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Loki kept his eyes on Mobius as they slid across the steel floor and through the threshold of the blast doors right before they thudded shut. Loki struggled to breathe as he gripped Mobius.
“Did we do it? Did we get it?” Loki gasped, catching his breath and letting Mobius roll off him. Loki pushed himself to balance on his forearm for support as he sucked in a breath of fresh oxygen. His lungs burned and he trembled where he lay.
O.B. came to stand over them and gave a happy nod as he punched numbers into a TemPad. “You made it. Barely, though. Another second and your skin would’ve peeled right off.”
Loki sucked in another breath. His body felt solid, more here , than it had since Sylvie kicked him through the Time Door. Still, he felt oddly heavier, as if someone poured cement into his limbs. He struggled to all fours as he fought against the heaviness, and managed to sit on his knees.
He pushed himself to stand, and swayed as the world tilted, reaching for the pillar nearby to steady himself. The dizziness passed and he took another steadying breath before turning his focus to help Mobius out of the large, awkward suit. O.B. joined and started working on Mobius’s arm pieces.
Loki started with the helmet and felt the warm relief at seeing his Mobius, the right Mobius, staring back at him. Mobius didn’t look confused, but instead, met his gaze with relief.
Still, Loki needed to know, and needed to be sure.
“You know me?”
Mobius smiled as O.B. removed an arm piece. “Yes, you’re Loki, L1130, and you’re my friend. And more.” Mobius stepped closer as Loki took him in, recognizing the god’s apprehension. “Loki, I know you.”
Loki’s shoulders dropped as relief washed through him. “We did,” Loki breathed. “Just, that was close.”
O.B. worked to get off the last of the suit and once it was gone, Mobius reached for Loki’s arm. “Let’s not get that close again.”
Loki nodded and squeezed Mobius’s shoulder before pulling him in to embrace him. He felt Mobius’s arms hold him in return, the man squeezing him tight.
Mobius could smell the salty sweat, dirt and grime, and the metal smell of blood on Loki. The god’s hair was tangled and had bits of grass in it, yet, Mobius still found his hand going to cup Loki’s neck to pull him closer.
Loki leaned in, letting his world shift back into place in Mobius’s arms. Their chances had been too slim for his liking.
“I…I thought…”
“I know,” Mobius agreed. “But we did it. We’re here. We’re back.” He pulled back to take Loki. The god shook slightly as he stood, and Mobius felt the way Loki leaned heavier on him than usual. “We should get someone to look you over, too.”
“What for? We just solved my issue. We have to find Sylvie and start tracking Renslayer’s TemPad; that’s our next step.”
“We have no idea if you’re stable yet.” Mobius turned to OB, who was still busy with the TemPad. “Right? Could he time slip again?”
O.B. brow furrowed as he punched in another few things to the TemPad. “Well, Loki’s aura is stable.”
Loki smiled proudly. “See? All good. That TemPad isn’t going to track itself.” He gave Mobius a pat and started towards the door.
“But there seems to be some misalignment,” O.B. continued. He turned the TemPad to show a series of lines and wiggling graphs. “It’ll take some time for everything to settle in its proper place.”
“But what about the time slipping?”
“Loki’s not going to rip through time, but he’ll need a few hours to fully align with time. The proper time. He’ll need to rest.”
O.B. gave Mobius a nod before going back to the computer and beginning to hum a song Mobius hadn't heard before.
Mobius turned back to Loki. “A few hours isn’t too bad. We’ve been meaning to–”
Loki shook his head, exasperated. “Mobius, we can’t. We don’t have a few hours. We have to start looking for He Who Remains, and that’s not going to happen until we track Renslayer’s TemPad.”
Loki started for the door. The strange heaviness hadn’t left him and he could feel the parts of him that were not quite there–the way it took his legs a few more milliseconds to move with him, the weight of his arm as he reached to push open the door. He thought of sitting and having pie with Mobius, and how much he wanted that again.
Then Loki thought of the timeline branches expanding red, and heard the blaring alarms still going off in the hallway.
There was no time to waste.
Loki pushed the door open and stalked down the hallway.
“Loki!” Mobius called, following him out the door. “Loki, did you just hear what OB said? You’re still aligning. That isn’t something to brush off.”
“I’m going to see if B-15 has any leads,” Loki explained, turning around and hating the way he loved how Mobius ran right into him. The impact and the sudden change in direction made his head pressure in his head increase and his body tensed, as if it wanted to zap him to another time. It passed in seconds, and Loki inhaled a shaky breath and exhaled a steadier one.
“Mobius, the timelines are branching and people are dying right now. We have to help them.”
“And we will,” Mobius replied. “But we have to make sure you’re okay. You seem…“
“This isn’t about me. We just saved me,” Loki insisted. But he felt tense again, and this time, it didn’t let up. Loki felt it lock up his legs, tighten his waist, and wrap around his stomach. The feeling made the dizziness return and he staggered, reaching for the wall for support as the floor rocked under him. His body felt slow and syrupy, and his legs wobbled and buckled. His vision dotted black as his ears were static.
Loki heard Mobius call his name from somewhere far away, but Loki could only moan in response. It was as if he was suddenly at the bottom of the ocean, his ears full of water and pressure pressing into him from all sides. If time slipping made him feel stretched and pulled, this made him feel as if he was closing in on himself, as if every atom in his body was wrenching inward. He shook with the effort to stay upright until he couldn’t.
Loki’s legs gave out and the floor rushed up to meet him, but he felt himself fall into familiar arms.
“Loki? Loki!” Mobius’s voice was tight with worry as he tapped Loki’s pale, too-warm cheek. The god sweated through his stained TVA shirt, and his breaths were unsteady gasps. Mobius pressed the back of his hand to Loki’s forehead and then his cheeks.
Loki only moaned as Mobius’s hand moved to his temples. Loki wanted to bat Mobius away and tell him this would pass, but the words wouldn’t come.
“Loki, no, it’s okay, I’ve got you.”
Mobius’s voice sounded closer as Loki struggled back to semi-consciousness. The world was blurry at the edges, but Mobius’s face was clear in front of him and Loki focused on Mobius's eyes as the man held him. He wished for his magic so he could at least stand on his own, but there was no magic in the TVA, and Loki doubted he could summon it if he was able.
“I’ll take you to my quarters, okay? We’ll get you taken care of there. I don’t want you passing out on the hallway floor,” Mobius explained slowly. “Here, hang on to this.”
Mobius guided Loki’s hand to his jacket lapel, and helped Loki curl his fingers around it.
“Hold on to this. My room isn’t far from here.”
The world tilted again and Loki moaned at the shift, but curled his hand tighter around Mobius’s jacket, focusing on the feeling of fabric between his fingers and the sound of Mobius’s calm voice.
“Almost there,” Mobius encouraged. Loki was pale and trembling in his arms; the god had turned a ghostly white, and his usual sharp green eyes were half-mast and unfocused. His grip on the jacket held tight for a few more steps, but fell away as Mobius approached his room. Loki grew heavier in his arms as the god slipped listlessly in and out of consciousness.
Mobius cursed himself for not forcing Loki to lay down as soon as he knew the god was misaligned, but there was nothing he could do now but dig out his keys and get Loki inside. He pushed open the door just as Loki went limp in his arms.
“No, Loki, no, you’ve gotta stay awake for just a bit longer,” Mobius urged. He stumbled once on the way to the small couch in the corner, but managed to get Loki upright against the cushions to tap his cheek in earnest.
Loki let out a soft groan as his eyes pried open, his face crumpling in concentration and confusion as he tried to make sense of where he was. Heat radiated off Loki, and Mobius wondered if this, like the dizziness, was a symptom he’d missed.
“You’re in my living room,” Mobius explained softly. He reached for an unopened bottle of room-temperature water that he kept near the couch. They came in handy for late nights of studying or whenever he fell asleep on the couch after a long day. He twisted it and cracked it open.
“Here, sip this. It’ll help.”
Loki blinked slowly as he squinted at the bottle. “S’water.”
“Exactly, and my bet is you haven’t had any in awhile.” Mobius guided the bottle to Loki’s chapped lips, thankful when the god managed a few sips. The effort to swallow left Loki trembling and Mobius felt worry shiver through him.
He’d never seen Loki like this.
“Here, lean on me,” Mobius encouraged as he helped Loki rest his head on his shoulder. Mobius reached around Loki to start unfastening the sword sheath the god still wore.
Mobius was careful as he guided it off of Loki’s shoulders and felt the way Loki’s body dropped heavier against him in its absence. He helped loosen Loki’s tie and remove it, and then unbutton the top button when Loki’s hands fumbled and failed to undo it. Mobius helped the god curl into a more comfortable position against the soft pillows of the couch despite wearing his stained TVA clothes. But with the way exhaustion pulled at Loki, Mobius chose to worry about that later. Right now, the god desperately needed to rest.
Loki sniffed deeply as he fought against the pull of unconsciousness. His eyes pried open to slits and when he spoke, Loki’s voice barely above a whisper. “M’bis.”
“Loki, I’m here. I’m right here.”
Loki could barely keep his eyes open and he shifted on the couch, forcing his eyes to blink instead of close. They sluggishly took in his surroundings before landing on Mobius again. He groaned as he tried to shake his head. “N’can’t…”
Mobius knew. He knew how desperately Loki fought to get back to him, the right him at the right time. He knew how scared Loki had been, how worried Loki was about time slipping and slipping away from Mobius again.
Mobius found Loki’s hand and held it to his chest before pressing his lips to it. And when Loki’s fingers curled around his own, Mobius couldn’t help the relieved smile that broke out on his face. He bent to kiss Loki’s hand again.
“You’ll wake up here, with me,” Mobius assured.
Loki whimpered at Mobius’s words but nodded. He let his eyes slip closed as the exhaustion settled over him, bone-deep and inescapable. With his hand still wrapped in Mobius’s, Loki allowed himself to blissfully pass out against the pillows with a small exhale.
Mobius watched Loki’s head loll against the pillows and he let out his own breath of relief. Loki’s hand was still curled around own and Mobius held it tightly, grateful they had found their way back to each other.