Work Text:
Travelling through time feels...almost like the time-slipping Loki had to endure. But that felt just like Mobius had described. It didn't only look like being born and dying at the same time, it also felt like it. Your body being ripped through time, free of any free will, of calculation. Instead it was just every fibre of your body moving on its own, each in a different time.
But such a feeling was not new to Loki. He thought he would get used to it, the pain being replaced by discomfort, but the pain only multiplying each time. His limps would become numb, even tingling at times and he came to anticipate it.
But he didn't get to satisfy these feelings, as the time-slipping got taken care of.
By Mobius.
Mobius had taken care of it. Had saved him, all while risking to have his skin peeled off. At the time it seemed like such a surreal thing, laughable even, as Loki had never actually considered what that would have meant.
Mobius was ready to sacrifice himself, if it would have saved Loki.
This time though, moving through time against your own will felt different. Loki felt nothing but...nothingness, moving through a space not white, not black, just colorless, also feeling nothing, no pain, no tingling sensation.
Just the overlooming sense of doom.
Loki was still engulfed in whiteness when he began to saw colors and shortly afterwards just pitch-black.
Being ripped through time doesn't make you pass out in one place and wake upon the ground in another. The position you are in when being stays the same, no matter where, how and especially when you land. Time travelling does not care about context, much less about feelings.
Loki knew that, so it was no surprise when he found himself in an alley, his body tense, as was his whole face, seemingly trapped in an expression full of horror and grief. His body was in the alley before his mind was, so he saw himself standing there like a puppet, just before he could feel his feet hitting the asphalt, hard. His upper body jerked forwards, his hair doing the same and Loki had to take a second to collect himself, as he threw his hair back and tried to stand up straight. A strong sense of familiarity rushed through his body as a shudder befell him, with Loki smiling to himself, feeling the comfort this new habit of his brought him.
He jumped in shock as his ears had finally arrived the alley as well, hearing blasts and explosions, sounds all too familiar to him. Once he collected himself, he started to wander towards the source of all the noise. The alley seemed so typically American to him, a thought that would have left Loki feeling ashamed of himself in the past. But ever since meeting Mobius, human contact felt familiar, even being a source of comfort for him. There were tall building left and right, the walls stacked with rescue ladders, trash all over the place, even with the gargabe cans half empty.
Suddenly a scream echoed through the alley, causing Loki to jump in place. His eyes still wide in shock, more and more screams followed until there seemed to be no second without any.
"Just what is going on? And where on earth am I?" He knew noone but himself could answer, but he was at a loss of words. Another shudder went through his body. This time he was in now felt different, different in way that it felt like he'd been here before, not only in the same place, but also at the same time. Loki felt a lump forming in his throat, not daring to think about where...no, when he might be. His pace quickened as he searched for a way out of the alley. As he finally took a right turn in this maze of an alley, he saw what was not only the way out of it, but also what was among the causes for all the deafening noise. Ignoring the strong urge to just turn around, he let his legs lead him. Fire engulfed his vision as he stepped onto what must have been a street not too long ago.
Every single muscle of his body tensed up as realization hit.
He was in New York.
He was on Earth.
And he knew exactly when he was.
The fourth of May 2012. The Battle of New York. Lokis attempt at enslaving humanity, attacking them with his own alien army. All the memories came back to him as his vision nearly faded. He felt nauseous, trying to find stability on a nearby wall. He must still be here. Loki...the other Loki...the old Loki. The one who seemed to still perceive himself as hard as stone, all while having been 'soft' for his whole life. But why was he brought here? Loki didn't want to owe it to pure coincidence, it just could not be. Instead, he thought that he would be shown his mistakes, his very big mistake of almost suceeding, before being let go to finally die.
For good this time.
His newfound stability on the wall went away, as Loki snapped out of his thoughts and saw a projectile flying into the building that belonged to the wall. He looked around the street, and was finally able to see a little bit of what he had caused all too long ago.
Everything in sight was either ripped to shreds or burning, no in between, and the only sound to be heard was the explosions and screams of civilians.
His ears wouldn't stop ringing now. He was breathing fast. Too fast. And he didn't know where to go, didn't know if there was any place to go. He looked up to the sky again, hoping to get a look at himself, Loki, a villain.
But did he really want that? A look at himself? A mass murderer among other things?
The tears in his eyes began to sting, as he forced himself to look back onto the ground, moving in all directions, without a plan, without any control over his body.
There were some people still trying to flee, some suceeding, some...failing.
He had to get out of here, no matter how.
As Loki looked around, movement minimal, expression blank, he saw a man hiding behind a counter of a shop that could barely be called one anymore. All the windows were gone and the ceiling was touching the ground in some places.
Lokis gaze stayed with the blonde man, just as he felt his heart skip a beat.
The man had a remarkable nose. Too remarkable.
He'd recognize that nose anywhere, from miles away and yet he blinked not once, not twice...he blinked until his vision started to fade. Still when he regained it, that same nose was still part of his face, of that certain man.A shudder went through every fiber of his body.
His heartbeat quickened, as did his breathing as he dared to say to himself what might have been his greatest nightmare.
Mobius had been in New York in 2012. On this fateful day.
Not his, but the real one.
And Loki was the one who took his life from him.
Brought him to the TVA.
Ruined his life.
Killed him.
Loki was starting to panic when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, a warm and careful touch.
Loki turned around in shock as he looked into blue eyes, full of warmth and comfort and yet, at the moment, full of fear and confusion.
Loki immediately tensed up again. Mobius stood directly in front of him.
Mobius opened his mouth to say something and closed it again before grabbing Loki by the arm and dragging him behind the counter he had been hiding behind.
"Woah there, are you okay? For a second there I thought i lost you buddy, so lost in thought in the middle of an invasion..." Mobius whispered in a typically Mobius way. His whispers always managed to calm Loki, just like they did now. The black haired unfocused his eyes from the ground and looked Mobius in the eye.
Loki realized that if he wanted to have a shot at making it out of this situation unscathed, including Mobius even, he'd had to get his shit together. So he did.
"I'm okay thanks, I...are you okay? How long have you been hiding here?"
"Must be around an hour by now. I wanted to get some stuff from my apartment," he pointed towards the building whose wall Loki leaned on, "I live in that building...well, lived." A dry chuckle came out of his mouth, but his eyes weren't deceiving Loki anymore. There was a profound sadness in them, he couldn't imagine what he had lost already. All due to him.
"Do you have any idea what exactly is happening right now?" Mobius looked him straight in the eye. "I'm as clueless as you are, it seems." It took all of his might to lie like this. A new feeling, lies making his stomach twist in ways unbeknownst to him. The older man acknowledged this with a sigh, as he began messaging his temples.
Loki used this brief moment of "silence" between them to get a good look Mobius, one that wasn't his though. He noticed the blond hair, much more voluminous than he had ever seen it. Also much longer, it reminded him of the beach, Mobius golden waavy hair...A very strong contrast to the very short kept gray hair. But Loki didnt mind. In fact, Mobius could be bald, have dyed hair, no matter what it would look like, he will always be in awe of this man.
If Loki had to describe him with one word, it would be human. Human in the best way possible and unlike he would have ever thought someone like him to be. He was the first to show him kindess in such an unconditional way that left the God speechless at times. Mobius had cared, still cared about him.
Loki cared for him as well, and yet there was one question in his mind that wouldn't let him relax his mind.
Was this feeling a mutual one? Did Mobius like, maybe even more than like, him as well?
Sometimes, when days at the TVA were quiet for once, they would just sit, sit wherever, and just talk. Never too personal though and Mobius was mindful enough never to cross any boundaries. And other times, they would just sit in silence.
With Mobius, there was never akward silence.
"Is there anything on my face, boy?" Mobius caught Loki being lost in thought, staring at him. This was not the time for day dreaming, not even thinking, Loki thought.
"I just blanked out is all. By the way, what could you possibly be doing here? This store seems to have been closed even before all this." He made sure to keep their eye contact minimal, not being able to look into Mobius eyes without thinking what his actions might have caused.
"I was on the way home when the attack hit. And my plan is still to get there. Good thing it's the closest building to us anyway."He has always been so good natured, so hopefully optimistic. "Would you like to help me maybe? We can find a way to get out of this unharmed together. All I know is that I'm glad to not be alone anymore during this." Nervous chuckles left both of their mouths, Lokis feeling much more forced, wincing at the word 'together'.
"Sure, I'd love to..."
"Owen. And you are...?"
Loki tried his best to hide the dissappoinment, slowly beginning to crawl over his face. But what did he expect?
"Odin" He clearly hesitated.
Mobius reached out his hand for Loki to take, "I wish we could've met under different circumstances Odin"
The taller man reached out to him and shook his hand, hopefully succeeding in masking the pain he felt right now.
"Well then, let's go!"
They crouched slowly and close to the ground towards a gaping hole in the stores wall. The noise was still there, still deafening, the attack still ongoing and Loki knew that is wasn't going to stop any time soon.
Luckily, they managed to avoid any contact with anyone and soon they were back in the alley Loki had found himself in after landing in this time.
Mobius had begun sprinting ahead, startling Loki who was still trying to come to terms with literally everything happening. He hadn't realized this alley streched even further, before lightly crashing into the blonde man, who was fumbling in his pockets for keys.
He quickly found them and in the blink of an eye they were inside the building, walking up stairs to get to Mobius' apartment. Loki blindly followed him, beginning to feel numb again, slowly loosing touch with reality when suddenly, he was pulled into a bright and colorful room.
Mobius...Owens apartment
It couldn't have been more different than what the TVA looked like. Instead of darker shades of green, brown and grey, there were brighter shades of all kinds of colors. Blue yellow, red and to Lokis surprise, a lot of green.
Mobius quickly guided him through his apartment in a way that you'd think there isn't an alien attack in progress right now, and left Loki to his own devices shortly afterwards.
It was a rather small flat. Enough place to live a comfortable life. But what caught his eye was a room, even brighter than the others. While Mobius was soundly digging through his personal things in his bedroom, for whatever reason, Loki decided to snoop around a little, starting with this light room at the very end of the hallway.
He found the door to be unlocked already and slowly pushed it open. What greeted him then, was a variety of pastel colors surrounding a small bed, similarly small other furniture and...toys?
Lokis face tensed up, as did his body as he realized where he was standing.
This was a childrens room.
Did Mobius have children in his real, original life? Loki tried to stop that thought, but to no avail, as tears welled up in his eyes. He wasn't sure if it was because of sadness and anger or because of...just a tad bit of jealousy. Maybe even both. He shook his head roughly to get rid of these unwanted thoughts, which also seemed inappropriate, considering their situation.
The door creaked as Mobius entered the room, his eyes only on Loki and slowly approached him.
"This is my nephews room, I've been taking care of him for a few years now." Loki turned around to face him, his face softening at the revelation. He felt relief, and this time he didn't care about how appropriate that was.
"Where is he now?" There was real empathy in his voice. "Ah don't worry, he's out of state right now with a relative, thank god..." There was a sad smile on Mobius' face, and Loki tried to give him a reassuring one. Their eyes met, and just a second later they broke the comfortable silence with their laughter.
Talking with him still felt natural, almost felt like he'd be talking with his Mobius.
Loki broke the silence once again "Does anyone else live with you besides your nephew?" Only after he asked did he realize how intrusive it must have sounded, but Mobius wasted no time to answer "No, I'm as single if one can be, if that's what you were trying to get at. Always have been." Loki acknowledged that with a sigh sounding just a little bit too content with that.
Mobius pointed at him "How about you? What were you doing here anyway?" He felt his face heating up, realizing that this is the point where he had to decide whether to lie, or to keep his lie as close to the truth as possible. What could go wrong?
"Mo-Owen...please tell me you won't freak out, no matter what I say, okay?"
Mobius could see the urgency and sincerity in his eyes that were staring right into his own now. He only met this person a few minutes ago and yet felt like he'd known him for a very long time. His heart skipped a beat and his brows furrowed as he answered. "Of course ..., you should know, I'm not one to judge people, so whatever it is, I'll listen to you and hopefully be able to help you."
Of course he would. No matter when, he'd always be the most understanding, supporting person in the room, maybe even in the universe.
He took a deep breath.
"The truth is, I know you, and you know me. Should know me. But you don't because you're not you. At least not right now..." He wasn't making any sense and Mobius looked at him in pity. "How about we grab something quick to eat, so you can gather your thoughts?"
"No! I know I must sound crazy, but trust me when I say I'm not. My real name is Loki and the reason I'm here is essentially because I got pulled through, travelled through time and now every timeline is in danger to disappear forever. Normally the Time Variance Authority, the TVA takes care of that, but something went horribly wrong and now I'm here..."
He stopped, hoping that Mobius would understand him, and caught his breath before continuing.
"You also exist in the TVA, you even work there, have been for a couple thousand of years now. And your name there isn't Owen, but...Mobiusand you and I have been working together for quite a while now, ever since you caught me time travelling on my own and changing my destiny." Mobius was silent, for once not knowing what to say, what to believe.
"You don't believe me do you?" Loki sounded defeated, before he once again felt Mobius hand on his shoulder. "I would love to tell you that I believe everything you're saying, but...It's hard to. But what I can say is that I've been sensing this deep feeling of familiarity concerning you, as if I would've known you for many years. But I can't help but wonder...are you sure you're feeling alright right now? The attack must have taken a toll on your health if you're so sure of all these things you're telling me."
Of course. Mobius didn't believe him. Thought he was crazy. And to be honest he was slowly believing that himself. But he wasn't about to give him up. And that meant having to tell him the rest of the truth.
"If you won't believe me I'll have to show you." Despite Mobius' protests, he let Loki lead him outside, for some reason trusting him, onto the roof, while the attack was still in progress. He desperately looked for himself, for Loki, guiding his alien army. If that is what it would take to make Mobius believe him, than he would.
It didn't take long until he saw himself on a floating spacecraft not too far away from them. He pointed at him and turned to Mobius, the urgency now having reached his voice, which began to sound pleading. "You see that over there? That is me, was me, a god and the person responsible for this attack! Responsible for all these aliens, Chitauris that are attacking all of New York!"
Mobius shifted his gaze from the one Loki to the other multiple times, trying to comprehend what was explained to him. For the first time since they met in this timeline, his expression turned sour, and yet unreadable for Loki. It took a few seconds, but before Mobius could say anything, the inevitable happened.
One of the Chitauris noticed them.
And soon enough, they were surrounded by them, with no way out.
Loki waited for Mobius to scream at him, hit him, but when he turned to face him, all he saw on his face was acceptance, acceptance of what was happening and of the fact that Loki had been telling the truth. Deep down, it seemed like this Mobius must have also known Loki, must have also known what was going on. And now he ruined his life again, and possibly many more, would he die now.
"I am and will be eternally sorry for ruining your life again and again, Mobius."
Mobius smiled. "It's okay Loki, I know I'll see you again, some time..." A single tear rolled down his cheek and upon looking at Loki, found that he was crying as well. They stared into each others eyes, like it was the last time they would ever get the chance to.
"You loved me, didn't you?" Mobius asked. "I still do." "As do I."
They hold their gaze, even after they both heard the Chitauri further approaching them, hearing their guns loading.
Before Mobius could react, Loki threw himself in front of him and the last sound that left his mouth was a gasp, a last painful gasp. As his vision finally faded, he looked away from Mobius and onto the ground, seeing the objects he had dug for earlier in his bedroom, and as he closed his eyes saw a picture.
A picture of him and Mobius.