius of her spear just in time. Moving faster than any human could, the dagger in his left hand disappeared as his hand closed around the wrist of the hand holding her spear, ceasing her onslaught. He pulled her close to him and tucked his foot behind her heel. She fell to her back, but her fall was broken by the strength in which he held up her arm. He kneeled over her, bending her wrist back until her spear clattered to the floor. He held his right dagger under her chin.

Mobius cleared his throat, looking away from the intensity of what was on the stage. Even when defeating someone - or, perhaps, especially when defeating someone-, there was something weirdly sensual about Loki’s expression. 

“I yield!” Gyda grunted, hitting the stage with her free fist. 

The audience applauded as Loki accepted her yield and released her. She scrambled to her feet and bowed at him. He didn’t repay the favor; he wasn’t one for sportsmanship yet. She stomped off the side of the stage towards the herald.

“Gyda has yielded! Three remain!” He announced. 

Young Loki flicked his head back with a jerk to move the hair from his vision and focused on Audun and Thor.

“Good for you, brother!” Thor yelled as Audun ran at him. Thor grabbed Audun’s collar and spun him away, “Gyda was a mighty foe.” Thor released Audun, who lost balance and fell, and started walking towards Loki.

“You’re slow to remove your opponent, Thor.” Loki crossed to Thor. “Too evenly matched?”

“He is strong,” Thor nodded, shaking his grip on Mjolnir as if his hand was tired. “But I am stronger.” 

“Let’s make this quick,” Loki ordered.

“Very well!” As Thor finished talking he drew his hand back and swiftly threw Mjolnir at Loki. 

Loki dodged just in time as the hammer flew by his head. Loki rolled out of the way as Mjolnir made the roundtrip back. He caught it and tried again, throwing it at Loki as he ran. Loki dodged again, barely. 

Thor leaned to his right to catch the hammer and Loki took an opportunity to target Thor’s unprotected left flank. He dashed to his brother’s side, dagger ready. The crowd gasped as Loki closed the distance between them swiftly, entering a dangerous proximity. Thor, faster than usual, caught Mjolnir and brought the brunt of it down towards Loki’s jaw. Despite Loki’s attempt to dodge, the hammer grazed his chin and hurled him back several feet. 

Mobius heard Loki’s breath hitch as young Loki flew a distance and fell onto the stage with none of the grace he typically had. The agent chuckled at how invested this Loki was in the fight, but he’d be lying if he said his own heart wasn’t beating fast right now. 

“Fighting is not your strength, Loki.” Thor walked over to his Loki at a casual pace. 

“ Thor , Thor , Thor , Thor !” The crowd chanted louder than they had chanted Loki’s name.

Loki turned over, planting his palms on the ground behind him and glared at Thor as he approached him.

“Yield, Loki.”

“Never,” he spat.

“Then I’m sorry to have to do this.” Thor lifted his hammer.

“Before you do, just let me say one thing,” Loki made him pause. “Winning…” Loki looked over Thor’s shoulder for a moment and smiled, “... has very little to do with ‘strength’, brother .”

Thor disregarded the comment and brought down Mjlonir for one last strike against Loki to send him flying off the stage. As Mjolnir left his hand, something else became its target. Audun’s golden robes came into view in a flash. The hammer that was meant for Loki instead made impact with Audun who had jumped from Thor’s side and in between the brothers in a seemingly miscalculated attempt at a surprise attack on the god of thunder. Audun was catapulted by the flying hammer a dozen feet. Mjolnir stopped, but Audun didn’t. He was thrown from the stage.

Mobius flinched as he suddenly realized why the audience wasn’t allowed to stand here, at the base of the stage. Audun was going to fall onto them and while having a 6’6” Asgardian warrior land on you was bad enough, one that had the inertial energy from Thor’s Mjolnir was moving fast enough to cause a man like Mobius serious injury. Mobius had barely enough time to think about moving out of the way before he was being pulled out of the way. A pair of strong, slender hands pulled him briskly to the side as Audun fell to the ground in front them, groaning. Mobius blinked, catching up, and realized Loki had saved him from the impact. 

The people around them leaned against the railing, pushing in, trying to get closer to Audun.  

Loki positioned himself between the agent and the frenzied crowd. Loki’s chest leaned against Mobius, his hands nearly pinning him against the wall beside them. Loki scanned the crowd for people who might dash over the railing and potentially jeopardize their covert position. 

“Loki, uh,...” Mobius spoke up, trying to ask for space. Being so close felt… weird. He leaned away as much as he could.

Loki couldn’t hear Mobius’ call. He, along with everyone, was immediately distracted by what was happening on stage when Thor yelled in frustration at missing his target.

“Audun is disqualified! Two remain!”

Mjolnir returned to Thor and he steadied another swing towards the Loki at his feet. Just as he released the energy of his throw, the young Loki disintegrated with a green shimmer. The crowd murmured and then exclaimed as another Loki appeared behind Thor instantly. Loki dealt a single powerful kick to Thor’s back, sending him falling forward and missing Mjolnir on its return trip to him. Loki drove his knees down on Thor’s back with as much power as he was capable of, kneeling on him as he went down, and brought both his daggers down and under Thor’s chin. He pulled the daggers upwards a fraction to trap Thor’s neck in a prone position. His arms were now stuck at his sides by the unnatural and painful posture. Despite kicking his feet to try and stand up, Thor couldn’t move his arms or shoulders without cutting his neck on Loki’s knives.

“5, 4, 3,...” the herald started counting down and the audience joined. Mobius felt his Loki step away from him, relieving the pressure and warmth that had made Mobius so uncomfortable. Loki stared at the stage, entranced. 

“... 2, … 1…. We have our victor!”

The crowd shouted and cheered, throwing flowers and tokens towards the stage. They began chanting Loki’s name again, louder than before. Thor shouted angrily, but uselessly, under Loki’s knees. Loki’s daggers disappeared and he stood up, stepping over Thor’s back and towards the edge of the stage, breathing hard and smiling proudly. He raised his arms to receive the adulation.

This was it. This was why they came here. One of the best days to be a Loki. Beating Thor at his own game and earning the awe and praise of the people of Asgard. 

The herald approached Loki and grabbed his wrist, raising his hand up high, “Our victor and Lord of the Festival is Loki Odinson!” Attending maidens brought a verdant wreath and placed it atop Loki’s head. 

Mobius put his fingers between his lips and whistled for young Loki. He clapped as loud as he could. He looked at the Loki by his side, their shoulders touching, and saw Loki’s eyes were welling. He looked between himself, on the stage, and his people. Mobius could see him relive the pride and joy of the moment. He seemed to be feeling it even more than young Loki was. Loki looked around, laughing with joy, before he looked down at Mobius. The look of happiness and elation he gave the agent did something Mobius didn’t expect: it hurt. 

He thought playing St. Peter and bringing Loki to a good time and place before dying would make him feel less guilty about what he had to do. Instead, like all his other ideas, it only made him feel worse. He watched Loki enjoy the moment. Loki’s hand gripped Mobius’ shoulder excitedly as he peered over the crowd, soaking it all in. 

Was he really going to prune him in just a few short hours? Mobius stopped clapping. 

“Let us proceed to the feast that will be held in our victor’s honor!” The herald beckoned people towards the east gate into the palace where the feast was prepared in several of the grandest halls in the castle. The feast would be so large it would spill out into the streets and courtyards and nearly everyone would be drunk within the hour. 

“Mobius, did you see that?” Loki grabbed Mobius’ arm, still excited.

“Yeah. Yeah, I did,” Mobius tried to muster more energy, but his mind was stuck on his mission. “Truly impressive, Loki.”

Loki exhaled, letting go of tension, “Living it was one thing, but this was an entirely different experience!”

Mobius nodded as he checked his TemPad, fighting against Loki’s grip a little to keep his hands steady. ‘00:02:27:56’.

Loki noticed Mobius’ face fall further into a frown. “Something wrong?” 

“No. No.” Mobius flipped the TemPad shut. He pointed towards the castle, “Let’s go to this feast.”

Loki smiled widely at him and he faked a smile back.

Chapter Text

“ Loki , Loki , Loki , Loki !” The crowd’s cheering transformed into grand echoes as they all entered the castle. The high, arched hallways amplified Loki’s name and sent it bouncing off of the walls down into the furthest reaches of the palace.

Mobius and Loki were careful to stay on the outside of the crowd as they filed, invisibly, into the castle alongside the excited Asgardians. They had lost sight of timeline-Loki for the moment. Mobius craned his neck to look around them for the victor’s entourage.

“Mobius,” Loki called his name with a warning tone. 

“What?” He felt Loki’s hands pull him by his shoulders and out of the way of a drunken pair of men pushing rudely through the crowd. They would've bumped right into the analyst and, if not injured him, at least raised suspicion of their phantom presence.

“Best stay close,” Loki advised in a quiet tone, keeping Mobius in front of him. 

“Uh, thanks.” Mobius shrugged one of Loki’s hands off his shoulder. One hand was enough to keep the spell active. “Where are we going?” Mobius asked over his shoulder. He remembered the fight, but he had trouble remembering which hall young Loki would be honored in.

Loki watched his people around him, “The Great Hall, where they’ll shower me as their victor in endless food, mead, and beautiful men and women.”

“That’s right,” Mobius cleared his throat. “Asgardians sure know how to party.”

“Yes, besides being some of the fiercest warriors in the galaxy, we were also known for our revelries.”

Mobius hid something in his smirk, “And you had a reputation as a revel er , if I remember. An Asgardian party god that could put Earth frat boys to shame.”

Without understanding the full meaning of that, Loki agreed. “I knew how to enjoy myself.” He smiled, remembering one too many drunken mistakes. 

Mobius knew exactly what Loki got up to at his parties. He decided he wanted to change the subject, “So, did I get it right? Best day of your life?”

They continued walking slowly through the halls of the palace, leaving the sunlight and the east gate behind them. 

“I’m quite impressed. You were very nearly correct.”

Mobius’ expression twitched and he tried to look over his shoulder, but Loki was directly behind him and out of sight. “What do you mean ‘nearly’?”

“This was an exceptional day and I’m grateful to be reliving it, however-”

“What are you talking about? There’s a day better than this? You loved that back there! Talk about every dog having his day- you had the whole kingdom shouting your name. Listen to them,” he gestured at the crowd around them still chanting their victor’s name, “they love you! They’re going to spend the next ten days celebrating you.” Mobius huffed, dropping his arms. “I think you’re lying. I think you just don’t like letting me win,” he accused.

“I drank most of my memory of this day away, and by the time it came to an end, I had realized it had all been fake.” 

“Fake?”

“They were only glad for a festival.” He paused as another rowdy group rushed by them. “They all still loved Thor more than me. They would’ve cheered the same for any victor.”

Mobius shook his head with a bothered smirk, “You know, you have such little faith in people.” 

Loki leaned down, close to Mobius’ ear, “Well, I’ve found that it’s always been mutual.”

Mobius jerked his head away from Loki’s voice in his ear. “Alright, yeah,” he swatted Loki back and returned to his analytical roots, “Never enough, right? Always wanting ‘more’. Being victor was all you wanted one day, but as soon as you got it, no- 'More', 'more', 'more'.” He squinted at the crowd, lost in his analysis.

Loki was quiet. The people around them laughed and discussed the food they were looking forward to eating. The smell of the feast was getting stronger and more appetizing with each step.

Mobius wondered whether what he said hit harder than he wanted. He moved on with a defeated flap of his arms, “So when were you happier than this ?” 

“Everyone needs a secret or two.”

“You don’t have secrets, Loki. We’ve seen everything at the TVA, remember?”

“You know me well, Mobius. Better than anyone, probably." At that thought, something new and friendly swelled in Loki’s chest as he looked down at Mobius. "But you don’t know everything," he teased. 

“Uh-huh, sure,” Mobius brushed that off, kind of irritated.

At that, a doorway, pouring with golden torchlight, came into view on their left. “Just in here,” Loki guided. 

Mobius took the lead towards the door, but found himself on the short leash of Loki’s grip. Loki pulled him back, “Careful, even when they can see you these crowds can crack a rib.” Mobius stayed still as Loki’s hand told him to, impatient. They watched the people enter the hall, waiting for a break in the crowd to slip in. Mobius shuffled as he waited. Loki’s touch was bothering him; it felt like an iron on his shoulder.

“Go,” Loki pushed them forward when he saw an opportunity. They made it through the doorway, but now they met the problem of maintaining the crowd’s pace. Mobius filed through as quickly as he could, relying on Loki’s guidance.

Walking into his old Great Hall, something in Loki’s heart lightened. “Follow me,” Loki pulled Mobius into the large dining hall. They dodged the people around them. Mobius tried to keep up, but Loki’s legs were longer and quicker than his, making him trip every other step. 

He looked around the room, it was taller and more majestic than any cathedral Mobius had seen on Earth. It was like it was designed to make you feel small and insignificant compared to the Asgardian royalty who inhabited these halls. Asgardian flutes and strings started jovial melodies, louder than the people rallying for their meal, and the notes bounced off the tall, golden walls so many times it felt like there was a whole orchestra in the room.

They passed the impossibly long dining table, carved from a single, ancient tree that had been impressively tall and wide. Gold filigree was inlaid on the tabletop in Asgardian designs that were mimicked on the chairs that lined either side of the table. Glistening food was bursting off of each plate and platter on the table, attracting hungry citizens to gather around. Mobius had never seen so much food in one spot before in person. It didn’t look or smell anything like what they served up at the TVA cafeterias. In the center of the table was what must’ve been a 20-foot fountain that rushed with golden, foamy mead which permeated with air with a honey-sweet alcohol mist. The only light in the hall were the flames from torches and braziers which animated the food and drink with shadows that danced to the music.

People started claiming chairs in groups, pushing others with laughs and pats on the back. They filled plates with entire roasted birds, freshly baked bread, dewy grapes, and red-jammed pastries.

“Here. No one comes over here,” Loki explained. He found them a red-cushioned chaise lounge between two torches on the far southern wall of the hall. It was too far from the table to be inviting to anyone else but them, but close enough that they still had a good vantage point of the action.

Mobius took a seat as Loki told him to, unbuttoning his jacket as he did. He felt a bit underdressed for a festival. He looked around again. On either side of the long table were thrones. On the east end of the room was the tallest throne, golden and horned. Beside it were three smaller seats. It must’ve been for the royal family. On the west side of the room was a single throne surrounded by a collection of lounges and large crimson cushions on the floor. Wreaths like the one that had been placed on young Loki’s head were hanging from the back of the throne. It was the victor’s throne, Mobius remembered.

Mobius people-watched as the crowd gathered their own personal mountains of food on their plates. Some were already starting to dance. The crowd just kept pouring into the hall. There was plenty of room for hundreds more. The air was full of music, shouting, laughter, mouth-watering aromas, and fun - nothing like the TVA. The closest thing to a party he’d been to was sharing drinks with a few of the other analysts in a privately reserved eatery after pruning a troublesome variant. It had been thirty minutes of trading mission stories and knock-knock jokes. “Now I see why people got lost in these festivals for days. It really is something else.”

Loki was mesmerized by the world he left behind, his smile turning a little sad. “Yes. It is.” 

The herald appeared in the crowd with his staff, stomping it on the ground several times to cease the chatter. “Lord and King Odin! Queen Frigga! And Prince Thor!” 

The royal family entered the room as they were announced. Odin was as much a king as ever, his posture and expression were heavy with authority and wisdom. Frigga greeted her people gracefully as she glided to her throne. Thor strode in, burly and slumped, with a rotten look on his face. Mobius chuckled at how the god of thunder looked like a kid ready to throw a tantrum. This Thor hadn’t grown out of his arrogance and pride yet. It must’ve stung to lose to Loki in his own wheelhouse.

“And our victor ! Prince Loki Odinson!” 

Cheers sprang up throughout the room. Horns announced young Loki’s entrance as he sauntered into the room with his trademark confidence. People held up their drinks in his direction before glugging down as much as they could in one breath.

Everyone, including the royal family, clapped for him. However, Thor stopped early, electing to talk with his friends as they came over to him instead. Loki glanced at Sif and the others, uncomfortably recalling all the misadventures he had gotten up to around his older brother’s friends. Those days seemed so childish and far away now. 

Mobius joined the clapping, shaking his head with a smile on his face as he watched young Loki preen and wave to his fans, “You really knew how to work a crowd.”

Loki nodded quietly, something embarrassed in his expression as he watched his younger self spin for his audience. And then, just before it happened, he remembered something that pulled at his heart. Both him and his younger self frowned at the same moment when they saw the same thing: his father’s expression. Odin was staring at the young Loki with only coldness and suspicion in his eyes. The king clapped quietly and slowly, and only out of ceremony.

Loki watched as his younger self’s expression withered into a bitter scowl before the victor pursed his lips and grabbed one of the full tankards someone was pushing towards him. “A toast!” he yelled. Everyone quieted for him and he ascended a few steps towards his throne so that he could be seen by all.

“Oh, here we go,” Mobius wisecracked, leaning forward.

“To my fellow competitors!” Young Loki turned to them. “Gyda, Audun,... and Thor.” He gestured to each of them with false tenderness. Gyda was slouched over a plate of food at the table already, sore. Audun was among the posse beside Loki, grinning up at him. Thor was obviously pretending to be too busy laughing at something Volstagg said. “You all fought valiantly,” Loki congratulated in a condescending tone. “... Better luck next year.” The audience laughed at the outrageous rudeness. 

Young Loki raised his tankard towards his parents, “And congratulations to my mother, the queen, and to my father,...” Frigga gave him a warning smile and Odin looked away. Young Loki’s face twitched at that before he forced on another alligator smile, “... For having raised a victor!” More nervous laughter rippled through the crowd. Young Loki drank deeply and the others joined. 

Mobius chuckled and leaned to the ex-god by his side, “You’re a sore loser, Loki, but you’re also a sore winner.” 

Young Loki lifted his tankard upright as he finished it all in one go and watched his father simply put his cup down without taking so much as a sip. 

The older and wiser Loki remembered the anger he had felt at that. He also remembered why his father did that. He watched as young Loki wiped his mouth and turned away from his family before stepping up to his victor’s throne at the other end of the room. It was surrounded by cushions and upholstered benches where beautiful, beckoning fans were waiting for him to join them. Loki watched himself greet each of them with a flirtatious backhanded compliment, taking some of their food or drink as he made his way to his throne.

“Was I really so… obnoxious?” Loki whispered to Mobius, watching young Loki take a seat on the throne with so much apparent pleasure in his expression it was almost indecent. 

“ Oh, yeah ,” Mobius didn’t pull his punch. “But hey, at least you’re only a little obnoxious now.”

“Hm.” Loki stared at himself.

Mobius noticed the lack of reaction and looked over at Loki. He guessed he wasn’t in the joking mood. He decided to take it easy on him. “Hey, look, I’m joking,” Mobius clarified. “You’re still a handful, sure, but you've come a long way.” 

Loki looked at him. 

Mobius glanced between the younger and older Loki. One full of himself and already half-drunk, the other quieter, calmer, and strangely thoughtful. “You’re different now.” 

“Am I?” 

Mobius could see something serious in Loki, though it was hard to look at him with their arms touching - it required a certain proximity to the ex-prince that made Mobius squint. Being close to Loki right now was like staring at the sun. “Yeah,” Mobius mustered, “in fact, you’re almost like a new person now.”

“I feel like a new person,” Loki responded with a low voice. “But I’ve been considering whether or not that’s a good thing.” Loki looked down at his hands.

Mobius watched him, a little nervous at that comment.

Loki took a breath, “The more I see, the more I change, the further I feel from everything I’d known.”

They both watched his younger self crack some kind of slimy joke that made his group of fans guffaw. 

Mobius whispered, "Well, you're right. You won't be enjoying the longing gazes of your adoring subjects again. But, hey,” he patted Loki’s arm, “it hasn't been for nothing."

Loki shook his head, "I traded all this for power and I received exile. Extinction ."

Mobius avoided thinking about that last word. He wanted to forget, for as long as possible, what he was there for. Right now, he just wanted to keep talking to his friend. “Yeah, you know, now that I’m here… I can’t believe you gave this up. I mean, look at this place,” Mobius gestured around them in awe. "But, you know… Everyone’s gotta leave the nest. You were never gonna stay here forever. That wasn’t your style. How could you show the universe the real Loki Laufeyson -all those smarts and that silver tongue- if you were cooped up here?” 

Loki smiled softly at Mobius’ attempts to cheer him up. As he listened, he contemplated Mobius’ unassuming smile, his charmingly stale jokes, and his perpetually tired shoulders. Loki chuckled at the smaller man beside him and leaned closer, taking in Mobius’ quiet pep talk tenderly.

“I mean, sure, you were a little misguided. You bit off more than you could chew and Hulk gave you a good walloping, but none of us get it right all the time.”

Loki stayed quiet, watching Mobius. The analyst glanced at Loki, away, then back again. Growing uncomfortable with how Loki was looking at him, he kept babbling, “And it's not all bad. Things could be worse, right?” No it couldn’t, Mobius remembered. He stuttered for a second, “At least you got to meet some interesting people at the TVA. Right?" 

Loki chuckled at Mobius’ struggle. There was something sweet about Mobius’ incessant efforts to stay positive and helpful. 

" B-15 ’s great, right?” Mobius couldn’t resist teasing. “ Casey . He's nice. Kinda spacey, but he's a good sport." 

Loki nodded along, but he skipped over the joke to say what really mattered, "Meeting you has been my solitary consolation, Mobius." That got the analyst’s attention. "You've been… gracious to me. More than anyone I’ve met in the TVA… or on the timeline." Loki knew that sounded dangerously close to pathetic, but it was true. Mobius had borne his tricks with more patience than he had ever received before. Although it had been maddening at first, now, it was strangely comfortable. Mobius was too smart to be tricked, too good-natured to care too much about Loki’s misbehavior, and too stubborn to give up on him. Loki’s antics hadn’t alienated him the way they usually did others. Sitting beside the man, he felt a peculiar and uncharacteristic sense of calm. Was this a symptom of 'trust'? Although he could tell from Mobius' troubled brow and shaky tone that he was hiding something, he still felt unnaturally at ease with him. 

Something in Mobius’ chest twisted with Loki's words. He leaned back against the wall, trying to relax. He anxiously rubbed his palms on his legs, still careful to keep his arm against Loki’s for the sake of the magic. "Yeah, I’m a real charmer.” He looked around, feeling like a traitor. “I-uh, I didn't exactly give you a prince’s welcome, though." He hoped Loki understood the hidden apology in there somewhere. 

"You gave me what I needed,” Loki insisted. “The truth. And a chance." 

Mobius nodded, fighting a searing stab of guilt in his gut. "I guess I did,” he said quietly as he tucked his chin down. But a chance for what? Survival? Poor guy didn’t know his chance was already up again. His ticket had been called. They had squandered that chance. Mobius had. Maybe if he had just followed the rules like he should’ve, then Loki wouldn’t need to die in about an hour and a half. Mobius tapped his heel and rubbed his palms again. He had really dropped the ball. He should’ve left the rule-breaking to Loki. Lokis knew how to break rules and survive. Mobius broke a couple of rules for the first time he could remember, and now it was all over. He should’ve left being a Loki to the Lokis. 

“I have an idea,” Loki’s voice hummed in his ear, waking Mobius up from the dread pooling in his chest. He felt Loki lean back, his bicep resting against his shoulder. He watched as Loki lifted his hand and a green haze grew from his fingertips.

Seeing Loki’s magic gave Mobius a start, “What are you doing?”

“You need to try… this.” Suddenly a plate appeared in Loki’s hand, it was practically overflowing with a sampling of every menu item on the table in the center of the room. 

Mobius grabbed Loki’s wrist, “What? No, Loki. We can’t!” He tried not to be too loud. “We can sit here quietly, that’s it! Taking food will cause variance energy.”

“Mobius, Mobius, calm down,” Loki soothed. “The food here was enchanted. It’s endless. It’s impossible for anyone to know it's missing.”

Mobius looked around. Endless? That explained why no matter how much people took from the table, the supply never seemed to dwindle. “... Magic food? That can’t be filling.”

Loki picked up a bunch of what looked like Midgardian grapes and offered them to Mobius. “Try it.”

“No, I can’t. I'm, uh, magic-intolerant,” he pushed the plate away.

“Check for variance energy if you don’t believe me.”

Mobius gave him a look before he pulled out his TemPad. Sure enough, not even a blip. It was funny how Loki kept finding ways around variance energy- almost like he was made for it. He was the god of chaos, after all. Mobius snapped the TemPad shut, trying not to look at the red timer ticking down, “Alright, you happened to be right, but this still feels wrong. Stepping-on-the-wrong-leaf kind of wrong-”

“Just eat, Mobius.” He dropped the grapes in his hand.

Mobius inspected them, wary. He had always wanted to try Asgardian food. In fact, he had always wanted all kinds of food from the Timeline. He loved the TVA cafeteria meals, of course, but you can only see so many Asgardian feasts throughout the centuries of Loki’s life before you start to wonder what it would all taste like. 

The TVA handbook explicitly states that a TVA agent should never eat or drink anything from the Timeline or else risk the integrity of the time flow and for a lot of other good reasons. But he had already messed up just about as badly as he could, right? Why not just throw this onto the pile of offenses while he was here?

He looked at the grapes in his hand. This was probably going to be his only chance to know. After today, he’d never want to come back to Asgard, probably. Without Loki’s powers, he wouldn’t be able to, either. He couldn’t think about all that.

He glanced at Loki, taking encouragement from the troublemaking glint in the Asgardian's eye. 

He tried not to be obvious about it, but he was a bit nervous when he popped a few of the grapes in his mouth. After only a moment, he realized they weren’t just some run-of-the-mill Earth grapes. “Wow,” was all Mobius could say. Asgardian produce lived up to its reputation. He glanced at Loki, who was grinning with victory, and gingerly took some cheese and bread from the plate, too. His appetite was piqued in a way it had never been before. He struggled to stop smiling as he chewed. “That’s… that’s amazing,” Mobius laughed. Once in a while, he’d spoil himself with pie, but this was even better somehow. “This is the stuff they had in the fridge at Asgard? You could just whip some of this up every night when you had the munchies?"

Loki nodded, proud. 

"I’m jealous. What do you think it would take to get the guys at the TVA to put this stuff in the vending machines?” Mobius laughed as he took another bite of bread. He wasn't used to eating with only his hands. It seemed a little too decadent for a TVA agent, but he was caring less and less -by the second- about what was appropriate for a TVA agent. “No, see, this doesn’t make sense. How are you so slim?”

Loki lowered the plate to rest on their knees, pressing his leg against Mobius'. A slight tremor from Mobius’ leg threatened to topple the plate, but they found their balance again. Loki took some bread and the moment it touched his lips, he closed his eyes in a rush of nostalgia. 

Mobius watched him quietly, both of them smiling as they were overtaken by the rare sensory delight. Mobius couldn’t help but enjoy the mix of emotions that ran over Loki’s face as he remembered home. 

“No other food in the universe has come close to this.” Loki whispered.

“Nothing like mom's magical home-cooking, I guess.” 

The moment was interrupted by a sudden high-pitched laugh from a woman in young Loki's posse. Loki and Mobius looked over at the woman as they continued to enjoy the Asgardian food. Taking another bite of Asgardian cheese, Mobius saw that the woman was talking to the young victor. Whatever he had said, it must’ve been exceptionally funny, or maybe dirty, because she was entirely pink from blushing. It suited her, Mobius judged briefly. It only took a glance for even the dusty analyst to see she was gorgeous. Usually he didn’t notice those things, though. People, on or off the Timeline, were just people. But there was something about being surrounded by the music, laughter, torchlight, and, now, the food that made him see things a little differently right now. Everything felt more alive. It must've been Loki's influence, he figured.

Mobius continued to watch young Loki flirt with the woman. She was reclined on a Romanesque lounge beside Loki’s throne. He didn’t remember her name, but he had seen her in the tapes a few times. She had been one of Loki's favorites, for multiple reasons. Mobius’ eyes wandered, lost in thought and in his food. She had beautiful red hair which draped over her red robes. He noticed a little too late that her robes were practically sheer. He cleared his throat with surprise. His eyes shyly skirted over her breasts, his TVA-instilled wantlessness telling him not to look for too long, and down to her soft waist as he noticed young Loki’s fingers playing with the tassel on the cord keeping her almost-there robes cinched around her waist. Mobius realized, then, that young Loki was leaning towards her with all the seductive wiles he had ever seen Loki employ. Young Loki’s eyes were half-lidded and full of desire, his smile was more devilish and handsome than normal. Young Loki brushed back his hair, stretching his neck beautifully as the woman stared at him. 

“Jesus,” Mobius accidentally sighed. The two of them were attractive individually, but seeing two beautiful people together, flirting, was too much. He couldn’t blame them, of course. Mobius pretended another group of people at the table were more interesting to look at for a second. How'd someone who looked like Loki get anything done in life with people tripping over themselves like that for him all the time, he wondered.

Without realizing when or why he looked back again, Mobius watched as the blade of timeline-Loki’s finger grazed the young woman’s jawline. She seemed so nervous to be in Loki’s presence, but excited. The way her prince was looking at her, no wonder she was nervous. He was looking at her like she was a new toy he wanted to unwrap. Mobius swallowed, feeling a lump in his throat, and looked away from them again with a squint. Even as a timeless, ‘wantless’ being, he suddenly felt old and slumped. He went from feeling underdressed to under-everything. What was he doing here? What was he thinking? He took another bite of whatever the root-vegetable-looking-thing was. It was delicious, but he didn't really notice.

The Loki by his side sighed. 

Mobius glanced at him. 

Young Loki’s profile was a mirror of the Loki sitting beside him, but they were worlds apart. He replayed the millennia of Loki video files in his memory. Seeing the young and the new side by side reminded Mobius of how surreal it was to be sitting with a Loki at all. He had seen Loki from every angle. He had seen him go through everything. Mobius’ eyes followed the long and slender lines of Loki’s neck and shoulders, identical to his younger self. He remembered those shoulders and that posture in the Loki at New York, in the Loki in his prison cell on Asgard, and the Loki at Ragnarok. A grin tugged at the corner of Mobius’ mouth as he considered the purposefully flamboyant angle of Loki’s jacket collar- even outside of time and reality, Loki was always making himself as attractive and attention-grabbing as possible. It could probably be considered one of his many powers. He watched Loki’s chest rise and fall with nearly-labored breath, he must’ve been troubled by what he was watching he guessed. Did he miss that life? Who wouldn’t? She was almost as beautiful as he was. Of course he’d want to go back. He thought about cracking a joke at his own expense about Loki’s downgrade in company, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it for some reason. That was weird. Mobius didn't usually care about stuff like this. Why did he feel... self-conscious?

Mobius looked down, trying not to follow that thought. His eyes landed on Loki’s hands. Those were the same hands. The same ones that fought Thor and won earlier today, the same that were wooing that girl over there, that conjured them this meal, that pulled him out of the way of getting hurt today, that killed dozens of people in New York and attempted to take over the world-

“What did you see?” 

Mobius jumped from his scrambled thoughts, grabbing the plate on their knees so it didn’t fall. “ What ?” Mobius coughed.

“You watched me like this for years.” Loki nodded at his younger self. “What did you see?”

He was still lost. “What do you mean?”

Loki ran his hand through his hair, trying to organize his thoughts, “The more I see of myself -versions of myself-, the less I can keep track of who I was. Of why I did these things.”

“Loki, I-”

“I can remember being him. I remember having fun. I remember enjoying lying to these people, tricking them, and taking what I wanted. But now…”

Mobius realized what he meant. “That’s a part of growing, Loki. Changing. Don’t worry about it, it’s normal.” Mobius realized how confusing this must’ve been for him. Lokis don’t change. They adapt, but they don’t change the way he had changed. “Part of growing is looking back and realizing we were… kind of an ass.” He chuckled. “I mean, that’s what I hear, at least. Not that I’d know too much about growing or changing. That’s for you timeliners, after all.” 

He watched Loki take that in for a second. 

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, Mobius.” Loki looked at him with more warmth than he knew what to do with.

The implication that Mobius could change or grow in a way he shouldn’t made him uncomfortable, if not secretly flattered. “Very funny. But, listen, don’t get too mixed up about this.” He pointed at young Loki, “He’s still part of you. He’s in there somewhere.” He pointed at Loki’s chest. “You’re just ‘ more ’ now.”

The callback landed. Loki, always with his ‘more, more, more’, had finally started to become more. Just in ways he had never predicted. 

“Thank you, Mobius.”

Mobius nodded and shrugged humbly, analysis is my job .

With that, Loki spun his fingers and the plate on their knees disappeared. 

Mobius raised his hands, annoyed, “Hey, I wasn’t done with tha-”

“Alright. We should really head back.” Loki sat up straight, stretching as though a lunch break was over. 

“No.” Mobius heard himself say it before he thought it.

Loki paused in the middle of straightening his collar and gave him a look, “No?” He searched Mobius’ face and found a momentarily unhidden trepidation. Something was definitely wrong. “Mobius. What’s going on? I can tell you’ve been hiding something.”

Mobius realized he had let something slip. He tried to hide his reaction under a grin as he reached into this coat pocket for his handkerchief. “Look at you, trying to read me. Which one of us is the analyst?” He wiped his hands slowly. 

Loki grew serious, turning to him, "This has gone on too long. This field trip was lovely, if not disturbing, but this is enough. What are we really doing here?" He tried to get Mobius to look at him. 

Mobius felt something like panic prick at his shoulders. He wasn’t ready. He couldn't go back yet. He couldn’t face the TVA yet. This needed to keep this going. He just needed a little more time. Time away from the TVA. Time to think. Time to stall. Time to find some kind of way out of this. Time with Loki.  

As if answering his wish, an opportunity arose. “‘Ope, there he goes,” Mobius pointed at young Loki who was now leaving his throne and making his way towards the exit. “Let’s follow him.” Mobius stood up, grabbing Loki’s arm.

Loki tried to pull back, “No, Mobius-”

“Come on. For research. Just a little longer.” 

Loki gave him a look as Mobius dragged him up from his seat and around the periphery of the room to avoid the partygoers. It was difficult keeping an eye on young Loki through the crowd. “Hurry, before we lose him,” Mobius picked up the pace, forcing Loki to keep up with him.  

Loki watched Mobius as he pulled him through the room. Something was definitely wrong. Loki’s imagination started manufacturing all kinds of possibilities. All of his instincts were pointing him towards the same, terrible conclusion: a betrayal was imminent. But that’s where Loki’s mind always went.

After some awkward navigating, they stepped out into the dark hall. The music dissipated into the quiet hall from the doorway behind them. Only a few people were walking through the hallway, drunk and staggering. Down a ways, you could see several other open entryways leading to the lesser dining halls where the lower nobility were celebrating loudly with their own music and feast.

Mobius looked around. He searched his memory for where young Loki would be going. It came to him. 

“This way.” 

Chapter Text

He pulled Loki down the hall, passed a few entryways, and towards the mouth of the east wing which held only private chambers and no dining halls. It was purposefully dimly lit as to discourage guests from wandering.

Loki was starting to remember the evening, “Mobius, we really shouldn’t-”

Mobius stopped to look back at him, “Trust me, Loki. You’d rather be here than back at the TVA right now, okay?” Something about his tone was a little too urgent. Before Loki could respond, Mobius caught a glimpse of something down another hallway, “There. There’s our next scene.” Mobius pulled Loki beside him and placed his hand on the small of his back, pushing him towards the dark wing. “This is the way to your old room, right?” 

Loki followed the push of Mobius’ hand on his back into the dark hall that led to his old chambers. He battled overwhelming nostalgia and temporal displacement dizziness as he and Mobius briskly walked down the hall he knew best in the whole palace. “Mobius, we don’t need to see this-”

“Shh,” Mobius insisted. He pointed at figures in the distance, signaling that they might be heard if they’re too loud.

A familiar voice spoke loudly at the either end of the shadowy corridor, near the doors that led to Loki’s room, “Go ahead and report to my father in the Great Hall. I’m excusing you from duty so that you can freely enjoy my festival.” It was the unmistakably haughty voice of a young Loki. He was talking to a pair of guards who had been assigned to guard the wing all evening. 

“Thank you, your highness!” They didn’t hide their immediate joy at being relieved of their shift. They bowed deeply to the prince and quickly shuffled towards the Great Hall in their noisy armor, already telling each other what they were going to eat first. They were headed right towards Mobius and Loki, so Mobius pulled Loki to the side and behind a nearby pillar which was just large enough to hide them both. They were still invisible, but they no longer had the advantage of a noisy dining hall to hide their presence. They were exposed in the quiet darkness and a pillar might help obscure any small hint of their existence. 

“We’re not going to learn anything from thi-” Loki whispered close to Mobius’ ear, trying not to alert his other self. 

“ Sh ,” Mobius was losing his patience with all the questioning and with how close Loki was to him. Why’d he have to be so tall? He was practically towering over him, leaning over his back as they both watched timeline-Loki walk further down the hallway and stop at the doorway. Mobius tried to ignore Loki’s hand on his shoulder as he craned his neck to keep young Loki in sight. 

Loki sighed impatiently, again too close to Mobius’ ear. “Mob-” 

“Ha!” A masculine voice down the hall interrupted him with a battle-cry. A tall, dark figure at the end of the hallway leapt out from behind a pillar towards timeline-Loki. The figure’s arms closed around young Loki’s shoulders tightly. There was a brief wrestle before the figure dropped to the floor with a guttural grunt. 

“Argh,” the figure groaned as he started to pick himself off the floor slowly. “That was hard. I wasn’t truly attacking you,” the strained voice echoed.

“If you were attacking me, you’d be dead,” Young Loki advised coldly. He only looked down at the man getting up off the ground, making no attempt to help him. 

“How terrifying,” the man teased. He got to his feet and rubbed his abdomen, where Loki must have struck him. He limped closer to Loki. And closer. Then too close for friendliness. As he moved, the low light of the weak torches on the wall revealed the golden robe and skin of the man who was now raising a hand to Loki’s arm, “What has my victor so tense?”

Young Loki grabbed his hand before it touched him, “You do not ambush a prince, Audun.”

Mobius could hear Loki’s breath grate into a groan of what must’ve been embarrassment over his shoulder.

“Oh, are we playing chivalrous today, Loki Odinson ?” Audun teased. He easily took his hand from Loki’s and placed his other on Loki’s chest, pushing him back a few steps. “That’s funny. That’s not usually your tune. What we did today wasn’t chivalrous at all.”

“Mobius-” Loki pulled at Mobius’ shoulder, trying to draw them away from the scene. 

Mobius didn’t comply, jerking his shoulder back. He interrupted him with a whisper, “That’s right - there was some funny business there. I mean, of course, right? Why’d Audun jump in front of Thor’s hammer like that during the games?” He leaned back to look at Loki, “It was such a rookie move,” he smiled, having fun despite the cringe on Loki’s face

Annoyed, Loki huffed, “Yes, I cheated, alright? Is that really a surprise?”

“ Nope .” Mobius returned to watching the scene.

Audun pushed Loki towards the wall behind him. They moved together slowly, eyeing one another. The smile on Mobius’ face faltered a fraction when the low light revealed how young Loki was looking at Audun. Audun was even more attractive than the redhead who was no doubt still waiting for her prince in the Great Hall. Mobius fought a pang of self-consciousness as his eyes assessed Audun’s tall and perfectly athletic build. The young prince raised his hand to Audun’s neck, running his fingers down to rest on Audun’s broad shoulder. Much like how Loki’s hand was on Mobius’ shoulder right now. But, of course, it was completely different.

Mobius didn’t know what this feeling was, but he hadn’t predicted he’d be feeling it seeing this in person. It was a sick kind of sensation. It made his shoulders tense and his heart beat harder. It got worse as he watched young Loki run his fingers over Audun’s bare back when their faces approached one another's. They looked at each other with so much desire you could feel the heat from the other end of the hall. Why’d it feel like his tie was too tight? Did Loki’s hand on his shoulder just twitch a little or was it his imagination? This was weird, wasn’t it? He didn’t mean to sign them up for this. He had forgotten about this part. He had brought them here to wait for something else, not this. 

Suddenly, young Loki pulled the Audun to the side forcefully in a show of playful dominance. He pinned the handsome Asgardian up against the wall with a grunt.  

“Chivalry is pointless. It only gets in the way of winning,” the young god lectured.

Loki couldn’t stand looking at this any longer, but he was held captive by needing to keep both him and Mobius invisible. “Mobius,” he whispered to the analyst again, tugging at him. More than wanting to get away from an embarrassing memory, he didn’t want him to see this. Mobius shouldn’t be seeing this side of him. Not like this. 

“I know, I know, just wait.” Mobius swatted him back. 

“You’re right. You’re the victor now. But what did I win?” Audun’s deep voice challenged. His hands ran along Loki’s arms as they pressed him harder against the wall. Audun was tall enough to need to look down at Loki, but that didn’t faze the young prince at all.

Loki stepped between Audun’s legs, “My attention.” 

The young Loki leaned forward, pulling Audun down to him by his golden robes. His lips were about to touch Audun’s when Mobius felt the hand on his shoulder pull him back with all the strength that Loki had been hiding since they met. Mobius nearly lost his balance as his Loki pulled him behind the pillar to obstruct their view of what his younger self and the warrior were doing. “That’s enough, Mobius,” he said seriously. 

“Hey,” Mobius protested, trying to get back.

Loki moved Mobius to his other side, positioning himself between Mobius and the spectacle down the hall, “I don’t want you seeing this.”

Mobius gave him a look that said, really ? “Come on, Loki, don’t be so embarrassed. Because I hate to break it to you, but I’ve seen this all before, remember? You think I don’t know what’s going on over there?”

Loki had forgotten that Mobius had seen it all. “I’m not embarrassed,” he lied hurriedly, defensive. “You- You just shouldn’t have to see this.” He couldn’t make sense of why not. 

Mobius scoffed, “What are you even talking about? This is where you draw the line? I’ve seen you kill people, Loki, what’s some kissing gonna do to me?”

Loki stammered as Mobius went to push away Loki’s arm which was guarding him from the scene. Loki didn’t budge. He was sturdier than you’d think.

They could hear Audun’s voice echo, “This is a handsome reward for helping you cheat all of Asgard.”

“Don’t talk to your prince like that,” young Loki scolded. 

Mobius glanced at Loki as they listened, Loki looked away quickly. Why was this way worse than before? They were standing in the dark like idiots, Loki grabbing his arm with enough strength to keep him from trying to move, unable to look at one another. Mobius rubbed his face, bothered.

“How should I talk to you?” Audun challenged. 

They listened. 

“With the respect a prince is owed .”

Mobius breathed out a chuckle, unable to contain it, as the Loki in front of him grimaced deeply. 

“Edgy,” Mobius whispered with a smartass grin.

Loki shot him a glare. 

A loud bang shook the hall when the giant pair of doors they had come through slammed shut suddenly. The noise was loud enough to shake the hall. Although they both had known it was coming, they still jumped. Their hands found each others’ arms in a brief panic.

“Who’s there?” Audun’s voice called out towards the doors. 

An aged voice boomed from the shadows, supernaturally loud. “A prince is not owed respect, Loki. He, like all others, must earn it.”

Loki, in front of Mobius, squeezed his eyes shut as he heard his father’s voice. Mobius took advantage of Loki’s distraction to get around him to peek at the scene again. 

“Father,” young Loki called out, uncharacteristically nervous. He created as much space as he could between himself and Audun.

“Lord Odin,” Audun knelt to the ground, panicked.

Mobius stifled a laugh, “ That’s what I was waiting for. That always cracked me up. He got you two good. I mean, look at your faces.”

Loki came up behind Mobius to see, nowhere near as entertained by seeing this memory.

“Audun, Loki,” Odin walked slowly towards them. “I trust this is a newfound affiliation.”

“Lord Odin, I-” Audun’s voice was drenched in fear as he struggled to find his words. 

“Very newfound, father. From only after the match,” young Loki fabricated. 

Odin stopped several paces from them and nodded at the lie. “I also trust, Loki, you understand how disparaging it would be if it were discovered that the victor of the festival had not earned his title honorably.”

Loki approached his father, “Of course. I would never want to embarrass your festival leaders.” Loki stopped in front of Odin, a challenge twinkling in his eye.

“Hm.” Odin inspected Loki’s face for a moment. He took another step and lowered his voice, though it was still powerful and loud, “We are not all born with the same talents, Loki. Some of us are born with very few. You have been blessed with more than most. The strongest of which are intelligence and cunning.” 

Loki watched his younger self absorb those words that he still remembered hundreds of years later.

“But do not mistake your talents as virtues, son. Do not use them to shame your family or your people.” Odin glanced at Audun, who was still on the floor in a bow. “Most of all, do not use them to shame yourself. A man who shames himself with lies is a man trapped in his own prison of illusion.” Young Loki glared at Odin as he continued. “You are a master of illusions, son. Do not lose yourself in them.”

“I won’t,” young Loki responded unconvincingly.

After a long pause, the king stepped to Loki’s side and placed a hand on his shoulder. His voice quieted, “We can only become who we are meant to become if we walk in the truth. Do you understand?”

Loki looked up at Odin and lied again, “Yes, father.”

Odin stared at Loki one last time and dropped his hand from his shoulder. He walked away silently. The doors opened and closed and the king was gone.

Audun collapsed from his bow and went limp with a troubled groan. It was obvious the king knew what they had done. The confusing lack of punishment was almost worse than receiving one. Was it an insult? Was the Allfather washing his hands of them? Young Loki stood completely still for a long moment, looking at where his father had been standing. 

Loki had a similar reaction again. He couldn’t move. His father’s words had confused and angered him the first time. They had seemed dismissive - as though Loki wasn't worth more than a minute of his time. His transgression should've earned him years of admonishment, but Odin could only be troubled to say a few sentences. O lder and a bit wiser now, Loki could finally hear those words clearly. Anger burned in him. His father had been right. This new anger was at himself for having ignored him.

He would’ve done so much differently if he could go back. 

“I had to see that in person. That was such a good dad move,” Mobius commended. “He could’ve made a bigger deal out of it and ratted you out to everyone, but he still let you have the festival.”

“He didn’t want to embarrass his nobles,” Loki explained bitterly.

“He didn’t want to embarrass you,” Mobius countered.

“He pitied me.” 

“He loved you,” Mobius corrected him like it was obvious.

Loki looked at Mobius, shaken. He hadn’t thought of it that way. 

Loki's eyes searched Mobius over. “That’s what you saw?”

“Yeah. He knew you just needed some attention, some guidance. I mean, maybe he should’ve been a little more forthcoming with some truths, himself, but hey… he did his best."

They flinched when young Loki suddenly kicked a brazier over with an aggravated yell, sending hot coals cascading across the floor in a flurry of embers that almost set Audun’s robes alight.

“And failed.” Loki twitched his head towards his younger self with a sneer: look how I turned out .

Mobius turned and faced Loki, “See, I don’t think he did.” Mobius stared up at him: look how you turned out .

And just like that, the feeling returned; the same feeling Loki had felt when Mobius calmed him before the games. It was warm, deep, and intoxicating. It spilled through his chest, making his heart race and his stomach flutter. It coated him entirely, soothing the raw scratches inside his chest that had been aching ever since the first time he felt different from his family and his people. 

He had been searching for this feeling for centuries. He had tried to find it in betrayal, violence, lust, and greed for millennia, but it was here . Despite how desperately he had clawed others for this feeling - to the point that he had wanted to conquer an entire planet for just a taste of it - it had been gifted to him in something as simple as a whisper just now. 

He had become a villain looking for this and it came to him during this quiet and invisible conversation with this quiet, gray TVA analyst. It came from the man who had seen his life and all his crimes twice over and still spoke to him like a friend. 

How ironic. The man who plucked him from time and tore his purpose from him was the one to inspire the relief he had been dying and killing for.

Lost in the feeling, Loki's hand moved up Mobius’ arm. It felt right. Comforting, but electric. He had touched Mobius before, but his fingertips and palm were singing from the contact now. Something overwhelming felt caught in his chest, as though it might burst out from him. 

In the corner of his eye, he saw his younger self grab Audun with anger and passion. He remembered feeling Audun's figure under his hands. It felt nothing like this. He had never felt this way before. It was almost painful, whatever this was. All he knew was that he needed this. Always.  His other hand found Mobius’ other shoulder without thinking. The idea of a future without Mobius now felt completely unattractive- nearly impossible. He needed more of this. 

“Loki?” 

He couldn't hear Mobius over his thoughts about him. Whatever this strange feeling was, it was consuming him quickly and entirely. Covering and coloring every one of his thoughts and motivations. Like a switch turning on, Loki realized that overthrowing the TVA wasn’t enough anymore. He needed Mobius by his side, too. 

“Hey, you okay?” Mobius quietly snapped his fingers in front of Loki’s face, waking him up.

“Y-yes.” Loki rushed back to reality. He took a breath and realized his heart was racing. He stepped back, calming himself. The wave of that overpowering feeling started to recede into his subconscious again. 

Mobius looked back to the other Loki and Audun. “Oh, jeez, they’re at it again.”

His younger self and Audun were embracing, kissing fiercely. Loki felt nothing looking at them. His attention was entirely on Mobius’ shoulder under his hand. 

Mobius got that glimpse of Loki kissing Audun, pulling at Audun’s golden locks with angry, almost vicious, desire. It looked like he was taking out his rage on his accomplice. 

Loki had been right - he really didn’t want to see that. In fact, it kind of pissed him off. 

“Okay, that’s it.” Mobius turned around, motioning for Loki to follow him. “I always fast-forwarded over these parts, anyway.” Mobius picked up the pace, trying to ignore the soft sounds of whatever was happening behind them. He needed to get out of there. 

Loki straightened out his hair as he followed Mobius, watching the man’s back. 

The further they got from his past self, the more easily he could breathe and the clearer his head became. He couldn’t make sense of what he had just been feeling, but what was left over was a bright warmth and strong pull towards the agent in front of him. 

“I’m glad I have some kind of privacy,” Loki tried to banter like everything was normal again. 

Mobius kept walking, leading them back into the east wing, “Yeah, well, I’m not a pervert. Besides, your, uh, escapades really weren’t my style.” 

Loki heard the deep judgment in Mobius’ tone. “Excuse me?” he challenged, taking full offense. 

Mobius stopped when he realized Loki had stopped. He turned to him, distracted. “Oh, I just mean these kinds of one night stands seem so… meaningless. Or three-night-and-day-stands in this case, I guess.” He put his hand on his hip, uncomfortable. “It’s just so empty. Kinda gross, too.” He turned to keep walking. 

Loki raised his eyebrows with a scoff. “Exactly how would you know, Mobius? It’s not like you have any experience with this.” 

Mobius let out a humorless breath, “You got me there. I don’t.” 

“Just seems kind of odd for you to pass judgment on others when you don’t know anything about it.”

Why was Loki stuck on this? “Fine. Just leave it.” Mobius kept them walking at a fast pace, almost like he was running from the conversation. 

“All I’m trying to say is-”

“Look, Loki, you might know more than me about this stuff. But I’ve seen how people love. After you see all the greatest love stories in the universe, it all pales in comparison.” Loki listened, obviously waiting to respond. “I've seen people, without hesitation, sacrifice themselves- literally jump in front of bullets for someone they love. After that, this stuff just seems kinda pointless.”

Something snakish coiled in Loki when he saw an opportunity to tease. He skipped a few steps closer to Mobius as they turned left into the main corridor. “The point , Mobius, is in the act itself. It feels good,” he explained smugly.

Mobius knew that Lokis knew how to enjoy themselves. Loki had enjoyed himself with hundreds of people over the course of history, Mobius knew that. Better than anyone. But hearing him brag about it just irritated him. “Alright, I’ll take your word for it.” Mobius marched them towards the west wing, which was full of empty assembly rooms, trying to get away from anyone who might overhear them. 

“You mean to tell me you’re not even a little curious?” Loki wasn’t letting go of one of his favorite topics. Especially not when Mobius was involved. “Don’t you want to know what it’s like?”

“No. I don’t.” Mobius was losing his sense of humor. 

“You’ve never noticed anyone? Never wanted to reach out and-”

And there went the camel’s back. “Cut it out, Loki. This is getting weird.” Mobius stopped on the spot and let go of Loki’s arm, finally overwhelmed by constantly touching him for hours on end. They both became visible again the instant he let go. No one was around to see them, but the outburst still stunned Loki. 

“Mobius, the spell-!” He rushed over to Mobius, reaching for him.

Mobius stepped back, “No, I’m not curious, Loki. Okay? I’m not supposed to ‘notice’,” he air-quoted mockingly, “I don’t need to know what everything feels like all the time because I’m not you . I can’t just go around taking what I want.” He took a breath, ignoring the look on Loki’s face, resting his hands on his hips. He could finally think again now that Loki wasn’t all over him. “Okay,” he sighed. “... If you’re done with the dirty talk, how about we get back to what we came here for?”

“Alright… Alright,” Loki quieted, putting his hands in his pockets shyly. He watched Mobius with a wary expression as the analyst rubbed his face. Loki could sense a secret somewhere in Mobius that was at the root of his reaction just now, but he knew better than to ask about it now. Instead, he saw an opportunity to finally get some answers about something that had been bothering him for a while, “So, why are we still here, Mobius? You’ve been dragging me around all day for ‘research’, but we both know Sylive didn’t have this life. What could we possibly learn from this day in my life?” 

Mobius, just barely composed again, nodded at Loki’s sound logic. It had been the logic he had been dodging all day. He opened his TemPad. 

00:00:04:52. 

Five minutes until the end. 

Ignoring the feeling tearing into his gut, Mobius spoke quietly, “We’re here, because… I need to know why Lokis betray people.”

“What?” Loki couldn’t see why that was important. 

"Look, I gotta be honest, Loki. I didn’t just pick this day because it was a good day for you. I picked it because this is one of the first times you really go all out to betray the people who love you. You had your little pranks with Thor and Sif and all them before, but this was the day you lied to your whole kingdom for the first time and it still wasn’t enough. You just wanted ‘more’. You’re over there right now, hatching your ‘glorious purpose’. You might even say that this is when you start to become Loki. ”

Loki fought his anger at that flippant summary, “Yes, I know my history, Mobius. But what could this have to do with Sylvie?” He took a few steps towards Mobius, who tiredly kept his distance, holding his TemPad close to his chest. 

“After this, you and Thor grew apart even more. He always suspected you rigged the match and from here on you just kept digging at him, trying to bring him down.” 

“Your point?” Loki was growing impatient. 

Mobius waved his hands like it was obvious, “Why throw away your relationship with Thor for power? Why’d you lie to everyone? Why do you betray everyone ?”

Loki’s expression became a scowl. “I don’t know.” 

“Back to the ‘I don’t know’s, are we?” Mobius commented under his breath as he checked his TemPad again.

00:00:03:31. 

He had to keep trying, “See, I think you do know. And we don’t have a lot of time for lies. I need an honest answer.” 

Loki just stared at him, anger in his eyes. 

“Come on, Loki. Answer me! Why did that Loki do this?”

Loki looked away. 

Mobius should’ve known better. 

This was never going to work. 

He ignored the heavy shredding sensation in his chest and started typing something on his TemPad, "Okay, that's it. You’re right. We should head back-"

“He’s afraid.” 

Mobius looked up. “... Of ?” 

“That everyone will betray him first.” Loki’s face told Mobius how scared he was to be saying this. “That he has no place. He knows he’s different. Less . He just wants someone to see him.” His eyes met Mobius’. Loki was obviously fighting every instinct in his body by being honest. “Thor always took all the attention. So, he thought that, maybe, if he could make a fool out of Thor, then everyone could finally see him... Me .” After he said it, his limbs felt heavy with fear and shame. Defeated by extracting the most pathetic part of himself for Mobius, he took a seat on the floor, leaning his back against the wall. 

“So what are you actually afraid of?” Mobius pressed.

Exhausted, Loki looked up at Mobius, “... Being alone.”

Mobius knew this was finally the truth. “You can’t be abandoned if you abandon everyone else first, huh?”

“Exactly,” Loki nodded slowly. Weary, he rested his arms on his knees. This reminded him of the day they met. 

Mobius looked down to his TemPad. 

00:00:00:26. 

00:00:00:25.

00:00:00:24.

“One last thing.” 

Loki looked up at him again.  

"Is it possible to truly trust a Loki?”

This was it. Loki could feel it in the air around them: betrayal. He had known this was coming. This was what all this had been leading to. He had sensed it from the start, he had just hoped he was wrong. 

Loki opened his mouth to speak. What could he say to stop this now? Mobius was probably the only person in the universe he couldn’t lie to. The only person in the universe he couldn’t abandon now. 

He took a breath, but before he found his words, another noise interrupted him. 

The ugly sound of an alarm rang from Mobius’ TemPad. 

00:00:00:00.

Loki watched as Mobius reached behind his back and produced his pruning stick from his belt. 

“Times up, Loki.”

Chapter Text

00:00:00:00.

The digits blinked on Ravonna’s TemPad as an alarm beeped at her. She checked Mobius’ TemPad activity, holding her breath.

He was still in Asgard. 

“Damnit, Mobius,” she hissed to herself. She snapped her TemPad shut.

She slammed her pen down on her desktop with frustration and ran her fingers over her forehead. Why was he doing this? It couldn't be a repeat offense, right? She was sure he had learned his lesson. She had fought so hard for him back then. Why was throwing away his second chance?

She took a moment, and then she did what she had to do. Just like she always did. 

She pressed a finger on the intercom button to her assistant. “Tell Hunter B-15 to come see me right now.” 

“What should I say it’s about, Ms. Renslayer?”

Her tone turned grave, “I need her unit to handle something for me. Discreetly.” 

-

“Times up, Loki.” 

Mobius took his pruning stick from his belt, looking down at Loki.

Loki looked at the pruning stick and then to Mobius. A bitter smile spread across his lips. He laughed darkly as he got back on his feet. 

“I see that while I’ve been considering loyalty to our friendship, Mobius, you’ve been considering betraying me.” Loki let out a gallows sigh and slowly fixed his hair. He took care to straighten out the silhouette of his shirt and jacket again. “I guess I really have been a bad influence on you, haven’t I?” His eyes were glassy. 

He faced Mobius straight on.

He thought about his daggers in his coat pocket. The daggers Mobius had given him. 

He couldn’t use them against him.  It felt physically impossible to point a dagger at Mobius now.

Typically, Loki could threaten anyone if it meant his survival, but, again, Mobius was the exception to every one of Loki’s usual rules. The new, warm pull he felt towards the agent was just as strong as it had been moments ago. It didn’t matter what Mobius thought he had to do. 

“Loki. I need you to be honest with me, okay? I mean it. No jokes right now. I’m about to make a stupid decision,” Mobius sounded almost out of breath. 

Loki straightened his back, and ticked his head, confused. 

Beep.

Mobius ignored the alarm ringing from the TemPad in his left hand. “Think of the stupidest choice you’ve ever made. I know it’s hard because you made a lot of really dumb decisions-”

“Well-” 

“But, really think of the worst decision you’ve ever made and then double it. I’m talking world-ending stupidity-” 

“Mobius!” Loki snapped, impatient. 

Beep.

“Okay, look. I know what this looks like,” Mobius gestured with the pruning stick, “but it's not what you think it is-” 

“It looks like you brought me here as one last hurrah before pruning me under Judge Renslayer’s orders.” 

Mobius tucked his chin back, taken aback by Loki’s accuracy. “Okay. Yeah. It’s exactly what you think it is, then,” he let out a breath that was almost a chuckle. “You would’ve made a great analyst,” he complimented ruefully. 

Beep.

Loki eyed the TemPad and the pruning stick, before looking back to Mobius. “In your position, killing me wouldn’t be stupid. It’s smart,” he advised honestly. “If I die, you save yourself and your keepers.” 

“Exactly. Yeah. It would be the smartest thing in the world to prune you right now.” Mobius lifted the pruning stick in his hand, making Loki take a step back. “But… sacrificing my job at the TVA, betraying my life’s purpose and the Time Keepers, the whole universe,... to save a Loki…. Now, that would be really, really idiotic, right?” 

Loki’s expression flinched. A moment ago, when he thought Mobius might try to kill him, he was completely calm. He knew how to be betrayed. Hearing Mobius consider sparing him made his heart quicken. 

Beep.

“Because If I don’t delete you right now, I’m almost as good as gone, too. And then no one qualified is left to hunt down the Variant. And then she’ll win, she’ll get to the Time Keepers, the TVA will fall, and the universe will end.” Mobius’ brain reeled from the consequences he was facing if he didn’t prune Loki right now . This could be it. This could be the end of everything if he wasn’t careful. Not just Loki or his life. The whole flow of time. Could he trust himself to make the right choice? He’d been making all the wrong ones lately. 

“Mobius…" Loki lifted his hands, palms downward, approaching the agent.

Beep.

Chirp.

That last sound was a notification that another time gate had opened in the area. Mobius, flustered, looked at his TemPad. He dropped his arms in a frustrated slump when he saw who had just opened a time gate in the Asgardian courtyard, “B-15 and her team are coming for us now.” 

Beep.

“How the hell do I turn this thing off?” Mobius rattled his TemPad, losing what was left of his cool. He was so agitated he didn’t notice Loki approaching him. By the time he looked up, Loki was nearly in front of him, his blue eyes locked on his. Mobius lifted the pruning stick a fraction, feeling a little panicky.

Loki stopped in his tracks, lifting his palms up higher. “Mobius.” He had never heard Loki say his name like that. Deep and calm, tempting him to relax. “This is it.” 

“What?”

Beep.

“Our chance to write our own story.” 

“Look, see, that’s what I meant by ‘stupid’, Loki. If I do this I’m throwing away everything. My life. I might be risking all of reality for a ‘story’?... Is it worth it ? I mean, you’re not gonna betray me later, are you?”

“That’s what this was about, wasn’t it?” Loki gestured to the palace around them, everything they’d talked about that day. 

Beep. 

Mobius, completely overtaken by his agitation, snapped his TemPad open and closed several times before he finally turned the whole thing off. The alarm stopped. He looked up and saw Loki had closed the distance between them almost completely. Loki’s hand slowly closed around the hilt of the pruning stick, his fingers brushing Mobius’. Loki pushed the stick to face away from them. Mobius remembered the last time they fought over a pruning stick, back at the theater - when this had all started to get complicated. 

Loki took another step into Mobius’ space. Mobius leaned back an inch, staring up at him. He searched the god’s face for some kind of answer. 

Mobius realized he could hear boots stomping towards them in the distance, somewhere in the halls of the palace. He took a step back, about to turn around and check behind them for B-15, but Loki’s hand pulled him back to him. 

“Stop.” That voice. Mobius was drawn in again by the depth and stillness of Loki's tone. “If you choose me, Mobius, I give you my word," Loki pulled the pruning stick to pull Mobius closer, his eyes full of something Mobius had never seen before. "I know my word isn't worth much, but if it's ever meant anything it's right now." Mobius looked away, not sure whether to buy it. Loki ducked his head, asking for the agent’s attention, "Mobius, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. I’ll annihilate anyone who comes in our way. You will have my loyalty. My friendship. My protection. Everything." 

“... Wow,” Mobius whispered. He blinked. "I wasn't expect all that." He knew Lokis were passionate with their language - always swearing on this or that -, but this was something else. This was Loki at his most convincing. Everything about his voice and face were almost hypnotizing. And with how the Asgardian prince was looking at him, it felt like Mobius had walked into someone else’s story on the timeline. No one had probably ever talked to a TVA agent like this.

In fact, there was no reason someone ever would. 

Mobius shook his head, trying to wake himself up, "See, but I know you’d say anything to save your skin. And I don’t know if I can trust you when you talk like that. It feels over the top. A reformed Loki who’ll do everything he can to work with me? Come on." 

Loki was unfazed, his voice only turned deeper and warmer, “You know when I’m lying, Mobius. I haven’t been able to trick you even when I tried. You know I’m being honest.” The sounds of boots were getting louder. “You can trust me. We can do this.” He squeezed Mobius’ shoulder, his fingers enjoying the contact. “Together."

Mobius could feel himself start to fall for it. He searched Loki’s face for a possible scheme. He wanted it to be true. He took a breath and spoke quietly. “And you won’t try to overthrow the TVA?” 

Surprised by that impossible condition, Loki stopped, “... I-”

“Mobius!” A voice interrupted them. 

They both turned to look at Hunter B-15 and the squad of Minutemen behind her as they ran up and stopped several paces behind Mobius. 

Mobius pulled himself from Loki’s grip, leaving their life-altering conversation unfinished, and turned to the other agents. He put his pruning stick back on his belt and, as if nothing had just happened, he put on a casual grin and greeted them, “Guys… so glad you could join us.” 

“We’re here on Judge Renslayer’s orders,” B-15 explained, her and her subordinates’ stances communicating possible aggression. 

“Yeah?” Mobius asked like he had no idea. “What’d she say? Gonna be our backup on our little research trip?”

“You and Variant L1130 are to be seized immediately.” 

Loki, serious and defensive, stepped forward a little too quickly, making the Minutemen flinch as though they were getting ready for combat. 

“Loki,” Mobius warned him quietly, extending his arm in front of Loki’s chest without breaking eye contact with B-15. “Well, that doesn’t sound right. Sure you didn’t get the wrong orders?” He put his hands in his pockets, his heart racing. 

B-15 rearranged her grip on her pruning stick, annoyed, “Our orders came from Renslayer, directly. We’re to delete L1130 on sight and return you to your post for containment.” 

Mobius had to keep trying, “I think you’ll find that we’re here for our investigation-” 

“On the Sacred Timeline ?” B-15 pointed out where they were. This wasn’t a branch. TVA agents were never supposed to come to the timeline. “You know just being here is a Class C offense, Mobius. You could cause a branch.” 

Mobius nodded and dropped his arms to his side, you got me there . Why’d B-15 have to be so good at her job?

Done with Mobius’ pretending, B-15 got to the point, “Renslayer told us to give you one last chance. Prune the variant or we will.” 

Loki looked between Mobius and the squad, worry seeping into his expression.

Mobius stood still, his hands on his hips for a moment. 

B-15 took a step towards them impatiently.

“Alright, alright, hold your horses,” Mobius motioned for her to stop. She did, but her expression didn’t trust him. “Some of us like to be a little respectful with these things.” 

Mobius grabbed his pruning stick again with his left hand. His right hand landed on the center of Loki’s chest, pushing him back and away from the Minutemen. Loki, stepping backwards as Mobius guided him, went from glaring at B-15 to reading Mobius’ face. 

“Come on,” Mobius whispered as he positioned himself between Loki and the Minutemen, his back to B-15. He lifted the pruning stick, the end crackling with a yellow buzz. 

“ Mobius ,” Loki called down to him softly. 

Mobius took a breath, feeling Loki’s pleading eyes on him.

“It doesn't have to end like this.”

Mobius was quiet. He squinted, looking away for a second.

“Someone told me once…”, he looked up at Loki, “... that we make a good team,” Mobius gave Loki a small, uncertain grin.

He extended his hand to Loki. “ ‘Together’ ?” 

It took everything in Mobius’ power to stop the tremor in his fingers. This was it. This was the moment he’d never be able to take back. He was betting his life, the TVA, and maybe the whole universe on a Loki. He must’ve been crazy. 

But then Loki smiled down at him so brightly, more brightly than any smile Mobius had seen from him on the timeline, and it instantly numbed any fear or pain that came from betraying your life’s purpose. 

“Together.” Loki agreed warmly, grabbing his hand tightly.

Mobius threw his pruning stick to the ground with a clatter. 

“Get them!” B-15 shouted and the Minutemen activated their batons before immediately breaking into a dash in their direction. 

Loki didn’t waste a moment as he pulled Mobius by the hand until he was behind him. Loki positioned himself between Mobius and their attackers. It was half a second before the first Minuteman ran up to Loki, swinging her pruning stick at him. Loki dodged easily and grabbed the baton. He jerked the baton to the side, forcing the agent to come close enough for Loki to strike her. She fell to the ground unconscious, her pruning stick still in Loki’s hand. 

“Sorry!” Mobius yelled with a wince as the agent hit the floor with a violent smack. 

The other Minutemen ran towards them.

Mobius pointed at the pruning stick in Loki’s hand and said, “Hey, no pruning, alright?”

Loki looked at the stick in his hand and then shot Mobius a look before reluctantly throwing the stick aside. “Fine. I won’t need it here.” Loki stretched his neck with a grin and lifted his arms to his sides, opening his palms. A green haze emanated from his fingers and an emerald glint sparkled in his eyes. 

The Minutemen that had been running up to him paused, unsure. 

"Honestly guys. It's best to just give up now,” Mobius called out. They looked between Mobius and Loki. 

“What are you doing? Take him down!” B-15 ordered, running over. 

One of the Minutemen threw a baton at Loki. He dodged it gracefully. 

“Why’d you do that, you've just made him angry.” Mobius chided. 

Loki shot a blast of propulsive magic towards the one that attacked him and they went flying several feet back, skidding across the floor. 

“Come on!” X-5 yelled as he rallied the others. Suddenly, three agents dove towards a grinning Loki. Loki ducked under the first punch, using magic to send the agent tripping over themselves and headfirst into the wall. He stepped out of the way of another pruning stick jab and kicked the agent’s feet out from underneath him. Mobius hissed, empathizing with the pain, when the agent received a knee to the face on the way down. A third agent attempted to strike downward at Loki with their baton, but Loki only caught their arm with the crook of his elbow and effortlessly broke their radius. They yelled in pain, falling to the ground. Mobius flinched, “Ah. Sorry, K-7. He’s just having a bad day.” 

Loki approached the remaining four Minutemen, quickly exchanging blows. Behind him, X-5 slunk around the downed, groaning agents and towards Mobius. 

Mobius, who had been enjoying the fight as a spectator, took his hands out of his pockets as he realized that X-5 was approaching him. 

“Don’t make this hard, Mobius. You knew what you were doing.”

“What’re you doing here, X-5? This isn’t your squad.”

“When I heard where B-15’s unit was going, I volunteered,” he explained smugly. 

Mobius should’ve known. This guy always had more bloodlust than sense. It didn’t help that they didn’t really get along all that well either. Mobius had teased him one too many times, probably. Also, the guy was just kind of a jerk.

As X-5 approached him, Mobius remembered how long it had been since he had trained for combat. Too long. He still knew a few moves, but not enough to take on a Hunter. Especially not one as brutal as X-5. “Hey, hey, we can figure this out.”

X-5 took out his deactivated baton and lunged to hit Mobius with it. Mobius tripped out of its way. It wasn't lethal, but with how X-5 was swinging it, it was going to hurt a lot. 

“Loki!” Mobius called out to the Asgardian who was busy smacking the heads of two agents together, knocking them out. 

“What?!” Loki called back, squaring off his next target. 

Mobius circled around X-5 awkwardly, “Help!”

Loki’s attention snapped over to Mobius just as X-5 lunged for him again. Cold panic dripped down Loki’s spine and he immediately disengaged from his current fight, backing off several paces. His hand darted into his coat pocket and instantly produced a dagger.

Mobius glanced at him, flustered, “Hey! No ! No stabbing!” He skipped around to the other side of X-5, trying to stay nimble. 

Loki’s shoulders dropped, annoyed. "Just the leg!"

X-5 stopped, looking over at Loki at that. 

"No, not just the leg!” Mobius insisted. 

X-5 looked back at Mobius. 

" Fine !" Loki released the dagger with an attitude, sending it spinning towards X-5. Just as X-5 looked over at the flying knife, the blunt end of the hilt slammed against his forehead knocking him out. 

Mobius flinched for a second and then realized what happened. “Oh, good! Thanks.” Mobius gave Loki a thumbs up. 

Loki shook his head and turned around to his previous targets, but saw that B-15 had taken their spot. 

“I’ve been waiting for this,” B-15 readied herself for a fight, raising her pruning stick into a stable stance.

“I have, as well,” Loki grinned at her, crouching into his own starting stance. 

B-15 stabbed towards him, he stepped out of the way. She grabbed the inactive end of the stick, making a fist, and threw a reinforced punch towards Loki's face. Loki dodged again, but she anticipated the direction of his dodge and drew back her elbow towards his cheekbone. She lightly grazed him, but he grabbed her arm before the full impact could reach him. She turned on the spot, her other armored fist aiming for his side. Loki backed off, that was too close. They circled each other, looking for openings. 

Mobius had never seen anyone last this long in a fight with B-15. Most of the time, it was over in one hit. She was one of the best for a reason. But of course Loki could hold his own. He was the same victor that they saw win today and, despite his cheating, he was still one of the top warriors in the kingdom.

Loki darted for B-15, his arms slender and graceful despite their intent to harm. The impact their strikes had on her, sending her back a few feet, seemed disproportionate to their elegance. Mobius’ eyes traveled along Loki’s back and legs and the way he could move like that even while wearing the stiff shoes the TVA gave him. B-15, all power and muscle, tried to keep up with Loki’s speed and agility. Again, Mobius admired how Loki was almost more of a dancer than a fighter. 

Distracted by the second sparring match he had watched a Loki participate in that day, Mobius realized a moment too late that X-5 was leaning up again, grunting with pain. It only took him a moment of rubbing his forehead before his eyes locked on Mobius. This time his face was full of an anger that didn’t suit a TVA agent. It felt personal now. 

“Woah, woah, hold on,” Mobius backed up a little too slowly as X-5 got to his feet. “Remember who told him not to stab you.”

X-5 didn’t listen. “Argh!” he charged, grabbed Mobius’ collar with his left hand and planted an armor-plated punch with his right fist across Mobius’ face. Then another. And another. Between the brain-rattling hits, Mobius remembered enough of his training to kick X-5's knee back, making him lose his balance and grip. Dazed and unable to get away quickly enough, Mobius felt X-5 grab the back of his jacket to hold him in place before ramming his knee into his chest, knocking him over. 

Loki’s smile evaporated instantly when he heard Mobius grunt in pain. His eyes found Mobius. He was on his knees, blood dripping from a gashes on his nose and cheekbone, and X-5 was holding him in place with a chokehold. B-15 looked over too. Her expression soured when she saw the bloodied agent who had been a close ally until a few minutes ago.

"Give it up, variant!" X-5 barked at Loki, his arm tightened under Mobius’ jaw as Mobius tried to pry the Hunter’s arm off him, blood in his mouth, his lip split. 

“Mobius!” Loki forgot all about B-15 and ran to Mobius. 

“Stop right there!” X-5 lifted Mobius to his feet by his neck, the analyst struggling to keep his balance. 

Mobius pulled at X-5’s arm hard, freeing his vocal chords just enough to shout, “Run, Loki!” 

Loki didn't move, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Mobius realized he really was dealing with a new kind of Loki. Before he could process that, he noticed the glow of B-15’s pruning stick lifted up behind Loki’s head. 

“Behin-!” Mobius’ warning was cut short by X-5’s armored forearm pressed hard against his throat. 

Loki quickly stepped aside just as B-15 jabbed forward with her stick, narrowly escaping deletion. He caught the hilt and rammed it back towards her chest, winding her. He snatched it away from her while she caught her breath and used the inactive end to knock her to the floor with one powerful hit. She’d only be down for a minute, but that was long enough. Loki tossed the stick and looked back to X-5, a personal anger in his eyes this time. 

“W-wait. Stay back!” X-5 squeezed Mobius’ neck harder, cutting off his air. 

Something ugly flashed in Loki’s expression. “As you wish.”

Quicker than X-5 could process, Loki’s second dagger appeared in his hand and was suddenly flying through the air until the blade implanted itself deep into X-5’s shoulder, forcing him to release Mobius with a loud cry of pain. Mobius fell to the ground, wheezing for air, and Loki sent a blast of magical energy speeding towards X-5’s face. It hit him dead on and sent him flying backward until he hit a wall, cracking it. He slid to the floor, completely unconscious this time. 

“Mobius,” Loki rushed over, his hands pulling the man to lean up. 

“You-you- were right. Yes- Yes , stabbing.” Mobius struggled to joke, coughing and wheezing after every word. 

“It tends to keep them down longer, yes,” Loki smiled at him, a tender laugh escaping him.

B-15 and the first Minutemen he had incapacitated were starting to get back up, groaning and calling for the others. 

Loki pulled at Mobius, “Come on, we need to get out of here. Take my hand.” Mobius didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed Loki’s hand and the ex-god wrapped Mobius’ arm over his shoulders. He lifted Mobius to his feet a little too easily. Mobius struggled to keep his feet on the ground until Loki lowered his shoulders into an accommodating stoop for the shorter man. Mobius felt Loki's other hand move along his back until his long fingers hooked onto his waist, squeezing him against his side. Mobius thought about saying he could walk on his own, but he knew he couldn’t - he could hardly breathe right yet, his chest was still throbbing from X-5's knee kick, and the room was still spinning a bit from the punches he took. He had to let Loki take the lead for now, he’d just try to keep up. 

After a few steps, they turned invisible with a green shimmer. Mobius caught a dizzy glimpse of another Loki and, strangely, another Mobius staggering off in another direction. Illusions. 

Mobius ignored the pain in his jaw and neck to look behind them at the groggy squad. Sure enough, they were pointing at the decoy illusions and helping each other up so they could chase the fakes down the other hallway. B-15 staggered a little as she led the charge.

Mobius put one foot in front of the other, hardly needing to, and looked at Loki’s profile. Loki had saved him. Both of them. His heart stuttered against his tender ribcage. 

“Ah,” he winced as the tension in his chest aggravated the bruises that were currently forming.

“Just a little further."

“Yeah,” Mobius responded, hoarse. He tightened his grip on Loki’s shoulder, his fingers clumsy and shy. 

"Here. There's a hidden entrance." Loki leaned over to the corridor’s stone wall and let go of Mobius’ waist. He felt around for a specific stone and found it. It clicked into place and a narrow passageway opened up. He grabbed onto Mobius again and led him into the dark stone passage first. “This will take us to one of my old training rooms.”

Loki tapped another stone and the entrance closed behind them.

“Right, yeah,” Mobius had a fuzzy recollection of the secret passages in the castle. This one was dark and cramped. It sloped downward for thirty or so feet until it exited into the training room. Loki’s hands shifted on him, running along his sides and across his back to support him in the confined space. He could feel his large palms pressing against him with a strong concern. All the contact was causing him to tense up. They were almost at the end of the passage and in the dim light of the training room when Mobius pushed Loki’s hands away, “Alright, I can walk now.” He made Loki let him go. Mobius took a few steps on his own and lost his balance just at the mouth of the passage exit.

Loki grabbed him again before he could fall. “Sit,” he ordered.

“Alright,” Mobius conceded, letting Loki lower him down to the floor. He leaned his back against the stone wall. He let out a long, shaky exhale that fought against him painfully. Pathetic. A couple of hits and he was out. Mobius looked up at Loki, who only had a few knicks after taking out an entire TVA squad. No blood or bruises messing up his face. Still just as handsome as ever. In fact, the fight seemed to have brightened him up again. The Loki he was looking up at reminded him more of the victor in the east wing than the captive who had been filing through TVA records just a few hours ago. 

Loki knelt down for a closer look at Mobius, concern pulled his brows to a peak. 

The gashes on Mobius’ nose and left cheekbone seemed wide. His fingers slid gently under Mobius’ jaw, lifting his face up and into the light. Loki leaned down for a closer examination. Mobius tried to lean back, pushing his palms against the ground, but there was nowhere to go with the wall behind him. He couldn’t think or talk as Loki’s face approached his own. He held his breath uncomfortably while the god assessed him. Loki’s fingers on his chin felt strange, but he stayed as still as possible.

“I thought the TVA would treat their own a little better.”

“Usually. But X-5 has always been a loose cannon with a few loose screws,” Mobius struggled to say such a long sentence, the inside of his mouth tender and bloody.

“We should clean that up,” Loki's fingers finally left Mobius’ face and allowed him to breathe a little easier for the moment.  

Mobius watched as Loki walked into the training room. It had dozens of weapons, of all types, lining the walls on shelves. In the center were dummies and targets that had been well-used. Long emerald curtains covered the walls, giving the training room a strangely sumptuous feel that suited a younger Loki's taste. Loki looked around for a second and then grabbed one of the curtains in his hands, as if to tear a portion off.

“No,” Mobius called out, lifting his hand. Loki looked at him, puzzled. “Variance energy.”

Loki thought for a moment, realizing he couldn’t use anything in the room. 

“It’s fine, Loki.” Mobius didn’t want a fuss. 

“Mobius, you’re covered in blood.” Loki suddenly got an idea. He shrugged off his jacket. He lifted it towards Mobius, this better ?

“... Yeah,” Mobius sighed, defeated.

Loki came back to Mobius, lowering himself to sit in front of him. Mobius awkwardly moved out of the way to accommodate Loki’s long legs. Loki inspected his TVA jacket and found the inner lining to be softer than exterior. He folded it back and then lifted the corner of the fabric from the interior breast pocket towards Mobius’ face, raising his eyebrows to ask for permission. 

Mobius gave him an impatient gesture of approval, get it over with . 

Loki started with the blood that had dripped down to Mobius’ jaw. There was nothing to be done about the new stains on Mobius’ shirt, but he couldn't walk around with blood drying on his face. Loki knew how uncomfortable that would be. 

He wiped across Mobius’ jawline carefully. The blood was still wet so it was coming off easily, at least. 

Loki glanced at the gashes on Mobius’ face, replaying the moment he had looked over to find Mobius in X-5’s grip. If they had had orders to prune Mobius, that would’ve been the end. A sick feeling dripped into his gut. Loki used his other hand to carefully angle Mobius’ face to the left. His fingertips appreciated touching him. It offered a reassurance Loki had never needed before; Mobius was still here, alive and warm. 

He glanced at the damage again and felt that sick sensation deepen. He could see purple bruises setting in along Mobius’ jaw. His bottom lip was split. He didn’t deserve this. His only crime was sparing a Loki. 

No matter where Loki went, his presence seemed to hurt the people around him. 

Loki rearranged his jacket to use a different patch of fabric. He pulled Mobius’ chin closer, cleaning the blood just under the gash on his cheek. 

“Hs,” Mobius inhaled as Loki brushed the blood from his cheek, his new bruises rebelling against the pressure. 

“Sorry,” Loki apologized, lightening his touch. 

The jacket was still warm from Loki’s body heat. It smelled like him, too. Mobius glanced at his face. It was strange that someone as strong and violent as Loki could also touch him like this. He couldn’t recall ever seeing Loki help someone like this on the timeline. 

“So, you’ve got a gentle touch, too,” Mobius joked. Loki didn’t respond, his eyes completely focused on what he was doing. Mobius wondered whether that was a weird thing to say.  

Again, he felt like an imposter in a story meant for someone else. This Loki had pledged his loyalty to him, saved his life, and was cleaning his wounds all within the last twenty minutes. This had to be someone else’s story. Someone else’s timeline. Why would a Loki go through all this for a TVA agent? Why him? He was just one of the thousands of TVA ‘peons’.

He had thought that Loki’s pledge had just been for survival, but how Loki had handled that fight proved that theory wrong. If it was about survival, he should’ve ran. Why would he go through the trouble for him? Mobius’ stomach turned anxiously at the thought that maybe Loki really was doing this for some reason that included Mobius.

He let Loki tilt his head further to the left, trying to ignore the pleasant pressure of Loki’s cool fingertips. “Loki.” He looked down.

“Yes?”

“You could’ve left me back there,” Mobius reminded him. “I wouldn’t have blamed you.” 

Loki stopped, putting the jacket down. He was quiet long enough for Mobius to look at him. Loki spoke quietly and clearly, “I have no intention of leaving you, Mobius. I gave you my word.”

The man's unused heart jumped again. A Loki giving him his word. He didn’t know what this feeling was, but it was strong. It was painful, deep, and it danced behind his ribs like a laugh. 

Mobius held all that back. All he let out was a smirk, despite his torn lip, and told another joke, “Who are you?”

Loki nodded gently, still figuring that out . 

Loki returned to what he was doing, the mirrored thought occurring to him, “They gave you one more chance to prune me back there. You could have changed your mind.”

Loki was right, but Mobius hadn’t even considered it. “I think I decided that that wasn’t going to happen a long time ago, actually. I just didn’t know it.” 

Loki suppressed a nervous smile. He had spent his life trying to convince people to choose him. Now that it had happened, he wasn’t sure how to react. It didn’t seem real. 

Loki wiped away some blood that had traveled down from Mobius' lip onto his chin. Mobius twitched backward. 

The energy between them was different than before. Charged. 

Mobius cleared his throat, as he usually did when he was overwhelmed by something. But this time clearing his throat turned out to be so painful he had to let out a grunt. 

“Let me see,” Loki lifted Mobius’ chin, exposing his neck. Mobius obliged, blinking awkwardly.

Angry red markings lined the man’s neck, purple bruises setting in. There was nothing Loki could do for them, but they bothered him all the same.

“It’s fine,” Mobius dismissed, looking back down. He pushed Loki’s hands away.

“I should’ve stopped it.”

“Don’t worry about it. This is new for the both of us. I haven’t had to defend myself since, well, a long time ago. And you don’t have a lot of experience protecting people, yet.”  

Loki silently agreed, appreciating the ‘yet’. 

Mobius replayed the fight in his mind, admiration coloring his memories. “You really kicked some ass back there. Took down B-15’s entire unit. I forgot you could fight like that.” 

“So did I.” Flattered, Loki looked at his hands, making fists. His knuckles were a little tender.

Mobius took the jacket from Loki, their fingers brushing. They both pretended not to notice. He dabbed at the blood from the bridge of his nose."You were kind of a hero back there. That must've felt good."

Loki chuckled, “Yes. It felt good to fight for something more than just myself for once.”

He watched Mobius. The warm pull he felt before was still present, maybe even strengthened by the anxiety of almost losing the man. It was a force that pushed him closer, daring him to keep touching him.

Mobius gingerly tapped the bridge of his nose, “At least it’s not broken. I’ve broken this thing so many times,” Mobius recalled his Hunter days silently, not touching any single memory too long. “That should do it. Sorry for cramping your style,” Mobius gave Loki his jacket back when he finished. He'd need to treat the cuts with disinfectant and bandages, but it was better.

Loki took back the jacket. 

“How do I look? Any uglier?” Mobius joked rhetorically.

Loki’s eyes flitted over Mobius’ face a little too seriously. The wounds were only ugly as far as the pain they must be causing Mobius. Besides the cuts and bruises, Loki could still appreciate his favorite parts of Mobius; the soft line of his ever-thoughtful brow, the smart charm in his eyes, and the handsome slope of his jawline when he smiled. 

“Not at all.” 

Mobius looked away and moved on quickly, “So, I guess I’m an outlaw now. It feels kinda strange. Kinda terrifying, actually.” Mobius started to feel the gravity of his situation settle in his bones. Was he really on the run from the TVA? Was this actually happening?

“You get used to it.” Loki had plenty of experience.

Mobius started to stand up, struggling, “Yeah, well, you’re gonna have to help me with the next part.” 

Loki stood up and grabbed his hand, pulling Mobius to his feet. “What part?” 

“How to live without a glorious purpose.” 

They stood there, hands interlocked.

Loki smiled, “We’ll find out together.”

The sound of several boots running muffled from the other side of the secret entrance at the other end of the passageway. The entrance was hidden and closed, but the Minutemen were getting closer.

“There’s Variance Energy over here!” A voice called out on the other side of the stone.

“They're starting to zero in on us,” Mobius forgot the warmth of the previous moment, anxiety pricking at him. 

“They must have disarmed the decoys. It’s hard to find this room, but not impossible.”

Mobius looked around, "We need to get out of here." The room didn’t have any visible exits.

“Why don’t we escape through a time gate?”

Mobius pulled his TemPad out, inspecting it, "They bugged my TemPad. If I open a gate they'll know exactly where I'm going and follow us. We won’t even have a minute to get away."

"Okay, so if we can’t leave using the TemPad, what's stopping them from resetting this whole place right now?” Loki tried not to think about B-15 disintegrating his other self and the whole festival.

Mobius shook his head, "Against policy. No resetting unless you reach a five-unit peak of variance energy."

“What are we at now?”

Mobius checked, “About three.” 

Loki ran his hands over his hair anxiously, thinking, "Alright. And a squad of Minutemen running through the palace of Asgard must be causing some more variance energy, right?"

"Yeah, the more they search for us, the less time we have." Mobius watched the variance energy on his TemPad tick upward, dread growing. "If we make a move they'll lock in on the coordinates of our variance energy, find us, and prune us. If we stay put, they eventually reset the whole kingdom." Mobius looked up at Loki. They exchanged worried looks.

This was getting worse by the second. 

A violent solution came to Loki, "They won’t be able to reset us if we prune them firs-"

Mobius tapped Loki’s chest with a stern warning, "Hey, no, these are my colleagues."

" Were ."

That reminder shook the ex-agent. This was actually happening. “... That doesn’t matter. I know those guys! We’ve gossiped over water coolers. I can’t just let you kill them.”

They were running out of options and Loki was losing patience, “I’m sorry to tell you, but sometimes it’s kill or be killed, Mobius.” 

“ No . No killing.” Mobius’ tone turned severe. “Betraying TVA orders is enough. I signed up to be a traitor. I’m not going to graduate to ‘murderer’.”

Loki shot him a dramatic look, “What do you think you’ve been doing this whole time, Mobius? You and these Hunters have been pruning people-”

“I was helping protect the universe-”

“No, you were controlling it. And I was next in line until just now.”

“Exactly-!” Mobius winced in pain from raising his voice. Loki flinched towards him with automatic concern. Mobius held up his hand to keep Loki back and calmed himself, “... And I couldn’t do it anymore. I just gave all that up. Eons of duty. Countless branches disintegrated in the name of order and I gave it up because I couldn’t do it to you.” That came out stronger than he intended. The expression on Loki’s face made him look away. Mobius lowered his voice, “Pruning in the name of the TVA was worth it. It made sense. We had a mission. But pruning just to save my own hide- it’s wrong.” 

Loki took a step towards Mobius. His voice lowered to nearly a whisper, “I’ll prune all of them in an instant if they try to hurt you again.”

Mobius’ looked up at him instantly, somewhere between shocked and disturbed. There was nothing but vicious sincerity in Loki’s eyes. Mobius stepped away. This was too much, too fast. He was still sore from disobeying the TVA, he couldn’t handle all this at once. “Loki. What are we doing here? We’ve been working together for five minutes and we’re already losing it. We won’t even have a chance to escape, they’ll just find us here bickering.” 

Loki lost his confidence for a moment, stepping back too. He understood now that he was scaring Mobius. It was hard to contain his old habits, but he tried. He attempted rationalism, “What we need is to get out of here. To do that, I’m suggesting we take the fight back to them.” Mobius gave him a forbidding look. Loki raised his hands, “ No pruning . But we’ll take their reset charges and their TemPads."

Mobius nodded, that felt better. 

Maybe this could work. This Loki was surprisingly capable of compromise. "Sounds like something the Variant would do,” Mobius commented. As soon as he heard himself say it, something clicked, “Wait a second. I’m getting an idea.”

“What?”

“If we can just figure out how to get out of here and a way to catch the Variant, maybe there’s a shot we won’t get pruned or tossed in a cell when they catch us.” 

Loki cocked his head back, confused by Mobius’ certainty, “ ‘When’ they catch us?” 

“Yeah, ‘when’. What else is gonna happen? Are we gonna hide out in apocalypses forever like Sylvie?” 

“No.” Loki’s plan resurfaced in his mind, “But maybe…” He paused was meaningfully. 

“No, no, don’t even think about it, Loki.” Mobius couldn’t leave the TVA to join the Variant that had been killing his people. 

“Sylvie might know something we don’t! The TVA wants me, possibly both of us, dead. She wants to bring down the TVA. Maybe this is worth considering?” 

Mobius shut his eyes for a second, gesturing sharply as he tried to stay calm, “Loki. You’re not seriously suggesting we join Sylvie, are you?” 

“I’m saying she might know something we should know.” 

Mobius waved his hands, ignoring the pain around in his throat as he spoke loudly, “No! We still have a chance. If we catch her and turn her in, they might go easy on us. We have to at least try.”

Loki realized he and Mobius were switching roles right now. Mobius was falling back on his glorious purpose, again. Loki could sympathize with the instinct to slip backwards into something safe, but it wasn’t making sense. He spoke calmly, “You just cast aside the TVA, Mobius. You decided you wanted something else. Why are you giving up already to rejoin them?”

Rejoin them? Mobius realized what he had been saying, “I’m not! I’m not. I- I don’t know-...” He shuffled slowly, his mind struggling to keep up with the beating of his heart, “All I know is that the TVA needs to keep going. It’s here to protect us. We can't help Sylvie destroy it.”

The sounds of something hitting the stone wall at the end of the passageway interrupted their confusion. 

“They’re trying to find a way in,” Loki realized. 

Mobius knew what was next, “They’ll use their TemPads soon if they can’t find a natural way in.” 

Loki needed to take the lead. He had been exactly where Mobius was. No one was in their right mind right after betraying their life’s purpose. But at least Loki had a head start.

He took inventory of what they needed, “We’re running out of time. What we do know is that we need to find Sylvie. We’ll learn what she knows and then we can decide whether we’ll take her to the Time Keepers, like you want.” 

“No, like you want. You just want to get in front of the keepers to kill them,” Mobius groaned.

Loki ignored Mobius’ attempt to pick a fight. “Mobius, we need to focus on what’s happening right now. We have to get ready to fight our way out.” Loki walked into the center of the training room looking at the weapons around them. 

Mobius leaned against the wall, "And we just gotta crack this case and find Sylvie with no TVA files, no Hunters, no TemPads, with no idea what we want, while running for our lives." Mobius grunted as he massaged the side of his neck. “Should be a piece of cake,” he grinned hopelessly. Had he just signed them up for a suicide mission?

Loki seemed to find something. He walked to a display case on the southern wall. Mobius watched as Loki opened the case and reached for the weapon inside: an enchanted Frost Giant warhammer. A trophy from one of the many skirmishes with Loki’s kind. It was, by far, the most powerful object in the room. It had only been there as an inspiring decoration- a reminder of Asgard’s military prowess. An Asgardian would never fight with Frost Giant weaponry, but this was a time for extreme measures. Loki grabbed the warhammer.

“Don’t!” Mobius warned. “Don’t touch anything or you’ll leave more variance ener-” 

Mobius stopped talking as he saw Loki turn to him. Loki's bright eyes were now a deep crimson and his skin was slowly turning Jotun blue.

Mobius had never seen this in person, “Woah. That’s right. That must have some Frost Giant magic.” 

Loki, looking at his hands, was now completely in his natural form. Mobius stuttered a moment, taking a few steps towards him. 

Getting a close look at the semicircular Jotun etchings on Loki’s transformed face, he couldn’t help but ask, “Does that feel weird- turning blue?”

Loki was taken aback by the strangely rude question, “No. Is it weird? Does it look like it’d be weird-?”

“No-no, it’s fine. It just looks uncomfortable.”

“What do you mean?” Loki looked at his reflection in a pane of display case glass, self-conscious, “This was how I was born. I can’t really help it-”

Always curious, Mobius had let the urgency of their situation go completely out the window, “Yeah, was that a conscious decision on your part to always not be blue? I never got that."

"What? No. Odin cast a spell. So I could fit in." Loki said it like it was obvious.

“Oh, of course,” Mobius gestured sarcastically, should've known that. “But at least if you had been blue you would’ve gotten some more attention. Kinda hard to ignore a blue kid running around.”

Loki gave him a look, his red eyes far more effective than his blue ones. Mobius might’ve actually been intimidated if a light bulb hadn't just gone off in his mind. Blue . Blue kid. Something was there. What was he remembering? Blue!

“Kablooie!” He exclaimed.

“Excuse me?”

Mobius was back to full urgency, taking out his TemPad in a rush, “We’re going back to the TVA.”

“To turn me in?” Loki was too confused to keep up.

“What, no! I need to check some files.” Mobius opened his TemPad but then closed it quickly, remembering why he couldn’t use it. “First, I need a new TemPad.” 

The out-of-the-loop Loki shrugged with frustration, can’t help with that .

“How’s your disguise magic?”

“... Why?”

Chapter Text

“Is there a hidden room back there?” B-15 asked L-3 who was busy searching through the blueprints of the Asgardian castle on their TemPad. The other Minutemen continued to tap the stones on the wall with the dead ends of their pruning batons, checking for mechanisms or levers. 

L-3 shook their head, “The schematics don’t show anything back there.”

Was this another one of Loki’s tricks? They had chased a fake Loki and Mobius in and out of rooms for several minutes before they got the variance energy reading coming from this area. 

The last tick of energy had pointed them to a position just behind this wall, but there were no entrances anywhere. B-15 knew their targets were on the other side of the stone wall somehow. 

B-15 heard a group of voices from the main hallway: Asgardians, just out of sight, were leisurely strolling between dining halls, laughing and singing with one another. A woman’s high-pitched laughter rang through the halls. They were doing what they should as people on the Timeline, playing their part. B-15 had to stay focused. They needed to get this over with as quickly as possible to avoid being seen and creating a branch. 

“Whatever opens this is too well-hidden,” she looked over the stone wall in front of them, trying to find something that couldn’t be seen. She pointed to another Minuteman, “K-7, head back to the north corridor and look for other points of entry.”

K-7 nodded their still aching head and got into a jogging start down the hallway but soon slowed to an unsure stop, “B-15-” their notification was cut short. 

“Prince!” A high-pitched voice called in a sing-song tone from the other end of the corridor.

A tipsy Asgardian woman with red hair and nearly sheer red robes came swaying down the hallway, tripping over her bare feet. She took a few more drunken steps in their direction before she noticed them and stopped in her tracks. 

“What should we do?” L-3 asked B-15, worried. They had never had to report to the Sacred Timeline like this before. If this had been a branch they would’ve pruned the woman on the spot to keep her from becoming a problem. If they did that now, they’d be erasing a woman from existence on the Timeline. That would definitely cause a massive branch.

B-15 held out her arm to stop the Minutemen behind her from approaching the woman, “Don’t engage-”

“Have you seen my victor?!” She came skipping over to them.

The Minutemen all took a few steps back as the beautiful woman approached them. They all looked to B-15, almost scared. 

B-15 stepped forward to distract the woman from the others, stony faced. 

“Have you seen my victor?” The woman asked after a hiccup, her speech slurred but still lovely. 

She wasn’t going to respond. Anything she’d say would contaminate the Timeline. B-15 looked away from her, as if she hadn’t heard her. Her Minutemen followed her lead, turning around. 

They were stuck. 

Running would make them appear even more strange, which would leave a longer impression on witnesses and possibly cause branches. Their one advantage was that this woman was drunk. If they behaved as unremarkably as possible, the woman might forget about them. 

“You are all dressed so strangely.” The woman approached them, reaching out to B-15, as if to feel the texture of her alien clothes. B-15 stepped back. The woman followed. B-15 backed up again. “Wait! What are you doing?” She laughed and caught up with B-15 like they were playing tag. “Who are all of you?” 

B-15 stood as still as a statue. 

“You know what? I don't care.” The woman gave up her curiosity quickly. She sighed and leaned a plush arm onto B-15’s shoulder, as if they were friends. She looked up at B-15 with doe eyes. “Have you seen the prince? Prince Loki? Not Thor ,” she distinguished as if a ‘Thor’ was something foul.

B-15 stiffened at that. They happened to be looking for different versions of the same person. She still didn’t say anything. The Minutemen behind her were just as still, confusion and fear rippling through each of them in an uncharacteristic moment of ineptitude from the usually ace squad.

The woman giggled to herself, “He's tall , dark hair, and… indecently handsome. He said we were going to spend some time together tonight,” she whispered the dirty secret between breathy giggles.  

She received only silence from the group of living mannequins.

The woman leaned up, a childishly offended look on her face, “Why will none of you speak to me?” She waved her arms at them as though they were a mile away. Her pantomime made her giggle so hard she tripped over her own toes and fell squarely against B-15, “Oh!”

B-15 pushed her up and off with an annoyed exhale.

“Oh, you're strong,” the woman cooed. She pushed B-15’s shoulder playfully.

K-7 raised their baton towards the woman out of instinct. B-15 turned and gave them a prohibiting look.

“What’s that thing? Rude.” The woman slapped the active pruning stick away from her face, lucky not to touch the deadly point. She sighed, frustrated, “None of you are any help. I'll tell the guards.” 

The squad flinched at the threat.

“Wait. No, I won't.” She laughed and wobbled as she turned around towards the main corridor again. She whined and let out a pout, “Where's my Loki?”

When the woman had stumbled her way back to the main corridor and out of sight, B-15 and her squad took a relieved breath. They looked at each other, each of them troubled by the encounter with one of the Sacred Timeline beings. 

“You should’ve pruned her,” X-5 spoke up, still the groggiest of them all from the particularly brutal beating he had taken. “That way we could just reset this place and get it over with.”

“We don’t cause branches, X-5. We protect the Timeline,” B-15 replied with a tone that scared her subordinates. “Maybe I need to tell General Dox that you’re suggesting we commit Class A offenses now?”

He looked away, mumbling something B-15 didn’t care about. 

“Check the variance energy levels,” B-15 ordered L-3. Despite her attempt to avoid it, that exchange could’ve put them over the five-unit peak necessary to make this a branch. She really didn’t need that on her record. 

“Levels are unchanged,” L-3 reported, relieved. 

“What?” B-15 looked at L-3. “That can’t be right.” Even just being seen by a Timeline being should’ve been at least a one-unit increase.

B-15 had to check this herself. She reached into her pocket for her TemPad.

Where was it?

She checked her other pocket. 

It was gone. 

“She took my TemPad!” B-15 started running towards the main corridor, the others shuffling to catch up with her. 

“Through here!” The redhead pulled Mobius by his hand down the servant’s hall. 

“You got it?” Mobius asked as he tried to run, a little frantic.

She waved the brass TemPad over her shoulder confidently. 

“Great!” Finally, a plan that worked . 

Using a secret exit out of the training room to their advantage, Mobius had planned out the sting. He had guessed correctly that B-15 would choke if a handsy Timeline bystander got too close.

Mobius struggled to keep up with the woman pulling him by his hand, his chest still aching. He stopped when she did, almost bumping into her. "What?" They were in one of the long servants’ hall. She didn't respond. She looked back and forth, counting the scones on the wall. Mobius watched, confused. 

Remembering which one was the correct one, she smiled and pulled the third sconce from the left ten degrees to the right and a panel in the wall slowly opened to a dark descending staircase.

“How many secret rooms does this castle have ?” Mobius asked in bothered amazement as she pulled him into the shadowy passage, closing it behind them just as the sound of boots were turning the corner down the hall. They had made it just in time. 

“Hundreds. I put most of them in myself,” she responded, a little out of breath. 

“That’s right”, Mobius recalled looking around the dark passage. This one offered no lighting at all, they only had the ambient glow from the light under the crack of the secret entrance. Mobius anchored himself against the wall behind him, trying to breathe slower to rest his sore ribcage.

This passage was even more cramped than the last one. It was only a narrow staircase leading to another hidden room somewhere beneath them. They were packed a little tightly, trying to keep balance while standing on different steps. 

Loki struggled with her robes, which weren’t meant for running. They had twisted around her ankles. Fixing the problem, she rested a soft hand on Mobius’ chest for balance. She was still adjusting to her temporary body. 

Mobius pulled back a bit. Seeing Loki as the beautiful Aesa, up close, was… weird. 

Shuffling to get her shapely legs free, she leaned forward even further and, for a moment, her breasts pressed against Mobius' arm. 

“ Alright - Alright, Loki.” Mobius pushed Loki back with a polite hand. “That’s enough. You had your fun, now gimme some space.”

Surprised, Loki looked up at Mobius with her new green eyes, brushing her red hair back the way Loki had usually brushed his dark hair back. And then she got that look in her eye. Mobius realized too late that he had accidentally goaded Loki into more mischief. 

“Oh, is she your type?” Loki asked sweetly as she splayed her delicate fingers up Mobius' chest, smiling up at him.

Mobius jerked his head back with an are-you-crazy expression, “Hey! No, stop- I liked you better the other way.” He had meant he just wanted Loki to go back to normal, but what he heard himself say sounded very different. 

Loki transformed back to his former self with an instant shimmer, his larger, stronger hand still on Mobius’ chest. “I’m flattered,” the god quipped with that troublemaking grin. With Loki on a lower step, they were almost eye to eye. 

Mobius let out an exasperated breath, “Loki- Come on, you know what I meant. Don’t do that-” He smacked Loki’s hand off of him and Loki only chuckled. “Just hurry and gimme the TemPad before we get killed.” 

“It was a good plan,” Loki said softly as he offered Mobius the fresh, unbugged TemPad. His smile held nothing but good humor and tenderness now.

“Yeah, I know ,” Mobius gave him attitude, snatching the TemPad from him, still prickly from being teased. 

Mobius knew he should've known entering an alliance with Loki would end up like this- even when a trickster was on your side, they would still have fun at your expense. Mobius was sorely missing the authority he used to have over the god. Now, every time he thought he knew what was going on, Loki had to pull something like that.

Mobius tapped coordinates into the TemPad, trying to ignore how Loki was towering over him, watching him with that smile on his face. Why did it feel like he was in a sauna standing next to him? This was all getting really weird, really fast. But at least they were back on track.

A TVA librarian squeaked their little cart through the study area's research tables as soft, yet scratchy, muzak played over a little transistor radio perched on the top shelf of their cart. Every table was clear, except one. They squeaked their way over to the one messy table. They looked at the sprawl of files that had been left unattended. 

“These two never clean up after themselves,” they muttered to themself as they started to organize the files into piles, readying to put them on their cart. It had been hours since those two left. If these files were so important to them they should’ve been back to collect them by now. They’ll just have to check them out again if they need them. After all, it was against policy to leave your files unattended. Anyone could come and see something they weren’t authorized to see. 

As the librarian organized the stacks, they started to pluck up the courage to maybe file a report about these two. They had been nothing but trouble; harassing other patrons, eating and drinking while touching files, and, now, leaving their things out for hours at a time.

The librarian smirked as they imagined the punishment fitting the crime, “... Get their check-out privileges revoked- Ah!”

The librarian jumped, dropping the files in their hands as a time gate the size of a window suddenly slid open at the edge of the table. 

“Sh!” Someone in the distance didn’t appreciate the librarian’s surprised exclamation. 

A head and pair of shoulders peaked through the time window, “Hey, sorry about this. You think you could hand me those files?”

The librarian recognized the gray-haired agent as the one who had checked these files out with that terrible variant consultant, “You-you can’t take these off TVA premises!” Their whisper sounded like a yell.

Mobius nodded impatiently, “You know what, you’re right. But I got these urgent orders from Judge Renslayer and she told me that she’ll make this one exception.”

The librarian gave him a look, “I didn’t receive a memo about this. You’ll need to file an Asset Removal Request with-”

“We don't have time, we’re about to catch an extremely dangerous Variant.” 

The librarian squinted at him, wary. 

Mobius cracked a charming grin, “You’d be a big part of this case if you do this for us. I’ll put in a word with Renslayer.” These librarians were notorious sticklers, he had to sweeten the deal. “Want a promotion? Or maybe you guys want that new coffee maker you’ve been lobbying for.”  

Loki, on the other side of the time window, sat in the quiet staircase as Mobius leaned into the TVA. Loki couldn’t hear whatever was happening in the TVA as time gates don’t allow noise through. The time window was Mobius’ idea. If they start tracking B-15’s TemPad in the future, there will only be one gate going to the TVA without an exit gate, it would help cover their tracks and confuse their pursuers.

Loki straightened his tie as he waited, smiling to himself as he replayed Mobius' reaction to his latest mischief in his mind. 

Wait. What was that sound? Loki looked at the sealed entrance. Someone was tapping at the stone. He hoped it was a coincidence.

The taps became more determined.

Not a coincidence.

“Mobius,” he called out.

Mobius was busy in the TVA, “You know the one, the silver one with the steamer. I hear Evidence got that model,” he whistled, straining against his sore throat, “it's a beaut. I want one.” 

The tapping turned into knocking on the other side of the secret entrance. 

“Mobius, they found us.” He reached over and stuck his hand into the time window. He felt his fingers make contact with Mobius’ shoulder.

“Ah!” The librarian squeaked again at the disembodied hand tapping on Mobius’ shoulder.

“Shh!” Someone out of sight demanded. 

Mobius raised a finger at the librarian, “Just a sec’.” Mobius leaned out of the TVA library and into the Asgardian passage, “ What ?” 

“They found us.” Loki pointed at the entrance, which was being noisily investigated by the Minutemen on the other side. 

Worry took over Mobius’ expression, he hadn’t thought they’d tracked their variance energy so quickly, “Alright, gimme a second.” Mobius leaned back into the TVA, ignoring the look Loki gave him.

“Hey, sorry, but we need those files now .” Mobius reached out a hand.  

The librarian gave him a distrusting sneer for a moment, but then thought of the silver espresso machine with the steam wand and pressure dial. After a moment, they picked up a pile of files with a huff and started to bring the stack over to the time window. 

Mobius smiled, “Great, thanks, just keep handing them over.” He took the stack with both hands, careful not to fall through the gate completely. He leaned back into Asgard and heaved the heavy stack into Loki’s arms, “Incoming.” 

Loki juggled the stack, placing it down to rest on the step beside him. All the while, he kept a worried eye on the entrance.

Mobius leaned into the TVA and emerged, again, with another tall stack of folders. “Hot potato,” he dropped them in Loki’s arms with a breath. Loki almost dropped them. “Got ‘em?” Mobius checked, eyeing Loki. Loki gave him a bratty glance. “Yeah, you got it,” Mobius dismissed Loki, leaning back into the TVA. 

Loki set down the stack on another step and that’s when he heard what he’d been dreading. The sconce on the other side of the wall was squeaking. Someone was turning it, trying to figure out the exact angle. They shouldn’t be able to figure it out for a few more minut-

The door started sliding open slowly. 

“ Mobius ,” Loki tugged at Mobius’ jacket.

A pair of gloved hands started pulling at the door to try and speed its opening. 

Mobius rejoined Loki in Asgard with another stack, “That’s almost all of them.” He plopped the files in Loki’s arms. He noticed Loki was standing incredibly still. Mobius followed Loki’s wide-eyed look to the entrance and saw it was being breached. “Not good. Buy us some time,” Mobius patted Loki’s chest before reaching into the TVA again. 

The librarian’s patience was wearing thin. Mobius looked around, only one more pile. “You're helping us out big time. Just that last pile over there.” 

The librarian took their sweet time walking around the table to get the stack, their muzak serenading them.

“Mobius!” Loki whisper-yelled to the man who couldn’t hear him. The stone door was now halfway open. Loki made eye contact with B-15, who was pulling the door open. Loki shot up a few steps towards them, not sure what to do. 

L-3 snuck over to the side of the entrance. It wasn’t enough room to get in, but they poked their pruning stick through the empty space, waving it ineffectually towards Loki. He prepared himself for a fight. 

“We’ll bring them back, I promise.” Mobius took the last stack from the librarian. “Won't even miss them.” And with that Mobius pulled the last of the files into Asgard and set them on the step beside him. “Doing okay over there, Loki?” He called out as he tapped on his TemPad to close the time window in front of him, leaving the librarian alone and confused in the quiet library again. 

“Hurry!” Loki dodged L-3’s pruning stick and grabbed the middle of the hilt, yanking it free from the agent who yelled at him to give it back. The door was almost open enough to let them through. 

“Alright, let me find a good apocalypse real quick,” Mobius ordered. 

“ Mobius !” Loki glared over his shoulder, the ex-agent wasn’t being urgent enough for Loki’s liking. When he looked back at the door it was too late. It was open and B-15 was taking her first steps down. Loki panicked and, with a flinch, blasted her with a push of magic that catapulted her back and onto the floor of the outside corridor. K-7 quickly took her place, starting to climb into the now not-so-secret staircase.  

“Dah, dah, dah,” Mobius breathed out as he filed through the folders in the dark, “No,” he flung one aside. “Nope,” he flung another. He ignored the sounds of struggle behind him.

Loki slammed K-7’s baton-wielding hand against the wall, making her lose her grip, and then jammed the heel of his palm up against the visor of her helmet. Dazed, she stumbled back and tripped a step. Having lost her balance, she congested the staircase for a moment, slowing the others behind her despite how much they struggled to get through. 

Mobius pulled another file out of a pile. 

Skrullos. 

“That’ll do it,” he mumbled happily. “Got it!” he raised the folder above his head, looking back at Loki. 

“Get us out of here!” Loki yelled as he gave the reoriented K-7 a kick to her chestplate, knocking her back against her teammates behind her who were squeezing their way in. 

“Right,” Mobius quickly typed on the TemPad and a time gate opened. 

Loki heard the gate slide open and turned around, ready to run through, but he was met with something different: the time gate was horizontal. It was positioned so that you could leap down the staircase and into it. So, instead of falling down the stairs, you’d be falling into a new point of spacetime. Mobius was hurriedly pushing all the files into the time gate, using gravity to his advantage to move the heavy stacks through the gate with only a nudge each. “Get in!” Mobius waved Loki over.

Loki shot one last blast of energy at the bottlenecked Minutemen, buying him a few seconds to run down the steps towards Mobius and the horizontal gate. Loki hesitated, looking down at the gate, he had no idea where they were going. 

“It’s fine, just go!” Mobius gave Loki’s shoulder a shove and Loki fell through the gate, flailing.

Mobius stepped in front of the gate, making sure all the files were in. They were. 

“Mobius!” B-15 yelled from behind the shuffling Minutemen. “Don’t!” 

Mobius looked back at her, “Sorry. I gotta do this.” 

“But he’s a variant!”

“He’s more than that.” Mobius stepped into the time gate with a swift drop, smiling at B-15 as he did. 

X-5 scrambled into action, desperately jumping after the fugitive. However, the time gate slid shut the instant Mobius fell through, leaving X-5 to the mercy of gravity and the long descending staircase beneath him.

B-15 and the others listened to X-5’s grunts as he tumbled downward, their targets having disappeared somewhere into all of time and space. 

1984

Skrullos 

Military supply bunker

10 hours before the final Kree invasion

Loki fell through the time gate, which, on this end of spacetime, was vertical. He landed with his palms hitting the ground, barely catching himself in a push-up stance to prevent his face from hitting the dusty concrete floor. Disoriented from the shift in gravitational pull from falling downward and then sideways, he lowered himself to the ground and turned over. He laid his back with a groan. He was surrounded by scattered TVA files. He caught his breath for a moment, looking at the bright white lights above him in the dark-walled room. Where was he?

He forgot his question when the sound of someone else coming through the time gate interrupted him. There was no time to get out of the way before Mobius fell out of the gate. 

“Ough,” Loki grunted as the man fell on top of him. The gate closed instantly. 

“We made it,” the ex-agent celebrated, catching his breath.

“Mobius,” Loki coughed as he grabbed Mobius’ sides to help lift him off his chest, Mobius’ elbow was leaning painfully into his stomach.

Mobius held back his relieved laughter, exhilarated by the close shave.

“Sorry,” Mobius started to turn over, his hands finding the ground, their legs tangling. He planted his knees on the ground, one by Loki’s hip and the other accidentally between his legs. Mobius’ bruised chest still ached as he pushed himself up, both palms on the ground on either side of Loki. “You alright?” He asked just as he looked down at Loki. The moment his eyes focused on the Asgardian prince, he forgot what he had asked and his smile left his face.

The god of mischief was looking up at him from underneath him, catching his breath. His raven hair was disheveled around him, his dark brow pinched at an expressive peak. Even the harsh white lights of the bunker complimented Loki’s face with an unfairly handsome glow. What had he been doing? He forgot.

“I don’t appreciate being pushed through portals without knowing where I’m going,” Loki’s blue eyes were looking up at him with a friendly annoyance.

Mobius shook his head and blinked several times, resetting his mind, “Yeah, sorry. There was no time to explain.” 

Mobius looked around, getting his bearings in the room. His expression was serious and all laughter was gone. Where had the celebration gone, Loki wondered. He suddenly sensed a certain shyness from the man. The way he had been looking down at him a moment ago had been different. 

Mobius started to push himself up, almost getting to his feet. 

“Mobius.” Loki grabbed his arm, keeping him in place. 

“What?” Mobius glanced down at him, uncomfortable.

Loki stared at him, trying to read him. His eyes traveled over his face; from his tense brow, to his lips, to his eyes. This was different. It wasn't his imagination. Loki had seen that look in the eyes of hundreds of people in his life. Thousands, probably. He had never seen it from Mobius. Loki’s heart quickened at what it could mean. 

“ What ?” Mobius was obviously impatient to get up.

“Uh, where are we?” Loki improvised a question to excuse his lingering look. 

“Oh,” Mobius had been afraid the prince was going to say something else, crack another joke like he had as Aesa. “Skrullos.” Mobius leaned up to his knees and then to his feet, trying to ignore the tall, graceful figure of the god lying beneath him as he stepped back and out of Loki’s space. 

Loki leaned up on his palms, looking around. There were rows of shelves upon shelves of alien containers in the windowless subterranean bunker. The walls were a dark, leathery violet with a green sheen. There was only one door and it looked like it was sealed by some kind of security nodule made of glowing blue gel.

Mobius’ hand came into view, offering help. Loki looked at it and up to the man. He took it, his other hand grabbing Mobius’ arm for more leverage. Loki stood up, his hands enjoying the feeling of Mobius’ arm. He let go slowly. 

“This place should have pretty much anything we need before we go find Sylvie. Armor, weapons, bandages,” Mobius pointed at his face as he looked around them at the shelves of alien supplies. 

“What apocalypse is this?”

“Oh, sad story,” Mobius pointed above them, towards the surface, “The Kree are gonna come raining hellfire down on the entire planet soon. It's the Skrulls’ last stand before losing their homeworld. It isn’t a natural disaster, technically, but when it comes to this level of destruction, no one on the surface makes it out alive.”

“Right,” Loki recalled hearing about this somewhere. As a reformed conqueror, it felt strange to sympathize with the Skrull people, but he did. Loki looked at the mess around their feet, “And why’d we need to bring these? What was that word you said, before all this?”

“Kablooie,” Mobius smiled at him proudly. 

“And what exactly is that?”

Mobius stooped to organize the folders into piles, “Just before I picked you up from Renslayer’s courtroom, I was in 16th century France, cleaning up after one of Sylvie’s attacks.” Mobius heaved a stack of files onto a strange workbench in the middle of the room. Loki started to help him. “There was a boy who saw what happened. He was eating some candy that definitely didn’t belong there. An anachronism. ‘Kablooie’. Turned his mouth blue. Just like you with the Frost Giant magic,” Mobius teased.

"That's completely different." Loki wasn't pleased by the comparison.

"So touchy." Mobius smirked.

Loki sighed, “So, what does this ‘candy’ do for us?” Loki took another stack to the table. 

“Sylvie gave it to him,” Mobius paused. “Where’d she get it from?”

Loki nodded, finally understanding, “So, we look through all these doomsdays for a time and place where Sylvie has access to this Kablooie product?”

“Bingo,” Mobius grinned at him as he picked up more folders. 

“Sounds like we have a new lead.” It felt good to have a sense of direction again.

“I guess ditching the TVA didn’t impair my analytical skills,” Mobius was pleased to report. 

With all the files picked up, Loki looked at the now cluttered workbench, not as pleased with their new task. Even after forsaking the TVA, he was still consigned to sifting through paperwork? He glanced at the energized Mobius beside him. The gashes on his face still looked painful. “Before research, let’s take care of those,” Loki ordered.

“Uh, yeah, there should be some medical supplies in here.” Mobius started looking on the right side of the room, Loki took the left. 

Despite the otherworldly script on the shelves and boxes, Loki found that he could read all of the labels. “I never studied the Skrull language, how can I read this?”

“I told you, TVA secrets.” Mobius started pulling out some boxes. The prince still wasn’t appeased by that vague answer. Mobius grinned, “All TVA field agents are required to know the languages on the Timeline, but, just in case, walking through a time gate gives you some temporary perks. Don’t worry about it.”

Loki tried not to. He checked the labels for each container. Ready Meals. Weapon Rechargers. Engines Toolkit.

Medicine .

“Here,” Loki called out. He pulled the box from the shelf and carried it over to another workbench in the center of the room. 

“Great, open ‘er up.” Mobius was in a good mood. 

Loki pried open the top of the container. It was full of strange packages and bottles made from materials that didn’t have Asgardian or Earthly comparisons. “What am I looking at?”

“Give it over,” Mobius ordered, nudging Loki’s arm with his shoulder to get to the box. He picked up a few of the containers, reading them carefully. After a couple tries he found the one that was labeled, Disinfectant . 

The disinfectant was a bit different than what you’d find on Earth. It was intended for Skrull use. However, humans and Skrulls shared remarkably similar genetic makeup. Close enough for it to be safe to share some basic medicine. After all, they both thrived in the same atmospheres, environments, and even looked very similar even without the Skrull shapeshifting. Mobius was rusty on his history- were humans and Skrulls related somehow? Didn’t matter. The disinfectant was still gonna work, it would just be a little more irritating than the preferred isopropyl alcohol. He could handle it. And, luckily, the bandages worked the same as Earth ones. They were manufactured with different, alien materials, but they’d cinch his cuts closed all the same. 

Mobius opened the disinfectant as Loki read labels on other packages from the box out of curiosity. Mobius grabbed the package of bandages and ripped it open. He fished out the equivalent of a Skrull cotton ball and turned the disinfectant bottle on it, soaking its fibers. Mobius haphazardly dabbed at his own face, hissing from the pain.

“Let me,” Loki couldn’t keep out of it any longer. He knew how clumsy it was to treat your own wounds. He stepped over and grabbed the disinfectant from Mobius’ hand. Mobius’ fingers twitched when he touched them. 

“Thanks,” he said quietly, looking over Loki’s shoulder as he faced him. 

Loki was happy to do it. 

“Ow,” Mobius flinched back from Loki. The disinfectant packed a sting that was a little stronger than he had anticipated. 

Loki set down the bottle and used his left hand to hold Mobius’ face still, preventing further flinching.

It brought Mobius’ face uncomfortably close to Loki’s, with no escape. Having him act as his nurse twice in one day was a bit much, but this was just the reality the analyst had found himself in. Somehow. 

Mobius watched Loki’s expression as he cleaned his wounds, studying his features. Loki’s eyes were kinder than they used to be. The prince’s lips were parted thoughtfully. 

“Has this ever happened before?” 

“Wh-What?” Mobius pushed any thought about Loki’s lips out of his head, where they belonged.

Something wasn’t making sense, “Has anyone else done this? Run from the TVA? Refused to prune a variant?”

“Run? Not that I know of. But, yeah, some agents haven’t pruned someone when they should’ve. Couple times.” 

“What happened to them?” Loki, ignoring the pleasure of holding Mobius’ face so close, prepared himself to hear the precedent of what would be their sentencing if the TVA captured them. 

“Depends.” Mobius let out a troubled exhale, blinking down as Loki got a new ‘cotton ball’ and soaked it with disinfectant. “Uh… There was a Hunter once…” He stood still as Loki dabbed at the cut on the bridge of his nose. “... He lost sight of the big picture. Didn’t want to prune a little boy.” Mobius’ heart was beating faster. Not from Loki’s eye contact or hands, which had been the usual cause that day, but from telling this particular story. 

He played it down, keeping his tone light. “The kid was a variant. He had just decided to go swimming at the docks by the Black Sea with his brother one day when he shouldn’t have.” 

Loki’s concentrated expression hardened at the innocent nature of the child’s capital ‘crime’ against the Timeline.

“Lots of people were gonna die because of that decision who weren’t supposed to die.” Mobius stared into space. “But he was just a kid. Minding his business. Having fun.”

Loki recognized a strange bitterness in Mobius’ expression. The man’s good mood had evaporated, leaving what looked like an angry sort of pain behind. 

He understood whose story this was.

He carefully placed a Skrull closure bandage on Mobius’ cheek. The agent squinted as he applied it. Loki closed the disinfectant bottle, “What happened?” 

“People died. Branches took off faster than you could catch ‘em. Couple Hunters got caught in the crossfire.” Mobius swallowed, recalling the lives he had condemned because of his hesitation. 

Loki was looking at him with pity he didn’t expect from the ex-conqueror. 

“Uh, Ravonna. She stepped in. Fixed it. Did what I couldn’t.” 

Loki gave him that look again. Pity.

Mobius inhaled, trying to lighten up, “What’s done’s done. I took my demotion, Ravonna became a judge. She had the nerves I didn’t. She could call the shots that needed to be called.”

Loki stared at Mobius as the man stepped back silently. 

“What if you made the right call?” Loki challenged softly.

Mobius ignored it. He knew what responding to that would lead to. Another one of Loki’s attempts to rationalize the destruction of the TVA and the universe with it. He wasn’t in the mood for bickering anymore.

Mobius tapped his cheek, testing the adhesive of the bandage. “Uh, good job with this. I’m… gonna look for some armor. I don’t want a repeat of what happened with X-5 when we find Sylvie.” 

-

“What do you mean they ‘got away’?” Ravonna stopped in the hallway, talking through her TemPad. Agents sped by her, scared of her tone.

B-15 spoke into L-3’s TemPad, stoically ashamed, “The variant used his magic to steal my TemPad. They got away with what looked like stolen files.” Her Minutemen filed through a time gate back to the TVA, leaving Asgard. 

“Why would they steal files?” After only a moment, Ravonna thought of her own answer: They were still going to try and find the Variant. 

But why? 

L1130 would want an ally, of course. But Mobius? Would he want to overthrow the Time Keepers, too? Six hours ago, Ravonna would’ve thought that was impossible. But Ravonna realized she hadn’t known Mobius at all if he would choose a Loki over the TVA. 

None of this was adding up.

“Have you put a tracker on your TemPad’s signature yet?”

“In the process now,” B-15 was the last to go through the gate, her boots touching back down at the TVA hub. 

“Good. The next move they make, take two squadrons and follow them. From a distance. They’ll lead us straight to the Variant.”

Chapter Text

“Not to sound ungrateful, Mobius, because I am… grateful,” Loki approached Mobius as he checked a row of containers on a shelf. “But, why?” 

“Why, what?” Mobius didn’t stop what he was doing.

“After what happened last time… why spare me? Why are you doing this?” He stepped closer, “Especially when you knew what I’d want to do.” He left it unsaid: overthrow the keepers .

“Call it a moment of insanity,” Mobius cracked open a box. “A moment that just keeps goin’.”

“If we’re going to be working together, I need to know why.” 

“Loki-” Mobius sighed, losing the last of his patience. But he was in a corner. The look Loki was giving him was too real to ignore. 

Why'd it always have to be something with him? Always some kind of question or trick or joke. Always pushing for more, more, more.

He almost missed the quiet that had disappeared from his life the moment Loki had walked into it. Almost. 

Mobius gave up, “Okay, fine." He thought for a moment. "A long time ago, probably centuries, I don’t know…,” he moved on to another box full of weird electronics he didn’t understand, “I was doing some research for a case, nursing some old wounds from my time as a Hunter. And I, uh, I was watching some video files of this guy. He was a real piece of work,” he smirked to himself, closing the box and moving onto the next. “He’d go around hurting people, stabbing them in the back, poppin’ out eyeballs, you name it. Just an all-around jerk.” 

Loki looked down, understanding.

Mobius absent-mindedly opened a container of preserved Skrull cuisine, which looked particularly unappetizing.

“And then, after about a thousand years of all that, he did something that surprised me.” Mobius paused, resting his forearms on the box, “His home planet was in danger and, instead of running -which is what he always did-, he stayed. He helped.”

Loki’s expression twitched, confused. He couldn’t remember that. 

“He fought with his brother. With , not with. Side by side.” The clarification was very necessary. Loki’s brow wrinkled as he listened to what was now obviously a story about another Loki. “And then, of course, he caused Ragnarok and destroyed his homeworld to save his people, which was a weird way to fix the problem, but it worked.”

The corner of Mobius’ mouth curled upward as though he was recalling one of his own happy memories. He could still see that Loki in his mind: smiling as he fought on the Rainbow Bridge for the right thing, finally using all that finesse and strength to help his people, and the reconciliation he had shared with Thor afterwards.

Loki’s expression darkened. “That wasn’t me.” 

“No, it wasn't,” thank god . Mobius remembered what happened shortly after. “But it’s in you.” He pointed at Loki. “‘ Good’ . Under all that pomp and bravado. Under the horns and leather and all those scare tactics, I realized you wanted to do the right thing. You just got typecast. That day was proof that ‘Loki’, the would-be dictator of Earth, could be a good guy.”

Loki stared at him, troubled. Mobius had saved an idea of Loki. A different version of him. Someone the Time Keepers made. 

“Anyways, I had always thought it was a shame that it couldn’t last a bit longer. I wanted to see what that guy was gonna get up to.” But a good Loki hadn’t lasted long against Thanos. Mobius blinked the memory of a dying Loki away, it disturbed something in him in a way it never had before.

“So, you did this because you think I can be good- that I can change,” Loki summarized flatly. 

Mobius looked at him, “No. I did this because you already have.”

Loki didn’t know what to do with that. Something sank into him. A disturbing, yet exhilarating sense of… responsibility. Was this what it felt like when others had faith in you? Even as a god and prince, he’d had very little experience with that.

And ‘ good ’?

Mobius was attributing something to him even he didn’t recognize in himself. But he wanted it to be true.

Mobius turned back to his boxes, opening a new one. 

This man kept surprising Loki. In his presence, the ancient, notoriously unchangeable god could feel himself changing. 

Loki wanted to say something. Anything to articulate what this feeling was. Nothing was coming to mind. Instead, it was his body that had an idea. 

Loki took a step forward. 

He raised a hand towards Mobius without a plan. He wanted to run his hand along the back of his shoulders. He wanted to turn him to face him. He wanted his attention. All of it. He wanted him to look at him and see him. This man had seen everything in Loki, more than he saw in himself, but he still wanted more. His hands and chest ached for it. 

His fingers almost made contact with Mobius’ shoulder when-

“Here we go,” Mobius announced as he opened a container of armor. “What do you think? Is it my color?” He interrupted what Loki was almost going to do, turning to him holding up a Skrull chestplate. 

Loki blinked, dazed. What? He processed what Mobius was asking and glanced at the armor. 

“Actually,” he walked over to the box and found complete uniforms folded neatly in stacks. “Isn’t it time to retire the TVA uniform?” Loki looked Mobius up and down, pointing out the browning blood stains on the man’s shirt as well. 

“Uh, yeah, I guess you’re right.” Mobius looked down at his clothes, pulling his TVA tie clip off his tie, contemplating it. This wasn’t him anymore.

Loki dug through the container. “Here.” After a minute of comparing different sizes, he presented Mobius with a uniform that he approximated would fit him. 

Mobius gave the uniform an unsure look, starting to chicken out. “I don’t know about this, Loki. I’ve been wearing these suits for millennia.”

“All the more reason to try something new.” Loki pushed the folded uniform against Mobius’ chest softly. “Claim your newfound freedom,” he smiled softly. 

Mobius gave him a friendly, but bothered, look and took the uniform from him. It was worth a shot. It was better than wearing the TVA on him after betraying it. The Skrull combat uniform would also offer more protection than a polyester suit.

“Just a second.” Mobius dug into his pocket for the new TemPad. He typed something in it as Loki stared at him. “Alright, here’s what comes up when I search for the production and distribution of Kablooie.” He stood close to Loki so he could look at the screen, too, not noticing the prince’s nervous glance. “It was only made on Earth between 2047 and 2051. So, I’ll get changed and you cut out any doomsdays not in those years.” He gestured at the workbench with the files. “Okay?” 

Loki looked at him as though he had just been told to eat his vegetables. 

“Good sport, thanks,” Mobius patted the pouting prince’s shoulder and walked in the opposite direction towards the shelving units. 

Loki trudged his way over to the workbench and took a seat on a strange metallic chair in front of the table.

He stared at the files, unable to bring himself to reach for them.

He glanced over at Mobius just in time to see him unbutton his collar, pull his tie loose with a couple of tugs, and then slip it from around his neck with one pull. A stutter in his chest told the prince he should look away.

He adjusted his chair to prevent himself from seeing anything else. Which was an odd thing to do. He wouldn’t have had to do that before. He realized what was once neutral felt forbidden now. It was strange. Uncomfortable.

Loki had to take his mind off it.

He forced himself to pick up the first file, his whole body rebelling from the chore. He flipped it open. Volcano eruption in 2157. That’s out. The next folder. Tidal wave in 2078. No. Next. Mass extinction event, 2048. In. Krakatoa in 2041. Out. Tsunami in 2051. In. Alabama hurricane, 2050. In.

Wait .

Loki took another look at that one. ‘ Roxxcart ’. Some kind of megastore? That sounded right. Did they distribute Kablooie?

His investigation was interrupted when he heard Mobius again.

“I didn’t think freedom would feel so… restricting.” 

Loki turned around in his seat. Mobius walked over into the light, uncertain. He pulled at the bottom of the uniform top, straightening it out. The Skrull uniform was a deep, dark violet that was very nearly black. It was a leather-like material that offered reinforced protection against blunt and stabbing attacks. The torso of the uniform was an overlapping mesh of jagged black bands of material. The cut of the uniform was tight, offering broad, armored shoulders that slimmed down towards a light, agile waist. A tall collar reached halfway up Mobius' neck. 

It was a warrior’s uniform and it provided the look of a warrior. The ex-analyst, who had always dressed as the straight-laced paper-pusher he was, was now nearly intimidating. The strength in his arms and shoulders, once hidden by the TVA coat's wide cut, was now accentuated.

He looked good. Better than good.

Loki stood up. “Some of my best outfits were,” his tone was low, playful.

Mobius felt a bit of stage fright with how Loki was approaching him, looking him up and down. 

“The outfit is half the battle,” Loki advised, more serious than joking, as he recalled some of his favorite war robes. 

“Oh, great, getting fashion advice from a Loki,” Mobius fidgeted with the fingerless gloves that attached to the cuffs. 

Loki stepped up to him and gave him a look as he fixed his collar, which wasn't fastened properly.

Mobius leaned back, but let him. His perimeter of personal space was starting to shrink around Loki. 

“Actually, you always did look good,” Mobius corrected himself, thinking back to the Timeline. The god of mischief always made sure to dazzle his enemies, never wearing the same thing twice. 

“Kind of you to notice.” Loki gave his collar one last tug and smiled, more flirtatious than he intended. 

Mobius stepped back, clearing his throat.

“Yeah, I could get used to these kinds of collars, though. Makes me look important.” 

It did. Loki admired the power the uniform lended Mobius’ frame. It was a pleasing combination of dignified and foreboding. 

“It should have gauntlets.” Loki took a moment to retrieve them from the box. 

Mobius reached out a half-gloved hand for them, but Loki invited himself to attach them to Mobius’ arms himself. Loki was pleased that Mobius didn’t fight it.

Loki angled Mobius’ arm with his palm upward, enjoying this far more than research.

Mobius was quiet for a moment. This felt weird. Wearing something that wasn't sanctioned TVA attire? On the run with a Loki? This was all really happening. There weren't any policies, rules, or regulations to tell him what to do now. This was it. This was 'freedom. 

“After I showed you your Timeline, how’d that go for you?” Mobius asked out of the blue. “Did it feel like someone had pulled the rug out from under you? And under that rug was just a bottomless pit?”

Loki glanced at Mobius, “Yes. Something like that.” 

“It smarts,” he gave him a face, doesn’t it ? Mobius held his arm still for Loki to latch the strange gauntlet on. “For the first time in my life, I don’t know what I’m doing or where I’m supposed to go.” Loki listened as he tugged at the gauntlet, testing it. It was on tight. “I just didn’t think freedom would be so scary.” 

Loki reached for the other gauntlet. “Yes. I once thought I had to save people from freedom.”

“‘ Choice breeds shame and regret ’, right?” Mobius quoted a more arrogant Loki from when they first met, poking fun. 

Loki didn't mind. He picked up Mobius’ other arm, positioning it. “I think I was scared of it myself.” 

“What about now?” Mobius looked down at Loki as he leaned over his arm with the second gauntlet.

Loki felt a certain magnetism between them that had never been there before. As Loki moved, Mobius did. When he pulled at his arm to cinch a latch, Mobius leaned in to accommodate Loki's touch. When he looked at him, he looked back. He was sensing a silent sort of dance between them. It pleased him deeply. 

“This is the first time I’ve ever been free, too.” The fear was still there, Mobius could see it in Loki. “It has been a vast improvement. But I suppose it’s the company,” he implied. 

Mobius nodded, smiling a little. Loki fastened the gauntlet on, wishing he hadn’t been so quick. 

“Alright, what about you?” Mobius pointed at Loki, “Gonna nab a general’s uniform?” 

“No, this works for me. Less resistance the better.” He needed more mobility than the tight Skrull uniforms would give him. Mobius needed the extra protection. “But I can never turn down a good coat.” With a  wide grin, Loki picked up a dark Skrull longcoat from the box, putting it on over his thinner TVA jacket with a spin. He flung his hair out from the collar and presented himself.

“Very sharp,” Mobius commented. 

The dark, leathery coat shouldn’t have looked good with the TVA suit, but, then again, everything on Loki looked good.

They had to get back to work, Mobius reminded himself, “Okay, you find any doomsdays between ‘47 and ‘51?”

Loki rushed to the workbench with a few long strides and brought back what he found, almost eager for Mobius’ appraisal, “A few. But this one. It looks promising.” Loki put the Alabama hurricane file on top. 

Mobius, picked it up, “Roxxcart. Alabama, 2050.” 

Loki anxiously watched Mobius’ thoughtful expression as he expertly flipped through the pages, knowing exactly where to look for what. It was interesting to see the analyst at work despite the brutish appearance of his warrior gloves and reinforced shoulders. 

Mobius nodded, “Big corporate town. A department store with everything she'd need. Yeah, yeah , it has everything. Time, space, supplies, and Kablooie .” Mobius snapped the file shut with a smile and tapped it on Loki's chest. “You’re on a roll.”

Loki breathed out, happy for the praise, beaming down at him.

Mobius was back in action, “Okay, now we know where we're going, let's gear up. We can't be caught with our pants down like last time.” That expression sounded weird to him now. He tried to ignore it. He walked over to the eastern wall, which was lined from end to end with Skrull weaponry.

There were things that looked like spear, rifles, mines, bombs, and many other deadly things. Mobius wasn’t a weapons expert, but he wanted something light, quick, and easy. He picked up a Skrull blaster, which looked like a strange, pointed pistol. Mobius slid his hand into the firing position, maneuvering his fingers through the alien prongs of the weapon. It looked nothing like the weapons they had at the TVA. He tested out how it felt to hold. The texture of his half-glove complimented the hilt of the weapon perfectly. They were obviously made for each other. 

Loki watched warily. With his expertise of ballistic and short-range weapons, he could tell that that was going to cause more damage than Mobius would want. 

“What do you think this one does?” Mobius asked, turning to Loki. 

Loki grabbed Mobius’ wrist, leaning away from the end of the blaster that Mobius had casually begun pointing in his direction. He gave him a look, don’t do that . 

“My guess, instant death.”

Mobius let Loki push his hand down, lowering the weapon, “Oh, right. Sorry.” Gun etiquette wasn’t something they taught at the TVA. 

Mobius untangled his hand from the blaster as Loki reached by him, almost brushing against him, to pick something else from the wall. 

“I believe this is more your speed.” Loki grabbed a Skrull electroshock baton, lifting it from its shadowed spot on the wall. He spun it in his hand, checking its weight for the analyst. It looked similar to a medieval mace from Earth, but at the center of the jagged end was a hollow chamber for what looked like a purple crystal.

Loki pointed the hilt towards Mobius, offering it.

With one look at Loki, Mobius reached over and took it. His arm sank down instantly, “Jeez, that’s heavy.” Loki had made it look a lot lighter. It must’ve been 20+ pounds.

“But it's for incapacitating,” Loki argued. “Only lethal if you really try.” 

Mobius liked that better than a gun. “Yeah, okay.” He grunted as he lifted it, trying to swing it in the open air. His first try failed, but he got a better grip of it and his second try felt stronger. “That’s good. Yeah. I'd like to incapacitate X-5.”

“You have to turn it on.” Loki pointed at it, awkward. 

“What?”

Loki reached over and twisted the handle. The crystal at the center of the mace end sparked to life. Now that felt more familiar to the TVA agent. 

“Even better.” Mobius admired the new purple glow that crackled menacingly at the center of the mace. 

Loki stared at Mobius with a bit of concern.

“Mobius, you do know how to defend yourself, right?”

“Uh. Yeah. It's been a century… or five, but I think I can still hold my own.”

That didn’t sound convincing at all.

Loki looked at him as he tested his new Skrull baton again. Without warning he hit Mobius’ forearm at just the right angle to make him lose his grip. The baton thudded to the floor with an angry crack and Loki took a step into Mobius’ space. His hand landed on Mobius’ neck. His grip pushed against Mobius’ new collar, his fingers brushing the sides of his neck, careful not to apply pressure to the bruises that were still forming from X-5's chokehold. 

“Heh,” Mobius chuckled at the embarrassing display. He grabbed Loki’s wrist, pushing his hand down. “Alright, yeah, I get it. I'm rusty.” 

Loki stepped out of his aggressive stance and closer to Mobius, who hadn’t let go of his wrist yet. “Best you just call me if you need any violence.”

There was that magnetism again. As he moved, Mobius did. As he looked at him, he looked back. 

“I'll protect you,” he promised quietly.

He relished Mobius’ eyes on his, even if he seemed taken aback. What was this? Was this the ‘friendship’ everyone had always lectured him about? Thor had bored him to tears so many times talking about ‘comrades’, ‘friends’, and ‘companions’. Thor had always talked about his friends like they were the most important things in the universe. Was this feeling what he had been talking about?

If so, Loki was starting to understand why Thor had never been able to shut up about it.

This was entirely intoxicating.

Thor had accomplished so much protecting his friends. Thor was able to defeat him, twice, for the sake of the humans he had befriended. As if they had given him some kind of power. Some kind of stronger will than what he had had alone.

Loki could feel something taking root in himself that felt stronger than before, too. An energy, a desire of some kind, that didn't seem to have an end or a condition. It called him to do everything in his power to keep this former TVA agent safe. It was strange. Alarming. It didn't listen to his thoughts or his schemes. It did quite the reverse. Every thought and scheme included this new desire.

Mobius looked away and let go of his wrist without a word. He picked up the baton silently.

Loki took a step back, fixing his hair, slightly embarrassed without understanding why.

An awkward quiet stretched between them for a moment too long. 

“Uh, take this.” Mobius reached into his pocket and produced one of his TemPads. “Hang onto it, in case of an emergency. That one was mine. But, remember, it’s bugged. So no running off on your own or the TVA will catch you.”

Loki took the TemPad from Mobius. A few hours ago, Mobius would’ve never entrusted him with a TemPad. Things were changing fast.

“Wouldn't dream of it.” 

“Good.” Mobius pushed forward on the case. “Okay, we gotta get ready to make our move. The TVA has probably already put a tracker on B-15’s TemPad or they’re working on it as we speak. So, when we go in, be ready. We'll probably only have a few minutes with the Variant before we get company." 

“Right,” Loki confirmed with a nod.

“Grab what you need, quick.” Mobius gestured at the wall.

Spoiled for choice, Loki still happily reached for the Skrull equivalent of daggers. They were well-made and had a lovely green sheen. He took three and hid them in his new longcoat. 

“Stayin’ on brand, huh?” Mobius teased. A whole wall of choices, and he was still loyal to his iconic weapons.

“Daggers are beautiful and versatile.”

“Sure,” Mobius nodded. They suited the prince, he judged. "You ready?" He gave Loki a glance.

"Ready."

Mobius took out his TemPad, “Next stop, Roxxcart.”

Chapter Text

“This where the time gate opened?” Ravonna walked briskly into Research Section 372 of the TVA’s expansive library. 

“Yes, from B-15’s TemPad,” D-90 reported, following behind her closely. “One gate. Opened for about seven seconds. Right over here.”

Ravonna followed D-90’s direction, up to one of the many tables in the library. The one he had pointed at was covered in a mountain of splayed Event Report files. 

Ravonna slowed to a stop as she approached the table, her expression hardened as she looked down at the mess.

There was a single piece of notepaper perched on the top of the pile. 

She stared at it for a second and then picked it up.

D-90 watched her nervously as she unfolded the paper and read the short note:

‘Thanks for the help,

MMM

 

P.S. Ravonna, I promised them the coffeemaker. Make it happen?’

“Mobius.” Her brow creased. Why was he doing this?

“What should we do?” D-90 asked for orders.

She tossed the paper back onto the table just as her TemPad chirped in her pocket. D-90’s TemPad made the same noise a moment later. She took hers from her pocket and read the notification.

“Looks like they’re on the move. Earth, Alabama, 2050.” Mobius had found the Variant. Him and his Loki had cracked the case, just like he said they would. But it was too little, too late. “Get B-15 and follow them.”

She stared at her TemPad ticking away the details of the time gate B-15’s stolen TemPad had opened only moments ago. This was going to be a productive mission. Three birds with one stone: two Lokis and a traitor. 

She lifted her chin at the thought of Mobius being dragged back to the TVA in a Time Collar, bothered but determined. 

“Yes, Judge Renslayer,” D-90 started to turn, ready to jog through the halls to mobilize the others. 

“D-90,” she stopped him.

Mobius’ alliance with L1130 had opened new questions: What powers did a Loki have that could convert a dyed-in-the-wool analyst to his side in a matter of days? Why would Mobius turn on her? It required investigation now that it was more serious than the last time Mobius had lost a battle with his conscience when tasked with pruning a variant.

“Yes, Judge Renslayer?” D-90 came back to her.

“When you go in, don’t let him see you coming.” Ravonna closed her TemPad, starting to march back to the control room. “Bring all three of them in for interrogation. Only prune the variants if you have no other choice.”

He didn’t seem pleased with that, but he nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” 

-

“It’s okay, you’re just tired,” Sylvie’s voice was uncharacteristically friendly.

“... Yeah,... I’m probably just tired,” C-20 answered in a drone, unconscious and slumped against the cabinet in the dimly lit surveillance room of the Roxxcart megastore.

Sylvie focused on the connection of her magic with C-20’s subconscious, keeping it as strong as possible. Her fingers pressed firmly against C-20’s temple as they hummed with a green haze, “Now, how do I find the elevators?” The elevators that led to the Time Keepers.

C-20 answered dutifully, “... They’re gold.” Sylvie saw the rest in C-20's mind.

Sylvie smiled and lowered her hand, the green on her fingertips dissipating. C-20 stirred awake, groggy and slow, still not sure where or who she really was.

Finally, a small victory after centuries of frustration. 

Sylvie’s satisfaction was short-lived as something caught the corner of her eye on the security cameras. Two figures were walking through the rain and towards the Roxxcart entrance. They obviously didn't belong here. She realized she recognized them from Pylea. The TVA agent and the Loki. Her smile was replaced by a stern surprise.

She stood up, leaning towards the monitors. 

This means the TVA had found her. 

How many were coming? She scanned the screens. She only saw the two of them. Where were their Minutemen? Strange. But it didn’t matter. She’d been compromised. Like the ants they were, if you saw two, more were bound to follow. 

It looked like she’d have to move forward with the plan a little ahead of schedule.

She picked up the spare TemPad on the surveillance desk and tapped something onto it.

She placed it in the receptacle she had hardwired, connecting it to a mess of complex wires that snaked out of the room.

She walked away from the TemPad as a timer on the screen began to tick down:

20:00

19:59

19:58

-

“Alright, so where would a Loki be hiding?” Mobius rubbed his cold hands together as they came through the automatic doors and out of the heavy rain. Mobius’ Skrull baton was hanging from a convenient strap on his back that Loki had helped him situate so he could have two free hands. It chafed his shoulder, but it was better than lugging the heavy weapon around.

“She wouldn’t be hiding. She might already know we’re here.”

“You’re right.” Mobius looked up at the cameras watching them. “Remember Pylea?” Mobius wiped the rain from his face as he pointed at the cameras with his thumb.

Loki glanced at them and nodded. The surveillance room would be their best bet.

Mobius flicked his fingers, gesturing for Loki to follow him.  

“Mobius.” Loki stepped in his way, looking at the man. Mobius’ silver hair was soaked and clinging to the sides of his face. Loki could feel the man shivering from the cold under his fingertips, he was trying to hide it with tense shoulders.

“What? Come on, we gotta keep movin-” Mobius’ attempt to walk past Loki was halted by Loki’s large hand pushing back on his uniformed chest. Mobius ignored how the warm pressure made him feel.

“Just-” Loki snapped his fingers and a glimmer of green magic flitted over them and they were suddenly dry.

Mobius looked down at himself and touched his now dry face. “Oh, thanks.”

“No problem.” 

There was that new soft smile of his again, unlike any Loki smile on the timeline. 

Mobius had to stay focused, “Okay, let’s go.”

They stayed close, shoulder to shoulder, as they walked around the perimeter of the showroom towards the back of the store. Mobius had studied the blueprints before coming, the surveillance room was around here somewhere. He tried to ignore how his Skrull boots clunked on the ground, making him sound heavier and stronger than he was. He missed the light leather of his old shoes which were now waiting for their annihilation in that bunker on Skrullos.

The fluorescent lights buzzed above them, flickering with an off-putting greenish hue. The rumblings of a Category 8 hurricane rumbled against the walls of the expansive establishment, making it creak like an aged ship. The power failed a few times within a minute. All the corners felt dark and full of enemies.

Loki looked over his shoulder, “Does this place feel inordinately eerie to you?”

“Yeah, no wonder she chose this place. Spooky. Just like her.” 

Just as they turned a corner past the Electronic aisle, a door came into view. ‘ Employees Only: Security ’. 

Mobius motioned for Loki to follow him. He leaned against the door, ready to open it slowly. “Alright, let’s see who’s shoppin’.” 

Loki nodded. 

Mobius carefully twisted the doorknob and inched the door open. He could see the desk with the monitors. He heard a feminine voice and stopped. What was that? 

“It’s real.” A whisper.

Mobius leaned in a little, listening harder.

“It’s real.”

That didn’t sound like Sylvie. Mobius opened the door a bit more and saw who was speaking. 

“C-20.” He rushed into the room towards the bound TVA agent on the floor. “We thought the Variant pruned her.”

Loki followed Mobius.

“It’s real. It’s real. It’s real. It’s real,” C-20 barely seemed to notice them as she repeated that phrase over and over again. She was sitting upright and staring straight ahead of her. She rocked gently in place, making no attempt to struggle against the zipties on her arms and legs. She seemed far more engaged in whatever was motivating her chanting.

Mobius stood over her, observing how she ignored him. “What’d she do to her?”

Loki walked over slowly. “Enchantment.”

“You mean she messed with her head?”

Before Loki could answer, he was interrupted by a sudden panic in C-20’s voice, “It’s real! It’s real! It’s real!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Mobius knelt down to her.

“It’s real,” she insisted. 

“You’re alright,” Mobius inched closer, trying to understand her. 

“... It’s real.”

“C-20.” He studied her face. “What? What’s real?” he whispered.

Loki knew Mobius cared about his old TVA colleagues, but they were losing time. Sylvie had obviously dumped the hunter here for them to find her. They needed to keep moving. “Mobius, her mind is fractured, she can’t answe-”

“Hey, look at me.” Mobius reached over to C-20, placing his hand on hers, trying to gently rouse her to reality.

The soft touch did the trick, “... I-I wanna go home,” she finally broke her rhythm and spoke directly to Mobius.

Surprised, Loki realized he shouldn’t have underestimated Mobius’ ability to soothe those around him. It had always been a special power of his. 

Still, he needed Mobius to focus on why they were here in the first place. Loki glanced over his shoulder at the security monitors. No activity. His eyes fell to something golden on the desk. He took his hands out of his pockets. Was that a TemPad? What was that on its screen?

17:45

17:44

17:43

“Mobius.”

Mobius was still with C-20. “Okay, we’re gonna getcha there, okay? Just hang tight.” He stood up, and went to Loki. “We gotta get-”

“Look.” Loki gestured at the ticking TemPad.

“What?” Mobius forgot C-20 for a moment and took a closer look. What was a TemPad doing here? What was with the countdown? This looked nothing like the previous timer Ravonna had put on his. This TemPad was hooked up to something- a mess of wires and clasps. This was above his pay grade.

“I don’t know what this is. Can’t be good.”

Loki flapped his arms at the unhelpfully vague guess. “That’s it? What should we do?” He went over to the TemPad, reaching for it. “Should we try and-”

Mobius smacked Loki's hand away. “No, don’t touch it.”

“What? Why not?”

“You could set it off- this could be hooked up to something big!” Mobius had no idea what, though.

Loki left it alone. “Alright, we need to find Sylvie. Maybe we can force her to stop whatever this is.” Loki pushed by him to leave the room and continue their hunt. 

Mobius grabbed his arm, stopping him. “Wait, wait, Loki,” Mobius pointed to C-20. “We need to contact the TVA. Someone has to come pick her up. She needs to go to the infirmary-”

“What? No, we can’t,” Loki whisper-yelled. Mobius couldn’t seriously be suggesting inviting the TVA here just when they were in the lead. “It’ll jeopardize everything we’ve worked for!” He stepped closer, his stature emphasizing his point.

Lokis were always so selfish, “She needs help , Loki! We can’t leave her here!” He whisper-yelled back and stepped forward, too, though it only emphasized the inches the god had on him.

Mobius’ bleeding heart was going to get them pruned, “They’ll be here soon enough! They can find her on their own!”

“No!” C-20 shouted suddenly. Mobius and Loki both looked at her at the same time, their squabble deflated. “No, no no. I gave it away.” She looked up at them, scared. “I gave it away.”

Mobius leaned down to her and Loki shook his head, sighing. “What? What’d you give?”

“The Time Keepers… where they are! I gave it away- how to find them.”

That earned Loki’s attention again. “Sylvie’s going after the Time Keepers.” He gestured around them. “Whatever this is… she must be making a move to get to them.”

Mobius looked up at Loki to say something, but then noticed something was happening on the security monitors behind him. 

Someone was in the showroom just outside the surveillance room. A dark figure moved slowly across a screen. 

“Yeah, and she’s on the move right now .” 

Loki followed Mobius’ alarmed stare and caught a glimpse of the figure before it disappeared into the Pet Supplies aisle.

“C-20, just sit tight, okay? Someone’ll come get you,” Mobius reassured. There was no way he was going to be able to bring C-20 with them now. She’d be safer in here while they went to deal with Sylvie. He stood up, “Come on.”

They both rushed out of the room and into the dark showroom again. They stayed silent, trying to conceal their presence while listening for footsteps. Loki conjured one of his new Skrull daggers into his hand as he checked over Mobius’ shoulder. He positioned himself at a defensive angle, shielding Mobius’ right blindspot. 

As they got closer, Loki made a silent gesture towards the Pet Supplies aisle. Mobius nodded, letting Loki take the lead. Mobius reached up his half-gloved hand to the hilt of the Skrull baton over his right shoulder. He hoped he’d be able to unlatch it from its strap without tangling it up.

Loki led them to the edge of the corner of the aisle. They were in between House Plants and Pet Supplies. One more step and they would be visible down the long row to whoever was waiting for them.

Loki inhaled.

He dashed out from the corner, his dagger poised, staring down the aisle with a battle-ready expression. 

But the aisle was empty.

The lights flickered with a few clinks.

Loki turned back to Mobius, who was still behind the corner of the shelving unit, his back to House Plants. “Nothing?” he whispered to Loki.

Loki shook his head.

Mobius stepped away from his cover, looking down Pet Supplies. “Where’d she go?”

“Excuse me, were you looking for the disaster shelter?” A chipper voice asked loudly from behind Mobius.

Loki instantly pulled Mobius by his wrist towards his chest and outstretched his dagger towards the person who spoke. The point of his blade pressed against the person’s corporate blue shirt, just below an electronic name badge, ‘ Welcome to Roxxcart! ’

“Woah, hey! Cool it!” Mobius tugged his arm free from Loki’s protective grip and grabbed Loki’s outstretched arm, pulling it and the dagger away from the Roxxcart employee who was now staggering back with abject terror in his eyes, his lip quivering as he stared at Loki. Mobius pushed Loki back a step and turned to the kid, “I-I’m sorry, my friend here…” Mobius glanced back at Loki who was still staring threateningly at the boy, “... he’s scared of thunder. Makes him jumpy.” Mobius turned to Loki and grabbed his shoulders to guide him backwards.

“No, I’m not.” Loki glared down at Mobius as he stepped backwards to accommodate Mobius’ guidance. “Thunder’s just air .”

“I know, I know.”

“It doesn’t even need a god.”

Mobius realized he’d touched a sore spot with his fib. Ixnay on the underthay when talking to Loki, he reminded himself. 

Mobius turned back to the Roxxcart employee.

“Mobius, don’t-” 

“Hey, uh…” Mobius squinted at the wordy nametag, “... Randy . How’re you doin’? Crazy weather, right?” The young man only glanced nervously between Mobius and Loki. Mobius stepped forward, “Real quick: have you seen a lady around here? About yay tall. Blonde. Horns. Chip on her shoulder. Kinda spooky?”

Randy slowly shook his head. “N-No, I'm sorry, sir. Maybe you'll find her in the shelter.”

“Alright, thanks.” It had been worth a shot. Mobius turned around to Loki. “See, it’s that easy, Loki. Just gotta talk to peop-” Suddenly an arm slid around Mobius’ collared throat again and squeezed painfully against his new bruises.

Mobius pulled at Randy’s arm, “Hey, hey. Relax. Take it easy.”

Loki wasted no time getting back into his aggressive stance, raising two daggers. “Let him go!”

“Or what?” The employee didn’t sound like himself anymore. “Are you going to kill poor ‘Randy’?” Sylvie’s puppet stepped backwards with Mobius.

Mobius grunted as he tugged on the arm, “Why is everyone always grabbing at my neck?”

“Why are you masquerading still? We know what you look like,” Loki challenged.

Randy smiled, “I’m busy.”

-

“Alright, go in quietly and slowly,” B-15 spoke over the torrential rain in front of the glowing Roxxcart store. “If you see them, don’t make a move on your own. Report it to the team. We move in as one.” 

“ Why can’t we prune them, again?” The bandaged X-5 asked impertinently, obviously annoyed by the change in orders.

“That's Renslayer’s jurisdiction.” B-15 had asked X-5 to stay behind this time, but he was as stubborn as he was aggressive. “She wants all of them for interrogation before they receive their sentencing with the Time Keepers.” 

X-5 looked around at the others, many of them sneering, but a few seemed to agree with his tone, “Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for criminals. These guys are obviously dangerous.” His bandages spoke for themselves, though no one else was as bludgeoned as he was from their trip to Asgard. “Why should we risk our lives just so Renslayer can talk to them?”

B-15 stepped up to him, ignoring the rain hitting her face, “You’re more than welcome to go back to the TVA and take it up with Judge Renslayer, X-5.” She looked at everyone. “But if you’re here, you’re following orders .”

He shrugged like a child, hooking his hands in the collar of his chestplate to let his forearms rest over his chest. 

“D-90,” B-15 pointed at the agent, “take your squad to the shelter and check there. We’re going to circle through the side entrance in the greenhouse and then into the showroom. We’ll meet at the center.”

“Got it,” D-90 nodded and motioned to his four Minutemen to follow him to the south side of the building. 

B-15 gestured to her four Minutemen, “Okay, let’s move out!” 

-

“Why are you two always alone? You were supposed to bring more with you. You two are useless to me by yourselves.” Randy kept backing up, Mobius having no choice but to follow. Loki, as well. “Maybe I should just get rid of you two now,” Randy smiled. 

Loki flinched as though he was about to attack, but Mobius raised a hand to stop him. This could be an opportunity.

“It’s nice to see you again, too, Sylvie,” Mobius charmed as though he wasn’t being held hostage. “Listen, we gotta stop meeting like this. You know, it'd be nice to talk face-to-face once. Or face-to-Randy's-face, I guess. What d’ya say?” Mobius asked warmly. Randy was silent. “Come on, we're not gonna do anything-”

Immediately turning Mobius into a liar, Loki took the moment’s calm as the opportunity to strike. He lunged forward with his dagger aimed at Randy.

“ Loki !” Mobius yelled just as the dagger was about to slice into Randy’s arm.

And, just like that, Randy’s grip went slack and the young man fell unconscious. A green haze relieved itself from his eyes and the employee crumpled to the ground the way Sylvie’s enchanted victims always fell to the ground when she left them.

Mobius, now free, looked down at Randy’s unconscious body. He and Loki were alone again.

Mobius flapped his arms. “Great. Thanks.” 

“She was going to hurt you,” Loki defended himself.

“ No , we had her. We were gonna talk.” Mobius gestured with frustration at Randy, “I had it under control-”

“Look at you two.” Another voice with the same tone emerged from the dark. It was a soft, masculine voice. “This is really the crack team the TVA sent after me? Unprotected and unfocused. I'm insulted.” This new puppet was a customer in a plaid shirt, average build and average height. He seemed like he’d be a nice guy when he was possessed by a serial killer. His friendly face grinned a Loki’s grin at them, “Maybe I should send your bodies back as a little message to try harder.”

“Oo, creepy. Good.” Mobius pretended to have the shivers, he turned to face the puppet, ignoring Loki’s shielding arm trying to keep him back. “But if you sent that body-gram now, the TVA would probably thank you. Send you a little gift basket." The joke fell flat, but he didn't care. "No, we’re actually here, on our own, to see you. We just wanna talk.” 

The puppet’s expression twitched. He looked them up and down, calculating. “On your own? Is that why you're in Skrull uniforms?”

Loki stepped forward, in front of Mobius, “We currently find ourselves free agents.”

The puppet scoffed out a laugh and started to walk by them slowly, “Free agents?”

Loki and Mobius followed. 

“What we want no longer aligns with what the Time Keepers decree,” Loki smiled. Mobius looked over to Loki, his brow creasing.

“Really?” the puppet asked.

“Really,” Loki spoke for both of them. Mobius tapped him. He ignored it. “You might say, we’re looking for our own way to the keepers, too.” 

“Loki…” Mobius didn’t like the sound of that. He closed a hand around Loki’s forearm. This wasn’t what they talked about.   

The puppet stopped, “What’s this?” She sensed something tense.

Mobius waved the question away, “It’s a long story.” He pulled Loki to the side, worried the god’s mischief would lead them all down the wrong road. 

“You both betrayed the TVA,” she guessed correctly. 

“Betrayed? Nah. I'm just… taking a sabbatical,” Mobius chuckled. 

Loki didn’t like the sound of that. “Mobius,” Loki tried to bid for Mobius’ attention, concerned Mobius’ freshly fractured loyalty to the TVA might be healing. 

Sylvie’s puppet interrupted them, “He got to you, didn’t he?” He started to circle them in slow, graceful steps, “Just another stuffy man falling victim to a Loki’s charms. Lokis can be hard to resist. As far as manipulation goes it’s a cheap, but effective method,” he shrugged. 

Mobius bristled at what she was suggesting.

Loki spoke up, offended, “It's not like that.” 

“No?” The puppet wasn’t convinced, his eyes lingering on how Mobius’ hand gripped Loki’s arm. Mobius saw what she was staring at and let go.

Loki stumbled over his words, trying to define what he and Mobius were doing, “We’re- The TVA made us choose. It was them or us, and we chose each other.” 

Mobius cleared his throat. 

The puppet cocked their head, “Are congratulations in order?” 

Loki shut his eyes, growing frustrated, “I mean , we’re on our own side.” 

“If you say so. I can’t judge your methods, but picking on a TVA agent is a little sad.” The puppet sized Mobius up. “They’re so small. And gray. So repressed. They’ll just wither and die if you show them too much. Easy to manipulate, though, I grant you.”

“That’s not what I’m doing."

Mobius raised his hands, confused, “Okay, when did I become a damsel in distress?” Where was this conversation even going? She wasn’t letting them stay on track. He’d seen this before. Lokis like to waste time. That’s right. The countdown . 

“Alright, stop. Sylvie. We’re here because we want to know what you know. We want to know why you’re doing this. And what’s with the countdown we saw on the TemPad back there?” He gestured in the direction of the surveillance room. 

She didn’t answer. Instead, the person she had been inhabiting suddenly dropped to the ground, unconscious. 

“Great.” She was just as good as any Loki at dodging the real questions. 

“There!” Loki pointed down the hallway at a young woman, a customer in athleisure wear, who was walking in the same slow sway as the previous puppet. Mobius and Loki ran to the woman.

Catching up to her, Loki spoke first, “Do you want to overthrow the TVA? Rule in the stead of the Time Keepers?”

“I have no interest in ruling the TVA.” She glanced over the her shoulder at them. “But you do, don’t you?”

“No.” Mobius answered, stern.

“ He does.” The puppet pointed at Loki, stopping in the middle of Cleaning Supplies. “Look at him. He’s a Loki. He wants a throne . He’s planning it all in his head right now: his regime.” 

Loki glanced between Sylvie’s puppet and Mobius, not denying it. He turned to Mobius, “... The TVA can’t go on as it is now, Mobius.”

“ Loki -” 

“There it is,” the puppet announced, pleased. 

Loki had to get through to him, “As long as the TVA holds power, we’re as good as dead.” 

“No, Loki, this isn't what we're here for-”

“But it is!” Loki countered. “ This is all about stopping the TVA.”

“No, it's about doing the right thing!”

The puppet interjected, “The right thing? The TVA is the exterminator of free will,” she smiled, adding fuel. 

Loki raised a hand at the puppet and argued towards Mobius, “But we can change that. We can fix it!” 

“You’re both wrong! The TVA keeps the universe from falling apart!” Why was this so hard to get through Loki's thick skull?!

The puppet shook her head, “Once a TVA agent, always a TVA agent. He'll pick order and rulebooks over you by the end,” she commented at Loki. “And a Loki will always double-cross the people stupid enough to trust them,” she told Mobius.

Mobius realized what she was doing: Divide and conquer. 

“Hey! Stop!” He waved it all away, “Don’t listen to her.” Mobius grabbed Loki's arms and made him look at him only. “I know Lokis always look after number one, but I know you can do more than that. Think this through!” He glanced at Sylvie's puppet before focusing on Loki's troubled eyes, “What about the people at the TVA, huh? What’re you gonna do? Enslave them? Prune them?”

Loki's expression found resolve, “I don’t care about them, Mobius. I’d bring the TVA and everyone in it to ruin to keep you, me - us safe.”

Mobius let go of Loki's arms, silent. 

Loki was still operating from selfishness. This Loki knew how to want to keep someone safe, but he didn't know how to care about balance or the right thing yet. 

Mobius had miscalculated. 

“How touching.” Sylvie’s puppet clasped her hands together in a mocking show of heartbreak. “Look at you two. A Time Criminal and an Analyst, running away together. But you can’t even figure out where you're going,” She made the woman sneer at them. “Pathetic.” 

Mobius and Loki looked at each other, disturbed. 

Had they been wrong about one another from the start?

Was this alliance, or whatever this was between them, doomed to fail?

Sylvie continued, “There’s so much you don’t know. Dark secrets the TVA’s hiding. And you'll never know because Lokis always betray and TVA agents always fall back in line.”

Loki stared at Mobius, who was looking away from him with an expression of profound disappointment. Almost revulsion. Any sense of the previous magnetism between them had instantly evaporated. A coiling sense of shame pulled at his organs. He looked at the puppet, considering attacking her out of anger, but then something on the shelf beside them caught his eye. Another TemPad. This one was hooked up to a reset charge. He realized what Sylvie was doing. 

“You’re just trying to get us to waste time.” 

“You're doing a fine job of that yourself,” the puppet laughed. 

Loki looked around, “Are you going to reset this place? You’re just doing the TVA’s job for them.”

“Actually, I think they’re going to find their hands too full to do their job soon.” The puppet looked over their shoulders. “Speaking of which.”

Loki and then Mobius turned to look behind them. A Minuteman was searching the aisles on the other side of the store. Loki and Mobius ducked down, they hadn't been spotted yet. There was a thud and Loki realized the puppet beside them had collapsed to the floor.

“Dammit,” Mobius whispered. 

“We need to find Sylvie again,” Loki looked around. 

Mobius watched him. “Loki.” He looked like he was going to say something important. There was something between them now. Some kind of barrier. Mobius kept his focus, “Go. I'm gonna stay here and try to disarm whatever that thing is.” He pointed at the TemPad on the shelf, connected to a reset charge. 

“No, we shouldn't separate-”

“Stop whatever she’s planning, okay? And whatever you do, don't join her side.” It sounded like a joke, but it wasn’t. 

Loki didn't respond to that. “You sure about this?”

“No.” Loki could still betray him and join his other self on a rampage against the TVA, but he'd just have to trust him. Because, “What other choice do I have?” 

Loki stared at Mobius, speechless. 

“Just go catch her!” Mobius pushed against Loki’s arm, trying to get him to leave.

“Alright.”

Loki ran in the opposite direction from the Minuteman, looking for Sylvie. Maybe this was a mistake. But Mobius couldn’t look back now.

He ignored the pit in his stomach as he ducked over to the rigged TemPad, trying to stay out of sight. 

Loki ran through the center of the aisles on his own, trying to stay quiet as he looked for any sign of Sylvie or her puppets. 

“So determined,” A deep, gruff voice mocked from the shadows in Loki’s blindspot. It looked like she found him first.

Loki turned around to see an exceptionally tall, burly customer in a camouflage shirt and tan vest standing close enough to start a fight.  

He was getting tired of her enchanted humans, “Come out and fight me yourself.” 

The puppet only laughed and, with a single high kick, struck Loki’s stomach with enough force to send him flying backwards and sliding along the floor. 

“Alright, come on. This can’t be so hard,” Mobius whispered to himself as he gently pulled apart the bundles of wires around the ticking TemPad. 

8:12

8:11

8:10

“Green means good, right?” He eyed a green wire, trying to remember what each color meant. This was never his department. He wished he had Casey or that guy from Repairs and Advancements here. They’d know what to do to turn this thing off. 

Wait. This white wire was connected straight from the D Port to the reset charge’s Positive Base. Doesn’t that mean a localized time gate will open and-

“I have a visual on Mobius.”

Mobius looked over and saw the Minuteman finish giving their location to the rest of the squad over their TemPad. 

“Dammit.”

“Go back to the last one. She seemed nicer,” Loki quipped up at the large man as he stomped over to him.

“Thank you for helping me stall for time,” the man grabbed Loki’s shoulders and threw him across the floor with a shove. “It’s almost like you’re looking for an excuse to sabotage your little agent friend's plan.”

Loki grunted with anger as he flipped his hair out of his face and tried to pick himself off the floor. “I’m not going to betray him.”

“It’s sweet that you sound like you believe yourself, but we both know you will.” The man stomped over to Loki’s side as he was still gaining his balance. “You’re a Loki . You’re hardwired to lie and cheat.” The man grabbed Loki’s neck and threw him backwards into a display stand of robot dogs.

Loki sat up, groaning as robot dogs yapped at him. “Need I remind you, you’re a Loki, too.”

“I’m nothing like you.”

“B-15,” Mobius greeted the hunter as she and the rest of her team came running over. Mobius was still trying to disarm the reset charge countdown. The Minuteman who found him had been watching him like a hawk. “Before anything else, I gotta tell you that C-20’s in the surveillance room. Sylvie did something to her. She needs help.” Was that red wire the one connecting the TemPad’s timer to the reset charge?

“We’re taking you back to the TVA for questioning. Put your hands in the air.”

“Uh, I probably shouldn’t. This thing’s gonna go off in about seven minutes.” He followed a yellow wire to a port in the TemPad he knew very little about.

“Enough distractions, Mobius. Hands up!” 

She sounded serious. She was pointing her stick at him. Mobius backed up and put his hands up.

7:09

7:08

7:07

This was getting close to hopeless.

He looked over and saw two squads behind her, “What are you doing, B-15? I’m just an analyst. The Variant’s here, she’s fighting Loki just over there. Go get her !” He pointed to where Loki went. 

B-15 didn’t listen. She reached behind her belt for a Time Collar. “J-8. Go check the surveillance room for C-20.”

“Good. Thanks,” Mobius called out as J-8 jogged away. 

“Okay, Mobius, let’s make this easy,” B-15 stepped towards him, Time Collar towards him.

“Sorry. Can’t.”

Mobius reached his half-gloved hand to the hilt of the Skrull electroshock baton above his shoulder. He lifted it out of its strap and held it up beside him. With a twist, the center of the baton crackled with a scary purple energy. He could tell from their unsure steps backward that he probably looked pretty cool right now. 

“You can take me in. But just let me do this first, okay?” He pointed at the TemPad.

B-15 looked between Mobius, the TemPad on the shelf, and the baton in his hand, trying to make a decision. 

“Come on!” X-5 shouted, pushing his way to the front of the squad. “Get him!”

B-15 hesitated.

“ Fine ! I’ll do it!” X-5 marched over to Mobius, cranking his pruning stick on with an attitude.

“Stand down!” B-15 ordered. “We're not pruning them, X-5!”

He ignored her. He walked up to Mobius and stopped. He eyed the ex-analyst and lifted his pruning stick. 

“I’d stay back if I were you,” Mobius warned. 

“We both know you don't have it in you, old man,” X-5 snickered. “Admit it, no matter how much of a hotshot hunter you were, you’re nothing but a glorified paper-pusher now and you couldn’t even do that without making the same dumb mistake, trying to save another stupid varian-”

With a burst of purple energy the jagged end of the Skrull baton collided with X-5’s bandaged jaw. The electricity coursed through his face and body, keeping him frozen and tense as it buzzed through him. After several seconds, he fell to the ground with a simmer, twitching.

Mobius stared down at him and confirmed he was still breathing. 

He looked up at the shocked squad staring at him. “Sorry. He just really needed to shut up.” Payback felt good. But that act of aggression used up any trust B-15 had in him.

“Take him in!” B-15 ordered her Minutemen.

Mobius lifted the heavy baton, again. 

The first agent that got too close didn’t expect it when Mobius flung the baton into an upward strike, hitting her elbow. Her pruning stick fell to the ground and then so did she after a few seconds of electrocution. 

Mobius grinned to himself, proud. This baton really made things easy for him.

The grin disappeared when three more agents started running towards him. He couldn’t take them all on. He had to make a run for it. Disarming the TemPad was a lost cause now. He wouldn’t have enough time to figure it out anyways:

5:49

5:48

5:47

He turned and broke into a run. 

“Oh, I see. Too good to be a Loki, are you?” Loki dusted himself off.

“ Yes .” The man threw a punch that split a TV screen behind Loki.

“But you’re doing exactly what a Loki does.” Loki conjured his daggers into his hands and spun them with a flourish. “You’re wresting power over the weak. Terrorizing and manipulating.” He used the hilts of his daggers to deflect Sylvie's strikes, careful not to hurt the puppet, “All so you can rule the TVA.”

“I told you, I don’t want the TVA!” The man grabbed a rake from a cardboard stand, “I’d rather burn it to the ground than rule it.” He swung the rake from left to right, trying to get Loki.

Loki dodged, “So you want revenge.”

“I want to kill the Keepers and free the Timeline!” The man lifted the rake up and brought it down with a strong downswing, as though it were a broadsword. 

Loki caught the rod of the rake, mid-swing, in his outstretched hand. He grinned at Sylvie’s puppet. “Was that so difficult?” She had gotten angry enough to give up her motive.

The puppet growled with real anger and snapped the rake in two. Loki blocked the first strike, but the second hit him across the jaw hard. “You’re not different, you know,” the puppet informed him as Loki stumbled back. The man kicked Loki down to the ground. “You’re going to ruin everything. Just like Lokis always do.” Loki tried to get back up, but the puppet’s heavy boot planted itself on his collarbone, squeezing him down into the floor. “We both know you’ll throw your little TVA pet to the wolves the second it suits you.” Loki couldn’t breathe. “Because that’s who you are -”

There was a zap, a burst of purple light, and the man fell to the ground with a loud thud.

“This thing really shuts people up. It’s awesome,” Mobius was smiling down at him, waving his Skrull baton. 

“M-Mobius!” Loki coughed. 

“It looked like you needed some help.” Mobius offered Loki his hand, smirking. Loki took it with a wave of warm gratitude. Despite the pain in his chest, his heart jumped pleasurably as he grabbed Mobius’ arm for support when he got to his feet. He looked down at the agent with a smile. He fought the urge to keep touching him or pull him nearer. Maybe all wasn’t lost. 

Mobius could see how happy Loki was to see him. He ignored how happy that made him. This wasn’t over. “Couldn’t crack the countdown, so we gotta figure this out fast.” Boots were stomping towards them. “Oh, and I brought some company.”

Loki saw the squads of Minutemen come rushing over to them. He forgot the painful throbbing under his neck. “Get behind me,” he pulled Mobius behind him. 

“We got more over here,” Mobius announced as more Minutemen came up behind Loki. 

They were surrounded. 

Loki and Mobius pressed their backs together. Loki brandished his daggers. Mobius raised his baton. 

“Go!” B-15 ordered, leading the charge. 

Loki took out the first Minuteman with a sharp jab of a dagger hilt to the temple of their helmet. Mobius swung his baton and while the Minuteman caught it in their hand, they were still electrocuted and quickly flopped to the floor. Loki dodged a pruning stick and stabbed the hand of the Minuteman who wielded it, forcing them to drop their weapon and keel over in pain. Mobius kicked ineffectually towards another attacker, swinging the baton that they now knew to stay clear of. They watched him from a distance, looking for an opening. 

Then something happened that interrupted everything. One of the Minutemen let out a shriek which was immediately deafened by the disturbing warbles of their entire body fizzling away in a flurry of sparks. 

Everyone paused, watching the agent die. 

Standing behind where the Minuteman had been was Sylvie, herself. No more puppets. She smiled, holding the stolen pruning stick in her hands, as everyone looked at her.

“The Variant!” B-15 yelled.

Now the Minutemen were split between three targets.

Loki blocked pokes from a pruning stick by grabbing the hilt between his daggers’ blades. Mobius swung his mace to keep his attackers back, and, now Sylvie danced around her enemies as they tripped over themselves to capture her. She kicked a few to the floor. Then, she tapped K-7’s temple with her fingertips and their eyes filled with green magic. Sylvie stepped back and eagerly watched as K-7 turned to the colleague who had been fighting Sylvie with them and pruned them. Everyone was almost too distracted to notice, but Mobius saw. 

K-7 walked over and pushed their stick towards one of Mobius’ attackers. Mobius reached out and grabbed K-7’s arm, stopping them from killing the other agent. The agents looked at Mobius and K-7, confused. They stopped trying to attack Mobius for a moment. Sylvie leaned in and planted a punch on the center of Mobius’ chest, freeing her puppet. Loki immediately grabbed Sylvie’s arm and pressed the blade of his dagger against her neck. The other Minutemen paused as they watched the perplexing display of a Loki attacking a Loki to protect a defected TVA agent who was protecting a TVA agent attempting to arrest them. 

“Mobius?” Loki checked, staring at Sylvie. 

“I’m alright,” he coughed.

That was when Loki saw Sylvie’s puppet, in the corner of his eye, line up to stab Mobius with their stick. Loki’s instincts kicked in and he released a pulse of magic that pushed everyone back, blasting Sylvie and all the agents back from him. Mobius was had been exempt from the push. He looked around at the result of Loki’s magic, lowering his weapon.

Sylvie fell back on her feet, keeping her balance. The agents struggled to get back up. 

She gave them a grin and took off towards the back of the building. 

“Let’s go!” Loki grabbed Mobius’ arm and dragged him into a run, getting past the disoriented Minutemen easily. 

They followed as she kept running towards the Grocery section. 

“Why isn’t she leaving through a gate?” Loki asked Mobius as they ran. 

“She’s waiting for the countdown to end. Leading us on a goose chase! Typical Loki !”

“What do we do?” 

“Oh, now you wanna do my plan?”

“Mobius!”

Mobius was breathing fast, trying to keep up, “Trap her, keep her stuck till the countdown ends. Then we follow her and hitch a ride outta here! It's our only shot to get away clean!” If they didn’t follow her wherever she was going after this, they were losing their last shot at salvation. They needed to know what she knew. They needed to stop her.

Mobius could hear boots running behind them. 

She was leading them to a backroom behind the Deli counter. It was a small room for the butcher with an industrial freezer and no other exits. 

Running up to the room and seeing the layout, Loki got an idea. 

Sylvie rushed into the backroom, Loki behind her. Just as she slowed down, he landed an opportune kick that sent her stumbling forward. She turned to him, angry. He immediately darted out of her way, dodging her strikes. He backed up into the open meat freezer. She jumped up and grabbed the top of the door jamb and landed a swinging double kick against his chest. Loki went flying back against the shelves of frozen meat, falling to the ground with several packs of meat dropping around him. 

He looked up at her, coughing, “I guess we know, now, who the superior Loki is.”

She smiled down at him with malice. 

“Me,” Loki said from behind her. 

She realized too late that the Loki she had followed into the freezer was a duplicate. The real Loki slammed the freezer door shut on her and barricaded the door with his body. 

Loki pushed his back against the door as it bumped with Sylvie’s formidable efforts to break free. At that moment, Mobius ran into the room through the entrance just across from him, the squad hot on his heels. He got inside the door and slammed it shut. The collective strength of the squad outside threatened to burst the door open if Mobius were to move away from it. 

He and Loki were stuck on opposite sides of the room, holding their attackers back. On the east wall was a table. On the table was another countdown TemPad, ticking away. 

2:03

2:02

2:01

“What do we do?!” Loki was breathing fast. 

Mobius had gotten a good look at how the TemPads were set up. These reset charges weren’t gonna go off here. The TemPads were going to send them someplace else. At least the countdown wasn’t going to kill them. 

Mobius thought for a second. “When the countdown ends, you’re gonna follow her to wherever she’s going. She’s using this as a distraction for whatever she’s planning.” His Loki-expertise wasn't as rusty as he thought it was.

Loki’s expression twitched at how Mobius phrased that, “ You’re coming with me.”

The squad rushed against Mobius’ door and Mobius lost a little of his footing. Sylvie grunted as she kicked the door behind Loki.

Mobius cracked a friendly smile, “Not this time, champ.”

“Mobius-”

“It’s over once they get through this door. I won’t be able to get over there fast enough, but I can slow them down.” They pushed against the door, he almost lost his brace against it. Sylvie’s sword scraped against the inside of the freezer angrily. 

“No, I'll stay and fight-!”

“Then we'll lose Sylvie and it's all over even if you win against B-15 here. Sylvie’s gonna try and kill the Keepers. You’re the only one who has a shot at stopping her. I’ll talk to Ravonna. Maybe I can get a good plea deal for us," he joked, worry seeping into his tone. 

1:05

1:04

1:03

Loki couldn’t let this happen. “Mobius, it’s over. Forget about the keepers! The TVA will kill us both!”

“You're probably right. But I still can't let her destroy the TVA, Loki. It's here for a reason.” 

Mobius could barely look at Loki. The look he was giving him felt like he was betraying him. 

Mobius laughed at the irony, “You and I are just stuck in our own time loop, aren’t we?” Another timer, another tough choice, another almost-betrayal. And they still had ‘no idea where they were going’. 

0:43

0:42

0:41

The squad shoved the door again. Mobius was losing his traction, it was starting to open slowly. 

This was it. 

Mobius leaned back, lifting his chin. “Hey, Loki.” 

“What?” The god’s voice was defeated. 

“I never told you, but I never cared for Thor.” Mobius grunted as the squad shoved again. Loki blinked. “Big tough guy like that always steals the show. The guy I wanted to know was the quiet one behind him. Clever as a whip and a little bit of a devil in his smile.” Mobius grinned at him like he did the day they met. 

0:22

0:21

0:20

“Back in Asgard, you said you wanted someone to see you, right? I saw you. I saw you back then, in those stupid video files, and I see you now. Always have.” The door behind him almost gave out. 

Loki couldn’t say anything. That feeling was back and stronger than ever. An overwhelming desire to forget everything and go to him. He wanted him. He wanted to take him and escape somewhere far from any of this. He would never go with him, of course. Still the wanting ache tore into his chest violently at the idea that this might be the end. 

“Mobius-”

0:00

The TemPad blinked and both Mobius and Loki watched as the reset charges quietly slipped out of this reality and into another point of time and space. 

Mobius turned to Loki with a grin, “Now go save the TVA, Loki.” 

The Minutemen gave the door a final shove and it flung open, pushing Mobius aside. The agents piled in swiftly and grabbed Mobius. There were too many to take out without getting pruned.

“Go after her!” Mobius yelled at Loki as they wrestled a Time Collar onto him, closing it tight around his neck. 

Some of the Minutemen realized Loki was there and started to walk towards him. This was the headstart Mobius was giving him. Loki quickly opened the freezer door and saw exactly what Mobius predicted: an open time gate that Sylvie must’ve just opened when the countdown ended. She was making her move. He needed to follow her. If he stayed to fight he’d never have a chance to learn what secrets Sylvie knew. And he’d lose any chance at overthrowing the TVA, himself. ... Or any chance to save it, as Mobius wanted. 

And if he let himself be captured he’d also lose any chance of saving Mobius.

Fighting every instinct telling him to stay, Loki walked through the time gate and let it close behind him. 

Chapter Text

"The Variant has bombed the Sacred Timeline!” Analyst E-1470 shouted on the main communication line, sounding the alarm as several branches forked drastically from the Sacred Timeline on their monitors. 

Ravonna, ignoring the sudden scurrying and sirens going off around her as analysts jumped over one another to report each of the branches, stepped closer to the largest monitor in the center of the hub, “Why would the Variant do this?” This was a mess, but the TVA could reset these branches in a matter of hours. It wouldn’t accomplish anything for the Variant. That’s when Ravonna saw past what was in front of her. Instead, she realized that every active Hunter and Minuteman was filing through a time gate out of the TVA right now. 

Her mouth opened as the realization coursed through her: The Variant was coming to the TVA. 

Her TemPad’s intercom scratched as someone opened a line, “There’s a disturbance in sector two.”

This was happening now. 

“She’s here.” Ravonna pointed at the two Hunters guarding the room, already on the move. “You two, come with me.”

-

Loki jumped through the time gate and spun around to see it close immediately. He had made it through just in time. He looked around. This was the TVA. The Minutemen locker room. 

He should’ve guessed Sylvie would come to the TVA. She was going to be looking for the Time Keepers, following what C-20 had shown her.

He took a stumbled step, getting used to being in the walls of the TVA again after gaining his freedom only hours before. 

After the day he’d had, the place seemed smaller and less imposing than it once had, but he was here as a fugitive now. One misstep could cost him his life. But getting to Sylvie too late could cost him everything else. 

Loki rushed out from the locker room into the hallway, ready to keep running if anyone saw him. No one did. 

Whatever those TemPads and reset charges at Roxxcart had done, they must’ve been keeping everyone busy. Not a soul was within sight. But he could hear something. It sounded like fighting. He ran towards the noise.

He turned the corner into the concrete hallway and all that was left of the struggle he had heard were four pruning sticks on the floor and only one unconscious agent. The other three must’ve just been dissolved. There was a tinny charge in the air that usually lingered after someone had just been pruned. 

Loki saw more remnants of a fight down the hallway. He followed the trail of carnage right to where he knew Sylvie was heading: the golden elevator to the Keepers that he had discovered, himself, not long after arriving at the TVA. 

Slowing, he pulled out his Skrull daggers. He could hear kicks and grunts and then the distorted cries of a person being pruned. Then silence. 

He walked out from around the corner and saw her, in front of the elevator, still breathing hard from the fight.

“Stop!” Loki ordered as she looked at the elevator behind her. He squared her off, flipping his daggers in his hands. 

She drew her sword. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“No, I don’t.” He walked towards her. “Because of you, my friend is being dragged away to a cell as we speak.” He circled around her, putting himself between her and the elevator.

“You’re welcome. Now get out of my way.”

Loki turned his daggers to her. “Are you going to kill the Time Keepers now?”

“What, are you trying to protect them?” She spoke like he was a child.

He glanced at the elevator, thinking of his answer. This was his opportunity as well. They were unprotected. But it was too soon. He needed to know more. Either from Sylvie or the Keepers themselves. After everything he’d been through, killing them had to be worth disappointing Mobius now. “No. But shouldn’t you consider-”

She drove her sword towards him and it ground to a halt on the handguards of his daggers’ blades. “What’s there to consider? They need to be destroyed!”

With a twisting motion, she twirled his arms into a tangle and spun around to his side. She lunged her sword towards his back, but he stepped aside and grabbed her arm, pinning it behind her back, “Yes, most likely, but what will you do after ? Do you even have a plan?” This Loki was nothing but brute chaos. She wanted to kill the Keepers, but to what end? Blind rage? This needed more calculation than that. 

“Argh! Get off me!” She ducked her head down and reached around her side, grabbing his leg and forcing him into a roll that freed her from his grasp. They each got to their knees quickly, Sylvie pulled her sword back and Loki pulled his dagger back, each of them grabbing the others’ free arm. They were locked into a standoff. 

“Hey!” Ravonna Renslayer’s voice interrupted their stalemate, they both looked at her and the two guards by her side. “Funny seeing you here L1130. Running away with the Variant?” She cranked her pruning stick on as she had thousands of times before. 

“Renslayer.” Loki said under his breath. She had started all of this. She was the one ordering his deletion and Mobius’ arrest. He let go of Sylvie and tried to get to his feet. “Where’s Mobius? Let him go-”

He had lost his focus long enough for Sylvie to grab the scruff of his jacket and shove her sword tight under his chin, shutting him up. “Stay back!” she growled at Ravonna. As Loki always noticed when someone was holding him hostage, her pockets were within reach. And within one pocket was a familiar brass glint.  

Renslayer only started walking towards them. Loki grabbed the TemPad from Sylvie’s coat and randomly selected one of the time coordinates that were saved to the device.

“L1190, Loki Laufeydottir, you are hereby arrested for the murder of-”

He aimed the time gate position at the floor and suddenly both he and Sylvie were falling out of the TVA. 

-

“Mobius, Mobius. You are standing here today to face judgment for your crimes.” 

Mobius stood at the center of the courtroom, in the glowing circular stand. He was in one of the beige TVA jumpsuits meant for criminals. It didn't suit him. Clashed with his complexion. His wrists chafed against his handcuffs, aching from a combination of centuries of paperwork and from swinging a Skrull electroshock baton at Hunters hours before. Two Hunters were on either side of him - they had been old pals, but not now. No one in the room was looking at him like a friend or colleague. 

He looked up at Judge Gamble as she spoke again, “Your actions and refusal to prune the Time Criminal have resulted in the deaths of V-19, G-12, N-02, R-09, and many others. You have caused dozens of branching timelines, each a Class A offense, that have endangered the integrity of the Sacred Timeline.” 

Mobius looked down, listening to his sins. His legs ached from hours of standing there. 

This time General Dox, his boss’s boss, spoke, “With these crimes, you have degraded your being to that of a Time Criminal, yourself. You have willingly destabilized all of time and space, all of reality and the mission we have all sworn to protect, for the sake of your heedless independence. Do you understand the gravity of your actions?”

Mobius waited. Silence extended through the chapel-like court. Everyone stared at him. This wasn’t going to continue until he said it. He lifted his chin and with a voice that was sore from the Time Collar squeezing against the bruises on his neck as well as the amount of times he had said this, he answered softly, “Yes. I do.”

General Dox still wasn’t satisfied, “Our fellow agents and colleagues risk their lives to defend the order the Time Keepers have created. They should not be risking their lives by embarking on missions with someone who will endanger them for their own short-sighted selfishness. For the sake of an agent who places himself above the authority of the Time Keepers.”

Mobius nodded, listening. She had a point. She always had a point. 

It was Judge Gamble’s turn now.

“Through your crimes you have become an obstacle to the TVA’s mission and are no longer fit to serve the purpose for which you have been created.”

Mobius waited, listening as he looked at the floor. There was a limit to how much he could crack wise. He had already tried everything he could to lighten this scene up. It was over now. He reserved his strength for standing and listening.

General Dox had to go further, “You are now a corrupt anomaly that should be excised for the health of the whole.” 

He knew better than to let this get to him. He had used this against criminals so many times. Still, it was getting to him. 

Judge Gamble took a solemn breath and raised her gavel, “The court finds you guilty.” The gavel clacked loudly. Mobius only swayed on the spot, tired. “A resolution has been raised asking for your immediate deletion-”

“Judge Gamble.” He heard that voice come from behind him. He didn’t look back. 

“Yes, Judge Renslayer.”

“Permission to add testimony as a witness.”

There was a pause. “Unorthodox, but granted.”

Ravonna stepped up to his right side. Close to him. He looked over to her, knowing what he’d see. She glanced at him with some rare friendliness. She looked nervous. She was risking a lot being here for him. 

She licked her lips and spoke to the court, “Mobius is one of our most diligent and devoted agents. Time and time again, I have seen him risk life and well-being for the capture and pruning of dangerous variants. On one occasion, he even saved my life.” She glanced at him, anxious and uncharacteristically shy. He only watched her, exhausted. “I believe that while he is no longer suitable for his Hunter duties, he should be allowed to remain with the TVA as an Analyst. His insight and skills of deduction have added invaluable support to our missions.”

After living through a memory more than a hundred times, the harsh words stung harder, but the sweet ones… they were sweeter, too. Ravonna had always had his back before. He looked away, trying to remind himself who put him in this Time Cell. 

“And what should we do about the lives he has thrown away? Who will be accountable for him if he were to succumb to his selfishness again?” Dox asked. 

“I will,” Ravonna stepped forward, putting herself on the line for him. “I will supervise him and his missions. Using my new authority as Judge, I will ensure his compliance and devotion. This will not happen again.” She looked back at him, resolute. 

“Is that right, Mobius?” Gamble spoke to him now. His neck was sore from looking up at the bench for hours, so he only looked at the floor. “Judge Renslayer is putting herself in a precarious position for you. Will you honor her authority?”

The scene wouldn’t continue if he didn’t say it. Maybe he’d just sit in silence for a while. He did. But after some time, silence was worse. He spoke softly through chapped lips, his shoulders heavy, “I will.” He repeated history, again, even though he had, only today, made those words a lie. For a Loki. 

“Good,” Gamble responded. “Mobius, Mobius. You are standing here today to face judgment for your crimes.” 

Mobius sighed as time repeated itself. Ravonna glitched out of existence again. He considered trying to walk off the stand or say something funny again. It always ended the same: one of the Hunter’s elbows or fists colliding with his ribs. His sides were hot and weak from the hits he had already taken. He probably wouldn’t be able to keep standing if he got another one. 

Ravonna always did know how to make the worst Time Cells. She never held back. And this one was extra poetic. A perfect guilt trip loop. 

He mouthed Gamble’s words as she said them, “Your actions and refusal to prune the Time Criminal have resulted in the deaths of V-19, G-12, N-02, R-09 and many others.” He still remembered seeing them die out on the Black Sea mission. “You have caused dozens of branching timelines, a Class A offense, that have endangered the integrity of the Sacred Timeline. With these crimes, you have degraded your being to that of a Time Criminal, yourself. You have willingly destabilized all of time and space, all of reality and the mission we have all sworn to protect, for the sake of your heedless independence. Do you understand the gravity of your actions?”

“Yes. I do.” He repeated, hoarse. 

‘ Our fellow agents and colleagues ’, Mobius began to mouth, but General Dox wasn’t saying the words with him. 

Mobius looked up. Everything was frozen. 

“Mobius.” The real Ravonna stepped into the illusory courtroom behind him, TemPad in her hand. 

He turned around, his neck rebelling against him as he did. 

“Ravonna.” 

-

Lamentis-1

2077

12 hours until impact

“So what’s the plan?” Loki followed behind Sylvie, trudging through the rocky terrain of Lamentis-1. The gravity and air here were slightly heavier than comfortable and it made for a very unpleasant journey through the alien desert towards the town in the distance. Of course, the discomfort had been compounded by each other’s presence. 

“There’s a town near here. And can you shut up?” Sylvie ordered back at him with a bite. “Just because I have to work with you doesn’t mean I want to hear your voice.”

They had established a very shaky truce since stumbling onto Lamentis-1. This desolate, purple moon was about to experience utter annihilation once its planet crashed into it in just a few short hours. Sylvie’s untraceable TemPad, over which they had fought and scrambled, was safely stowed away from Sylvie by Loki’s magic. His possession of it had earned him her non-violence. Though her words and tone were as sharp as ever. 

Unfortunately, the TemPad was out of power from this unexpected detour and re-energizing it was something only Sylvie knew how to do as Loki was still new to the TVA’s technology. That had earned her his cooperation, as well. 

But, of course, he had other motives to stick around and work with Sylvie. 

He pushed the memory of Mobius being dragged away in a Time Collar from his mind. Everything in him wanted to return to the TVA that moment to free him, but Loki knew what going back empty-handed would mean. 

Loki needed to either go back with Sylvie as a ransom for Mobius’ safe exchange, or he needed to go back armed with Sylvie’s knowledge, or perhaps assistance, against the Time Keepers to forcefully liberate Mobius. Although he and Sylvie were no longer attacking one another, he wasn't quite sure which outcome it would be. 

Loki knew which one Mobius would prefer, so even if the idea of overturning the organization that was imprisoning Mobius right now seemed more attractive, he’d try it Mobius’ way first. 

Loki had to get more from her. For Mobius and for his own curiosity. After all, how often do you meet another you? So, he’d do what he always did when someone knew something he didn’t: prod, poke, and goad. 

“Your discrimination against me feels a touch disproportionate.” He picked up his pace to walk just behind her, “You really have it out for Lokis, even though you are one. Not a very good one, but-”

“I’m not one of you. That’s not who I am anymore.”

“Right, ‘Sylvie’ .” He kept pace with her, though she only walked faster. “You know, it’s not very much like a Loki to change your name.”

“Oh yeah, and you know what exactly makes a Loki a Loki?”

“Yes. Independence, authority, style.”

She scoffed, stepping over a large stone. “So, naturally you went to work for the boring, oppressive time police.”

“I don’t work for them. Mobius and I left-”

“Yes, yes , I get it. You two are ‘running away together’,” she cut him off, sickened. “Take it from someone who's been running longer than you’ve existed: it gets tired, fast.” 

He lost some of his playfulness, “We won’t need to run forever.”

“You two probably didn’t even make it a day.” She turned to him, catching a look on his face that told her she hit her mark. “It’s because you don’t know what you want.”

She was right. He brushed it aside. 

“And what exactly is it that you want?” He raised his arms, gesturing around them. “Your ‘years-in-the-making’ plan was to tear the TVA down, create the ultimate power vacuum, and then just… walk away ?”

Sylvie shrugged with attitude, kicking a rock out of her way. 

He shook his head, “I would never have done that.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m not you,” she raised her voice. “Besides, what do you mean ‘independence’? I saw the way you slunk behind your little agent, following his orders even though what you really want is to destroy everything he stands for. You’re not very much like a Loki, either.” 

She hit her mark, again. Loki watched her as she marched in front of him. Loki had no way to explain away her accusation. But Loki didn’t take orders. “Mobius will understand why the TVA needs to be dismantled. I’ll make him understand.”

“Oh,” she feigned surprise. “Maybe I spoke too soon.” She looked back at him. “Can we get on with this now?” She pointed at the town just ahead of them, picking up the pace. 

-

“Little on the nose, don’t you think?” Mobius spoke quietly through his sore throat, not quite as recovered as his humor implied. 

He walked out of the red time gate and back into one of the TVA time theaters that had once been his to conduct. 

Ravonna motioned for him to sit down across from her, on the criminal side of the table. “I wanted you to remember. You gave them- me- your word that this would never happen again.”

Mobius walked over to the table as he was told. He had had enough of lecturing for one day.

“Think I could get some water?” He let out a grunt as he sat down, his bones and soul weary from standing in the Time Cell for hours. He nodded at the Hunters standing in the corners of the room, greeting them. They pretended not to notice.

Ravonna reached down to the cabinet under the table and pulled out a Josta. She slid it across the table to him. 

He let out a single chuckle, knowing her angle. This is how you broke someone: Kick ‘em while they’re down and then offer them a treat. 

“You’re too kind,” he cracked it open clumsily with his cuffed hands, accepting the bait. He took a sip and hissed a grunt as the carbonation stung his irritated throat. “Now what?” He leaned back, ready.

Ravonna, as a judge, wouldn’t normally be the one to interrogate a criminal, but it made sense this time. Given their history, and her responsibility over him.

She stared at him for a moment, a glimmer of something dangerous in her eye where friendship had once been. “I saw your Loki running away with the Variant.”

Mobius’ breath hitched microscopically. He hid his concern expertly, looking down as he rearranged his legs casually.  

“... Yeah?” 

“You know what he said to me?” He shrugged. “...‘Let Mobius go’.”

He smirked. “So, what? You gonna tell me you have him in a room back here somewhere?” He tried to hide his eagerness for Loki’s status. He stayed away from imagining Ravonna pruning Loki on the spot. His chest tightened at the thought. Loki had to have gotten away. That’s what Lokis do. 

She ignored his question. “Here I thought Loki had somehow gotten to you. Enchantment, maybe. Like how the Variant got to C-20.” She leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table. “Instead, it looks like you had an effect on him.”

“What can I say? I’m charismatic.” He tried to control his breathing, any sign of anxiety would be exploited. 

“What did you promise him?” 

He flinched his head back with confusion. “‘Promise him’?”

“I might not know Lokis as well as you, but I’ve seen my fair share of them.” She had been a Hunter for a long time and Lokis, like Sylvie, had always been plentiful. “Lokis only protect people who are useful to them in some way. What were you going to do for him? Were you going to help him get to the Time Keepers?”

“No. Of course not,” Mobius sounded offended. “I’m trying to protect them, just like you.”

“Then, why, Mobius? Why was a Loki asking me to let you off the hook?”

Mobius leaned forward, moving the can of Josta aside, “Listen. All I can tell you is that we got along. I think he just likes having me around. This isn’t some kind of coup. This was just me, making a dumb decision. He didn’t do anything. He didn’t cast some kind of spell. I had it all lined up and under control, I was getting ready to prune him, and I just- I couldn’t. The rest is history. A repeat of history.” She wasn’t amused by that. “I was still trying to get the Variant.”

Mobius had to be hiding something. Some kind of plan. “About that: you betrayed the TVA, but still upheld our mission? You have to understand I find that hard to believe.”

“Really? I thought you knew me better than that.”

“I thought I did, too.” 

“Hey, don’t do that- I’m still me.” He pointed at himself, “‘Funny ol’ Mobius’, remember? Come on. You think I’d let Loki live if I thought he was a danger to the Time Keepers?” He could only hope Loki still didn’t have plans to hurt the Keepers, but it still felt like a bluff to say that sentence out loud. 

“Mobius.” She placed her palms on the table thoughtfully. “When you disobeyed my orders, you weren’t just putting the Timeline at risk. You put this , all of us, at risk.” She looked him in the eye now. “ Us . What you and I had. ‘Friends against time, allies to the end’. You turned your back on that.” 

Mobius lost his smile. He watched her closely. 

“So, you expect me to believe that you were going to give it all up because you and he… ‘got along’-?”

“Because he’s our only chance at catching the Variant. The Variant that probably got pretty darn close to reaching the Time Keepers right after you caught me, right?” 

Ravonna almost asked him how he knew that, but she knew that’d only prove his point. 

She needed to change angles.

She picked up one of the folders on the table and opened it. Loki Laufeyson. The file summarized the entire, ordained existence of the Timeline Loki. Mobius knew it front to back. “You know… I've never seen a Loki who cared about anyone besides himself." She scanned its contents. 

"Most Lokis care about their Thor. Though he’d never admit it," Mobius corrected, friendly. 

"But you're not Thor, are you?" 

"I wish , you kidding?" he chuckled. “He’s a good-lookin’ guy. Not much goin’ on upstairs, but-”

“Quiet.”

He quieted.

“What would make a Loki care about you?”

Mobius’ brow flinched at the strange question. She unclipped a picture of Loki, handsome in his full god-king regalia as people knelt before him, from the folder and looked at it. 

“Why would a prince, with his history and future, - a god who considers himself the destined ruler of the ‘Nine Realms’ - even… notice you?” She turned the picture to Mobius. 

He looked at the picture. The Loki in the picture was the legendary villain they all knew, but Mobius had new memories of standing beside that god in a Skrullos bunker, watching him tend to his wounds with kind eyes and careful, cool fingertips. It sounded unreal, even to himself. 

“Doesn’t really make sense, does it?” She put it down. “You’re not Thor. Odin. Thanos. Iron Man. Or Captain America. You’re not part of his story. You’re no one. You’re just, what did he call us?” She searched her memory. “A ‘ridiculous bureaucrat’.” 

Mobius nodded, looking down. 

“Very good,” he commended her insult with a whisper, letting it sink in. 

“Well?”

“... What can I say?” His tone was calculated, something bitter beneath it, “I’m stumped, same as you.” He took a sip of his Josta. 

“That’s because he doesn’t care about you. He was using you, Mobius,” she explained like it was obvious. “Just like Lokis use everyone.”

Mobius set down his drink, staring at it.

“You honestly believe that this Loki would turn his back on over a thousand years of self-obsession for you?” 

Mobius heard how ridiculous it sounded. He didn't say anything. 

His uncharacteristic silence told Ravonna she was close to something. 

She leaned in, “You know, deep down, that whatever you think you see in this variant isn't really there, don’t you?” His expression was unreadably amused, just like always. For as well as she knew him, this was becoming one of the most enigmatic interrogations she’d ever conducted. Maybe it was her fault - this was a conflict of interest. But she had to keep pushing. 

“Tell me where he and the Variant went.”

This was his first confirmation that the Lokis weren’t dust already. He smiled to himself, letting out a relieved breath. Loki was out there somewhere. Doing what Lokis do best. 

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, friendliness gone. 

Was he still trying to protect Loki? “We both know Lokis are narcissistic con-artists. He hasn't brought her back to the TVA. I think that makes his choice obvious, don't you? Whatever he told you, you know he’ll always pick himself, right?” 

He glanced at her. She’d never seen him angry before, but this was the closest she’d ever seen him get. The usual softness of his brow and the perpetual smile hidden in his crows feet were gone, replaced by something sharp. 

“So tell me where they were headed.”

Mobius leaned forward, placing his cuffed wrists on the tabletop. “Alright.” 

He leaned down and waited. 

Ravonna leaned in. 

“Disneyland.” He smiled again, entirely at her expense. 

She leaned back. She signaled to a Hunter standing in a corner behind Mobius. Mobius looked over his shoulder just in time to receive a jab from the blunt end of the Hunter’s pruning stick to his right cheek.

His eyes watered from the impact. The inside of his cheek bled against his teeth. After millennia of neutral comfort, today was shaping up to be one of the most painful days he’d known. He tested the hinges of his jaw, groaning. "Jeez! What happened, Ravonna, why are you doing this?” He sat up, looking at her. Her face was stiff, purposefully unfeeling. “What’s next, gonna have him wheel a Gizmo in here? This isn't you!" 

"And this isn't you, Mobius! You spend a week with a Loki and you're disobeying orders, interfering with the Timeline, sabotaging investigations, and jeopardizing all of reality because you can't prune a half-baked Loki?"

"He doesn't deserve to die,” Mobius was raising his voice now. 

"Die? Variants were never supposed to exist in the first place.” 

“He’s different. He’s changing. I know change is a bad word around here, but he's growing. For the better-” 

“ Enough , Mobius.” She slammed her hands on the table and stood up. “Tell me what you know and, maybe,” she took a breath and her expression softened, “maybe this doesn’t need to go any higher. Maybe I can find a way to clear your name again.”

Mobius ignored the blood in his mouth, looking up at her. “What? You’re saying you can make this go away?”

“Tell me where Loki’s going and maybe I can.”

That was Mobius’ trick, too: Promise them the moon, even if it was a lie. Hope could be far more motivating than pain. He had used it on Loki.

“You’re messing with me,” he squinted at her, distrustful.

“I did it before, didn’t I?”

“... You did.”

This was what he had been betting on. A chance to earn him and Loki amnesty. 

She walked around the side of the table to his side. Again, another tactic. 

“Mobius, if you don’t help me, you’re going to find yourself in front of the Time Keepers. Possibly even pruned. Don’t you want to go back to how things were?” She smiled down at him.

Did he? He imagined getting back to his desk. Back in his suit. Starting a new case. With Loki as his partner. He imagined the almost endless expanses of time he could have with Loki; talking, arguing, chasing criminals together. Working together until the very end of time. It wouldn’t be like before. It would be better. 

It was tempting. 

Mobius opened his mouth to talk, but a Hunter walked into the room, interrupting him. “Judge Renslayer.” 

“Please leave, this is an active interrogation-”

“Your presence has been requested with the Time Keepers. Immediately.”

Mobius looked up at her. Things were bad if the Time Keepers were asking for an audience. He watched her profile, half-concerned for her, half-concerned for himself.

Ravonna looked to the Hunter to her left, a little stunned by the summons. “Put him back in.” 

The Hunters came over and grabbed Mobius by his arms. 

“Hey!” Mobius objected. The red time gate to the Time Cell slid open. He wasn’t done. “What happened to C-20, Ravonna?” She turned to him. “The Variant was in her head, maybe she’ll lead you to her.” If they found the Variant and Loki helped bring her in, maybe they had a shot. 

Ravonna only gave him a troubled look which quickly blurred as he stepped backwards into the bad memory. 

-

"Once we get the power from The Ark, we’re going back to the TVA. I have to get back to save Mobius." 

After a scuffle getting directions from an old, cantankerous woman and a shapeshifting/enchantment combo-trick, Loki and Sylvie had found themselves here: on a swanky dining cart aboard a train heading to The Ark, the evacuation vessel for everyone on Lamentis-1 who could afford a seat. The Ark might’ve been these people’s only salvation, but it was his and Sylvie’s, too. These people didn’t need The Ark anyways because they were all dead regardless. But The Ark’s power could actually save Loki and Sylvie. 

Sylvie sat down at the booth Loki chose, wary of onlookers, "You really want to go through the trouble of infiltrating the TVA just to save one tired old analyst? Then what?" 

Loki settled into his soft seat, resting his arms on the table. “Then I'll threaten the Time Keepers until they give me my life back and give Mobius a place to live on the timeline,” he improvised. It was one idea, of many, that he had begun toying with as they had trekked through the Lamentis wastelands. It wasn’t as satisfying as ruling the TVA or burning it down, but it might be something Mobius would agree to. It was either this or trying to use Sylvie as a bargaining chip for freedom and of course he wasn’t going to tell her that plan. 

And perhaps Loki, who had no use for his short and disastrous Timeline life anymore, could find Mobius in his new life and-

She laughed at him, “You have no idea what's going on, you're like a child. You want to go back to pretending the TVA doesn’t exist? I think you forgot the part where I kill the Keepers.”

“Right. Then I guess I’ll have to figure out what branching part of the timeline will be mine-”

She scoffed at how quickly he rewrote his plans, “You have no idea what you actually want.”

“I want to save my friend.” That was the only constant in any future Loki devised: Mobius. 

“‘My friend’, ‘ my friend’ ,” she retched, “I swear if you mention that man one more time, I’m going to literally kill you.” She crossed her arms and leaned against the back of her seat, Loki only smirked at her, recognizing something of himself in her mannerisms. “You’d think you never had a friend, the way you go on about him.”

His face flinched, ouch ? She was right, however. "I don't exactly see you swimming in comrades,” he flung it back at her.

"Yeah, well. Living in apocalypses where everyone around you has about 24 hours to live isn't the best setup for lifelong friendships." 

He nodded, remembering her background. "I think being a Loki is the first obstacle for lasting friendships,” an olive branch. 

"I’m not like other Lokis,” she bit. “... But, yes." 

A moment of strange non-annoyance passed between them as they considered their similar statuses as pariahs. Always the outcasts. Untouchables.

Loki watched her for a moment, curiosity finally bubbling over his distrust, "Are you from Asgard?" 

She glanced at him before going back to watching the other diners, "I hardly remember it." 

"What about Thor?" 

“An annoying boy I once called brother.” 

Sounded about right. “Where’d you learn your magic?”

She looked at him now, smug. “I taught myself.”

“What? How?”

“Because I had to,” she pushed her words out gruffly. “Not everyone can be so lucky to have a teacher.” She paused, considering him. “Who taught you?”

“My mother.”

She fell quiet, tempted by an emotion. She gave in, “What was she like?”

He fought sadness as he thought of his mother’s face and voice, “She was… a Queen of Asgard. She was good. Purely decent.”

“You sure she was your mother?” Sylvie teased, sensing his grief.

“She wasn’t, actually. I was adopted,” he lightened. “Is that a bit of a spoiler for you? Sorry about that.”

“No, I knew I was adopted,” she said matter-of-factly. 

“What, they told you?”

“Yeah. Did they not tell you?”

“No.” 

She tensed her face. Awkward.

“I mean. They did. Eventually.” He tried to sweep the major event in his life -a thorn in his side that had pushed him past the brink of megalomania- under a rug. “So, hang on a second, tell me about your mother.”

-

“How’d it go?” Mobius asked Ravonna as though they were still friends.

He was back in his chair, happy to be sitting again, and she was walking into the room towards her side of the table. She seemed different; disturbed. She made a quick motion at the Hunters, telling them to leave the theater.

“You okay?” Mobius watched them go, intrigued. He sat up.

She paused by the edge of the table, waiting for the door to close behind the Hunters. “Standing in front of the Keepers, even at the best of times, is jarring.” She looked down at him. “They blame me for letting the Variant and L1130 get away.”  

“They can’t blame you for that.” 

“They can and do.”

“But this was my fault.” Even if she was doing this to him, it didn’t seem right. She was just doing her job. He was the one who screwed it all up. Old, friendly habits momentarily kicking back in. 

“It’s my fault for trusting you,” she leaned against the table. “I was the one who vouched for you last time. This all comes back to me.”

Mobius nodded. She was right. Guilt crept into him. 

He had to help. There had to be a way to salvage this. “C-20 kept saying something. ‘It’s real.’ Did you check with her?”

Ravonna sighed at his advice, “You don’t have to tell me how to do my job.”

She took her seat across from him. 

“Look, I know it’s weird, me helping you when you’re the one interrogating me, but there’s something here!” he whispered. “Something she saw or knew that can lead us back to Sylvie.” Mobius hoped that Loki could take care of himself. If they found Sylvie, Loki might get in on the pardon he was trying to work out with Ravonna. “Talk to C-20. You’ll find something. After whatever she tells you, I can help you. I can get Loki to help and then, when we catch her, maybe we can-”

Ravonna quickly reached over to the red monitor to her right and, to his trained ear, he could tell she turned off the recording of the interrogation. It was just them now. No Hunters, no video files. “C-20’s dead, Mobius.”

He blinked, “What? How?”

Ravonna lowered her voice, “The Variant’s magic. She… scrambled her mind. She didn’t last long.” 

“I don’t get it. She seemed like she was getting better when we found her-”

“At first, yes. But by the time she got in here, she could barely speak. She declined quickly after that.”

Mobius leaned back, trying to figure out what this meant. With C-20 gone, they had lost a good lead. 

“Ravonna.” He had to keep the deal going. “Loki… he’s going to bring the Variant in. He has to. I can work with him to bring her in.”

“If Loki brings her in, then maybe I can make a case for you, Mobius.”

Good. That was a start. “ And Loki,” he insisted. 

She was silent. 

Mobius could see the truth in her eyes.

“Loki was never going to get through this. When he brings her in, you’ll get the credit, but Loki needs to be dealt with. His existence was a mistake that needs to be fixed. Like all variants.”

That was it. 

Loki was dead no matter what. 

He had bet on the wrong horse. 

Loki had been right all along. 

Even if Loki saves the day, even if he proved himself to the TVA, he would still only be repaid with a swift execution. Just like on the Timeline- a good Loki never lasts. Mobius had sent him on a suicide mission. 

Mobius lifted his hands, the cuffs chafing as he gestured, “He deserves more than that, Ravonna. He’s off the Timeline. He won’t hurt anyone.” He was losing his cool. “We can keep him on as a Consultant for future Loki variants. They’re always branching, we could use one on our side-”

“ No , Mobius. Not after what’s happened. There’s no going back from this.” How could she let L1130 live when Mobius had shown her he was willing to disobey her for him? Loki would learn how to exploit that. In fact, he already had. Whatever their connection was, it was stronger than what Mobius felt for the TVA and that was the most dangerous, and disturbing, part about this situation. 

Silence stretched between them. She watched him. She could see his thoughts move through his mind quickly. If Mobius had cared less about L1130, maybe she would’ve considered a pardon. Mobius’ dedication to the variant was what ensured he couldn’t be allowed to exist any longer than necessary. 

“This is it, Mobius. I’ve made up my mind.” She stood up. “Every second those variants are out there, we’re in danger.”  She started to walk back to the door. She would give him time to accept her sentencing. 

Mobius had sent Loki out there to bring Sylvie back, just to get himself killed. Now, he had to hope that Loki was out there, right now, betraying what Mobius told him to do. He hoped he was out there finding a way to stop Sylvie from killing the Keepers without coming back for him. Because Mobius couldn’t do this. He couldn’t take credit and let Loki die to save his own skin. 

“I won’t help you kill him.”

He knew saying that was stupid, but he couldn’t go back to a time before he felt like this.

“What’s gotten into you?” She turned back, visibly unsettled. “You have a real chance to save yourself and you’re throwing away everything, your purpose, our friendship, for a Loki?” She took a step towards him, “Where is this coming from? Are you-…?” No. It was too outlandish to consider. A TVA agent could feel friendship, but this was different. Stronger. Almost like…. It was something TVA agents didn't, couldn't , feel. 

She wanted to leave it unasked, but it was her job to know.

“Mobius. Do you have… feelings for this variant?” Hearing herself say those words felt foreign and unreal. It felt like she was breaking a time law by even mentioning the possibility. These conversations just didn’t happen in the TVA. These halls had never known an agent who could be accused of something so strange, so taboo. 

“W-what?” Mobius twitched. She could see him struggle with the same apprehensions she was overcoming to ask that question. They had never discussed anything remotely connected to this topic - they had no use for it. This question was as strange as asking Mobius if he could walk through walls or read minds. But, after everything Mobius had said and done, what else could explain this?

“What kind of question is that?” He couldn't quite make sense of it. “You're asking me if I… with Loki ?” 

He almost laughed, but it never reached his throat. It stopped when something finally made sense. Several things that had only been a mystery to him before that moment were now cast in a new, alarming light. He remembered how it felt when Loki touched him; cleaning the blood from his cuts and helping him with his gauntlets. How it felt to stand near him at the games and while listening to Odin. How it felt when Loki smiled down at him, running away from B-15 and finding the Roxxcart file. He remembered that consistent, warm push he had felt to stay near the pain-in-the-ass prince he just couldn’t seem to get enough of. And, finally, this all-consuming, stupidity-inducing goal of his to keep Loki safe- even if it meant losing everything. 

He was behaving like... like he was someone on the Timeline. 

He stayed quiet, his thoughts overwhelming him. What was happening to him?

The look on his face told her everything she needed to know. Fear sunk into her heart. What did it mean if this was possible? A TVA agent who could change- who could fall in love? She briefly considered what C-20 had said. Her fear was replaced with existential terror. If the connection Mobius had with Loki was anything like what Ravonna had seen on the Timeline- it meant Mobius was always going to choose Loki over everything and everyone else. He would never be the same again. Pruning Loki wouldn't be enough. His mind would always be clouded. He’d never be able to put the mission or the Time Keepers first again. Which was precisely why TVA agents were never meant to feel like this. 

Contaminated by what he felt for Loki, he was now a risk to the very fabric of the TVA. 

-

“Why are you helping him?” 

“Excuse me?” Loki denied the champagne from the waitress with a gesture. He needed a clear head. ‘Only soda pop from now on’, he remembered Mobius’ orders with a smile.

A question Sylvie had been wondering since Roxxcart found its way back to the front of her mind, “Are you two together or something?”

Loki’s chest stuttered, “What? No.” A pang of panic ran through him. “We’re friends.” 

“What about what I saw with the-” Sylvie pointed towards the past. She must have meant their closeness at Roxxcart. She had seen how Mobius touched him, how Loki had protected him, and how they had spoken to one another.

“All harmless flirtations,” he excused. He wished he hadn’t sent the champagne away. Whatever closeness she saw between them had just been a passing, friendly affection. It had to be. 

Loki was no stranger to desire. It was a part of his reputation. His identity. And, yes, he felt it. This was desire, wasn’t it? That warm pull he felt towards Mobius. That ache in his hands and chest when Mobius smiled at him. Yes , it was desire, he was realizing. Just as he had felt for so many others, he wanted to reach out to him. He wanted to run his hands over him and feel him against his chest-

Loki straightened his hair anxiously, as if combing the rest of that hedonistic thought out of his mind. 

It was desire. But desire could take many forms and come and go quickly. Desire, as Loki had always known it, was empty and animal. A pedestrian urge that needed to be managed.

Though, admittedly, this desire was constant and, arguably, quite strong. In fact, it had felt different and deeper than anything he had known before. Its home wasn't in senseless lust, but somewhere more profound- a longing. An appreciation. Regardless, whatever kind of desire it was it had been manageable up to this point. 

This was merely desire and friendship. Distinct. Separate.

Right?

Sylvie watched him struggle with a knowing look. “So harmless he sacrificed himself for you.” 

“No. No. That’s not what-” he cut himself off, closing his eyes and exhaling with frustration. “We’re just friends. It can’t be more than that.” Anything more than that would be unfair to Mobius. He wasn’t the same as Loki. Desire had no place in a TVA agent’s heart. 

Still, his own heart quickened at the thought of more. A reality where Mobius would be able to feel as he did; where he wasn’t a TVA agent, created only for files and paperwork and the Keeper's glorious purpose. A reality where Mobius was just as much heart as he was mind. Something heavy weighed on Loki’s chest at the thought.

“He hasn’t sacrificed himself. I am going to find him,” he promised himself. “They won't prune one of their own.”

“You really don't know the TVA,” she judged. “But this is what he deserves for trusting a Loki to save him. Perhaps he already knew you were a lost cause. Maybe this was his way of letting you down gently,” she teased, not knowing the impact of her playful prodding. 

“I thought we were having a nice conversation before,” they had shared their childhoods and had commiserated over their overlapping experiences of isolation. “Why are you being so unpleasant?”

“Do you really trust him?” She was hatching her own plans for what was to come- she needed to know if this analyst Loki couldn’t shut up about was really worth the trouble. Or if he was a traitor. 

Loki gave her a look, thinking. “I don’t know too much about trust. I think you’ll understand me when I say I’ve never really had it for others and when others were foolish enough to extend it to me, I used it against them.” 

“Respectable,” she nodded. 

Of course she’d understand. 

Loki looked back in his memories, “But, with Mobius, there was a moment… where I decided to share something with him for nothing in return.” He thought of their time in Asgard, moments before Mobius made the choice to spare him, “It was strange, but when he accepted what I told him and still decided to take my side, I started to understand what trust really meant.”

“What?” Her typical ruthlessness had left her expression. She seemed to genuinely want to know the answer.

He tilted his head, “It means… to stop hiding. Trust is allowing yourself to be seen. As you are.” He smiled. “And he didn’t mind. In fact, it was the reason he saved me.”

As sappy as this Loki was, but she appreciated it. She didn’t get a chance to hear stories like that often. Most of her life had been running and screaming.  

“What will you do if he betrays you?”

“He won’t. And I won’t betray him.” 

He sounded so sure. She finally started to consider believing him. “Must be nice. Believing in someone who believes in you.” 

His heart swelled for a moment at the thought. Loki sensed she longed for it. He felt himself in that. He had been looking for this feeling his whole life, too. She was still on that journey. 

A warm compassion took him over. “You know, despite your protestations, we are quite similar.”

“As in, we’re literally the same being. That’s where it ends.”

“I’m not so sure about that." 

She leaned away, scared off by his soft tone. Back to business, “So, when I get to the Keepers and you get to your Mobius, I guess this’ll all be over.”

“Mobius won’t let the TVA go down quietly.” Loki fidgeted with the napkin on the table. “He cares too much about the way things are now.” 

I bet , her face said.

“It’s all he’s known. In fact, I wonder if he’s capable of living a real life after he leaves the TVA. That’s part of the reason why I don’t-...” he checked himself, stopping his confession. 

She still understood him, “ ‘Friends’ , hm?”

She wasn’t making fun of him. 

He would elaborate, “TVA agents don’t feel the desire the way we do.” He dropped the napkin. “That’s why it would probably be best if I just left Mobius to what he was created for.”

“ ‘Created’ ? Who told you TVA agents can’t feel desire?” She almost laughed.

“He did.” 

Now she laughed, “That’s ridiculous. He wasn’t always a TVA agent, you know. He can feel desire just like anyone else.”

Loki stopped. 

He tucked his chin, his brow scrunched with confusion, “What do you mean?” 

“He’s a variant . Just like us. They all are.”

“What?”

-

“It has to be done.”

Ravonna paced her office. Mobius was still in the theater. 

“He’s a risk to the TVA,” she repeated to herself. 

If this had been any other analyst, this would’ve been easier. And If it was between Mobius and the Sacred Timeline, she knew which it had to be. She looked over to her old pruning stick on her trophy wall. She picked it up, regarding its familiar weight. She’d do it. She had to. 

She clenched her jaw and walked towards the door, purposefully emptying her mind of the memories she had of Mobius in this room when they had shared drinks over successful missions. She turned the doorknob and just before she opened the door, she heard the soft chime of an alarm rang followed by a swish and then a sweet southern drawl, “Hang on just a minute, there.”

Ravonna turned around and saw the orange hologram that had sprung from her computer, joining her in the third dimension. 

“Miss Minutes?” Ravonna looked around, confused. “What are you doing? I didn’t call for you.”

Miss Minutes wasn’t concerned with answering the judge’s question and simply zipped closer, “I’ve received orders to come talk to you now.”

“What? Orders from who?” The Time Keepers? Ravonna’s paranoia was intensifying. 

The clock came closer, like she had a secret, “I’m supposed to let you know about a certain protocol that could help you out of your current predicament.”

“... What protocol?”

Chapter Text

“Here we are,” Loki looked out the train window. The sky had darkened to a deep violet, but a bloom of synthetic light was peaking over the horizon and approaching fast. It was a large city. Sylvie joined him in looking out the window. Within only a few minutes the train was beginning to slow into its terminal. 

“Prepare to disembark,” a pleasant feminine voice alerted them and the rest of the passengers that it was almost time to leave.

“Stay close,” Loki advised as he stood up. He was still in his guard uniform. 

“Not like I have a choice,” she retorted, though not as angrily as she once would have.

They milled in with the crowd as they made their way as inconspicuously as possible to an exit. The people around them were wealthy and unbothered. They chatted about where they were headed next. Some had plans to be picked up from the offworld port to go visit family on another planet in the system. Others shared that this departure lined up nicely with a galactic cruise they had booked for the Rigel system a few lightyears away. 

Loki and Sylvie ducked their heads as they exited the train and walked onto the noisy platform, guards watching the passengers walk from the exits to the industrial elevator that would lift them to the The Ark’s onboarding platform. 

“Final boarding call,” the same robotic voice boomed calmly over the city. 

For as loud as it was, it was still difficult to hear over the scene’s clamor. On either side of the walls lining the train tracks, violently raucous hordes of unwealthy Lamentis citizens yelled through the metal mesh of the barriers at the passengers walking fashionably towards safe haven. 

“Please remain calm,” one guard yelled counterproductively.

“Single file,” another ordered.

Loki and Sylvie got onto the elevator as it opened for them, followed by thirty other passengers. They stood, silent, as they were lifted to The Ark.

Another announcement, “All ticketed passengers, report to The Ark. Ten minutes until launch.”

Loki saw the others take out their tickets, preparing. He leaned over to Sylvie, “So what are we doing about the fact that we don’t have tickets? Enchantment or conjuring?”

The elevator doors opened and all the occupants were momentarily blinded by the incredibly bright spacecraft waiting for them. 

“We don’t need tickets where we’re going,” Sylvie answered.

He didn’t know what she meant, but he let her take the lead. They followed, in line, as the others left the elevator. Loki made sure the guards didn’t get a good look at him. They were getting closer and closer to the entrance of the ship where ticket takers and more guards were onboarding passengers. 

“Now.” 

Loki almost missed Sylvie’s cue, but he followed her as she ducked out of the bright light and behind a steel beam to the left. No one was looking at them, everyone was impatient to get on board. All the focus was on preventing non-ticketed people from leaving the planet, not on people leaving the line. 

“This way.” Sylvie snuck out from behind the beam and towards a descending staircase to their right. Loki followed. His guard uniform fell away and was replaced by his true ensemble: his TVA suit and Skrull longcoat. 

“Where are we going?” 

He bumped into Sylvie when she stopped.

She looked over the vertigo-inducing railing at the ship - they must’ve been several hundred feet in the air - and, with sharp eyes, found what she was looking for. “There.” She pointed to a small, square, tank door on the side of the ship. “That’s a maintenance port.” 

Loki squinted at it, not able to discern what he was looking at. 

She continued, “Looks like it's right above the engines.”

“If you say so.” She was more well-traveled and tech-savvy than him, he only knew the insides and amenities of expensive spacecraft and nothing of their inner workings. 

“I do ,” she huffed. “Come on. Keep up.” 

She ran down the metal steps until she reached a landing parallel to the maintenance hatch. There was a single, narrow metal beam connecting the platform structure they were on and the ship. It seemed designed to break away when The Ark lifted off and, therefore, not very sturdy. 

Sylvie dashed along the narrow beam without any hesitation.

Loki riled up his courage with a breath and a shake of his head and ran after her. He watched her run, trying to keep up. She was fearless. He nearly slipped, “Woah!” He caught his balance and started running again.  

She made it to the side of the craft and immediately grabbed onto the seemingly random pipes and bars that lined its surface. There was a very thin and narrow walkway lining the exterior of the hull, about two feet in width. It seemed designed to allow for rather unsafe travel from the beam to the maintenance port. No doubt whoever serviced these crafts would have safety gear and hooks that would prevent a very easy fall. 

“Hold on,” Sylvie yelled back at him.

He didn’t need to be told twice. He reached the hull and immediately grabbed onto any surface he could to keep his balance as he followed behind her, shimmying towards the maintenance port. Suffering through the dizziness from the tall height, Loki looked up at the underside of the grated platform they had just been on at the vague, dark impressions of people’s feet walking around. The crowd had thinned. The last of the passengers were getting on the ship now. 

“Once we get in, I’m going to make a break in the energy currents going to the engines. I can reroute it and use it to power the TemPad instead.”

“You sure this will work?” Now that he was here, he was starting to have his doubts.

“It has to!” She shouted over the wind hitting their faces.

Sylvie grunted as she took one last leap across a gap in the walkway and the small landing in front of the maintenance port door. Loki stepped down and joined her as she did something to the small number pad on the left side of the door. He couldn’t quite tell what she did but it buzzed angrily and then pinged affirmatively and then the hatch on the front of the door hissed before the door automatically lifted for them. Was that magic or hacking?

She hopped inside the cramped, red-lit maintenance room, which was a mess of pipes, server boxes, and wires. He followed, grateful to be on a solid floor once more. She turned to Loki, “Okay, give me the TemPad.”

He went to recall it magically, but then paused. He gave her a look.

She rolled her eyes, “If I was going to betray you, I would’ve done it ages ago.”

“It’s never too late to betray someone,” he lectured, she should know better.

“Look, we only have a couple minutes to get this thing charged and get out of here before we’re hurtling through the atmosphere and exposed to the vacuum of space. Give it to me.”

She was right. He didn’t have a choice but to trust her. Besides, after what they had shared together on the train, he wanted to. 

He reached behind his back and, with a green glimmer, her untraceable, but depleted, TemPad appeared in his palm.

She snatched it from him and marched deeper into the maintenance room. He followed her. 

“Go stand guard!” she shooed. 

“And leave you, out of sight, with a fully charged TemPad? No.” Just because he wanted to trust her didn’t mean she could be trusted. 

“Fine.”

After a moment of looking, she found what she needed. She knelt down in front of a large metal block of something attached to the floor and, with her sword, pried off the metal casing from the block. She revealed a mass of wires connected to a large, glowing cylinder that Loki correctly guessed was one of the rare and highly potent energy sources fueling the enormous ship. She expertly flipped open her TemPad and slid the cap off of a specific port on its side. She rummaged through the wires in the energy block, looking for the correct ones to plug into it.

“Where’d you learn how to do this?” Loki was impressed, if not intimidated by her many talents. Suddenly daggers and disguises didn’t seem as sophisticated as they once had. 

“When I enchant people I can access their memories. I use them- show them what I need to in order to keep the connection strong.” She split one wire carefully, joining it with another with a twisting motion. “And, early on, when I got in the heads of some of the Hunters chasing me, I went looking for this kind of information. I knew I’d need it for situations like this.”

“Clever.”

“Can never be too careful when you live at the ends of worlds.” She pushed the newly conjoined wire into the TemPad’s port until something clicked. “There.” The TemPad woke up with a tink . A little pixelated icon of Miss Minutes snoozing in a cartoon bed confirmed that the TemPad was successfully recharging.

“Good.” Sylvie wiped her hands and stood up again. “Should only be a few minutes and-” She stopped talking when she looked at Loki. 

“What?”

She grabbed her sword, which had been resting on a nearby server and lunged towards Loki.

Almost ready to attack back, Loki was surprised when she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him to her side as her sword continued in the direction of where he had been standing.

He found his footing and saw a guard parry her sword with a metal crowbar-shaped rod. 

“This is a restricted area-”

Sylvie spun on the spot and kicked the guard’s stomach, making him stumble. Loki saw three more guards running into the room.

Loki immediately conjured his daggers in his hands. The guards looked at him and he instantly threw one at the guard on the left. It bumped him with a force that made him trip backward and miss his footing and suddenly he went flying with a scream off the little landing in front of the door. The scream faded into the canyon beneath them as Loki bared his teeth in an awkward expression. 

“I, uh- I didn’t mean-” It’d been a while since he did something like that. Everyone here was practically almost dead anyway, but it felt weird now. Mobius had been a bad -good- influence. 

“Don’t grow a conscious now!” Sylvie yelled at him, grunting as she traded blows with her target.  

He looked away from her and back to his guards and they were already in front of him. He flinched, catching up with the moment and blocked the first downward swing from the rod. The other guard hit his left side. Loki took the hit without a flinch, punched the guard in the stomach, and grabbed his shoulders, throwing him backwards and onto his back. 

Sylvie kicked her target in the chest again, sending him backward. A fourth guard grabbed the hood of her cloak, jerking her off balance for a second. She turned on the spot, releasing her arms from her cloak, grabbed the fabric that the guard was holding on to and yanked it downward. The guard went down with it, their head meeting her knee. 

Loki shot a blast of magic at his third target, knocking them to the ground. Two more guards ran into the room. Loki slumped with frustration and ran at them. 

Sylvie blocked a hit from the first, recovered guard by holding her sword in front of her with both hands. The second guard on the floor tripped her as she took a step back. Her and her attacker fell to the ground, her on her back and him over her. She grunted as she slid the metal bar off the blade of her sword and tried to knee him, but he was too fast. He brought down his weapon with a heavy hit towards her head. She leaned to the left and the rod hit the metal floor. He tried again and she leaned to the right. This time his weapon landed with a terrible crunch. She stopped and looked over. 

“The TemPad!” 

The little brass slab hissed and fizzled and the screen went black. 

“Damn you!” she yelled viciously, and headbutted her horns against his helmet so hard it stopped his onslaught and he went limp. 

“Sylvie!” Loki came running over, daggers in hand. “What happened?” 

“Agh!” She screamed as she got to her feet. She marched over to one of the guards that was still standing and slashed her sword across his chest. 

Loki, taken aback by the sudden scaling of her violence, noticed the sparks on the floor. The TemPad. It was shattered, dying. He reached down and grabbed it. Sylvie followed a guard that was retreating to the landing outside the door. 

Loki ran after her. She punched the guard out cold, he fell forward in front of her. Everything was quiet now. 

“Wh-what if we can fix it?” Loki came over to her. She was breathing hard, staring at the canyon beneath them.

“It can’t be fixed,” she said, finally. 

He attempted to test the hinges of the TemPad. It fell apart in his hands.

Loki looked at her and then what was behind her- one of the guards had a sidearm and he was pointing it straight at Sylvie’s back. 

“Watch out!” Loki grabbed her just as the pistol fired some kind of energy at them, and pulled her out of its aim. Safe from the pistol, but not gravity, her resistance to his grip caused him to lose his balance. They were going to fall. So he pushed his heel against the edge of the landing with all his strength to give them a push away from the ship. Time stood still as they lost all contact with the walkway and were falling through the empty air.

Loki, holding onto Sylvie tight, reached out and grabbed at an approaching mess of wires connected to the ship that they were falling towards. With a grunt he caught on to the wires, slowing their fall, but they quickly snapped from their weight. Still holding on, they swung away from the ship and towards the edge of a nearby cliff face. The stable end of the wires were connected to metal scaffolding on the cliff. They were about to slam into the cliffside when Loki used a burst of propulsive magic to soften their impact. 

They came to a stop, hanging from the wire over the cliff. Loki grunted as he swung Sylvie over to the cliff wall. She grabbed on and silently started climbing up to solid ground. He followed, using the wires he was hanging from. With effort, they both made it over the edge and onto flat ground once more, exhausted. 

Loki laid on his back, catching his breath, but Sylvie immediately got to her feet. 

“Wait,” he called after her, struggling to stand up. 

She let out an agitated scream that echoed across the emptiness and a burst of magic rippled off her in pure rage. 

Loki stopped, wary of her magic. 

She started running back to the elevator platform a hundred feet away, “We have to find a way back in!” 

The booming robotic voice rang out, “Departing in 10… 9….”

“Sylvie, no, there’s no time!”

“8.”

“This is our only chance!” If they didn’t get on now, they’d be stuck on this dying world.

“7.”

The engines kicked on, a blinding blast of energy shook the canyon, making Sylvie wobble for a moment. She still ran towards the elevator.  

“6.”

“Sylvie!” 

“5.”

“I’m not dying here!” 

“4.”

“Not after everything!” 

“3.”

Loki caught up with her, she was getting too close to the engines. He grabbed at her arms. She elbowed him, wringing free and running. 

“2.”

“We have to stop the laun-!”

Suddenly, a large collection of asteroids raining down from the crumbling planet in the sky collided with The Ark. The ship tore apart like paper, explosions brightening the sky followed shortly by body-rattling sound waves. They both stopped and watched the final hope of the entire moon disintegrate into fiery scrap metal.  

No one was getting out. 

-

“So. I guess this is it,” Mobius announced. 

Ravonna stood in the doorway of the theater. Mobius had clocked the pruning stick in her hand, just as he had predicted.

He got up from his seat slowly. “What you were saying, ‘allies to the end’ and all that. I guess that’s over.” He stood to face her, looking up at her as she came forward towards the steps.

Her face was stern, but alert. He could tell she was fighting against something inside. He appreciated that, even if he knew her better than to expect her sense of duty to lose. She was stronger than him. Believed harder. 

“You know, I always thought if a variant didn’t get me, then at least I’d get to see the end of time. Never thought it’d go down like this.” He looked down at himself. 

He wished he could’ve died in his suit. Cuffed, bruised, and in a jumpsuit wasn’t what he had envisioned. But it didn’t really matter, he guessed.

What he did wish was that he could’ve had a chance, at least once, to steal a jet ski and take it for a spin. Would’ve been fun. Better than living behind a desk just dreaming about doing it for centuries.

But, much more than that, he wished he could’ve seen Loki one more time. 

Maybe he would say some things he hadn’t gotten a chance to say before. 

Yeah, that would’ve been nice.

“It doesn’t have to,” Ravonna nearly whispered.

He looked at her and smirked like he always did. “Another trip ‘round the mulberry bush, Ravonna?” He was getting tired of the loop they found themselves in. 

“There’s a way you can come out of this alive,” she stepped down to him.

She lowered her pruning stick.

Something had changed since the last time they spoke.

“... Yeah, I’d prefer that,” he whispered, trying not to hope. “Been thinking about what I said?”

“No,” her tone was final.

“Then, I don’t see a way-”

“I have something else in mind.”

-

Asteroids, large and small, rained down as the large green planet continued to break into smaller and smaller chunks, charging into the moon’s atmosphere. The planet, and its debris, took up nearly the entire sky and it was only getting larger. The purple horizon flickered with the burning aftermath of The Ark’s explosion and the cries of a city in chaos muffled in the distance.

“I’m sorry.” Loki carefully took a seat on the large rock Sylvie was sitting on. 

She was unnaturally quiet, staring at their oncoming demise.

“I remember Asgard,” she broke the silence.”Not much, but I remember. My home, my people, my life.” She looked across the disintegrating vista ahead of them, as though she were looking at her memories. Asteroids plummeted into the water of a large lake in front of them. “I grew up like this. At the ends of a thousand worlds. And now… this is where I’ll die. None of it came to anything.” 

Loki watched her think. 

She took a solemn breath, “Do you think what makes a Loki a Loki is that we’re destined to lose?”

He turned to her, “No.” She hadn’t expected that. “We may lose. Sometimes painfully. But we don’t die. We survive.” 

She smiled softly. Those words shouldn’t have meant much in the face of certain doom, but they did. “Do you have any regrets?”

He thought for a moment, “I’d like to save Mobius. Talk with him one more time.” 

She shook her head, ‘ Mobius ’ again. “You really do care for him.”

His expression turned tender, “I do.” He thought of their conversations, some of Mobius’ jokes, and smiled to himself. 

“I didn’t think Lokis could love,” she took a deep breath, emotions almost betraying her eyes. “I guess there’s hope, even for us.” 

He smiled at her when she confirmed herself as a Loki for the first time, a welcome sense of camaraderie came with her saying that. But then he realized what she meant. 

“Wh-... ‘Love’?”

She saw him wrestle with that word as though he had never considered it before. She breathed out a weak laugh, “You really are an idiot.”

She went back to watching small asteroids kick up plumes of violet dirt as they planted themselves in the ground around them, starting small fires in the nearby industrial equipment which weren’t alarming because the whole world would be alight soon.

Loki looked down at his folded hands.  

‘Love’. He had heard many songs and poems about love in the halls of Asgard during feasts and holidays. Stories of warriors pledging themselves to each other, dying for each other. As a young god, he may have had an interest in them, but he preferred the songs about desire. He had busied himself with those much more. Desire was a fire which burned bright and hot before it would extinguish immediately and cleanly after all curiosity had been satisfied. Desire was transactional and straightforward.

Love was a far cry from that simple. It was complicated, mysterious, and maddening. 

As he grew into his ambitions, the songs of ‘love’ had become tales of lunacy to him. Always tragic, always stupid. Why sacrifice yourself for someone just so they could live on and love another? 

Love seemed to be a flaw in everyone around him. A flaw he had convinced himself he was happy to never find in himself.

When Thor had found that human woman, he had mocked him for falling into such a ridiculous trap. Love had seemed a veil over Thor’s senses; a poison that weakened his body and ambition and rendered him incapable of doing what needed to be done to attain greater heights of glory and power. He had almost died for his love. 

How could he, and everyone else, celebrate something that alienated a person from the most natural instinct all creatures shared: the instinct to live, and for as long as possible?

And yet. What had Loki been doing this whole time? How many times had he risked himself for Mobius? Jumped in harm’s way to protect him? Given pause to what he wanted to consider Mobius’ wants?

Even now, he was afloat on a crumbling rock, staring down his own mortality, and all he could think about was the man he had left behind. And it didn’t feel tragic. Or stupid. It was warm and steadfast. It filled him completely, leaving no room for the doubt and fear that had been his lifelong companions until now. In their place, he now had a certainty that he had never known before. 

No matter what happened, he knew one thing: He had to get back to Mobius. 

He let out a surprised chuckle when he realized Sylvie was probably right. If he thought of those songs and of Thor's example: this might be the start of something someone might call ‘love’.

He couldn’t help a nervous smile. What a strange, new Loki he was turning into. He was becoming something closer to the heroes in those Asgardian songs than the villain he’d been on the Timeline. This should have disturbed him. It didn’t. It electrified him. He was capable of more than even he had thought he was capable of.

All that talk Mobius had about a Loki who would stay and help, when asked. A Loki that could do and be 'good'. This was what he meant, wasn’t it?

This was what Mobius had seen in him all along. 

And, as always, he was the last to find out.

Nearly laughing, Loki did his best to keep his smile to himself. He looked over and saw Sylvie continuing to contemplate her imminent death. This wasn’t a time for celebration, no matter how his heart was dancing from his discovery. 

“What about you?” He revisited their conversation, “Do you have regrets?”

An asteroid plunked into the lake with an angry splash. The planet in the sky was getting larger, faster. 

“A lot.” Her honesty was apparent. “But, mostly, I wish I had had a chance to be happy.” 

Compassion, riding into his consciousness on the warmth from his previous realization, took him over, “I wish you had, as well.” He wished she could live long enough to know this feeling he had discovered.

“Maybe even a friend,” she shared with a don’t-pity-me tone. 

He thought a moment. 

He put his hand on her shoulder, “I’d be honored to be your friend.”

He expected her to punch or insult him, but she surprised him with a small, begrudging smile, “Thank you.”

That was it. That's what he had been looking for. 

He had made room in his plans for Mobius, and now he’d make room for Sylvie. His other self. Just as lost and angry as he had been. She deserved more than this. She deserved the chance Mobius had given him. 

Loki reached behind him. “And a part of friendship, as I’ve learned,” he brought his hand in front of him, “is trust.” Mobius’ old TemPad appeared in his hand.

“A TemPad!” She went to grab it. He closed his hand around it.

“This was Mobius’, but the TVA has a trace on it. We’ll be discovered once we use it.”

“I can take the trace off, all I need are some tools-” The excitement from the new lifeline out of the apocalypse dried up when she realized, “You had a TemPad this entire time and you didn’t say anything until now?!” She shot up from her seat.

Loki stumbled up from his seat and started to back up, “Look, I know you’re upset-”

She started walking towards him, far more furious than he was acknowledging. Asteroids slammed down around her as though she had summoned them to illustrate her anger.

He held out a wait-a-moment finger, backing up farther, “I had considered using it to turn you in, but I didn’t-”

“I would’ve stopped you,” she stomped closer, ignoring his attempt at a ‘I could’ve done something worse’ argument. 

“Yes, probably, but I didn’t do it.”

“Because you knew I’m stronger than you-”

“Because I wanted to see if I could trust you.” He stopped. “I wanted to see if we might work together.” She stopped. “Because, a lone Loki might lose, but two of us? We could win.”

There was something about the near-mania of his alligator grin that simultaneously infuriated and inspired her. He was loathsomely weaselly, but his light and confident spirit sold his point well. 

She took a step back, “Alright, what’s the plan?”

He flashed a wide smile and revealed what he’d been holding to himself, “We go back to the TVA. You help me save Mobius. And then, we all take a trip to see the Keepers.”

She crossed her arms. “What about your agent? He still loves the Keepers.”

“That’ll change after I tell him that they’re all variants.” He sounded sure of it. 

Sylvie could see at least three holes in that plan, but before she could list them the northern hemisphere of the planet careening towards their moon shattered as it made impact with the atmosphere. It sent a deafening wave of energy across the entire moon, rustling up a sudden storm of dirt and wind. 

Sylvie and Loki squinted upwards. 

An unsurvivable wave of mountain-sized, fiery asteroids was hurtling down towards them.

“We need to go now .” They’d have to figure it out as they went. 

“Right, right.” Loki flipped open the TemPad and selected the saved coordinates for the TVA. 

A time gate opened and, with one last look at one another, they both ran through it just before a large asteroid obliterated the lake and the stone they had been sitting on. 

“Where are we?” Sylvie whispered as they both ducked out of the time gate immediately and behind a desk. They both took a second to adjust from the despairing inferno they had emerged from and into the stale, beige TVA office they were in now.

“The Analytics Department.” 

Loki looked around. Everyone was still frantically recording all the branches Sylvie’s reset charges had created. They were yelling at one another about forms and folders that needed to be reviewed and approved by a Lead Analyst before they could receive approval from a Judge before they could be processed for the Archives. Among the clamor, no one had noticed them. And, despite the fact the TemPad was bugged, no one seemed to notice it had just been activated to bring them here.

They both peered around the wall of a cubicle. 

“Why are we here?”

“Because I need a way to find Mobius.” Loki looked around at all the agents, trying to find someone he could threaten for answers. “He’s probably in a cell or a theater right now, but we can’t go around checking each one.” 

The squeak of an evidence cart behind them alerted them to hide. They ducked down. Loki looked behind them. 

“Ah. Good.” Loki approved of his new target. “Follow me.”

Sylvie followed Loki as they hunched from cubicle to cubicle following a man who was pushing an evidence cart, humming along with the music on his Walkman. They followed the agent into an empty hallway, the windows showing just how quiet the traffic at the TVA was right then. The TVA was still relatively sparse from all the excitement on the Timeline. 

Alone with his target now, Loki ran up to the man’s side. “ Casey ,” he whispered.

“Huh?” Casey moved his headphone off his ear, looking over to the god. “Oh, hi, Loki.”

“Where’s Mobius?”

“Didn’tya hear, he’s- wait...” Casey recalled a recent memo and suddenly became very alarmed, “I’m not supposed to talk to you! You’re bad again-!” He started to scramble, looking around for help although no one was around. 

Loki shushed him, towering over him with an intimidating look, “Tell me where he is or I’ll…” Threatening people was an art that needed constant practice. Loki, too acclimated to TVA decorum, had found himself a little rusty.

Sylvie, impatient, stepped in with an out-of-place ferocity, “Or we’ll cut out your tongue and toss you over the railing.” She held her sword up to his neck.

Casey’s eyes went wide as saucers. He understood that threat. Her sword skimmed the hairs on his chin, digging against his skin.

“Alright, okay,” Loki pulled Sylvie back. “He’s got it.”

“Yeah, I’ll check, I’ll check.” Casey put his headphones around his neck and pulled out his TemPad, “Why is it always me,” he whispered to himself, dejected. He scrolled through the TemPad as Loki and Sylvie kept an awkward eye out for anyone who might come across them.  “Oh. There he is. In the Infirmary. Bed 47.”

The infirmary? That surprised Loki. “Which way's that?”

“Uh,” Casey turned around towards the large windows and pointed across the way at a building from the window. “See the red cross?”

Loki and Sylvie looked up and saw the windows of a large room diagonal from them, in the adjacent tower. On the exterior of the module was a large illuminated red cross. Loki gave Casey’s shoulder a pat, “Good. Thanks, Casey.” 

“No problem,” he smiled at Loki as he walked off, his memory short. Sylvie bumped his shoulder and Casey gave her a stinky look as she marched off with Loki. After they were gone, he put on his Walkman, pressed play, and resumed his duties. 

“This is it.” Loki straightened his hair, staring at the large pair of doors under the red sign, ‘Infirmary’. He was breathing hard. It had taken a lot of stealth and athleticism to get here without being seen; in and out of windows and holding their breath behind doors as agents walked by. They had made it without alerting anyone of their presence. But now that he was here, potentially only a few moments from seeing Mobius again, he realized he hadn’t thought this far ahead. 

His hand stopped as he reached for the door handle. 

Sylvie, keeping an eye out behind them, noticed the delay. She saw him standing there, thinking. “Nervous?” she teased.

“No. Uh, wait here, tell me if anyone’s coming.” 

Something about this Mobius made it hard for Loki to lie convincingly, Sylvie noticed. 

He hesitated again. 

He looked back at her. “After this, straight to the Time Keepers.”

“And then to freedom,” she smiled, a friendly mischief in her tone. 

“Freedom,” he repeated, nervous. 

He looked back at the door. 

And just stared at it.

Sylvie let out an annoyed sigh, “Enough stalling- go !” She shoved him.

“Alright, alright ,” he fussed. She snickered at him. 

He flicked his hair back, inhaled, and forced himself to turn the handles on the large wooden doors. They opened with a baritone creak and revealed the infirmary: a remarkably tall and long hall with symmetrical rows of beds and linen divider screens that stretched out on either side of the single, central walkway in front of Loki that appeared to go on for a half-mile. Some dark figures were in some beds, obscured by their screens, but they all seemed to be asleep or resting.

“Mobius?” Loki called out as he walked in.

Some figures stirred and groaned. Loki realized he should be quiet. He looked at the bed beside him. Bed 5. He needed to find 47. 

He walked down the walkway, searching back and forth. Mobius was here somewhere. He picked up his pace. 

Bed 21.

Bed 29.

Bed 35.

Bed 43.

There . 

Loki’s eyes landed on the gray-haired man he had been thinking about all day in the middle of an apocalypse. The man at the center of all his futures. It was him, without a doubt. His thoughtful profile and his tired shoulders. He was sitting on the edge of his cot, buttoning his cuffs, unaware of the god staring at him. 

“Mobius!” Loki ran over to him, forgetting everything else. “Mobius!” 

The agent stood up and turned to Loki, his tie still undone, only a line over his shoulders. 

“Loki?” 

“Mobius, I-!” Loki ran up to him and stopped abruptly. He looked at Mobius’ face. He had a few more bruises and scrapes than before, and bandages on them. His mind raced - why was Mobius in the Infirmary, was he okay? How'd he talk his way out of being arrested? Loki almost asked him what happened, but he was getting ahead of himself. There was something important he needed to say. Something life-changing. For both of them.

“Mobius, before you say anything-” Loki held out a hand, swallowing hard. “Just- Just give me a moment.” His heart wasn’t calming down. How could he say what he needed to say? He looked at Mobius, still taking him in, his eyes rejoicing at the chance to see him again. 

Mobius stood silently, watching the god wipe his hair from his face and struggle to find his breath. He looked like he’d gone through hell. 

“There’s something I need to tell you. And you’re not going to believe me, but-” Loki caught his breath, trying his very best to communicate his earnestness. “It’ll change everything.”

Mobius cocked his head, his expression not quite believing the god. He put his hand in his pocket. “What, Loki? What’re you-” 

“Shush. No, just-” Loki motioned for him to stop. Loki had to hold onto what he was feeling and thinking. There were confusing and overwhelming things that needed to be translated into words that were so delicate and foreign to him that they were escaping how anxiously he was trying to capture them and put them in order. 

Loki straightened his tie, “Uh, this is going to sound strange, but you have to trust me. There’s something you don’t know about who… and what you are.”

He saw Mobius’ expression change.

Loki took a step closer. And another. 

“And about me.” His voice turned low. Mobius was so near to him now. Only an hour ago, this man had been across the universe from him. Loki had feared him imprisoned or even dead. But he was here, in front of him. He could reach out and touch him. He wanted to. Terribly. 

“I’ve realized something… incredible,” he stepped closer, a smile almost taking over his anxious expression but not quite. He blinked hard, trying to focus, “But before that, first…” 

Mobius lifted his chin, listening. 

“Mobius. The TVA has been lying to you.” He delivered the news as solemnly as he could. 

“‘Lying’?” Mobius grinned like it was a joke.

“Yes.” Loki nodded. This was it. This was going to change everything, “They said they created you, but you’re actually-”

“Variant 1130, you’re under arrest,” a voice bellowed from the entrance of the infirmary. An entire squad was marching towards them. Loki was frozen, stuck between the thoughts and feelings he had been trying to sort out moments before, “The charges are evasion and aiding and abetting a Time Criminal-”

“Finally!” Mobius waved them over, impatient. “How many times does a guy have to click a panic button to get some backup around here?” He waved his TemPad at them. 

“Mobius?” Loki’s brow wrinkled as he looked back to the man in front of him. There wasn’t any time before two Hunters ran over and grabbed Loki’s arms, pulling them behind his back painfully. “Stop!” he yelled at them. He tried to twist free, rushing them back against the metal beds behind them.

Mobius stepped forward, “Hey, hey, take it easy.” Mobius reached out towards Loki. Loki looked up at him, expecting help. “Don’t hurt the nice agents.” 

Loki stared at him, uncomprehending. 

“Watch him, he’s slippery,” Mobius advised the Hunters, pointing for more backup to come over. 

Loki grunted as the Hunters kicked the back of his knees, forcing him to kneel.

The infirmary door burst open with another creak. Another pair of Hunters were dragging Sylvie in through the doors by her arms. She was cursing them and kicking at their feet, trying to trip them. 

“Oh good, you got the Variant, too.” Mobius seemed pleased. He left Loki and walked up to her as they brought her down the walkway. “Big catch. Our very own white whale.” He looked down at her, smirking. 

“Urgh!” She grunted as they pushed her to her knees. 

“Nice to see you again, Sylvie.” He leaned down, polite. “I’m sorry I wasn’t the one to cuff ya, but, hey- team effort. We’re all winners.” He smiled at the agents around him like he won a bet, before looking back at Sylvie, “Except you.”

She jerked her shoulder away from one of the Hunters, only for them to grab her more tightly. She flashed a glare at Loki, “Looks like your boyfriend betrayed us.” 

Loki was breathing quickly, his lips parted. This couldn’t be real. “Mobius. What is this?” He pulled against the Hunters’ hands on his arms.

Mobius was busy talking with a Hunter, “Take them to Theaters 47 and 48.” A third Hunter walked up to Loki with a Time Collar, fastening it tight around his neck. Loki barely noticed, he kept trying to look around the Hunter for Mobius. 

“I can’t believe I fell for this!” Sylvie shouted. Mobius was still just chatting away, cracking a joke. Sylvie jerked her head back from the Time Collar ineffectually, “TVA agents will always be brainless little-!” 

“ Mobius !” Desperation rippled through Loki’s voice as he yelled for Mobius’ attention, his voice echoing through the large room even louder than Sylvie’s. Mobius looked over at him mid-sentence, surprised by the outburst. Everyone paused at the strange and unexpected torment in Loki’s yell. 

The Hunter in front of Loki stepped aside. 

Loki had finally earned Mobius’ eye contact, but there was almost nothing of the man he knew in how he was looking at him. 

“Mobius. What are you doing?!” 

The analyst looked around at the Hunters and then at him. He gestured like it was obvious, “My job .”

Chapter Text

Earlier

“So,… how far back did ya want to go?” Miss Minutes glanced at Judge Rennslayer, a little awkward from the intensity in which the judge was staring at nothing in particular. 

Ravonna looked up at Miss Minutes as she sifted through hologram files, each one representing a moment in time. 

“How far back does it go?” It unsettled her to ask. 

“Well,” the clock shrugged, “ all the way.”

That was a strangely elusive answer. “To the beginning of time?” 

“Of his time.” 

What did that mean? Ravonna crossed her arms, her brow still tense. Maybe she didn’t want the answer. She had only just learned about Protocol 42. The ability to erase memories. It was a strange and disturbing power for the TVA to have. It opened a lot of questions Ravonna would’ve happily never wanted to ask before. 

She focused, “Go back to when this started. With him.”

“When’s that?”

“When I gave Mobius the orders to prune L1130.” 

“Okie dokie.” Miss Minutes snatched a specific moment in time, “I’ll let you know when it’s over. I’ll have him dropped off at the Infirmary. Then you can tell him whatever you want to fill in the blanks.” 

The clock zipped into a single line of code and out of three-dimensional existence, off to carry out her orders. 

Ravonna took a seat behind her desk. The AI had been able to carry out these orders a little too efficiently. It gave the impression that this Protocol had been used before. Ravonna turned that thought in her mind like a coin, too scared to look at it closely.

Then her thoughts turned back to Mobius. 

Was this right? 

All she could conjure was a resounding ‘yes’. 

She was saving his life. Saving the TVA. She just needed to think of what to tell him.

“Loki did this?” Mobius leaned up from the Infirmary bed, groggy. The procedure had been quick. So quick it almost scared her. Unwriting an agent’s memory shouldn’t be this convenient. Anything else in the TVA took several shift cycles to complete with all the paperwork trails to follow. This Protocol was above all that. An Executive decision no one knew about or should know about. No paper trail. No delays. Only orders and results. It was too easy. Too efficient. 

“Don’t.” Ravonna put her hand on his shoulder, guiding him to slow down. She scanned him. He looked the same. As if nothing had happened. Was he really different now? Or, rather, back to being the same, again? She watched him, anxious. 

“It’s alright. I’m fine.” Mobius sat up completely, his feet swinging over the side of the bed. He rubbed his eyes and flinched, “My face hurts, though. Actually everything hurts.”

Ravonna swallowed and asked the most important question, “What’s the last thing you remember?”

He blinked at her. “Uh, I don’t know…” He looked around, trying to get his bearings.

“Wait. I can’t…” He stared into space. 

She watched him with tense shoulders. 

“... I remember Pylea.” She watched his expression change as closed his eyes to focus, “I, uh… I got in trouble. You-” his expression froze as he seemed to remember something disturbing. 

“What?”

“I remember you ordered me to prune Loki.” He glanced at her.

“That’s right.”

He concentrated, “And then-”

“And then he betrayed you.” 

He didn’t seem to hear her completely, listening to his own thoughts too intently. “I met up with him at the library.” He took a second. “Uh, we went… somewhere.” 

She stood stiffly, watching him try to will his brain to follow that thread, but then he exhaled with frustration and stopped. “Jeez, it’s just gone.”

“Mobius.” She stood in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders. He looked up at her now. “After I gave you those orders, Loki lured you out onto the Sacred Timeline. Asgard.”

“Asgard?” 

“There, he must’ve been able to get in touch with a kind of magic we didn’t know he had. He took over your mind.” She could see him struggle with that, but she kept going. “You told me that when you came across the Variant on Pylea that she could possess other beings.”

He nodded. “Yeah… she gets in their heads-” 

“That must be where he got the idea. He must’ve had that power, too-”

Now he shook his head, pushing her hands away, “No, that’s not one of Loki’s powers-”

“He’s a variant . There could be more we don’t know about him,” she padded her lies with realistic doubt and saw it work on him as she knew it would. He quieted and listened as she continued, “He and the Variant were working together. He used you to find her again. They took control of you, took your TemPad, and used you as a hostage to keep us from resetting them.” She could see he was overwhelmed, staring over her shoulder with an uneasy expression. She had to make this stick. She took out a new TemPad from her pocket and offered it to him. It won his focus. “They bombed the Timeline together and then ran. That’s when we were able to get you back. It seems they were done with you. But they really put you through it,” she gestured at his injuries. 

Mobius was quiet for a few seconds. He took the TemPad from her hand, distracted. 

He finally spoke up, no louder than a whisper. “Why would he do that?” He didn't sound convinced enough, like he was still searching for something in his head.

“Because he’s a Loki. What other proof do you need?”

“I-” 

“You were going to delete him. Lokis will do anything to save themselves.” She had to make this work. It was this or execution. “You know Lokis better than anyone. You know this is exactly something he’d do if he was being threatened.”

Mobius thought and then nodded. 

Was it really working?

He looked up at her finally, “Wh-... He really did this?”

“ Yes ,” she insisted quickly. “It shouldn’t be surprising. He always betrays the people who defend him. You know that.” 

Mobius put the TemPad on the bed beside him and let out a tired breath. He rubbed his neck. “I guess he must’ve figured out I was going to prune him and just…. Loki -”, he admonished under his breath, as though the Asgardian were here to be lectured, and leaned his head to his hand as he went to rub the bridge of his nose. He flinched his hand away when he felt the pain of the cut on his nose protest. He shook his head again, “I shouldn’t have trusted him. What was I thinking?” His voice was full of something that almost seemed angry. “I thought he was different- I thought he wouldn’t do something like this. But,... if he did this-”

“He did .”

“Then… you were right. He was just another Loki.” The anger in his voice and face were becoming more apparent, “ Dammit .” He planted his hands on either side of him, hanging his head low.  

She placed a hand on his shoulder, “I know this is a lot to take in.” 

“I should’ve been more careful.”

“Yes.” That was exactly what she wanted to hear. “But we can talk about that later. Rest. You’ve been through a lot.”

“Yeah. It feels like it,” he stretched carefully, wincing with pain.

Ravonna, impatient to get away from her altered friend, almost left, but then remembered something important: “We believe the variants might attempt to infiltrate the TVA again to launch their attack on the Keepers. If you see them,... don’t engage. Who knows what kind of effect they’ll have on you.” 

He gave her a look.

“I’m taking you off the case. For your own good. I’ll oversee the rest-”

“ What ?” He almost stood, but dizziness seemed to make him reconsider. “No! I have to-” 

She stepped closer, talking fast, “I can’t risk exposing you to them again. You don’t want to end up like C-20, do you?”

He looked at her, confused, “What happened to C-20?”

Ravonna realized she was losing track of what he knew and didn’t know now. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”

“Ravonna, I’ve been on this since day one. And after what they’ve done, it’s personal now. I have to bring them in. I’m not going to let them do this to me again. I’ll be careful. I need to stay on this case. I need to make it right.” 

She searched his face. There he was. The Mobius she remembered. Dedicated, loyal, and hardworking. The Mobius that put the case first and everything else last. She allowed herself a small, but firm smile. 

This was going to work. 

“We’ll talk about it after you’ve recovered. Just stay here for now.” She tapped a pile of clothes on the gray metal table beside his bed; a fresh TVA suit like all the others he had always worn until recently. 

“Yeah. Okay.” He didn’t seem pleased, taking the dress shirt from the pile, but at least he was following her orders. 

-

Now

Ravonna returned from the Infirmary and locked her office doors behind her. She walked over to her desk and, after searching for a moment, unplugged her personal computer. She knew better than anyone that someone was always watching. 

She was still tracking her plan in her mind, looking for loose ends. 

She had successfully reworked Mobius’ memory and secured his loyalty. He was safe. 

As for all the Hunters who had seen him work with Loki, it was a good thing she never shared with anyone outside of B-15 and D-90’s squad about Mobius’ defection. All she had to tell them was the same story about Mobius being enchanted and they would believe her. After all, why would she lie to them? She had a spotless reputation. She always did the right thing. 

This was still the right thing.

She was saving her most successful Analyst. She was just putting things back to the way they were supposed to be. 

Still, something gnawed at her. 

She opened her TemPad and disconnected it from the shared frequency. 

For all intents and purposes, she was alone. No one in the TVA would be able to reach her or watch her now. 

She lifted her TemPad, and took a breath. 

“Miss Minutes.”

“How can I help you?” Miss Minutes appeared instantly with a flicker, answering her call in the same fashion she did any other day.  

Ravonna took a second to work up some more courage, “I need answers.”

Miss Minute’s animated expression, which had always been unfailingly sweet and confident, turned a little unsure in a strangely human way, “Oh, well, I-”

“Protocols 1 to 100 are the oldest laws and procedures of the TVA. They’re highly classified, restricted even from the highest ranking agents. They have always been for the Time Keepers’ eyes only.” Miss Minutes dutifully stayed put and listened, her discomfort obvious by the intentionally awkward curve of the line that constituted her smile. “Who told you to come speak to me and give me access to Protocol 42? Was it the Time Keepers? How did they know about this situation?” 

Ravonna hadn’t had a chance to tell them about Mobius’... affliction before Miss Minutes had stopped her from pruning him. And Miss Minutes hadn’t seen it prudent to stop her with this information before she had had to prune C-20. Why had the AI been ordered to reveal this highly classified information at that particular moment?

Miss Minutes computed for a second and then leaned in with a whisper, “I can only tell you a little bit, hon. But you’re not ready for the rest, yet.” 

“‘ Yet ’?” Was this a glitch in her logic? The AI was implying that something else was coming. Something more than what Ravonna had just learned and done? A chill went down her spine. “What’s going on here?” 

-

“ You ! You conniving, craven, pathetic worm. You did this!”

“Okay, okay, Sif. Hang on.” Loki raised his hands trying to get Sif’s attention to make her stop. He was still queasy from her last assault in this looping time prison. 

She didn’t even waver as she continued to march towards him, a large chunk of her hair missing from the side of her head, “I hope you know you deserve to be alone-”

“‘And-I-always-will-be’, alright, I get it.” He was getting sick of her lecture. He needed to find a way out of here. She was his only other resource in his small, fake sample of Asgard. “Listen, you are a reconstruction of a past event.” 

She paused after hearing that strange sentence. 

He gained confidence. 

“You were created by the organization that controls all of time. You need to trust me and help me escape. Alright?”

The false Sif took a moment, as if thinking over what he had just revealed to her, and nodded. Loki grinned, “Okay, good.” He started cooking up a plan. But just as he was about to say something, she leaned in, grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the groin before then delivering another masterful punch across his face. 

He fell to the floor the way he had each time before, his legs buckling with the pain. 

“Pathetic.” She walked around him and out of the room. 

He groaned, kneeling on the floor. Pain was tiresome, and the same pain every two minutes was even worse. Still, he took a moment’s refuge in the few seconds it took for the time loop to restart. 

However, that refuge freed his mind to think about why he was in this prison. Which was worse than the physical pain. 

Why was Mobius doing this?

Had he been planning this from the beginning?

Something ached in him at the thought of that. He imagined Mobius, back in Asgard and Skrullos, saying all of those things - about his potential, about seeing him - with this in mind. He thought of the moments they had shared. Their talks and their mislaid plans, running against time and the TVA. The excitement he had felt in his hands when he had touched Mobius, caring for his wounds or stealing a brush against his arm or shoulder for the pleasure of it. Those memories were all tainted now by this sickening uncertainty. Had it all been for this ?

Was this what it felt like to be truly betrayed? The thought distracted him entirely from where he was. 

No.

There had to be a reason. Some kind of explanation. It was all he could hold on to. 

“ You ! You conniving, craven, pathetic worm.” Loki closed his eyes tight with fatigue. The few seconds hadn’t been far long enough to recover. “You did this!”

He couldn’t bring himself to stand up yet. On his knees, all he could do was lean towards her as she marched into the room in the exact same fashion she had every time before. “Sif. Please, please, no more. I beg you.” He looked up at her from the ground. Maybe he could get ahead of her anger with honesty. “I’m a horrible person. I know, I get it. I cut off your hair because I thought it’d be funny, but it's not.”

He had her attention. She seemed to respond to this.

He just needed time. Maybe a little hope for escape. Anything. This couldn’t keep going. Not when Mobius was out there and Loki had so many unanswered questions. 

“Uh, I crave attention.” She kept waiting. Good. He blinked, breathing deep, and looked for more of what he knew about himself. “Because I’m- I’m a narcissist. And I suppose,…” He took a shaky breath and confessed, “it’s because I’m… scared of being alone.”

She stayed quiet.

That was it. He gave it all away. The way he had to Mobius in Asgard. 

Why did Mobius keep having him repent like this for mercy? When would it be enough? 

She stepped up to him and lowered her hand, offering it to him. 

The ache in his chest relieved slightly at the rare sign of friendliness, even from a half-sentient AI version of his brother’s friend. His sure allies, as of that moment, were so few, if not non-existent, that this mattered to him. 

He stood up, with her help, and looked down at her wearily, hoping for more assistance. Instead, she gripped his hand painfully and pulled him close to her. She looked him in the eye.

“You are alone.” 

All he could do was stare back at the hatred in her eyes. 

“And you always will be .” 

She threw his hand back like it was disgusting and walked around him.

She hadn’t struck him, but his chest still felt the impact of her words, which had taken a new and deeper meaning now. 

Why did this painful sinking in his heart make him think of Mobius again? The man who had been at the center of all his futures. He stood, alone and silent, and reflected on the fear that dug into him as he replayed her words in his mind. 

Mobius really knew him better than anyone. 

He knew him well enough to put him here , in this particular memory. To others, and himself, it would’ve been a small, forgettable encounter. But Mobius knew just how to hurt him. 

Just as the analyst had predicted one of Loki’s happiest days, he understood, before Loki did, what his deepest fear was. 

Loki looked up at the false sky above his head.

How could this be part of a plan? The Mobius who had spared him -chosen him over everything else-, wouldn’t subject him to this. 

Right?

“Okay, Loki.” That voice. Loki’s heart jumped as he turned towards the agent’s voice so quickly he lost his orientation. “Ready to talk?” He was standing at the entrance, looking at him with a stern expression.

Loki stared at him. His mind was split in two. His instinct, seeing Mobius, was relief and affection. He wanted to run over to him. But a new and sour anxiety tarnished that, keeping him still. He had no idea how to act. Divided and feeling completely unlike himself, he couldn’t say anything. 

“Well. Come on.” Mobius motioned for him to follow him, impatient. He started walking back to a time gate out of sight around the corner.

Loki caught up. He stared at the agent’s back as they walked out of the Time Cell and into the Time Theater, unsure how to categorize the gnawing feelings swirling through him that demanded him to reach out to Mobius while also keeping him petrified. He felt like he was being pulled in two. But he kept himself as contained as possible. 

“Back to square one, eh?” Mobius walked over to his side of the table and took a seat with his clipboard and pencil, just as he had when they first met.

Loki watched him, judging the man’s voice and body language for any secret message. Any hint that this wasn’t what it seemed. 

Mobius only looked up at him with a simple and honest expression. No secret glint in his eye or trust-me wink. 

Anxiety turned to disbelief and then dread within a matter of moments. Loki could hardly keep up with his internal transformations.

Why was Mobius acting like nothing had happened? As if they were strangers again? How was he supposed to interpret this coldness?

No interpretation coming to him, it inspired a rush of heavy, sharp panic. Was this really happening?

Loki paused by his own chair, his uncertainty understated by how still he stood.

Mobius glanced up at him, what’s the hold up ?

Loki couldn’t play along. The electricity that usually ran through him when he was near Mobius was now running excruciatingly cold. 

“Mobius,” Loki spoke slowly, ignoring the drumming in his chest and the racing of his thoughts. “I know I put you in a bad position, but I don’t know why you’re doing this.”

Mobius flinched back with a funny grin and raised his hands in a shrug, “I’m not doing anything, Loki. I just need information from you.” 

Loki looked around, there were Hunters guarding the door. He leaned onto the tabletop. “Is Ravonna threatening you? Sylvie and I came to help you. We still can-”

“‘ Help me ’?” Mobius chuckled. “I’m fine. Just peachy. In fact, I think you two are much worse off.” He pointed at the chair across from him with his eraser, “How about you siddown, my neck hurts looking up.”

Loki’s expression was nothing but apprehensive confusion as he slowly took his seat, searching Mobius for answers.

“Now, how about you tell me what the plan was,” Mobius poised his pencil. 

Was this truly an interrogation? “... Plan?”

Mobius nodded. “Yeah, what was it? ‘Overthrow the TVA’?”

Yes, it had been, Loki realized. He had come back here to do what Mobius had told him not to. ‘ Now go save the TVA, Loki ’, Mobius had told him at Roxxcart. And Loki had returned with no such intentions. “Is that why you’re doing this?” He gestured between them. 

“Uh, yeah . It’s kinda the whole point of all this - ‘keep the Timeline and the Time Keepers safe’. Remember?”

Mobius was almost exactly as he had been when they met. Back to believing in the Keepers over anything else.

Whatever had happened while Loki was gaining Sylvie’s trust, it had lost him Mobius’. The man was looking at him like he was just a prisoner again. He was back on that religious high ground that had separated them before. Any of the hard-earned intimacy he had gained with him was gone. 

Something sick twisted in him. He suddenly felt unmoored and untethered, an anchor was missing. 

Mobius had really returned to the TVA, hadn’t he?

Loki’s fists tightened. The sickness dug into his gut. He was trapped in an anxious nausea, and the only person who could help him was the person exacting this torture on him. 

What had even been the point?

What had he been doing any of this for?

Mobius gave him a look, Well?

Loki looked down at his lap and laughed humorlessly, “Mobius, you’ve seen my whole life. You know I’m not often surprised. But this… ” He could only shake his head. He had let his guard down for the first time in over a thousand years. He had made room in his unused, vacant heart for someone and this is what happened. All those centuries running from caring for anyone who might betray him and after taking one chance, here he was. It was even worse than he had imagined. 

He battled a tightness at the base of his throat, speaking slowly. “I, uh, I guess I should thank you for showing me why trust is just a fool’s game.” He looked at Mobius, sneering as he ignored the pull he still felt towards the agent even now. 

He was two beings in the same body, one of ardent devotion to the man across from him and the other newly born and made entirely of desperate bitterness. Neither of them could be fully contained in his skin. It took all he had to keep from tremoring. 

“What, you’re surprised that I want to protect reality from you and your little friend?” 

“You betrayed me.” Something dark and serrated dug into his chest as he said it aloud, making it real. 

“Yeah?” That surprised Mobius. What else had Loki expected? Why was he acting like the victim here? “Well, you betrayed me .” 

“I didn’t . I was trying to find a way. A way to make this all work!” 

“Well, it was a pretty stupid way.” 

“I was trying!” Loki brought his fists down on the table with frustration, his head was a confusing and leaden mess of pain. 

Mobius leaned back, away from Loki’s tantrum. He stared at the god, smug and irritated. He ached all over and woke up in a bed after being carted around the universe by two renegade variants and Loki was the one acting like a wounded puppy? He had been pissed with him before, but now he was angry.

Loki released his fists into open palms on the table and took a breath. After everything they’d been through together, what could make Mobius do this? Every betrayal was a transaction. A price for something better. What had he been worth to Mobius? What was better than him?

“I hope whatever you’re getting for this is worth it, Mobius. Did Ravonna promise you a big promotion for capturing me?” 

“No, I’m just doing my job. No reward necessary.” 

Loki let that sink in, nodding. His throat tightened. 

He must have severely miscalculated how cruel Mobius could be.

Loki leaned forward, hiding the intensity of his inner chaos, “So, it was all a lie? Saying those things to me, talking about how I can change, making me trust you,” his voice almost broke. “I thought you were my friend. I thought we were….” He couldn’t finish that.

“Friends?” Mobius raised his eyebrows. That was kind of intense. “I didn’t think Lokis did 'friends'.” Mobius leaned over his clipboard, ready to write. “Is that what you had me do? Live out some kind of friendship-fantasy. I knew you were lonely, Loki, but really ?”

After saying that, Loki’s expression gave Mobius pause. He’d never seen that before. It was deeper than anger. It was much worse that the petulant looks the prince had given him when they met, it was almost alarming. What a strange reaction. It was like Loki honestly believed he had betrayed him. As if, under their control, he had made promises that Loki expected him to keep.

What was the point of the act? The gig was up. The mind control powers wouldn’t work here in the TVA. Why wasn’t Loki just confessing - owning his crimes like a badge, as he usually did?

“So how long have you been hiding those mind control powers? Are they new? Or just another aspect of your variant status?” 

“Mind control? No, that's Sylvie.”

“Right, ‘Sylvie’.” He jotted that down. “You know, she must be something real special.” Mobius hid his anger under his smile. “I thought you and I had an understanding, but you really pulled the wool over my eyes. Good for you. You still got it.” After everything they’d worked through, after Pylea, Loki really did this? Running away would’ve been one thing, but making him a mind-controlled slave was way too far. And now he was still lying? It almost made him want to punch him. “You know what, while we’re showing gratitude, I should thank you for reminding me why I’m here, in this seat, and you’re there.” 

Loki was about to speak, Mobius cut him off, “So, about Sylvie. You must’ve really liked her to just throw away our case together at the drop of the hat like that,” he realized something suddenly, leaning his head back dramatically, why didn’t I see it before ? “Of course- She’s you !” 

“Mobius, no, it’s not like that. Listen-”

“No, it’s your turn to listen.” A heat in his chest rose the more he thought about what Loki had done. Everything he threw away. “You really got me. I promised Ravonna you were different, I vouched for you again and again but you’re exactly who you’ve always been.” Loki looked away from him as he said that, shaking his head. “The second you found another Loki, you didn’t need me anymore, did you? What was that about being a good ‘team’? You were just putting it on for me? Trying to get me to like you. Just so you could use me to get back to the person you always choose above anyone or anything else: Yourself.” 

Loki’s expression darkened, he clenched his jaw. 

Mobius laughed at himself, “I can’t believe I didn’t see it coming. Stabbed in the back by the most notorious backstabber in the universe- two of them!” 

“That’s not what happened-!” Loki’s frustrated shout was interrupted by Mobius raising his voice.

“So, how’d you do it? Did you have Sylvie do the mind magic on me?”

Loki looked up. “What?” 

“Was it you or Sylvie that took over my mind?”

Confusion replaced Loki’s anger, “Wh-what are you talking about?”

“I'm talking about sticking my neck out for a guy, taking him under my wing, only for him to do what he does to everyone . You know, everyone told me: Lokis can’t be trusted, Lokis can’t change. You really showed me, huh?”

Loki ignored that. Something was wrong. “Mobius, this-this isn’t making sense-”

“So, what was your big plan? Possess me. Make me some kind of pawn. What were you gonna have me do? Oh, right, betray the TVA.” He started writing, ignoring how Loki was leaning forward in his seat, trying to get his attention, “Betray everything that I've devoted myself to, my life's purpose. Just how I took your purpose. Talk about poetic justice. You must’ve enjoyed that.”

“No! You’re remembering this all wrong! None of that happened!” 

“Oh, here comes the lies. Gonna try and serenade me again? I've heard this tune, let's go ahead and turn that down and you tell me what you and Sylvie were planning and what my part in all of it was-”

“We didn't do this to you! There was no enchantment! You- you saved me!”

“What?”

“Can’t you remember? Is this some kind of act?” 

Mobius stayed quiet, squinting as he looked at Loki. What was the angle here? Was this some kind of manipulation?

“Don’t you remember what happened? What we did?” Loki used his hands on the table to gesture the sequence of events. “We got back from Pylea. You were going to prune me, as Renslayer ordered. But then you took me to Asgard-”

“No. You had me do that, I’d never-”

“You did!” Something was missing from Mobius’ mind. Loki was sure of it now. It filled him with both a horror of how it happened and a shaky, desperate hope that maybe all wasn’t lost. Whatever betrayal they had thought happened between them might not have been real. But he had to convince him somehow. He had to make him remember. His heart was racing, “You showed me my home, my family, my first games, who I was. We talked and,” Loki revisited those indispensable memories, “something… changed.” His expression softened, anger completely gone. His eyes pleaded for Mobius to remember. 

Mobius searched the god’s face. He was a better actor than he had given him credit for. Loki really was looking at him like he was a friend. No, not a friend. Something else. Nobody had ever looked at him like that before. And he knew Loki had never looked at someone this way before either. 

It was too weird to take seriously. 

Mobius shook his head, “Alright, stop. This is delusional, Loki. You know, I’d almost be worried about you if you weren’t-”

“You chose me.” Loki put his hands on the table between them, resisting reaching out to Mobius’ arm. “When it came down to it, you disobeyed Renslayer’s orders, of your own free will, and ran with me.”

-

“Will that be everything?”

“Y-yes. You can go now.” 

“Alright, you have a good day now. And, remember, this was for your ears only,” the AI gave a friendly wink.

Ravonna closed her TemPad and the translucent clock blinked from existence. 

She took a step and leaned her hand on the couch beside her for balance. She felt her entire understanding of reality shift, ever so slightly, from what Miss Minutes had told her. A fear brewed in her stomach of not only what she knew now, but what else the TVA might be hiding. 

She swallowed and clenched her jaw.

She had to get back to work. 

These thoughts could drive her crazy. Work is what mattered. The Timeline still needed protection. 

She switched on her computer and, when she did, she saw a callback request notification come in. 

D-90.

After a few taps in her TemPad, she spoke into it, “What do you want?”

“Mobius is awake,” D-90’s voice scratched over the TemPad’s little speakers. “The variants broke into the TVA and found him.” Her mouth opened with surprise. “He called it in and got them in collars in the theaters. He's questioning L1130 right now.”

“Where?! Which theater?”

-

“Come on, Loki. I wouldn’t do that!” Mobius raised his voice, disturbed. “This is a really feeble attempt to confuse me.”

Loki raised his hands as if to calm the agent. “I know it feels that way right now because you’re angry at me. You believe I did something I didn’t do.” He looked him in the eye, his eyes clear of any lie. “Mobius. They’ve done something. They’ve taken your memories.”

“‘They took my memories’? The TVA took my memories?” Mobius repeated, are you hearing yourself ? He laughed, “That's a new one. Why? What would they need those for?”

“To split us apart!” Loki gestured between them. “To keep you from defecting!” 

“ Split ?” Mobius leaned away. “We must’ve been pretty close in this fantasy you’re spinning.”

Loki searched Mobius for any sign of doubt in the TVA, unable to find any. The freedom they had found together was gone. Replaced, again, by the dogma that had pitted them against one another. How did this happen? Who would do thi-

“Renslayer!” he realized suddenly. “She did this! She must have! She erased your memories of betraying the TVA.”

Mobius nodded along as though he was listening to the rants of a delusional person, “Yeah, okay-”

“ Listen to me !” 

The Hunters flinched towards them at the volume and ferocity of Loki’s tone. Mobius motioned them to stop, a careful eye on his charge.  

“This isn't the first time you've had your memories erased!”

“Oh, really-?”

“You’re a variant !” Loki finally got it out. Everything else had come first, but now he understood it was all connected. This had always been what was at the center of this. Mobius needed the whole truth before he would believe. “All of you! You’re all variants! Everyone at the TVA. You’ve had your memories of your lives erased. You had a life on the Timeline, Mobius. And she must’ve erased your memories of all this, too.” 

Mobius only stared at him, completely still. 

He wasn’t ignoring him anymore. 

Loki swallowed. He lowered his voice. “You know me, Mobius. I’m a coward and a trickster, and I was lost before you helped me,...” his fingers twitched closer, “but am I this cruel?” Mobius kept looking him in the eye. “Could I lie about this? To you?”

Loki could hear his heartbeat in his ears and could feel it in his fingertips as he waited desperately for his captor’s response. 

After a second, Mobius breathed out a chuckle and smiled. 

“Nice try…” he whispered, looking down. 

“Mobius, please.” Loki’s voice lowered nearly to a whisper as well. “Believe me when I say I would never trick you. Not anymore. I wanted you to be free. And you were free. With me.”

Mobius felt something in his chest stir. What was this? 

He cleared his throat, “That’s it.” He started to take out his TemPad. 

Loki put up his hands, “Wait, wait! You told me something! You were a Hunter once. Right?”

Mobius’ smile lost its false humor, his eyes surprised. 

“You had a mission by the Black Sea. You couldn’t prune a little boy, playing with his brother on the docks. People died. And Renslayer fixed it.”

“How’d you…?” 

“You told me.” 

Mobius, uncomfortable, motioned to the Hunters in the room and they filed out through the doors within a few seconds. The doors closed behind them. 

Loki stayed focused on Mobius, “You told me that because we were friends…” He paused, struggling to say what followed. “Perhaps, more.” 

There. 

It was out. 

If not now, then when? This could all end tragically. He knew he was hanging by a thread. A small, weak hope that Mobius could remember what they had and help him escape. But even if that wasn’t going to happen, he needed the man to know. Someone had to know. Someone had to know he was capable of this. And he wanted it to be Mobius. The man who had seen his life twice over. He knew his every crime and every fear. He had to know he was capable of this. He wasn’t broken. 

More than that, he had to know it was for him . It had all been for him.

Every step Loki had taken since picking up the Tesseract in New York had led him here, to this moment. Maybe it went back further. With how these feelings pulled so sweetly and torturously at his heart and lungs, as though they were now a part of his very anatomy, he wouldn’t be surprised if they had been lying dormant in him his entire life - just waiting for him to meet this TVA analyst. Waiting for Mobius’ kind words and terrible jokes. Waiting to hear his compassionate interpretations and ruthless teasing. Waiting for their debates, their adventures, and their promises. Loki had been waiting his whole life for this man. To feel something that had been impossible before they met. Before Mobius could teach him how to feel like this. 

Mobius’ eyes never left him.

He whispered, “What do you mean by that?” 

Loki only looked at him, his expression full of an intense implication. An attractive line to Loki’s brow curved as Mobius watched his eyes travel from his eyes to his lips. He could see the god breathing deeply, his Adam's apple moving as he swallowed with apprehension. There was a silent, but overwhelming pleading in his eyes. Asking him to understand him.

Mobius realized exactly what he meant. 

For probably the first time in his life, Mobius was at a loss for words. Everything in him stopped. The case and the mind control fell from his mind. Any words or questions went out the window. When a Loki looks at you like this, it’s a shock to the system. He probably wasn’t even breathing. But his heart was racing. 

This couldn’t be real. 

His eyes skirted over Loki’s face, trying to find an alternative explanation. It had to be a lie. A manipulation. Loki had never fallen for anyone on the Timeline. Why would that change now? It wasn’t possible. Especially not for a tired, dusty old TVA analyst. It had to be a lie. A trick for Loki to pull Mobius into a heist or to get a ticket to see the Keepers. Whatever this was, it had to stop right now because he honestly couldn’t take a second longer. He felt ridiculous for even considering this could be real. 

“Alright, this just went from weird to bizarre,” he would have to be an idiot to believe Loki felt something like that for him, “and, frankly, I’m starting to get kinda ticked off with all these lies. You can’t keep trying to distract me from-”

“It’s not a lie.” Loki’s deep and sure voice silenced him. Loki continued, “And you told me why you couldn’t prune me when Renslayer told you to. When you were studying my file, you saw me, on the Timeline fighting alongside Thor at Ragnarok. You said you had always wanted to see what I was going to do after that. You wanted to give me a chance. An opportunity to grow.” 

Mobius had never told anyone about that. No one knew that.

Loki's voice was as smooth as honey now. “You saw something in me- something I hadn’t seen in myself. You helped me become someone new. Something more.” 

Doubt finally found a home in Mobius’ mind as he started to consider what Loki was saying. 

Could this actually…. God, why did he have to keep looking at him like that?

What if it was true?

What if Loki, the God of Mischief, had actually figured out how to care for someone besides himself?

What if he was telling the truth? About everything?

Trepidation sunk into his heart as his eyes lost track of how long they’d been staring at Loki.

“This part of the mind control?” he asked without any conviction, almost smirking.

“Mobius.” Why’d his name have to sound like that from Loki’s lips now? It was different. Each sound was carefully and tenderly formed. 

After a silent moment, Loki stretched his hand across the tabletop, his fingertips resting on the back of Mobius’ hand. They moved along his hand a few centimeters before stopping. “We recognized something in each other. A bit of what we were both missing, I suspect. And you chose the chance to figure out what that was. Together. ” 

Mobius looked down at Loki’s fingertips against his hand. It felt like a dream. Loki’s long, elegant, deadly hand was uncharacteristically gentle. Something flickered in his mind, a vision of seeing Loki’s face up close. It was a memory that didn’t feel like a memory of Loki’s cool fingertips on his face and the god’s eyes looking down at him with concern. He couldn’t tell where they had been or what they had been talking about, but he could remember feeling this same nervousness. This stage-fright in front of this always-overwhelming Asgardian. 

Mobius looked back at the Loki sitting across from him. 

The anger and anxiety in his chest had been completely washed away by something that felt familiar, but orphaned: A warmth without any context that poured through him and filled his chest like a laugh ready to burst from him. It told him to take Loki’s hand and forget everything else. It wanted him to run. It wanted Loki’s chaos. His fun. His charm and seduction. His ridiculous schemes and stupid arguments. It wanted his devilish smiles and warrior hands. It wanted his performed villainy and this strange, new tenderness. It wasn’t satisfied with thousands of years of video files anymore; it wanted to see everything Loki would ever do for the rest of time while standing by his side. It wanted a chance to know what it was like to live. To feel and desire and try to have it all, even if it was doomed.

He took a breath after holding it for too long and cleared his throat. 

Woah. What the hell was that? 

He looked away from Loki and lost the connection to whatever that had been. It washed back out like a tide in his mind, leaving almost nothing behind. 

He brought his hand away from Loki’s touch.

“Loki, I, uh…” 

He lost track of what he was doing or thinking. 

He looked down at his clipboard, feeling untethered to reality, “Something’s going on," he summarized ineffectually. 

“We need to get your memories back.” Loki sounded serious, focused. As though he was already devising a plan on Mobius’ behalf. 

This wasn’t the same Loki he had brought back from Pylea. He was different. Stronger. Calmer. He had a mission. 

Mobius studied his face. Where the prince’s fingers had touched his hand was still warm.

“Wh-”

The doors swung open swiftly, “Stop the interrogation!”

Mobius looked over to see Ravonna and the two Hunters rush into the room. “Ravonna.” He stood up.

Loki got up from his seat, “Renslayer. What’ve you done to him?”

Not wasting a second, Judge Renslayer gave orders, “Gag him and put him back in the Time Cell. Now!” 

They ran into action, following the urgency of her voice.

Loki tried to resist their grip, “No! Mobius, you have to believe me. Sylvie ! Talk to Sylvie!” He pulled his arms back from them.

“That’s enough!” Renslayer shouted.

“Sylvie’s enchantment can fix th-!” The Hunter to Loki’s left gave him a sharp punch to his side just as Renslayer nodded at them.

“Mobius, come with me,” she motioned for Mobius to follow her. 

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Mobius, dazed, collected his clipboard and pencil and walked towards Ravonna with one last glance at Loki.

“Mmf!” One of the Hunters stuffed an impromptu cloth gag in Loki’s mouth, tying it behind his head, pulling his hair haphazardly as they did. He shouted through the gag as the Hunters pushed him away and towards the red time gate they opened. 

Mobius turned and watched Loki stumble away, still trying to look over his shoulder at him as he disappeared. 

It was just him and Renslayer now as she excused the others from the room. Mobius was still catching up with reality, stuck about two minutes before. Something in him felt disturbed by seeing Loki thrown back in the cell like that. Weird. 

“Mobius, I told you I was taking this case.”

“Uh, I know, but… I had to.” His heart wasn’t in his words, but he forced himself to say them. “I had to fix this. I had to know why they did all this.” 

She gave him a measuring look, “What did he say?”

He knew her too well. He understood how she was looking at him. Whatever he said was going to feed some kind of decision. He tried to find his center again, “Uh, nothing really. Just crazy talk.”

Ravonna obviously wasn’t satisfied with that.

Mobius pushed himself, trying to act normal, “He just kept saying stuff about how I- you know this will sound crazy when I say it - but he was trying to convince me that I went with him willingly. Like some kind of Patty Hearst.” It did sound even crazier when he said it out loud. The spell of whatever had happened a few minutes prior was evaporating. 

She was silent for a moment. “What do you make of it?” 

He shrugged, “I, uh, I think he’s desperate and he’ll say anything to stay alive.” He cracked a limp smile. “Even these really bad, undercooked lies. I mean, me? Leave the TVA? Bizarro.” 

She let out a breath and nodded curtly. “I told you I don’t want you talking to him or Sylvie.”

Sylvie . What if she could corroborate Loki’s story? Or prove it was all just an elaborate act? “I was hoping to talk to the Variant. It would be best to get more information about her mind control magic so we can watch out for it-”

“No.” Her tone was deadly. 

“Alright. Okay,” he agreed quietly, in no shape or position to push. 

She paused and thought for a moment. “Actually, I think there’s one more thing you can do for the case.” 

“Yeah, anything. I’m your guy.”

-

“Nothing about C-20 yet?” B-15 asked the Hunters standing outside of Theater 47. This was the Theater L1130 was in. B-15 was taking a break from guarding Theater 48 with the other Loki in it. And it was strange how no one had any updates on C-20’s status. Something felt off and for a Hunter of B-15’s caliber, she never ignored her instincts.  

“No. Judge Renslayer took her into questioning and no one’s seen her since,” F-03 answered. He gestured towards the closed door, “Mobius is back in form, though. Did you hear he’s back?”

“Yeah.” B-15 confirmed she had heard it, but not that she felt like she completely believed it. 

“He was under the influence of some kind of magic. His Loki and the Variant took over his mind or something,” F-03 filled in for Q-19, the other Hunter who was assigned to the Theater.

“Yeah, I was picking up on something about that. Honestly, they weren’t making a whole lotta sense to me,” Q-19 confessed.

“What else did you hear in there?” B-15 asked. She knew she was breaking protocol by asking about an agent’s interrogation. But something didn’t feel right. She had seen people under the Variant’s influence. Mobius hadn’t been acting like one of the Variant’s puppets. He had seemed like… Mobius. How could he be back and interrogating the variant he had sicced on her and her team only hours before?

“Uh, actually, there was something weird,” Q-19 sounded uncomfortable. “The variant said something about everyone in the TVA being-”

“Don’t,” F-03 cautioned. 

B-15 stepped towards them, her stature and status as the best Hunter in the department intimidating them as she intended. “Tell me what he said.”  

-

“Any memories coming back yet?” Ravonna offered Mobius a glass of brandy. Beautiful theremin music serenaded them in her office. The criminals were captured and the case was closing. A perfect time to celebrate as they usually did at the end of a long case, with drinks and conversation.

“No, nothin’” He took the glass. “You think they’ll come back?” He contemplated whether he should be drinking in his condition. He definitely wanted to, though. Especially after the interrogation he had just had with Loki. Something twinged as he revisited the conversation in his mind. 

“Who knows. We haven’t seen this before.” She walked around the back of the couch. “Tell me if they do. I’ll have the doctors take another look at you.” She took a seat beside him.

“Thanks. Appreciate that.” He accepted a coaster when she offered it to him with a warning glance just as he was about to set his cup down without one. “So, are you going to interrogate Sylvie?” He tried to sound as casual as possible, situating his coaster. 

She went tense for a second, “No. There won’t be time for any interrogations, actually.” She took a sip, attempting to relax. “The Time Keepers have pushed this up on the register. They want to oversee the sentencing of the variants themselves. As soon as possible.”

“Wow. Really?” Something about that made him nervous, but he smiled. 

She looked him up and down, “And I think you should come with us.”

He raised his eyebrows at the suggestion and exhaled. “Uh, I’ve never seen the Keepers. I mean, not in person,” he pointed at her life-sized statues of them behind her desk, watching over them. No one decorated like her. Always the most unorthodoxically orthodox, Ravonna. 

He stared at the statues. The idea of being in front of the real Time Keepers scared him on a good day. And on a day as weird as today, it terrified him. Almost as much as the thought that, maybe, they’d been lying to everyone in the TVA. 

He spun Loki’s story in the back of his mind.

“No better time to. You’ll have a chance to brag. You caught the variants,” she cheered and tapped his arm to get his attention. “Even when you were supposed to be on R&R. Impressive.”

He flashed a smile for her. “Bragging to the Time Keepers.” No one ever got to do that. The Keepers didn’t give kudos. They usually only got involved if something went wrong. Anybody would be jealous of gaining an audience with them to show off their work. “Pretty sweet.”

Ravonna took another sip. “But, only on one condition.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, think of it as a perk.” She leaned back with a pleased smile, crossing her legs and resting her drink on her knee. “ You’ll be the one to delete them.”

His smile faltered.

“Me?”

“Right in front of the Keepers. Closing the case under their direct supervision,” the satisfaction in her tone was firmly religious. 

She looked at Mobius as he considered her suggestion. Watching him carefully. 

He wasn’t saying anything. 

He was just looking at her, lost in thought.

“Well? Isn’t that exciting?” She didn’t blink as she looked at him.  

“Oh, heaps of exciting.” He took a drink. “I’ll, uh, I’ll have a chance to make this right. Finally get a couple monkeys off my back, too,” he chuckled, rubbing his hand on his knee. 

“And then we’ll be free of all the Lokis,” she said, like it was a dream. “For now, at least,” she added, staying realistic. 

She poured more brandy in her glass from the decanter on the coffee table and then poured more in his, watching his expression for several seconds too long.

“And not a moment too soon,” he held his cup steady for her. 

She smiled at that and looked at him like a friend. 

She raised her glass towards him. 

“... To a Loki-free TVA.” 

He looked at his cup. 

He raised it towards hers.

“A Loki-free TVA.”

Their cups clinked together.

Chapter Text

“Hello… Oh, I don’t know, your name’s a number.” Sylvie gave B-15 a mean grin as she entered the theater. B-15 stood by the door, pruning stick in hand. “Can’t read it from here.” 

Sylvie lowered her legs from where they had been resting on the tabletop and stood up to get a closer look, a mischievous challenge in her eyes.  

“I saw what you could do to people at Roxxcart.”

Sylvie raised her hands, so ? “Impressed?”

Something wasn’t adding up. Why would Mobius and his Loki variant fight the person controlling him? Despite what Renslayer had reported to them about Mobius’ mind control, it wasn’t making sense. And C-20 had been ranting on her way back to the TVA, ‘ It’s real, it’s real. I was real. She showed me .’

“Did you do it to Mobius?” 

“What?”

“Make him turn on the TVA.”

Sylvie tilted her head, “Is that what they’re saying?” 

“Answer me.”

“No.” Sylvie sat back down, rolling her eyes. “It was real,” she delivered the bad news sarcastically. “I got all the nauseating details of their blooming romance. Even if your friend was faking it.” The world had turned upside down: A TVA agent had betrayed a Loki who trusted him. Now that she had gotten over her initial rage, she might’ve actually been impressed if it wasn’t just a bit pathetic that the first time she had seen another Loki even attempt to care about someone besides themself -no matter how terrible his choice of partner was- had to end like this. 

She should’ve seen it coming. Lokis always lose, after all. Not her, though. She wasn’t like the others, she assured herself. 

But she was back to being alone again. Just as she should be. She was better off without a defunct Loki and double-crossing agent slowing her down. 

Still, thinking of that young, naive Loki being tortured somewhere in these halls, bruised from at least having the courage to try and love, almost bothered her.

‘ I’d be honored to be your friend ,’ she remembered. She crossed her arms.

“You didn’t use your powers on him?”

She exhaled, bored by the question. “ No .” 

B-15 scowled. Someone was lying. And, for once, it didn’t seem to be the Lokis. 

She switched off her stick and took out her TemPad. “You’re going to show me something.”

“Am I?” 

“Come with me.” A time gate opened. 

Sylvie, no longer bored, followed B-15 through it.

Later

Loki stood still, staring at the golden elevator. His legs were tired, his face and body fatigued from Sif’s assaults. Two Hunters were holding his arms in place behind his back. They had brought him out for this sudden, and most likely only, appointment with the Time Keepers. While he should’ve been excited by the prospect of finally gaining their audience, he couldn’t muster much of his old self in this moment. He bit against the gag in his mouth. Another muzzle to keep him quiet. His words, his final power in the TVA, were sheathed, his allies were scattered, and he didn’t have a plan for the Keepers. His odds had dwindled down to nearly nothing and he almost couldn’t be bothered to scheme. His mind only circled a certain man he hadn’t seen since their interrogation had been interrupted.  

“You look terrible.” He hadn’t noticed until then the several pairs of footsteps arriving beside him. Sylvie and her custodians stopped to his right. He looked over at her. 

He met her eyes. He must’ve been a sight because she didn’t look at him with the anger he had last seen her harbor for him or the irritation she had usually held for him before that.

“You okay?”

He nodded slowly, lying.

“I’ve got them from here.” Ravonna’s voice was loud and confident as she walked up behind them. She took out her Time Twister, which controlled all nearby Time Collars and kept it ready in front of her. The Hunters on either side of Sylvie and Loki backed away. One pressed the only button on the panel beside the door, calling the elevator.

Ravonna dismissed the Hunters with a nod. They weren’t cleared to see the Keepers, this was an honor reserved only for herself and Mobius. She checked her watch and looked over her shoulder, where was he?

“'Ope, sorry I’m late.” Right on cue, her favorite analyst turned the corner at a professionally brisk pace. “Got held up,” he pointed over his shoulder at wherever he was coming from.

Loki closed his eyes when he heard that voice and those footsteps from behind him. Still divided in himself, he wanted nothing more than to turn around and see him again while his body protected him from actually doing it. 

Ravonna looked over to her friend as he approached. He stopped beside her, nodding at her as a sign of his usual respect. He had a small smirk on his face and he swayed on the spot, obviously nervous, catching his breath from his hurry.  She studied him, pleased that he had accepted her invitation. 

“Big day,” he glanced at her with a joke in his eye. She remembered being nervous the first time she saw the Keepers, too. But he seemed just as eager as she had been, as well. 

Everything was as it should be.  And after Mobius pruned the variants, she could forget all about this strange ordeal.  She breathed out, dropped her shoulders, and straightened her neck with a poised authority. 

Ding .

“Goin’ up,” Mobius announced with a playful whisper. Or was it down? No one knew.

Sylvie glanced at Loki who looked towards his shoulder, as if considering turning around to look at Mobius. He seemed to think better of it, staring ahead again. He really did seem miserable. She saw his eyes search the air in front of him for a plan.

The doors opened with a heavy metal grinding. 

All four of them stared at the yawning entrance, the foreboding sign above the door read, ‘FOR ALL TIME - ALWAYS.’

“After you,” Mobius motioned to Ravonna. 

She repaid his smile and confidently walked into the center of the elevator. Loki and Sylvie followed with Mobius behind them, his hands in his pockets. 

“‘Scuse me,” Mobius shimmied between them and stood beside Ravonna. His shoulder bumped Loki’s.

Loki exhaled tensely around his gag, as if the contact had pained him. 

The doors closed slowly. 

Pressure tugged at them as the elevator lurched into movement and the floors started to woosh by at regular intervals. 

The silence in the elevator was deafening.

Mobius, ever unable to sit in quiet, leaned over to Ravonna and whispered, “Gotta admit, I’m kinda nervous.”

“Don’t be,” she advised warmly, only friendship and encouragement in her voice. “This is a great opportunity for you.” 

Loki looked ahead of him, listening as Mobius hummed affirmatively in response. “Yeah, you’re right.” Loki could hear his smile in his voice. He could see it without turning around. His chest squeezed painfully at the fact that Mobius’ smile was at his expense. His trial was only interesting to the analyst as a means to see the Keepers he had once sworn to disobey for him. The man’s cheerful presence behind him radiated a paralyzing energy that weakened the god, sickening his stomach and slowing his heart with sluggish dread.

Loki was only a one-way passenger on this elevator to Mobius, a trophy to be paraded and annihilated before handshakes and drinks. Worse than that was the realization that he may never be the cause of another one of the man’s smiles again after this. Mobius would just go on, for eternity, never knowing what could have been. What had been.

If only he had had more time. Maybe Mobius would’ve believed him. If only Sylvie had her powers here in the TVA. 

There had to be a way out of this.

A quiet moment passed. 

Mobius looked at Loki’s back, studying his profile. 

“Don’t you think we should take off the…” Mobius motioned at the gag in Loki’s mouth, pantomiming taking it off. “The Keepers probably wanna hear what he has to say for himself, right?”

Ravonna sneered towards Loki, but nodded, “You’re right.” They usually wanted to hear the criminals’ final explanation of their deeds. And while she had always thought it was a waste of their divine attention, she would never suppose to know better than the Time Keepers how to mete out justice. 

“I’ll do it,” Mobius volunteered. 

He squeezed between Loki and Sylvie’s shoulders again.  “Pardon me.”

Loki’s heart staggered.

Sylvie gave Mobius a look as he got by her. 

Mobius sidestepped and stood in front of Loki. Mobius only glanced at his eyes for a moment, avoiding the look he was giving him. He reached up around Loki’s head. Loki leaned down for him, their faces close. Mobius untied the gag. 

Loki stretched his jaw as the gag fell from between his lips. “Mobius, I-”

Ravonna’s eyes darted to them.

“Uh-uh,” Mobius stopped him, tapping his chest with his finger. “Save your voice for the big guys, buddy.” He almost stepped away but noticed something. He reached up and fixed Loki’s tie, making him presentable for his trial. Loki tucked his chin, looking down at Mobius’ careful fingers. He felt a strange sense of deja vu. 

“You have to know I was telling you the truth-”

“That’s enough.” Ravonna stopped him.

Loki raised his voice, not turning away from Mobius, “You know your part in all this. You’ve done this to him. You took his memories. Is that how you want to rule? Brainwashing? Imprisonment?”

“Really persistent,” Mobius mouthed to Ravonna with an expression that joked, ‘ get a load of this guy ’. He chuckled as he stepped away from Loki and back to Ravonna, patting the prince’s arm casually. Loki only squeezed his eyes shut and backed away as the agent walked by him. 

“You know, I once thought I wanted to rule by any means necessary, but I see now just how hollow that is-”

“Be quiet,” Ravonna ordered as Mobius returned to her side. 

Loki turned to her, “You’ve taken his life from him, when you’re just the same as him. Your precious Keepers erased your memories, too-” Loki was cut short by the sudden, nauseating rearranging of his atoms that forced him to face forward as he had been a moment prior.

“That’s enough .” Ravonna’s finger was poised on her Time Twister, ready to do that again. 

“What, are you nervous about what he has to say, ‘Judge Renslayer’?” Sylvie challenged. 

Ravonna stayed quiet, knowing better than to dignify the accusation with a response in front of Mobius. 

Sylvie wasn’t done with her, “Do you remember me?”

Loki looked over to Sylvie.

“I do.” Ravonna didn’t spare Sylvie a glance. “What do you wanna say to me, variant?”

“What was my nexus event? Why did you bring me in?”

Loki understood now what this energy was. Renslayer had been the one to capture Sylvie all those eons ago, when she was only a child. There was a lot of history in this elevator.

“What does it matter?” The judge seemed annoyed by the question. 

“It was enough to take my life from me, leading to all of this. It must’ve been important.” Centuries of anticipation threatened to break through Sylvie’s callous tone. “So, what was it?” 

Loki watched Sylvie, feeling her righteous anger with her.

Ravonna thought. Mobius watched her.

“... I don’t remember,” her lip curled up, how ironic .

Mobius looked down. 

The ruthless response landed like lead in Sylvie’s lungs, but the anger in her stomach only burned brighter.

Ding .

The doors opened.

Whether the passengers were ready or not, they were suddenly at their destination. 

A dark and misty stone chamber was waiting for them.

This was the moment they had all been waiting for. 

Loki and Sylvie disembarked, Ravonna and Mobius following. They passed some TVA special agents, highly decorated and dedicated to protecting the Time Keepers. They were hardly ever seen outside of this chamber. With only a cursory glance at the nonsensical staircases that stretched miles in all directions around them in infinite combinations of orientations, they all walked onto the platform, far more interested in the spectacle in front of them. Ahead and above them, suspended in their levitating thrones in front of their glowing sigil, were the Time Keepers. 

All four of them were transfixed by the beings. 

“Gracious Time Keepers,” Ravonna greeted them with loud ceremony. “As promised, the variants .” 

Loki and Sylvie stopped only a few feet from the staircase leading to the thrones and stared up at the three entities, both of them too focused and too angry to be intimidated. Ravonna and Mobius stayed back. Mobius stared at the leaders of Time with wide, unblinking eyes. He had sworn he'd keep his cool, but he had lost his cool pretty much immediately. He was frozen, staring. Everything in his mind fell away as he contended with seeing the faces of the TVA rulers, his ‘gods’, for all intents and purposes. Just as he had only begun to incorporate into his reality that they really were physical beings that could see and be seen, he next had to reconcile hearing them speak.

“After all your struggle,” the Time Keeper in the center spoke in a booming voice, “at last, you’ve arrived before us.” 

They all looked up at the Keeper, each of them feeling the gravity of their gaze differently.

The Keeper to the left spoke next, struggling against the anatomy of their upper lip to speak clearly, “What do you have to say for yourselves before you meet your end, variants?” 

Loki scoffed at the ridiculous, paternalistic question. “You brought us here to have us speak to our crimes, but what of your crimes?”

“Loki-” Mobius couldn't help but try to stop his captive from lecturing the rulers of the universe. 

“You’re lying to your people!” Loki couldn't let this lie. Sylvie looked at him, sharing his anger.

“Silence!” Renslayer demanded, offended on behalf of the Keepers that Loki would say that aloud. 

“These people are all variants, like us!” Loki gestured towards the TVA.

Mobius could only watch as Loki backtalked the arbiters of spacetime.

“Only, instead of bringing them here to speak of their crimes, you gave them a uniform, took their lives from them, and made them your slaves, all so you can rule without question-” 

“You talk nonsense,” the left Keeper interrupted. “This tale of yours resembles your own gluttony for power. For a throne.”

“And now, you disgrace yourself by you coveting ours,” the right Keeper hissed. 

Loki paused, his eyes falling from the Keepers in realization. “No, I’m not- I have no desire for these-these games. These illusions!” He could see it clearly now: the entire TVA was nothing but a facade of dogma and drones working to keep these three beings in the most powerful position in the entire universe. And any thought of ruling the TVA had disintegrated in his mind the moment he realized what the institution had done to Mobius.

“Are you not the Great Deceiver?” The center Keeper’s voice curled with implication. “A ‘God’ of Illusions?” The downward, patronizing slant of the being’s tone positioned Loki as nothing but a tinker toy they had wound up and released on the Sacred Timeline. 

Loki straightened his shoulders, “I was,” he wore his past honestly. “But I’m nothing like you.” He wasn’t their creation anymore. “You three are simple con artists who clawed their way to the top-!” 

The center Keeper spoke, louder than before, “We are growing weary of your mewling. Your impertinence does nothing but expedite your demise, variant.”

Loki scoffed.  “Is that what you’ve brought us here for? To kill us?” How utterly boring. “I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve been killed, so go ahead! Do your worst.” Even if he didn't have a plan, he wasn't going to cower. It felt too good to see the Keepers’ look at him like that, like he was making them angry. Good. They sat here, comfortable and protected on their thrones, while people died by their hand and word. Maybe they needed to be made uncomfortable for once. 

Sylvie seemed to like his challenge, lowering into a stance ready to fight. 

“You and your bravado are no threat to us, variant,” the Keeper to the right whispered angrily, biting each word. 

Sylvie spoke now, “Oh no, I don’t think you believe that. I think,” she took a step forward only to shift back into place with a flick of Ravonna’s Time Twister. Sylvie shot her a glare, but continued, “I think you’re scared.”

“We do not fear you, variant,” the center Keeper informed. “You are only a cosmic mistake. One that must be corrected.” 

“We’re more than that! Getting here, we’ve become more than you ever planned for. And that’s what scares you!” Loki followed that thought to its next, enlightening step. “And that’s why Lokis always lose on the Timeline, isn’t it? Because you know just how much we can become!” He shouted up at them in epiphany. 

He looked at Sylvie again, their eyes meeting with a rush of new and deep pride of who they were, born entirely in that moment. They shared an exhilarated smile. Their anxious hearts were beating in time, as though they were the same being. Which, for the first time, they could see clearly in one another now. 

“You are what we say you are!” The Keeper on the right boomed, losing composure.

The left Keeper joined, “And we say your time has come to an end.” 

“Delete them now ,” The center Keeper motioned quickly.

Mobius, busy watching the back of Loki’s shoulders rise and fall with every labored breath, looked up after a few seconds of silence. His stomach jumped when he realized the three pairs of glowing eyes belonging to the universal authorities of reality were fixed upon him with impatient expectation. 

“Oh, right.” He had almost forgotten that this was what he was here for. With one more nervous glance at the TVA’s leaders, he reached around to his belt and unlatched his pruning stick.

Ravonna gave him a proud nod. 

“No, I’m not done with you, yet!” Sylvie started rushing towards the Keepers’ thrones.

Mobius stopped.

Ravonna dialed her Time Twister, shifting Sylvie back, but not far enough. She tried again. The twister was stalling. Sylvie realized something was wrong with Ravonna’s control.

The others looked back at Renslayer as she attempted again and again to bring Sylvie further back, unable to.

Ding .

Everyone’s eyes turned to the elevator no one had called. 

The door slid open and revealed B-15 with a competing Time Twister in her hand, jamming Renslayer’s signal. B-15’s face held nothing of her usual professional reserve, she was here with a mission in her eyes. She lifted her twister and, after an affirmative beep, the collars fell from both Loki’s and Sylvie’s neck. 

Renslayer and Mobius watched, frozen by the interruption. 

“For all time,” B-15 recited, “always.” She pulled Sylvie’s sword from behind her back and hoisted it over Ravonna and Mobius’ heads, the hilt landing perfectly in Sylvie’s grip. 

The guards beside B-15 immediately sprang into action, swinging their activated batons at her. As the best Hunter in her division, she expertly avoided their initial strikes, however these agents were far older and more rigorously trained. One quickly winded her with a punch to her sternum and the other followed it with a strike to her jaw that fell her to the ground, unconscious. 

Sylvie, now armed but down one ally, approached Ravonna with a rekindled, sharpened anger. 

“Protect the Time Keepers!” Ravonna backed away, motioning the guards to come forward. 

Sylvie felt Loki’s back against her own and leaned against him to strengthen their defensive fighting stance as the four guards surrounded them. 

Mobius stepped away from the fight, retreating to the edge of the platform. 

Instantly, all four guards attacked at once. Well-practiced by their many adventures up to this point and newly aligned to their connection as two versions of the same being from their recent epiphany, both Loki and Sylvie worked together seamlessly to dodge and deflect the first strikes. They protected each other’s blindspots and exchanged places like dance partners before they squared two targets each. 

Mobius watched, amazed. He had never seen a Loki, let alone two, fight so well alongside someone before. 

The Keepers spectated, unbothered, as the Lokis deftly fought their protectors. 

However, the guards’ considerable talent became quickly apparent and Loki started falling behind, almost missing chances to block hits and unable to inflict any real damage without his powers or a weapon. 

“Little help here!” he called to Sylvie, who was managing better. He stumbled back into a roll, kneeling. 

“Here!” She tossed him her sword, far more experienced and confident than him against the TVA agents’ fighting style. 

He caught the sword, flashing her a momentary grateful look, and managed to use it to keep the guards at a distance. He still had a friend in his other self, he realized. He felt some strength return to him.

Sylvie had no trouble stealing a baton from one of the guards while kicking him unconscious and, realizing these sticks were outfitted with a deadly sharp end opposite the glowing terminal, she spun it expertly and drove it through the center of the other guard who had been trying to sneak behind her for a stealth kill. 

She retracted her weapon from the guard’s body and they fell to the ground.

With her two targets neutralized, Sylvie was free to approach Renslayer.  

“Uh,” Mobius inched closer to Ravonna.

She held up her hand towards him, telling him to stay put. He did, anxiously looking between the Loki and the judge. 

Ravonna, steel-faced, marched over to the guard on the floor and kicked up their pruning stick, catching it in mid-air. The two women circled one another, their histories in the back of their minds. 

Sylvie had dreamt of this moment for millennia. The anticipation for this fight had lived in her bones for centuries. 

Ravonna would’ve preferred a cleaner hand in L0852’s execution. She only dealt out deletions with signatures these days, but if no one else was strong enough to take her down she supposed it was always going to come down to this. 

They both re-activated their batons.

“This time, I finish the job,” Ravonna notified a split second before she lunged for Sylvie, sending her back a few steps. 

They dodged each other’s strikes, but Ravonna was the first to land a hit. The pointed end of her stick grazed Sylvie’s face, who took the cut as fuel for her bloodlust. 

Loki was still struggling to find an opening with his two targets, using distracting and deflecting techniques in an attempt to tire them into a sloppy counter that he could exploit, however these guards were almost supernaturally efficient fighters and weren’t falling for his usual tactics. 

Sylvie struck downward, her baton hitting Ravonna’s in a locked position, pushing the judge back a step. Sylvie feigned another forward strike before she turned her baton in hand and used the sharp end to slice through the judge’s coat, digging the end a few inches into her shoulder.

Sylvie grinned at the woman’s pain before rushing her again. 

Loki finally found an opening and brought the hilt of his sword against one of the guard’s temples, knocking them unconscious immediately. 

Now that his full focus was on the last remaining guard, Loki was sure he was about to win. But just as he readied to bring down his sword against the last guard, they surprised him with a sudden charge of their shoulder against his stomach. The guard rushed him backwards, away from the Keepers, and off his balance until he was on the ground choking from the impact with the stone floor. The sword flung from his hand and skittered along the stone, too far away from him to be reached. The guard brought their pruning stick downward towards Loki’s face. He caught the hilt with both hands, stopping its descent onto him. 

Their strength was too evenly matched for Loki to be able to push it back or away. They were locked in place in a test of strength. 

Sylvie spun around Ravonna, aiming to stab her other shoulder. Ravonna turned on the spot and blocked her. Their batons locked in another stalemate that tested their balance against one another. Ravonna glanced over Sylvie’s shoulder and saw L1130 nearly defeated, struggling against the guard who was also beginning to falter. Ravonna couldn’t take on two Lokis by herself. 

“Mobius!” She called to the analyst who was watching Loki from the sidelines. “Prune him!” 

Mobius looked at Ravonna.

“ Now !” she ordered. Sylvie kicked her knee, throwing off her balance, but she recovered and was back to exchanging strikes with her.

Mobius looked back at Loki, whose grip was starting to fail him. He took a few unsure steps closer to the god and the guard. 

Loki’s eyes met his, his arms shaking.

“M-mobius,” his grip almost collapsed in exchange for the ability to say the analyst’s name, apprehension and pleading in his voice.

Mobius raised his pruning stick, taking aim.

-

Earlier

Mobius stood in the hallway outside of Ravonna’s office, brandy still on his tongue and a bad taste on his mind from the talk he had just had with her. ‘ A Loki-free TVA. ’

He looked over to the bench to his right, remembering Loki waiting for him there, back before things had gotten so damn complicated. 

He was going to have to prune him. There were no if’s, and’s, or but’s this time. The Time Keepers demanded it. And there was no questioning the Keepers.

He felt a strange sense of deja vu.
That’s right. 

He had been here before, in this exact spot, thinking about orders to delete Loki. And he felt now what he had felt then.

A frown tempted the corner of his mouth. 

It didn’t seem right. At least, not until he could disprove Loki’s story. It was so crazy he almost had to consider it. And how Loki had delivered it to him also gave him pause. He tried not to think about that part of everything. That look he had given him. His hand on his.

Could he be a variant? 

Mobius looked down at his hands. 

Where had he come from if not from the Time Keeper’s powers? Could he have had a life on the Timeline? Had he been born like any other Timeline being? Did he have a family? Had he had the chance to live a real life once? 

‘ Talk to Sylvie! Sylvie’s enchantment can fix this! ’

He looked up from his palms. He had to talk to Sylvie. 

If Ravonna found out, he’d figure out what to tell her then. 

Walking quickly, he turned the rounded corner past Theaters 50 and 49, approaching 48. He was spinning a plan in his head; fibs to tell to get a private audience with the Variant. His thoughts stopped abruptly when he noticed someone was leaving the theater although Ravonna had said no one would be interrogating her.

“B-15, her eyes shot up to him as he greeted her. She was closing the doors behind her. She looked different. Her expression was urgent but lost, somehow. Was that water on her face? It looked like she had just come in from a rainstorm. 

“Mobius,” she said his name as though she had just been thinking of him. He realized no one else was around. What had happened to the security detail assigned to the room?

Questions kept piling on, but there was an elephant in the hallway he had to address first. “Hey, look,” he put his hands on his hips, a bit shy. How do you apologize for betraying someone while under mind control powers? “I know this is awkward, but… I think, while I was under whatever influence they had me under, I might’ve said or done some things-”

“No,” she cut him off. “No, it’s fine.”

He nodded, checking her face for any hint of a grudge. There was nothing. She looked distracted by something else. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

She was looking at him strangely. 

He didn’t need to know why, but he didn’t have time for that. He had to get by her. “Look, I’m here to talk to the variant. I need to learn more about what she did. You think I could-”

“Yes.” She quickly grabbed her keycard, holding it to the sensor without a second’s delay.

“Alright. Well, great.” He brought down the corners of his mouth, well that was easy . Too easy. The doors opened and he walked into the room.

There she was: Sylvie. She was reclining in her chair, a smug look on her face. He noticed she was soaked, too. Mobius looked back and saw B-15 had followed him in. They had both been somewhere. And now he was in an empty room with him. He was getting nervous.

“What’s going on here?” 

“That was fast.” Sylvie remarked, having only just sat down. She leaned forward and off her seat. Mobius took a step back.

“Show him what you showed me.” B-15 spoke directly to Sylvie. Mobius looked between them, almost confused. 

Sylvie scoffed, “Normally I don’t follow orders, but,” she took another step towards Mobius, who fought the instinct to take another step back, “I think a mutual annoyance of ours would whine his head off to me if I didn’t all least try to do this.” Besides, she strategized, two allies were better than one.

Mobius squinted at her, thinking through what she was saying. “You mean Loki? What are you gonna do?” He had come in here planning to extract information, but now he found himself a few steps behind and in someone else’s plan. 

Sylvie glanced at B-15. It was becoming clear they all knew something he didn’t. Something that felt more and more like the missing piece of this puzzle that Loki had described to him. 

He turned to B-15, “What’d she show you?” 

“My life.” 

Mobius stared at her. 

“It seems the TVA took something from you, Mobius.” Sylvie approached him, testing a nearly friendly tone with him that still sounded intimidating coming from her. “You wanna see what they took?”

Had Loki been telling the truth?

Before Mobius could answer, B-15 opened a time gate for him.

He knew what his answer was.  

-

Now

Mobius readied his pruning stick, staring at Loki who was struggling between looking at his assailant and the analyst. 

“Do it now!” Ravonna yelled between blocking Sylvie’s jabs. 

Loki’s arms shook, burning beyond a tolerable threshold. He tucked his chin, staring at the glowing end of the guard’s baton approaching his chest. In the corner of his eye were Mobius’ legs, and the man’s pruning stick poised towards him. What an asinine ending. If he could have he would’ve laughed at the fatuous tragedy he had found himself in. To be killed by the person he’d die to protect. 

If only he had had more time. More time to find the answers he needed. More time to convince Mobius of the truth. More time with Mobius at all.

Loki pushed back against his attacker, yelling into his efforts to call more strength into himself. This couldn’t be the end. He needed more time. He needed to save Mobius. He needed to get him out of the TVA. Or die trying. 

His strained yell grew louder as he started to gain against the guard’s efforts. 

And then he heard something over his yells. That terrifying warble of something being pruned from existence. Sparks flashed into sight and Loki looked down, expecting to see his own body disappearing. Instead, he noticed the pressure on the pruning stick in his hands lifted. And then the guard above him was gone. Completely. 

What was left in Loki’s sight was Mobius, standing above him with his pruning stick hovering where the agent had been. 

Loki looked up at the man, his tired arms pushing his back off the ground. 

“M-”

“ Mobius !” Ravonna’s voice shot through the chamber. 

Sylvie glanced back and quickly deciphered what had happened. She grinned, strengthened by the mounting success of the plan Mobius had devised with her and B-15 shortly before they had entered the elevator to get here. She turned back and struck the horrified Renslayer, distracting the judge from the men behind them with fervent strikes that she enjoyed more and more.

Mobius pulled back the pruning stick, deactivating it, and smirked down at Loki.

“It looked like you needed some help.” 

Loki recognized that. This was exactly as it had happened at Roxxcart. 

“Mobius,” he whispered, leaning up, terrified to hope. 

Mobius watched the god look up at him like he was the only thing in the universe worth looking at. He offered him his hand. 

Loki grabbed his hand like a man who’d been lost at sea and got to his feet, his fingers so ecstatic at the contact that his other hand swiftly joined his first, enveloping Mobius’ completely. He looked down at him, “Mobius, do you remember-”

“All the times you got us into trouble?” Mobius grinned up at him, their faces close as Loki angled his shoulders towards him, as if shielding him from everything around him. “Yeah.” 

Before Mobius could understand what was happening, Loki’s hands left his and found his shoulders, pulling him in. Mobius, who couldn’t remember ever hugging anyone in his existence, had no idea what to do when the god pulled him against his chest so tightly Mobius grunted from the impact. His arms floated on either side of Loki, surprised. The god’s chest was pressed against his own, his strong shoulder tucked firmly under his outstretched chin, barely within its reach even with the prince’s slight stoop. Mobius coughed from how tightly Loki was holding him. The cough turned into a chuckle. Loki’s arms, unabashed and as dramatic as the rest of the Asgardian, reached around him completely, gripping him tightly. 

God, he was warm. 

His arms and torso were firm and slight. And he smelled of those fine Asgardian oils Mobius, the Loki expert, knew he used in his hair. Who knew Loki would feel like this? 

“Loki,” he struggled against Loki’s arms even to speak. 

The god’s shoulders and back were wider than his own giving him an unfair leverage. Loki’s arms were long enough that his right hand fell on Mobius’ right shoulder. He was completely covered by the prince and, as he realized that, something pleasurable ached in his chest. 

So this is what this felt like?

Mobius could count on one hand the beings in the universe who had known Loki’s earnest embrace. He was one of them now. 

He could get used to this. 

“Alright, okay.” Mobius pretended he wasn’t enjoying this as much as he was. “You do realize we have an audience, right?” The Time Keepers were merely feet from them on one side and Sylvie and Ravonna were still fighting on their other side. 

“I do.” He made no effort to release the agent.

Mobius laughed against his ear, and after a moment, Loki felt the man’s ever careful hands on his back.  How long had it been since he had felt his heart sing like this, if it ever had? It was a bright ray of something good and right in a storm that hadn’t seemed to wane since that fateful skirmish with the Frost Giants. His hands tightened around Mobius, intoxicated by the man’s acceptance of his touch, his breath on his neck, and that simple aftershave he now loved more than any other scent in reality. 

Ravonna strained to look over at Mobius again, unconvinced that her eyes weren’t deceiving her as she fought Sylvie. Had it really been for nothing? She saw the two men embracing. It was such a sacrilegious sight, such a final display of Mobius’ betrayal and contamination that she lost her balance and Sylvie took the opportunity to tackle her to the ground. Sylvie  delivered one powerful punch to Ravonna’s cheekbone and the woman went limp, unconscious.

Sylvie got to her feet and let out a happy breath. 

She had won. 

“Enough of that, you two,” Sylvie called out with a playful annoyance, her tone painted kindly by her fulfilled smile. 

Mobius finally pushed Loki back, who looked over at his other self as she sauntered over to rejoin them.

Loki looked around. They were the last ones standing.  

They had done it. 

The song in his heart turned triumphant as he made eye contact with Sylvie. 

This was it. The moment they had dreamt of on Lamentis. The regrets they had wished to right.  Sylvie was alone with the Keepers, about to take her revenge. And Loki had Mobius back. 

With one hand never leaving Mobius’ arm, Loki leaned down and picked up the jade sword on the floor and tossed it back to Sylvie. This was her moment. She had been fighting for centuries to get here. 

She glanced between him and Mobius and his hand on Mobius’ arm. 

“You two back to being sickening again?” She could see it now, between them. She had seen it in Loki’s eyes when he spoke of Mobius on Lamentis. She had seen it in Mobius’ mind when she gave his memories back to him. These two were drawn together in a way she had never thought a Loki could experience. It filled her with the first hope she’d ever known that, maybe, a Loki didn’t need to be alone.

He didn’t know the specifics, but Loki understood what she had done for him. Gratitude towards Sylvie flowed from a wellspring of revitalized trust and friendship for his other self. He beamed at her with enough emotion to make her uncomfortable. 

She tensed her lips in a begrudging smile. It was annoying, but he had actually been right, a lone Loki might lose, but two Lokis, together, could win . 

“Thanks for showing me what I’d been missing, Sylvie.” Mobius was himself again. He gave her a respectful nod that she repaid. The centuries of chasing between the two of them now laid to rest by these incredibly strange circumstances: they had saved one another from the TVA. 

The three of them were here, firmly together, at the end of the road against the Time Keepers.

Sylvie turned to the Time Keepers, lifting her blade. That was enough stalling. It was time for her to take her reward now. She, rightfully, stepped forward alone to address the entities that had been waiting patiently for her attention. 

“Not as powerful as you thought you were, are you?” She taunted, raising her arms at the scene behind her. “The all-powerful dictators of time and space are just a couple of lizards who thought they could take everyone’s freedom and get away with it.”

“You’re a child of the Time Keepers, too, Sylvie,” the center Keeper spoke softly, granting her her chosen name. “We can talk.”

She scoffed out a grin, “Oh, yeah?” She instantly hurled her sword in a spinning slash towards the Keeper. It sliced through its target without any resistance. 

“Jeez!” Mobius stumbled back as the god’s large head came tumbling awkwardly down the steps, sparking and fizzing with each clunky roll. Laughter echoed through the chamber, the other two Time Keepers seemed delighted by the murder of their leader before their voices slowed, slurred, and halted as though their batteries had run out.  Mobius stared as the beings slumped over in their chairs, dead. 

The three of them paused in the sickly silence.

Sylvie snatched up the disembodied head, Loki joining her inspection. Coming from the neck were a mess of wires and metal and no sign of blood or muscle or anything alive. 

“Fake,” Sylvie announced, any happiness in her voice gone. “Mindless androids.” 

“Wh-what does this mean?” Mobius approached, his eyes, so offended by the reality-bending scene, were having a hard time looking at the head for too long. 

“It never stops,” Loki realized. The lies, the trickery, this endless rabbit hole of power and illusions. It wasn’t over. All that was left were even more terrifying questions than before, “Then who created the TVA? Who created these?”

“I thought this was it.” She threw the head to the ground with anger. They had all thought this was the end of the road. The final step to freedom.

They stood, stunned and breathing, alone in the dark, false chamber. That final step of their journey had just disappeared under them as they had taken it, leaving a gut-wrenching emptiness. 

“Wh-what was this all for?” Mobius broke the silence, his mind moving too quickly. “What have we been doing this whole time? We were pruning people this whole time for-” his expression twinged as the weight of the questions and moral implications came crashing down on him. “ Who were we serving?” He stumbled back, losing his grip. He was resting his hands on his knees, he felt ready to hurl from yet another layer of reality falling out from underneath him. It wasn’t just the Keepers lying anymore. Everything he had ever believed in had been a lie. Eons of fearing and honoring the Keepers and here they were, dead- never alive, never truly real to begin with. It had all been fake. His entire existence.  

“Mobius-Mobius...” Loki, more experienced in discovering false realities, rushed to him. “Focus.” His hands found his shoulders.

“Focus on what?” Mobius raised his voice. “What are we doing here, Loki?” None of it had ever been real. The place that was supposed to have all the answers was now just an empty room. Someone had to tell the others. What were they going to do? What would happen to the TVA without the Keepers? What would happen to the universe if the TVA fell to chaos? He gripped Loki’s forearms, losing his existential balance, “What are we gonna-”

Sylvie turned back to the Keepers, looking at their lifeless robotic bodies, “What was the point of it all?!” Her despairing yell became an echo, each iteration revealing more disappointment than the last. An entire lifetime of planning had come to this insulting, meaningless end.

“We will find who did this!” Loki shouted at them both. “We have to work together!” 

They looked at him. 

“Sylvie,” he turned to her, entreating, “you brought us all together again. You fought your way here. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. You revealed this illusion for all of reality. You’ve shown the TVA their lies!” 

She only stared at him, breathing fast from the anger in her blood. 

He turned to Mobius. “And Mobius, you’re back .” He exhaled through a quick smile, feeling the song of their reunion again despite the scene they were in. “You’ve seen us get through worse-”

Mobius shook his head. “That was different, we were running away from a couple of squads, this is a literal nightmare at the center of time-”

“Look at me, Mobius.” Loki stepped closer to him. “We will figure this out.” He couldn’t stop his hands from wrapping around Mobius’ arms again, where they belonged. 

Mobius looked up and whispered, distressed, “But how can you know that?”

“Because you… you always figure it out.” Loki’s hands brushed up to his biceps, “You found me. You’ve changed me. You brought Sylvie and me together. You found a way back.” He took another step closer, Mobius leaning back a fraction to look up at him.  

Loki looked to Sylvie, “We’ve all done the impossible. Each of us.” 

Sylvie turned away from them, despising pep talks and false hope. She preferred rage and action. She picked up the head again, inspecting it.

Mobius, on the other hand, was drawn in, trying to trust the Loki he had risked everything for more times than he could count now. 

Loki could recognize him in his eyes. The analyst was exactly as he had been the last they saw one another at Roxxcart. Loki knew he shouldn’t have felt so much joy in such a desperate moment, but he had been gifted another chance when he had been sure all was lost. A second chance to do this right. To pick up where they had left off. 

He remembered where they had left off.

He licked his lips, nervous. His hands brushed up to Mobius’ shoulders, begging to be allowed to explore more of the man.

“And,… there was something else I thought impossible until now,” Loki’s voice lowered. “Mobius… I need to tell you something. Properly.”

The man gave him a look, “What?”

Loki paused, his thoughts falling away to expose only the overwhelming center of his desire for the person in front of him. The man who had changed him so thoroughly, so completely, that nothing in him felt quite his own anymore. He parted his lips to speak, but he had no vocabulary for this. “Uh,...” he took a breath, “... this is new for me, as you know, but-”

Mobius understood where this was going, “Loki, no.” Mobius could handle a lot, but he couldn’t handle this with his dead gods surrounding them and the impending dissolution of the TVA into universe-ending anarchy. He could only take one rearranging of reality at a time and a Loki that was looking at him like he loved him was one too many apocalypses for him. “I can’t- Don’t-”, he lightly pulled at Loki’s arms. 

“Mobius,” Loki, always led by his heart first and everything else second, disregarded Mobius’ weak grip and placed his hands on either side of his neck. The man lifted his chin, uncomfortable but frozen despite the god’s warm hands. “I-...”

Mobius glanced away from Loki’s overwhelming eyes and suddenly noticed something behind him. 

“ Loki !” He quickly pushed Loki to the side. 

It all happened so quickly Loki couldn’t understand what was happening until a bright shimmer of sparks erupted beside him. Mobius grunted in pain and grimaced as the sparks ate upwards from his stomach. Loki’s heart stopped dead as he yelled in horror, his hand instinctively tightened around Mobius’ arm, trying to pull him away from the danger. But the damage had been done. He watched in terror as Mobius’ chest, neck, and finally face fizzled out of existence with an ugly sound and there was nothing he could do to stop it. His hand, which had been gripping Mobius so tightly it’d bruise him, was immediately and sickeningly empty. After a moment, nothing, at all, remained of the man who had been at the center of all his futures. Everything about him had disintegrated into thin air and only his pained voice remained, echoing into the infinite chamber. 

What was left behind in the empty space beside Loki was a pruning stick, held in mid-air. The hilt was in the hand of the newly conscious Ravonna Renslayer. 

The world was different in that instant. 

He didn’t need any time to think or judge it so, it simply was. The moment the world had lost Mobius it became wrong. Unreal. Worthless. All at once, the god’s mind transformed into nothing but a fathomless well of wrath.

Chapter Text

It didn’t feel real when he, without any fear, grabbed the pruning stick so near to the glowing end he might’ve been annihilated, too, and pulled it free from the judge’s grip. It didn’t feel real when he spun it in his hand, using the sharpened end to slash across the woman’s stomach. She stumbled back just in time to make only a scratch out of what was meant to be a deep, fatal wound. She kept stepping away from him, a new terror in her eyes, but he closed the distance between them with only a few calculated strides.

Clutching her wound, she fell back on the steps in front of the elevator. 

She held up her hand, “Wait, I-!”

He reached down and his hand closed around her neck. After another second of thoughtless rage, her shoes were off the ground, dangling emphatically as she started gurgling for breath, clawing at his hand under her jaw. 

“Loki!” He realized Sylvie had been yelling his name the last few seconds. “Loki!” Her voice returned to his hearing as though she had emerged from underwater. Mostly all he could hear was the angry blood coursing through his temples, rushing loudly, demanding vengeance. This need for revenge was unlike any he had felt before. It wasn’t a feeling, it was an instinct. An impulse as automatic as breathing. His fingers tightened around her neck and she made an ugly sound, pulling at his fingertips.

“She’s our only chance for answers!” Sylvie’s voice reasoned.

He was beyond reason. 

“Kh-stop!” The woman ordered, her voice crushed by his grip. 

He lifted the pruning stick and pointed the glowing end at the judge. She didn’t deserve the same death as Mobius. She deserved much worse. He considered stabbing her, but the thought of her body being left behind only offended him. She needed to be erased entirely. If he had been his old self maybe he would’ve said something or done something more poetic.

“Stop!” Sylvie shouted. 

If this had been a minute prior, he would’ve listened, but every affectionate urge he had ever felt for Mobius was now transformed into a true and impatient malice unmatched by anything else in his memory, dwarfing anything he felt even during his battles with Thor or the Avengers. He couldn’t suffer this woman's existence a moment longer.

He recoiled and lunged the stick toward her.

“No!” Sylvie almost reached him, trying to stop him.

“Hc- he’s alive !” 

The pruning stick stopped mere centimeters from Ravonna’s eye. She let out a gasping sound, choking. She hit Loki’s hand, losing her strength. He opened his fingers.

She dropped to the ground with a hard thud. She sputtered and coughed, gasping through a throat that was trying to open again. 

Sylvie took the last step up to Loki’s side. She looked at Loki’s profile. He was looking down at the judge fighting to breathe. His expression was calm and cold. Sylvie realized two things: That what Loki felt for Mobius was truly love, and that a Loki in love was far scarier than any other Loki she had seen before. 

-

“Ah,” he winced with pain the moment his eyes opened. He squeezed them shut again and rubbed his forehead, groggy. “What the hell…” 

He pushed himself up from the ground, his elbows creaking. Something was tickling his palms. What was that? Grass? He tested his vision again, looking down with a squint. He was sitting on a hill of grass and dirt and rocks. His expression twisted further with confusion on top of the pain of a throbbing headache.

Where was he?

He looked up, blinking against the hazy light. Gray skies. Clouds. He looked around. More grass and dirt. Some flickering vending machines, a flag pole, outdoor grilling sets, and a mess of what looked like the remnants of a trailer park. Was he on Earth somewhere? He looked left and saw a stone Easter Island face capsized in the mud.  

He kept looking for something that made sense. To his right was a half-destroyed building, dissected down the middle, full of toppled clothing racks and fluorescent lights swinging in the breeze. It looked like a mall from the 32nd century. Beyond that, a chunk of a Chitauri battleship. None of this was making any more sense. It was like a desolate wasteland of junk, but it was junk from all over reality. 

Mobius tested the hinges of his hips, turning on the spot to look behind him.

“Loki?” his voice cracked, he cleared his throat. All he could remember was looking at Loki just now and-

His face fell as he realized what happened. Panic pricked at the back of his neck. He quickly looked down at his legs, his hands patting his chest as if checking whether he was a ghost. No, he was still here. Still together. Solid. 

He could remember watching himself disappear. He had felt the pain of having every atom in his body disassembled from one another, but he hadn’t been awake for their reassembly here in this strange land. 

What was this place? And why was he here? 

“Loki?” He called out again in case the prince was just out of sight. 

No response. He was alone. 

That meant Loki was probably still at the TVA. Right? He had stopped Ravonna from pruning him. And paid the price. 

“Dammit, Ravonna,” he whispered. 

He hadn’t even thought about what he did. His body had moved on its own to push Loki out of the way. It was weird. But not. Not really. It was right. It felt right when he did it. It still did. 

He swallowed, his throat dry. 

Was this where you went when you died? The beings on the Timeline had endless myths of an afterlife. There hadn’t been any evidence of a good place or bad place from the TVA’s vantage point, but they couldn’t rule it out. Mobius had always wondered if the afterlife was just a secret department in the TVA or perhaps a separate organization. Was this it? 

It didn’t seem either good or bad. Just kinda gray. 

Mobius reached into the recesses of his mind for any kind of hint of what this place could be, but he had never been too interested in researching this stuff. He wished he had. What was that middle place called? Purgatory? Was this Loki’s Hel? The Greeks kinda lumped it together, right? The Underworld? 

It didn’t seem very ‘under’. Lots of open sky. Clouds. Gray, thundering clouds. And… one purple cloud? That one looked big. And angry. Why was it moving so fast? And why was it… growling? Oh, Mobius realized, that’s a face . 

“Okay,” he got up to his feet, groaning as he willed his stiff knees to get back to work. “Probably should run away from the big angry thing.” 

In the time it took to get his balance back, the enormous purple cloud was already halfway to him. He started running down the hill, careful not to trip on the half-buried shopping carts. 

Why was he running? Wasn’t he dead? Could you die again in the afterlife?

How’d this all work?

Then he realized, very quickly, that he didn’t feel dead- his heart was racing, his legs were tired, and his shoulders ached the way they usually did. He was alive. He smiled as he ran for only a moment, something like gratitude tempting his thoughts, until he noticed wisps of purple smoke catching up with him. He ran faster. If he was alive, he needed to stay that way. Because, if he was alive, there was a way back to Loki. 

Wait, was that a car?

-

“You said ‘he’s alive’, what did you mean?”

The three of them entered the courtroom, away from prying eyes. Sylvie had Renslayer restrained with a blade pressed against her flank. 

“Where is he?” Loki’s tone grew more dangerous. 

Sylvie positioned herself between Loki and his target. It was clear to her that if the judge said the wrong thing, she’d be turned to sparks almost immediately and while the thought of Renslayer vaporizing caused no heartbreak for Sylvie, it posed a risk to their plan to find whoever was behind the false Time Keepers. 

Ravonna turned around to face Loki, wincing against the cut on her stomach, “Th-there’s no simple explanation-”

“Make it simple,” Loki ordered, drawing nearer. “Or my mercy will find its end very quickly.” 

Sylvie glanced between Loki and Renslayer. The woman could be lying about Mobius to stay alive a little longer. Sylvie decided that that was in her favor. She’d prune Renslayer herself if it was a lie, but only after getting answers. 

“Loki,” Sylvie attempted to warn him to relax, feeling unlike herself as she did. She was usually the one who needed calming. 

“When we prune matter,” Ravonna spoke up, accepting her disadvantage, “it can't be destroyed so it gets sent somewhere-”

“Where?” Loki pushed.

“We don’t know all the details, but… I believe pruned timelines converge somewhere outside of time. Somewhere we can't get to-” 

Loki’s eyes were shut, his patience dangerously thin, “Where is he?!”

“I-I don’t know!”  

He grabbed her and pressed the pointed end of the baton under her chin. 

“Stop!” Sylvie pulled Loki’s arm back with unfriendly strength, slipping the baton from his grip. He snapped his attention to her, angry, but she gave him a shove. “Believe me, I understand just how much you want her dead. But,” she glanced at Renslayer, who was holding her palms up, at the mercy of the two Lokis, “this isn’t just about Mobius.” 

He didn’t want to hear that.

Sylvie pressed, “What we need are answers about who’s actually behind the TVA.”

“Answers are useless to me-”

“We need to know who’s behind this-!”

“I don’t!” His voice echoed in the courtroom. “Not anymore.” The TVA and its secrets could hang. “I will use her to find Mobius or I’ll make her pay for what she did.” 

“Look,” Ravonna raised her voice, “I didn’t mean for this to happen, I wanted to save him.”  

Loki’s eyes locked onto her, “You erased him-”

“He sacrificed himself . For a Loki.” Her grimace said ‘ what a waste’ . Her eyes, full of disgust, told him she considered this Loki’s fault. “I did everything I could to keep him safe. He was my friend.” 

“ ‘ Friend?’” Loki let out a dark laugh, smiling viciously. 

“Yes.” Her fear was replaced by indignation. She wouldn’t be underestimated by a Loki variant. Especially not the one who caused all of this. “You have no idea what you walked into here, do you? You ruined everything. You broke apart something so much bigger than you. You had one mission with Mobius. We had thousands together.” She scowled. “He and I have been working side by side hunting variants and Lokis for twice as long as you’ve existed, L1130.”

Something of his old self stole into the surface of his mind. It was dark and heavy and it tinged his thoughts with a desire to inflict pain: Jealousy. 

She continued, “Mobius and I, we were partners. And you were just a number to us before this. A file. Just another fabrication of the Time Keepers. We’ve joked about you for millennia.” 

A defensive envy churned within him, mingling with the sweetness of what he felt moments before Mobius disintegrated. The very fabric of his affection for the man they were talking about was now dyed by a new, selfish desire to steal him away from this ancient bond Renslayer was describing.

“He was done with the TVA,” Loki reminded her, his voice quiet and angry. 

“You barely knew him. You corrupted him, turned him against-”

“You mutilated his mind-!”

“A small price to pay to save eons of friendship.” She had that over him. His time with Mobius had been almost nothing compared to hers. 

His jealousy changed form; he wished there had been video files of Mobius’ long life. There was so much to him he didn’t know. But she did. She had seen it all. 

“You would’ve done the same if it was the only way to save him.”

“I would’ve brought down the TVA before I’d do that to him-”

“And that’s exactly why it needed to happen. You really don’t know him at all,” she condescended. “You think he would’ve let you endanger reality for him? I know him. He would’ve understood why I had to do it.”

Loki hesitated. Something about that felt correct. For as much as he felt for Mobius, Renslayer understood the parts of the analyst that remained a mystery to him: that self-sacrificial desire to save others and universal order. Loki would’ve let the Timeline burn for Mobius if given the choice Renslayer had. And Mobius would’ve fought him every step of the way. 

He stayed silent, understanding Renslayer and Mobius’ connection a little more clearly, if against his will. 

Sylvie watched him, trying to measure the likelihood that he’d attack their captive. He seemed to be distracted from violence by whatever he was feeling now. 

“Alright, tell us what you know,” Sylvie ordered. 

“I have reason to believe that the person behind the TVA, behind the creation of the Time Keepers, also wanted Mobius alive.” That revitalized Loki’s interest. “Maybe they wanted this, too,” she gestured around them at everything they had just gone through together.

“What are you talking about?” Sylvie asked. 

“When we brought Mobius in, it became clear that… his allegiances had changed,” she glanced at Loki, “There was no reasoning with him. It was Loki or deletion.” 

Loki took a breath, his hand clenching into a fist. His jealousy was soothed for the moment. 

“And when I made my decision to delete him, someone - I don’t know who - granted me access to Protocol 42: the ability to erase selected memories.”

“What does that have to do with this?” Sylvie asked. 

Ravonna cleared her throat and pressed her wound with her palm, grunting, “This means, there’s someone out there who not only knows the deepest laws of the TVA, but is keeping a very close eye on us.” She leaned against a pew. “They knew I’d make an exception and let Mobius live if I could wipe his memories. And they probably knew this would happen, too.”

Loki and Sylvie stared at her, disturbed.

“Someone out there is pulling the strings. Our strings,” Ravonna clarified. 

Sylvie felt a shiver down her spine. The familiar anger and bloodlust that filled her ran cold at the idea that someone had planned for her, for all of them, to be here. “Why?”

Ravonna shook her head, I know as much as you do . 

“Whoever is behind all of this, where can we find them?” 

“I don’t know,” Ravonna repeated. “But believe me when I tell you, I want to find them, too.”

The three of them looked at one another, sensing a strange shift in priorities. 

Sylvie looked between Loki and Renslayer, “Are you proposing we work together?” 

“No,” Loki rejected the idea before the judge could respond. “Tell me where Mobius is, help us get him back, and then we might spare your life.” 

Sylvie groaned, “And then what? Even if you find him, what will you do next? The person behind all this had a plan for him. This might have all been part of something bigger.”

Loki only glared at her.

Ravonna spoke up, “There’s someone who might be able to help us.”

-

“These things still work?” Mobius leaned over a gas pump from a derelict gas station that looked like it was from the 60’s. He released the nozzle from the pump and tested the trigger. Sure enough, gasoline spilled out onto the ground. Mobius chuckled and shook his head and did as he had watched so many Timeline beings do: he placed the nozzle in the tank of his new, old, minivan and listened to it begin to fill up. He had never done this before. He had never driven a car before either, but, luckily, he had picked it up pretty quickly somehow. Maybe watching people drive for hundreds of years gave him an honorary license. 

He looked around as he waited. Everything was quiet. Wind whistled. This all felt like a fever dream. This whole place did. 

He had made it away from the strange purple cloud creature and had been driving across the wastelands for some time until he came across this gas station. 

The mystery of where he was had been half-solved after a few minutes of exploration. He had quickly recognized some contraband materials that weren’t allowed to exist on the Timeline and he had witnessed the sudden appearance of an entire fleet of Sakaaran aircraft before they had been quickly demolished by the purple fog that had been chasing him. He figured out that this was where things went when you pruned them. 

He stared at the landscape, listening to the gas pump creak.

He had always wondered whether pruning really eliminated matter or not. Looks like it didn’t. It seems everything was simply sent here to rot. Or get eaten. An existential landfill. But whatever this place was, he was still grateful for it. It was better than being dead. But how was he going to get back to the TVA? How was he going to get back to Loki?

“Get him!” A loud voice shouted from a distance so far Mobius wasn’t sure if he actually heard it or if it was his imagination. He looked over his shoulder at the source of the sound. Someone was standing on a hill a ways away. He was almost happy to see he wasn’t the only sentient creature here, but he wasn’t sure how to react to what he heard. Something was going on. He squinted. Wait, there were more people. And cars. And motoroycles. 

“Marauders!” A voice shouted from just a dozen feet away from Mobius, making him jump. “Let’s go!” 

“What?” Mobius yanked the nozzle from the tank as he saw someone running up to the other side of his car. They were kind of short, dressed in dark clothes. Mobius stooped and looked through the car’s windows to the other side of the vehicle to get a better look at whoever was running over to the passenger door. They looked like a young boy. He was carrying something. The boy reached out and grabbed the passenger door handle, throwing the door open. 

“Hey, hey, kid! Stop!” Mobius almost tried to put the nozzle back on the pump, but realized that was a waste of time and threw it aside. He dashed to the driver’s door, “That’s my car!” At least it was his because he had found it first, he meant. He grabbed the driver's side door and opened it, ready to stop the apparent carjacking, but instead met eyes with a flat, green creature snapping its wide, toothy jaws open and closed at him with loud snarls. Mobius tripped back, holding onto the door to keep himself from falling. It was a crocodile, no, an alligator . Mobius noticed a pair of hands holding the alligator in place, keeping the reptile from lunging at him, and followed them up to the kid’s face. “Wh-!” He stuttered back into silence when he recognized the golden, winged crown on the boy’s forehead.

“What do you mean that’s not him?” The boy pulled at the angry alligator, talking to it as if it had said something strange although an alligator saying anything at all through those growls and snaps was strange. 

The boy looked at Mobius and gave him a hard look, as if searching for something.

“You’re- you’re a Loki,” Mobius had his own realization, pointing at the boy.

The young Loki looked Mobius up and down and shook his head, seeming disappointed somehow. “Yes, I am.” He lifted the alligator, “And so is he. Now, get in!” The boy was back to being in a hurry, pulling his own door shut quickly. 

Mobius was distracted from the order to get in the car by the incredible assertion that the alligator was also a Loki. “Would you look at that,” Mobius chuckled in disbelief as he leaned down towards the alligator for a better look. The gator, adorned with a horned crown, was a Loki. Mobius could tell somehow. “He’s got the smile down. And the little horns are a good touch-”

Tzing ! 

“What the hell-?” Mobius looked over his shoulder at what that sound had been only to be met with the crash of the door window suddenly bursting into glass shards and several more metallic pops of bullets ricocheting off his door. Mobius instinctively ducked down for cover. 

The boy leaned over and shouted the same order again, “Get in!”

Mobius looked through the hole where his window had been and saw the caravan of vehicles that had been on the far-off hill now rumbling towards them at full speed. People were leaning out of windows, brandishing weapons that were pointed squarely at them. He suddenly remembered the first word this young Loki had shouted at him, ‘Marauders’ . 

Mobius pulled himself into the driver’s seat and slammed his door shut, he cranked the keys and peeled out of the gas station with a terrible screech. Both he and the Lokis ducked down as new metallic sounds bounced off the car’s bumper as the assault continued. 

“What’s happening?!” Mobius shouted. “Who are these guys?!” 

“I was looking for supplies and they spotted me,” the boy explained more calmly than seemed appropriate. 

“Who’s ‘they’?!” Mobius swerved to miss an Egyptian obelisk embedded in the ground. 

“Cannibals,” the boy explained neatly. “A particularly nasty gang of them.” 

“What?!” Mobius looked at his side mirror at the line of cars and motorbikes chasing them. 

“But we should be fine if you turn right.”

“R eally ?” How could turning right get them from ‘running away from cannibals’ to ‘fine’?

“Now!” 

Mobius pulled the steering wheel right and got onto the shoulder of a derelict highway, the whole cabin rumbling from driving over the uneven and crumbling, sun-bleached pavement. He checked his mirror and saw their pursuers follow them onto the highway. 

“Where are we going?!” How’d he get wrapped up in this? Everything was fine three minutes ago. Of course everything had gone to hell the moment some Lokis showed up. 

The boy held onto the dashboard and the alligator as they hit particularly rough patches of broken pavement. “We have a shelter, I’ll show you the way.”

“Okay. But if I’m saving your life, I’m gonna need some answers about where we are and what’s going on!” Mobius drove around a large sinkhole just in time, one of the motorcycles behind him wasn’t so lucky, but the others followed him closely. “And some help getting out of this place!” he added, out of breath. 

The young Loki looked at Mobius, a little surprised. “A fair trade,” he commended. 

Mobius realized he had just bartered the kid’s life for something in return without even thinking. How very Loki of him. He let out a breath that was almost a laugh, terrified and exhilarated as he swerved around a mess of broken down cars. He didn’t feel like his usual careful self. He felt like he must’ve spent too much time with Loki. 

He hoped he hadn’t spent the last of his time with Loki. Of course, before he could think about getting back to Loki, he had to lose the cannibals chasing them, fast.