The TVA
Evelyn quickly blinked away her tears to see the floor clearly.
The TVA?
“What…what is this place?” she whispered, but doesn’t receive an answer, not like she really expected one, though. She looks around the room she’s being pulled into; it’s a fancy, state of the art lobby area, with a man sitting at the front desk.
“Why did you bring me here?” Her next question is a little louder this time, hoping to actually receive some form of information, even the smallest bit. “Please…I just want to know…”
The woman guiding her must have taken pity on her, because she finally granted her an answer. “Because, Variant, you’ve slipped out of your place on the timeline.” Nonetheless, it was too vague of an answer to satisfy Evelyn’s large bout of inquiries.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
The woman just lets out a dry chuckle and grabs Evelyn’s left hand, tearing away the time ring she’d crafted.
“Log this as evidence,” she said as she dragged the Vanir woman to the front desk, where the same guy sat, listening to the instructions given.
“Hey,” he said as he looked up at Evelyn. “Are you crying?”
“Huh?” She hadn’t noticed, but tears were falling from her face again. In return, she only gave him a little shrug.
“I’m Casey,” he introduces himself with a friendly smile, giving her a bit of comfort. “You probably won’t remember in a little while, though.”
“I’m sure I will,” she said softly. “I have a
decent memory. I’m Evelyn, by the way.”
“I know, I’ve seen a lot of you come in before,” Casey says, which causes Evelyn’s brows to push together in confusion. “Hey, do you wanna name this?”
Her eyes scan the ring as he holds it up for her to see. “Just…call it a Time Ring.”
“Time Ring,” he repeated, nodding. “Got it.”
“Alright, no more chit-chat,” the woman holding Evelyn interrupted, before pulling her away from the front desk and towards an elevator.
“What is this place, even?” Evelyn asked again as she was pushed inside. “Some sort of office?”
“Like I said, you’ll find out soon enough.”
And that was the only reply she received as the elevator doors closed, leaving her in the darkness for moment.
There was a sudden illumination from a light in the elevator’s ceiling, and when she turned around to see where the light had came from, she ended up face to face with a weird looking machine on the wall.
“What the-“ she stammered, backing away.
The machine makes a warbling sound, and amidst it, she catches the sound of a soft “hi,” so she makes one back.
“…Hi,” she waved at it slowly.
It then reaches out one of its arms to grab at her clothes, but she yelps and jumps backwards, her eyes widened with shock.
“No! Please, do not do that!”
The smile on the machine’s face wavers, until one of its arms disappear and come back out holding a laser.
“Hold very still,” it instructs her, and without any further space to move away, the laser hits the top of her clothes before making a zigzag as it makes its way down, her clothes being disintegrated in a matter of seconds, save for her undergarments.
Evelyn’s face burns red, as she quickly moves to cover herself up. “What was that for?!”
The only answer she gets is the way her body drops and falls into the floor of the elevator.
She lands with a stumble of her footsteps, trying to regain her balance. Her nakedness had been covered with a tan and orange jumpsuit, with the letters “TVA” written in the top corner. The collar that was on her neck was uncomfortable as well, making it hard for her to turn her head or look down without having to bend her entire upper body.
A man’s voice snapped her out of her sea of thoughts.
“Please sign to verify that this is everything you’ve ever said.”
That looks of confusion returns as she slowly steps towards the desk.
When she looks at the paper on the very top, she sees the words that had fallen from her lips seconds ago.
“Why would you do that?!”
“Is this some sort of joke?” She muttered. The sound of a machine erupted, revealing a paper that was being printed out. The guy slaps it on top of the stack, before handing her a pen.
“Sign this, too,” he says.
She stands there for a moment, completely baffled. How do they know everything I’ve ever said? I don’t even know everything I’ve ever said!
She reaches for the pen, wrapping her fingers around it at the tip hovers above the sheet of paper.
“…I don’t have to sign all of these, do I?”
The man gives her a blank stare, the sound of the printer providing her newest dialogue filling the silence.
“No,” he finally answers, grabbing the paper and putting it with the rest of them. “Just sign the top one and you can go.”
Go where? Is the question that runs through her mind and almost makes it out of her mouth, but she quickly purses her lips and begins signing with the pen, deciding that she doesn’t want to have to go the printer process again.
When she’s done, she sits the pen back down, taking a step backwards.
“Okay…what do I do no- woah!”
She crashes down another elevator level before she pushes herself back up on her feet, staring up at the ceiling as she tries to figure out how exactly this elevator works.
“Please confirm to your knowledge that you are not a robotic being, were born a human being, and do possess what many creatures would call a soul.”
“Huh?” She said in a daze, staring at the big machine she just realized was taking up the entire center of whatever elevator level this was. “Did you say ‘to my knowledge?’”
“Yes, I did,” the short man states plainly. “Now please move forward.”
“Wait, wait, wait, what does that even mean?”
“Exactly what I said.”
Evelyn’s face scrunches up. “But- are, like- are robots not allowed? What happens if I’m a robot?”
“The machine would melt you from the inside out, and frankly, I’m rather tired of answering that question,” he sighs, impatiently waving her towards the machine. “Please move along.”
Cautiously, Evelyn steps forward, letting one leg stick out first and land on the machine, slowly dragging the rest of her body inside to stand in the center.
A bright light emits from the top part of the machine, which makes her squint for a moment until in calms down, then shuts off completely.
A small photo card comes out of the side, like a Polaroid camera, which the man grabs. When she looks down at it, she notices an RGB pattern surrounding it.
“…What’s that?”
“Your Temporal Aura.”
“Is that what the inside of my soul is made of?”
The look the man gives her shows that he wants to retort, but he holds his tongue.
“Right, we’ll go with that,” he murmurs. “Please turn and exit the elevator, ma’am.”
She purses her lips and turns around, stepping off of the machine and waiting for the elevator doors to open.
The room she finds herself about to enter is large, yet underlit, and the layout seems similar to that of a bank. She’s going through multiple stages of fear and confusion, and to her luck, this place seems to be never ending.
It’s only about two or three other people in the room besides her, but before can get any further inside, the man guarding the line stops her.
“Take a ticket.”
Her eyes follow one of his hands when it moves, directing her to the “Take A Tab” ticket dispenser.
“...What’s this for?” she asks.
“Everyone that arrives here gets called in by number to be led to trial,” he says, and tenses up slightly at the mention of a trial.
“Oh,” she murmurs, grabbing one of the tickets from the dispenser and walking forward.
It’s so quiet. It’s too quiet, honestly. Everything about this place makes her skin crawl.
“This is a mistake,” she whispers to herself. “I shouldn’t even be here.”
Before she can even get the sentence out good, a loud voice echoes throughout the room.
“Hey there! You’re probably thinking: ‘This is a mistake! I shouldn’t even be here!’”
Her head snaps up in confusion, looking around to see where the voice had come from, until she spots a small television across the room, mounted up on the wall.
“Welcome to the Time Variance Authority! I’m Miss Minutes, and it’s my job to catch you up before you stand trial for your crimes!”
Miss Minutes is a talking clock?
You’ve gotta be kidding.
“So let’s not waste another minute! Settle in, sharpen your pencils, and check this out!
“Long ago, there was a vast multiversal war. Countless unique timelines battled each other for supremacy, nearly resulting in the total destruction of…well, everything.
“But then, the all-knowing Timekeepers emerged, bringing peace by reorganizing the multiverse into a single timeline—the Sacred Timeline. Now, Timekeepers protect and preserve the proper flow of time for everyone and everything. But sometimes, people like you veer off the path the Timekeepers created. We call those ‘Variants.’”
That’s what the lady called me earlier, Evelyn pieced together.
“Maybe you started an uprising, or were just late for work. Whatever it was, stepping off your path created a nexus event, which left unchecked, could branch off into madness, leading to another multiversal war!
“But don’t worry! To make sure that doesn’t happen, the Timekeepers created the TVA and all its incredible workers! The TVA has stepped in to fix your mistake and set time back on its predetermined path. Now that your actions have left you without a place on the timeline, you must stand trial for your offenses.
Her eyes widen slightly. She’s going to ‘time court?’
“So sit tight, and we’ll get you in front of a judge in no time! Just make sure you have your ticket, and you’ll be seen by the next available attendant.
“For all time. Always.”
Evelyn stares blankly at the television, unable to process whatever short film she’s just seen, and waits at the end of the line until her ticket number is called into the courtroom. She’s escorted by a couple of hunters, who hold her by the arms and guide her onto a small platform with glass surrounding her front and sides.
She glances around the room once they’ve relinquished their hold on her, noting the few people that are there to oversee her judgment.
There’s a woman above everyone, flipping through a case file with an impassive look on her face.
“Ellisdottir,” she states, her voice ringing through the echo of the large room. “Variant #E9208, aka Evelyn Ellisdottir is charged with sequence violation number 4-72-61.” When she’s done, she looks over towards Evelyn. “How do you plead?”
Evelyn is silent, unknowing of whether she should declare herself as guilty or not. Frankly, she still hasn't got a clue of what’s going on in the first place. Sure, the video she saw earlier may have cleared up the purpose of this place, but what exactly was it that she did that made her theoretically “veer off of her set path?”
“...Not guilty.”
“Oh?” Her response makes the woman above raise a curious eyebrow. “And why is that?”
“Because I’m not exactly sure what it is you’re making me out to be guilty of,” she replies. “With all due respect, your honor, a video about ‘nexus events’ and a little set of numbers you read off of a sheet of paper still doesn’t tell me what I’ve been forcefully taken away for.”
“It’s simple,” says the judge, putting her hands together and leaning forward. “You’ve been brought in because you are guilty of crimes against the Sacred Timeline.”
Evelyn makes a face. “That explains nothing.”
“Fine. Let me explain it in a way you’d understand, hm?”
“The Sacred Timeline, as you should know, represents the set of events that have occurred in the universe without disruption or deviation. If a deviation occurs, it can have disastrous consequences, potentially resulting in the creation of a new timeline. It is the job of our court to prevent this from happening and to hold those accountable who have committed crimes against the timeline.”
“Yes, I’m well aware of that, I watched the video,” Evelyn sighs. “But let me ask you this, what exactly was the form of deviation?”
“You killing Thanos.”
Evelyn’s eyes widened in shock. “...That’s a joke, right?” She laughs humorlessly, trying to understand the sense behind that explanation. “Thanos, the same man who killed multiple people, who wiped away half of the universe’s existence, me going back and stopping him before he could kill anyone makes me guilty of a crime against the universe?”
The woman seems satisfied with her conclusion. “Now you get it.”
The Vanir woman splutters in disbelief. “I- I saved a bunch of people!”
“And that’s the problem. You see, Thanos’ destruction and reconfiguration of humanity is a crucial part to the timeline. And because you went back in time and stopped it, you erased his journey and the Avengers’ journey to stop him.”
“So you’d rather half the universe disappear and then reappear after 5 years? You’d rather let a global army start afterwards because no one has a normal life anymore after being blipped? You’d rather watch people die all because of some monster’s ‘journey’ on this so-called Timeline?”
“I know what you’re thinking,” the woman answers in a calm voice. “But the decisions are not up to me.”
“Right,” Evelyn laughs humorlessly. “No, it's the 'Timekeepers’ job, right? So why are you the only one I see calling the orders?”
“I am the Timekeepers’ executioner. They give me the orders. I simply follow them.”
“And you're okay with that?”
“Ms. Ellisdottir, I understand what you're feeling right now,” the judge continued. “But here at the TVA, this is what we do. We do what needs to be done to preserve the universe. So let me ask you this question again: In terms of the crimes committed against the Sacred Timeline, how do you plead?”
Her face formed into a scowl. She’s backed into a corner here. Obviously, she knows that whether or not she believes she’s guilty, this so-called ‘executioner’ will convict her regardless.
There's something else wrong, too. Her powers.
Normally, anywhere else, she can feel them there, coursing through her veins, they're always with her.
But ever since she's been dragged into this place, she senses the absence of her abilities. It makes her heart jump with fear. If she can't use her powers, that makes her defenseless. She could try to use hand to hand combat, but with the risk of their pruning sticks on the table, it all sounds like a losing situation either way it goes.
This sucks.
With a defeated sigh, she grips the glass surrounding her body. “...Guilty.”
The judge looks pleased to hear that. “Very good. Glad you've come to your senses. Now that we've finished, I hereby sentence you to be reset.”
“Reset?” Evelyn repeats in bewilderment, her questions being overlooked by the call for the next case.
She can see it from the corner of her eyes, she's about to be grabbed again, or rather, she was.
The large double doors open up with a soft creak, but instead of it being another victim to be sentenced to a conviction, it's actually a man with light colored hair, dressed in a suit.
He's holding a folder in one of his hands, holding up the other in a request to pause the order, and to speak.
“If I may, run something else by you, Your Honor,” he states, looking up at the woman above. She looks at him, almost reluctant to grant his request, as if she already knows what he's come for.
“...Approach the bench, Mobius,” she sighed, gesturing for him to do so.
The man–Mobius– makes his way over, and there's a hushed exchange between the two of them.
Evelyn isn't deliberately trying to be nosy, but she's close enough to the point where she can catch certain words in between, such as ‘missing piece’ and ‘it'll work out for us,’ essentially just the woman being skeptical of whatever plan he was trying to get approval for and his reassurance that nothing would go wrong.
After a minute, though, Evelyn can see her visibly relent, and Mobius nods and steps back, before he turns to listen to the eavesdropper in question.
“Change of plans, she's with me,” he says, gesturing to her as his gaze switches over to the guards hovering behind her. “And- get that collar off of her, please. We won't be needing that.”
To Evelyn's surprise, they actually listen, and one of them steps forward with a small remote, pressing a button on it. The restriction around her neck instantly loosens and drops to the ground, and she grasps at her neck and twists around slightly to alleviate the small ache in it.
The suited man nods in approval before beckoning Evelyn over, to which she obliges, albeit unsure of what's happening.
“Let's take a walk, hm?”
=
Oh great. Another elevator.
It’s warm inside, at least, that’s the only thing she can think of to distract herself from the strange man standing beside her in silence as the elevator goes up.
“I’m Agent Mobius, by the way,” the man in question pipes up, extending his hand for her to shake.
She doesn’t, but she gives him a tiny nod. He gets the hint and retracts his hand, nodding back in understanding.
“...Are you gonna reset me?” she asks. “Whatever that means.”
“Oh,” he laughs, shaking his head. “No, no, I don’t reset people unless I absolutely have to, that’s not my field of expertise. I’m gonna talk to you.”
Evelyn raises a questioning brow. “Talk to me? You stopped them from killing me just to talk to me?”
“Well, how’d you figure they were gonna kill you?”
She shrugs a little bit. “It doesn’t sound very promising.”
“...You’re observant,” he remarks. “You focus on the little clues. I like that. It’ll come in handy.”
“For what?”
“You’ll see.”
When the elevator doors open back up, he leads Evelyn down a hallway, which comes with a variety of different twists and turns. He doesn’t miss how she stares so hard that it looks like she might burn a hole in the side of his face, tilting her head as her lips tighten into a thin line.
“...Is something bothering you?”
Evelyn tenses up and pulls away.
“I’m trying to read your mind,” she murmured, huffing softly before she turned away.
“Any reason why?”
“Because I want answers.”
“Then maybe you should try asking questions like normal people do,” he pointed out.
“That won’t tell me if you’re lying or not,” she retorts, shoving her hands in the pockets of her jumpsuit. “But I can’t do anything right now, because my powers aren’t working.”
“That’s because that type of thing doesn’t work here in the TVA,” Mobius explains.
Evelyn’s brows knit together in confusion. “But they took that absurd collar off of my neck.”
Her choice of wording seems to amuse Mobius.
“That’s an interesting word,” he jokes. “Where’d you get that one from?”
She stops in her tracks, feeling her face fall. Her hand taps against her leg upsettingly, before she shakes her head and falls back into line with his footsteps.
“Doesn’t matter,” she mumbles. “Why don’t they work if the collar is gone?”
“Because it’s a time collar, not a magical dampener,” he replies. “Those just don’t work here. That’d make it too easy for our Variants to get away.”
“So this place really is a prison.”
“Ah, I wouldn’t call it that.”
“Of course not,” she scoffs softly. “You work here.”
“You just haven’t seen the bigger picture yet,” he says, leading her down a small set of stairs. “By the way, I can’t control any of your movements without that collar, so do me a favor and try not to run, okay?”
Not like I’d get very far in this place, she thinks to herself.
Mobius opens up another set of large doors, and Evelyn eyes the “Time Theatre” sign on the wall beside it.
The room it opens up to is fairly empty. It’s large, but it only contains a small glass table, with a chair on each side of the table. There’s something on top of it, too, but she can’t exactly place what it is.
“Go ahead,” Mobius says, nodding in the direction of one of the chairs. “Have a seat.”
Hesitantly, she walks over to the small table, with Mobius taking a seat on the opposite side, looking at her expectantly.
“Alright,” he sighs. “You wanna know why you’re here?”
She gives him a nod.
“Well then, let me start by asking you some questions. How did you end up here?”
“...Apparently, for killing Thanos,” she tells him.
“Yeah, that’s- it’s a pretty big importance to the Sacred Timeline.”
She crosses her arms and frowns deeply. “So, a mass genocide is in the ‘“Timekeepers’” good graces?”
“Listen, sometimes, some things just need to happen,” he says softly. “That’s how the universe works.”
“I don’t see why they’d ever write ‘the murder of billions’ in the script of things that need to happen.”
Mobius looks at her for a moment and smiles. “There’s something else, too.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You,” he responds. “You, Evelyn, you aren’t mad because of Thanos. There’s something else behind that, something you’re trying to cover up.”
“You don’t know anything about me,” she mutters.
“Don’t I?” Mobius looks down at the red machine sitting on the table and types a few keys in, before he points to the back wall. She looks at him skeptically, eyeing his finger as it presses one final key and creates a projection on the wall, which forms from the bottom up.
When it’s fully put together, she sees the recreation of a moment from her childhood. Most importantly, with someone in her childhood.
There’s a bit of silence between the two of them before she speaks again. “What is this?”
“A little…reminder for you, if I may.” He presses play on the projector, and all of a sudden, the image starts moving.
She remembers the moment as if it were yesterday.
Hiding behind a corner in the palace, waiting for her mother.
Then an unexpected tap on her shoulder makes her jolt upright, whipping her head towards the arm that tapped her. Her eyes met with a boy around her height, with short, dark hair and emerald eyes, head tilted curiously at the sight of her.
“Y-Yes?” she asks quietly, the silent staring making her a bit nervous.
“Hi,” the boy smiles slightly. “What’s your name?”
“Evelyn. What’s yours?”
“...I’m Loki.”
Evelyn looks at Mobius with a rigid expression. “What are you trying to do?”
“I’m reminding you of who you’ve been living for,” he replies, before switching to another scene, one where Loki and Evelyn are now a little bit older.
“Lives in the hands of fate, destined to be together, a god and his goddess. You remember that?”
She nods, slowly, biting the inside of her cheek. “...That’s what the All-Mother said.”
“Exactly,” he nodded. “And she was right. In every timeline, every universe, there’s always a version of you and of him that end up together one way or another.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” she mutters.
“I can only hope so,” Mobius shrugs in reply. “But the thing is…fate destined you to be with-” He clicks his tongue before finishing his sentence. “-the wrong person.”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, Loki’s a…call it what it is, a mischievous scamp. He’s gotten away with cheating death over and over and over again, he’s practically betrayed his own family, abandoned his betrothed for- for what, a throne?”
His words make Evelyn feel defensive. “He didn’t abandon me, he just-” She hesitates for a moment. “He had to make choices, Mobius. And maybe some of those were awful, maybe he lost his way, but he has never abandoned me.”
“Even when he faked his death and pretended to be the All-Father?” Mobius’s words hit her like a punch to the gut, making her breathe in sharply. “Let’s face it, if Thor hadn’t found out, hadn’t brought you to Asgard, hadn’t revealed the truth to you, you would still be down there, on Earth, wondering why you couldn’t save Loki. And even then, that’s what brought you here now!”
“He was afraid!”
“Right,” Mobius laughs. “Is that what he told you?” He then points to the screen again. “That, right there? That isn’t the same guy you knew centuries ago, Evelyn. Things have changed. And you need to move on.”
“No,” she refuses, crossing her arms and leaning back in the chair.
“...Alright then. We’ll try another tactic.” Mobius clicks another button, and it skips to another memory, one where she was much older, back when Loki was put in the dungeon, and the imagery begins to play.
“A lifetime in the dungeons?” She scoffs incredulously. “You can’t be serious.”
Odin looks at her with an apologetic expression. “I’m truly sorry, Evelyn. I know how much you care for my son. But he must deal with the consequences of his actions.”
“There’s something wrong with him! Can’t you see that?”
“Yes,” he replies. “I’ve seen it countless times. The boy I’ve raised is gone, replaced with a man hungry for a throne.”
“He wanted to be an equal!” she stressed. “To get even a shred of the attention and love his brother did. He felt unwanted because he was different!”
“Regardless of his feelings, Loki has no reason to be excused for his actions.”
“That is not what I’m asking for. All I want…is a little bit of understanding. Just let me see him.”
Odin stares at Evelyn, as if he’s truly considering her request, before he comes to a conclusion.
“My decision remains unchanged. Loki is to remain in the dungeons. He will not come out. That is final.”
The Vanir woman sneers at the All-Father. “You don’t deserve the effort he puts in for you.”
With that, she turns away, not daring to look him in the eye again after that.
“I don’t see how this has any relevance to-” Evelyn starts, but Mobius cuts her off before she can finish.
“Oh, but it does! Because let me ask you this: How is it that you are capable of yelling at the king of the gods and heavens, but can't keep control of your technical husband?”
“He’s slippery!” she argued back, her face etched into an offended frown. Scoffing, she folded her arms, raising a brow at him, “Why else would everyone compare him to a snake?”
“I can't always have my eye on Loki. Not to mention that, yes, he can be sneaky, he can get into anything at any time."
"Oh, so I was right,” Mobius muses. “He is a little pussycat. And yet, for some reason, no matter what he does, you still trust him."
“Yeah,” she nods in agreement.
"But why?” He urges her. “Like, is it blind trust? What makes you trust Loki?"
And she thinks about that for a moment. She really, truly thinks about the answer to his question. And the longer she thinks, the longer one simple answer becomes more prominent in her mind.
“...Because he always comes when I call. Whenever I need him the most, he's there."
Mobius leans back in his seat, looking at Evelyn with a nod of approval.
“You know what,” he sighs. “I feel bad for you.”
Her expression goes from soft to confused. “What? Why?”
“Because you’re fated to love someone who doesn’t even get to stick around.”
That makes her heart drop into her stomach. She doesn’t want to believe his words, but with all the constant disappearance of her lover, she can’t exactly ignore the truth, either.
“There isn’t one universe I’ve ever seen where an Evelyn and a Loki fully see out their plans together. There’s always a problem. Always one thing after another.”
His hand goes for the projector again, and the screen switches. To the ship Thanos invaded.
“Loki is fated to die at the hands of Thanos, no matter what part in the universe it happens, that’s what’s meant to be, it is what the Timekeepers have deemed a part of the Sacred Timeline. That cannot be changed.”
“That’s not true,” she whispers.
“But it is.”
“You’re lying.”
“I wouldn’t lie about something like that.”
“He can come back! I- I brought him back! The one reason I killed Thanos was to bring him back!”
Mobius shakes his head sympathetically. “Not without causing a branch in the timeline. I know you may feel like you'll be lost forever without him, I haven't met a single version of you that doesn't. But you move on. And it happens again and again and again because that is the proper flow of time, that's how things are supposed to be.”
Evelyn sucks in a breath, her hand gripping the edge of the table. She can't cry, she won't, not here, at least.
“Look,” Mobius says, his voice gentle. “Look at this.”
She casts her eyes back to the projection and watches an image of her play out, where she's on New Asgard, talking with the little children and telling them stories. She notices that she has one of Loki's headpieces sitting out on her lap, with a book in her hand. From the cover alone, she can tell that she wrote it herself, after spending so much time thinking about him, she finally put her feelings into words.
“Alright, alright,” She hears herself laugh at the children as they all clamor to surround her. “Settle down. Now tell me…” Evelyn holds up the book for all of them to see. “Have you ever heard of the God of Mischief?”
Almost all of the children collectively nod their heads, making the goddess grin proudly.
“Really? Well, then, you must tell me what you've heard.”
One of the little boys raises his hand, and she nods to him, gesturing for him to speak.
“That he was a hero!” he said. “He helped save the world!”
A soft laugh falls from her lips. “You must've heard that from Thor.”
The little boy nods in return. “Is it true?”
“...It is,” she nods, a smile forming on her face as she remembers Loki. “He… without his sacrifice, I don't think we would've made it off that ship. And if he were here right now, I truly believe that he would be happy by how many of you look up to him.”
The present Evelyn stares at the scene with tears in her eyes.
“...This is…from the future?”
“It is,” Mobius nods. “There's peace for you, Evelyn. You just have to let go.” He goes to press another button, she assumes to switch the scene again, but all of a sudden, the projector begins to glitch.
“What the-” he blanches in confusion, clicking on a couple more keys, but to no avail. “Okay, how did it-?”
Evelyn watches as the projector jumps from one scene to another in the matter of a few seconds, each one different from the last. She sees a lot of things that haven't even happened yet, or maybe things that she just doesn't remember, but then she catches a glimpse of something.
Loki.
Her eyes widen, and she sits up straight, but before she can get a good look at the image, it switches to something else.
Maybe she was just imagining things.
“Okay, short setback,” Mobius says, standing up from his chair and walking back towards the doors. “I have to go and ask the guys for another one of these things. Please remember what I said, and try not to run, okay? Make my job a little easier.”
She doesn't move nor say anything as the doors close, just continues to keep her eyes trained on the broken, jumpy films on the screen.
However, the longer she sits there, something in her compels her to get up, and she walks around the table to get to the red machine, examining the keys for a minute before she presses the one that says “pause.”
And just her luck, it lands on another scene of her and Loki, from when they were on Saakar. Her finger moves over, and slowly, it clicks play.
“So, how'd you get in trouble this time?” Evelyn asks, looking at a chained up Loki.
“I'd rather not speak on it,” he says, rolling his eyes.
Evelyn laughs softly and presses another button, one that she thinks is rewinding time. This time, it's Loki's voice that was heard first.
“I meant it when I said I was sorry,” he tells her. “Back on Asgard. I just… I was being selfish. I never realized how much it would hurt you. Being gone and never coming back.”
“Yeah,” Evelyn murmured. “It hurts.”
There's a silence between the two of them, like both of them are trying to find the right words to say, until Loki just decides to sit beside her.
“...I won't leave again,” he promises, reaching for her hand. “Not if I can help it.”
She looks at him, sighing a little bit. She doesn't want to believe him, she knows she definitely shouldn't, and yet, casting all of that aside, she takes his hand, squeezing it softly.
“Okay,” she nods. “...Okay.”
She's supposed to move on.
Evelyn looks at the screen from her spot on the floor, a sad expression on her face.
What happens when she moves on?
She presses another button, one that's supposed to skip all the way to the end of her timeline, but when it plays, there's nothing but a static noise coming from it. It continues for a few lasting seconds or so until it just…stops, and a blank, white screen pops up.
END OF…???
She looks at it with confusion, but before she can question it any further, the heavy sound of opening doors ensues behind her.
Her head snaps to the side, watching as Mobius walks towards her, wiping away stray tears with her hand.
“I…got it to work again,” she murmured, holding up the machine in her free hand as she stands up, moving back over to the table. “This…this thing won’t show me how my life on the Timeline ends. Why?”
Mobius takes a moment to look up at the screen before he gives her an answer. “Because it doesn’t know.”
“What? But I thought you said-”
“I know what I said,” he nods. “But you’re a stranger variant, Evelyn, because there’s never an ending set in stone for you. You are a Goddess of Aura, a rare power gifted to you from the universe. The ability to do anything and everything. There’s an endless amount of possibilities that that power can grant to you, including to your story.”
“...How do you know that?” she asks softly.
“Because all the other variants of you I mentioned? Each of their stories ended differently from the last, whether the changes be big or small, none of them are exactly the same.”
The potential of her powers makes her perk up a bit. “Then why can’t I-?” But when she sees the look on his face, her hopes are shot down.
“Even though that is the case, all of your different selves have never done the one thing they’ve wanted to the most. At the end of the day, every life has to line up with the Sacred Timeline.”
“But I can’t move on!” she snaps. “I don’t want to. That-... it’s not fair.” She slumps back in the chair and buries her face in her hands, letting the few tears brimming in her eyes fall over the edge as she lets out a shuddery breath. “What’s the point of being granted the power of endless possibilities if all I want is the impossible?”
Mobius looks down at her with empathy.
“Well, maybe you don’t have to move on just yet,” he says. “...I have an offer for you.”
She sniffs slightly, clearing her nose as she gazes up at him. “What is it?”
“There’s a fugitive variant going around killing our Minutemen. And I figured, who better than to catch this guy than Loki himself and his technical wife?”
Evelyn’s brows begin to furrow. “What do you mean, Loki himself?”
He gives her a small wink in return. “I think it’s better I show you.”
=
If Evelyn wasn’t anxious before, she sure is now.
Her feet move much faster now at the promise of a reward at the end, practically on Mobius’ heels like a lost animal.
Her hands are shaking, her whole body is, really, and she feels that odd floating experience in when something’s being anticipated.
She didn’t expect Mobius to lead her into an office, with multiple cubicles, and there in the back, playing ‘fly swatter’ with that clock from the video, she sees him.
And her knees almost buckle.
“Hey, Loki, I’ve got someone I think you’ll wanna see.”
He turns around at the sound of Mobius’ voice, and when those green eyes meet hers, she’s glued to her spot in shock.
“...Loki?”