“Well?” Mobius demanded, the edge of his voice sharp as he fought against the urge to turn and look at the god being dragged along behind him.
“Well, what?”
“I know you’ve got some quip you’re dying to say.”
“Oh, I don’t have a quip,” Loki replied with a huff. “I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
“Oh, come on.”
It was bullshit and they both knew it. The god of mischief always had a quip. Some explanation, some witty little anecdote waiting to tumble from his lips as fast as he could think up the words. The last time he’d been caught, after stalling at the renaissance fair in an attempt to push the branch past red line, he’d begun to ramble out some excuse before they even made it through the time door and back to the TVA. He was, surprisingly, without a story this time, and Mobius couldn’t help but wonder if he was telling the truth. And if he was telling the truth, something must have truly shaken him. The thought gave no comfort to the TVA agent.
“By the way,” the god started up again, as if to change the subject, “I should have an equal amount of security, this is insulting.”
Pulled from his thoughts and quickly growing annoyed, Mobius shook his head and muttered, “You just can’t help yourself.”
“You betrayed me,” Loki shot back.
“You betrayed me,” the TVA agent responded.
“Grow up.”
“You grow up.” Mobius thought he caught the two guards exchanging a confused glance as they descended the short set of stairs to the time theater. They couldn’t fathom why this variant was straining against their grips to reach the analyst, or why the two were bickering like toddlers.
Something akin to shame rolled in the pit of Mobius’ stomach. It mixed unpleasantly with the anger, the hurt, and the disappointment he already felt. No TVA agent should be so affected by the words of a variant. They were nothing, cosmic mistakes. Loki’s words shouldn’t have carried any weight, yet he couldn’t stop replaying them in his head. How did I betray him? Mobius thought bitterly. He’s the one who left me in Roxxcart. He knew what kind of trouble I’d be in. Against his better judgement, he spoke yet again as he opened the door for the guards. “Y’know it occurred to me you’re not really the god of mischief.”
Loki rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated groan as Mobius moved away from him. “Oh, here it comes,” he spat venomously. “The folksy dopey insult from the folksy dope. What am I, the god of self-sabotage, yeah? The god of backstabbing?”
Mobius had felt a pang of regret almost as soon as the words had left his mouth, and Loki’s response punched it even deeper. Though the god meant to make fun of him, Mobius knew they were very real, very hurtful thoughts he’d put into Loki’s head the last time they’d spoken here. Thoughts Loki might believe, behind the mask of narcissism and selfishness. And yet, Mobius found he almost felt justified for the hurt he’d caused. “Just kind of an asshole. And a bad friend.”
Loki’s jaw clenched almost invisibly, as if he meant to respond but then thought better of it. As if arguing would betray some kind of weakness he didn’t want to admit. He craned his neck to look back at Mobius, a flash of some kind of guilt in his eyes before it was quickly swept away. Ignoring the hurt in his chest, or perhaps fed by it, Mobius added, “Yeah, chew on that for a little bit.
Taking a deep breath, he turned to the tempad in his hands, the one he hardly remembered pulling out, and swiped towards the predetermined punishment they’d thought up for Loki. The one Ravonna had insisted on, and the one Mobius had softened for Loki’s sake. “All right, it’s ready,” he told the guards as the doorway opened, tinged red instead of gold. Loki seemed startled by its appearance, beginning to struggle even harder against the two guards who held him.
“What is this?” he asked, fear seeping into his voice.
“You’ll see.”
“Mobius!”
Caught off guard by the panic in Loki’s voice, the way he called his name for help, Mobius barely managed to mask the concern with derision as he barked, “Okay no no no, let him one last desperate trick from the desperate trickster.” He caught Loki’s blue-grey gaze, holding it fiercely and hoping, praying that he would admit the truth, that he would give him a reason to close the red door and trust him again. “Go ahead.”
Loki’s mouth hung open for a moment, chest rising and falling as he stilled in the guards’ hold. He seemed to fight with himself, searching Mobius’ eyes for...something. He had that same look on his face as he had when he explained the apocalypse theory days before. Not the glee, no, but the confidence. I love being right , he’d said then. When he finally opened his mouth, he said, “The TVA is lying to you.”
A beat. Mobius grinned ruefully. He missed Loki’s look of desperation. Really, how could he be so stupid? Outsmarted by the universe’s greatest trickster. He’d almost been convinced that the god was finally on their side, that he’d bring back some kind of information to help their case. Of course he hadn’t. Gods didn’t meddle in the lives of mindless TVA drones like Mobius. And just like the agent himself had admitted, Loki would say anything he needed to get him to cooperate.
Feeling stupid, feeling exhausted, Mobius’ smile fell. “Put him in.”
Loki’s eyes widened, as if surprised, and gasped out, “No!” The guards ignored the way he pushed back against them, digging his heels in and trying to put space between himself and the ominous red gateway. It didn’t matter. They hauled him forward and he disappeared.
~~~~~
Left alone with the two guards, Mobius sighed and put his hands on his hips, looking down at the table as the gears in his brain turned. It took the agent a moment to realize they were still standing there, watching him expectantly. “Out,” he told them, and they exchanged one last glance before departing. Without any witnesses, Mobius slumped into the chair, elbows on the table and his face in his hands as he drew a deep breath. Within the quiet confines of the empty theater, he felt the weight of the past few days crash onto him. He’d been moving non-stop since their visit to Pompeii, then filled with excitement, anticipation and adrenaline. It had quickly turned to dread at Roxxcart, then fear, betrayal, and anger. Despite it all, he’d let concern creep in. He’d begun to convince himself that Loki had been trying to do them a favor, that he’d gone after the variant to catch her and bring her back. And when Loki hadn’t returned, he worried she’d hurt or even killed him, that he’d gotten into trouble and Mobius wouldn’t be there to bring him back.
When they’d found them on Lamentis-1, waiting for their deaths, the agent realized just how close he’d come to losing Loki, his Loki, forever. He didn’t know what he’d expected. He knew the other variant, the one they’d been hunting, would resist, but he hadn’t anticipated that his Loki would, too. Mobius had come to rescue him from a dying planet, had argued against a heavier security detail, had given him the benefit of the doubt, and still he saw Loki looking after her as they were separated. All the betrayal had come rushing back, and then the anger, not just at Loki, but at himself. He’d been so easily tricked into caring for a variant he knew they’d have to prune. He’d let himself get so wrapped up in the jokes they shared and the friendly touches and the excitement of finally having a partner as perceptive as he was. He’d been blinded, even though he’d been warned so often to expect it. And it angered him that he was as hurt as he was.
Mobius shoved away from the table, standing and staring at the red door, nearly ready to play savior again and steal Loki away. But that’s what old Mobius would have done. The Mobius who hadn’t yet felt the bite of a Loki’s blade. Instead, he tore his gaze away and stalked out the door. He should have chosen a harsher memory.
~~~~~
God, he’d been wrong. He’d been so fucking wrong. He was doing his best not to look frantic. Not to look panicked or even annoyed. But he was nearly racing down the hall by the time he reached the time theatre where Loki had once again been subjected to the time loop. Mobius had been the one to put him in there, so convinced that he was being played. But after what he’d seen on Ravonna’s tempad…
He slowed before rounding the corner, walking only briskly as he passed the guards, assuring them they could stay outside as he pushed through the doors and marched into the prison he’d created. He found Loki inside, looking a little worse for wear, standing under Asgard’s golden dome looking as out of place as an accountant in a medieval castle. “What are you doing?” he asked, having caught the tail end of a conversation the god had been having with himself.
“Passing the time,” Loki responded, frustration clear in his voice.
Okay. He deserved that tone, probably. “Do you care for this variant?”
“Sylvie?” Loki snapped. “I’m not sure if ‘care’ is the right word-”
“Shut up-”
“I think we’ve covered this back in there-”
“Shut up! ”
He managed to hiss it so insistently that the god’s mouth actually snapped shut. He must have realized that Mobius wasn’t here to mock him this time, to carry on the argument they’d started and make accusations. Once he had Loki’s full attention, he pushed, “Do you really think you deserve to be alone?”
It had come to him after he watched the clip of C-20’s interrogation. They’d had dozens of Loki variants come in for breaking away from their set Loki traits. Being kind-hearted, being bad liars, being a main character instead of a sidekick. But never in the history of the TVA had a Loki variant believed they deserved companionship.
“Loki,” he growled when the god didn’t answer. He received a frown in return.
“You told me to shut up.”
“Do you believe you deserve to be alone ?”
“I don’t know.”
“You better figure it out quick,” Mobius rushed out, never raising his voice above a harsh whisper. “Because the nexus event the two of you caused, I think whatever that connection is can bring this whole place down. So we better understand-”
“We?”
Mobius paused, unwilling to admit how quickly he’d turned to Loki’s side the moment he saw something suspicious. Ignoring the question, he urged, “Do you swear she didn’t implant those memories in hunter C-20?”
Loki’s brows furrowed. “Mobius, no, I believe her.”
The analyst paused, nodding silently as he resigned himself to what he was getting ready to do. “So I just have to trust the word of two Lokis?”
The god in question let out an offended huff, smiling gently. “How about the word of a friend?”
A friend. It was all he’d wanted from Loki, all he’d thought they were. All they’d been before the agent had been convinced otherwise. Mobius let it sit for a moment. “You were right,” he finally admitted, “About the TVA. You were right from the beginning. And if you want to save her, you need to trust me. Can we do that?”
The moment it took for Loki to respond left Mobius anxious. Could Loki trust him, when he’d never been able to rely on anyone in his life? Could Loki trust the man who hadn’t trusted him? Finally, he nodded.
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
He could have stopped there. They could’ve rushed out that door. But Mobius had spent too much of the day being bitter. He’d said too many hurtful things and he couldn’t undo them, but he could show Loki that he'd been wrong. “You could be whoever, whatever you wanna be,” he told the god firmly, never breaking eye contact, “Even someone good.” Loki looked almost in disbelief. “Just in case anyone ever told you different.”
Loki smiled. He actually smiled. And Mobius smiled back. Then, they were walking through the door.
~~~~~
Loki was numb. He’d been numb before, but never like this. It’d seeped into his bones and filled him close to bursting with...nothingness. Mobius was gone. The only person who’d been on his side since the beginning had been pruned, and then he and Sylvie had been on their own, and then he’d been pruned too in the midst of his failed attempt to explain their nexus event to her. Then, everything had moved so quickly he hardly had time to feel much of anything. It was the strangest emotion that had broken through the numbness - hope. And then he was standing on a hill with the older, younger, and alligator versions of himself, trying to plan their assault on Alioth.
Then, a car engine.
A flash of blond hair.
“Sylvie?” He called incredulously, frowning as he trudged down the hill. But she’d gotten out of the backseat, so who was-?
“Hey there.”
“Mobius.” He’d stopped dead in his tracks, looking up and down at the grey-haired agent. He looked good. Uninjured, smiling. Loki felt the weight lift off his chest. “Who’re these two?” Kid Loki asked, but his question was ignored. Loki took a few steps forward until they were hardly a foot apart, flexing his hand and then opening and closing his mouth, much to Mobius’ chagrin.
“Well?” the agent asked, and Loki frowned.
“Well what?”
“I know you’ve got some quip you’re dying to say.”
He loved that stupid, shit-eating grin. He hated that he loved it. And yet, the next thing he knew, he had his arms flung around Mobius’ shoulders, holding him tightly in a hug. It took Mobius a moment to return the embrace, and Loki another before he finally spoke. “No. No quips I just-” The god inhaled deeply, hands clutching at the other man’s shirt. “I thought you were dead.”
He pulled back, though his hands remained on Mobius’ shoulders, and the other’s hands sat on his waist. “I mean, after I woke up here I figured you must be around somewhere, but with Alioth consuming everything and how big the Void is, I just- I just didn’t know if I’d see you again.”
Before Mobius could respond, Loki pulled him back in for another hug, scrunching his eyes closed tight and letting the TVA agent chuckle against his shoulder and pat his back. “You thought you could lose me that easily?” he teased. “I found you in an apocalypse, Loki. Why wouldn’t I find you at the end of time?”
“A-hem? ” That would be classic Loki. “I think some introductions are in order.”
“Right.” Loki pulled away from Mobius, feeling self-conscious as he looked to the others. “This is Sylvie, she’s us. Then that’s Mobius. Sylvie, Mobius, this is young me, old me, and alligator me.” He shook his head as the confusion registered on their faces. “Best not to ask.”
~~~~~
They found themselves on the hill again with a new plan. Sylvie handed Loki the tempad, which he passed on to Mobius. “I have to stay.” It pained him to say it, as much as he could tell it pained Mobius to hear it. The Lokis had to stick together. They couldn’t fight alone anymore, couldn’t keep betraying each other like they’d done to everyone else. Though the hurt flashed through Mobius’ eyes, Loki could tell he’d expected it. “Of course,” the agent nodded. “I’m glad you two could, uh...be together.”
After his initial shock, Loki groaned. “Not this again.”
“No, no.” Mobius threw his hands up innocently. “Really, you deserve to be happy, Loki.”
“Would you cut it out? ” he gritted out through his teeth. Did they really have to have this conversation again? Now ? Losing them, or thinking he’d lost them, had put so much in perspective. Thinking that Sylvie had been pruned was hard, especially when he realized how alone he felt, with even Mobius against him. But when the agent had been pruned...he hadn’t expected the weight of the loss to weigh so heavily. He realized he cared more than he should have. He trusted quicker than he should have. And it was because there was that thing - the thing he’d talked about with Sylvie - between them. Something real.
“What’s going on?” she asked from behind them, picking up on the bickering. “Is there a problem with the plan?”
Turning to her, Loki bluntly stated, “Mobius thinks there’s something... romantic going on between us.” As anticipated, her nose scrunched up in disgust. Addressing Mobius, she asked, “You know we’re the same person, right? Like, same parents and everything?”
Suddenly, the analyst looked a bit panicked. “Well yeah, but it just seemed like-”
“There is nothing going on between Sylvie and I,” Loki interrupted, reaching to take Mobius’ hand. The other man looked down at where they touched, and the god considered where he might go from here. Hel, he could well die within the hour if it all went wrong. Love is a dagger, he thought recklessly to himself. And it’s better to wield it bravely than to hide it out of fear.
“I didn’t fall for her, Mobius. I fell for you .”
They stared at each other, and the silence seemed to stretch into eternity. Mobius looked properly shocked, and Loki suddenly wondered if he’d misread all the signals. But then, he felt a squeeze on his hand, and the agent shook his head.
“This plan better fucking work.” And then, they were kissing, Mobius’ free hand wrapped around Loki’s tie, the god’s own hand cupping the shorter man’s face. Mobius was surprisingly more aggressive than Loki had expected. So this is what it’s like, Loki thought deliriously as Mobius’ mouth opened and they were sharing a hot, panting breath.
And then, for the second time, they were interrupted by a Loki variant - Sylvie, this time. “That’s cute and all but have you forgotten there’s a matter-eating cloud of smoke heading this way?”
Loki let out a breathless laugh and Mobius carefully tightened his tight, patting Loki’s collar before jabbing an index finger at him. “You better be careful because we’re not done here. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” the god replied teasingly, and a smile tugged at Mobius’ lips as he stepped back and opened a time door. “I’ll see you after all this. Then we can do it together.”
“Do what?”
A grin, which Loki might have dared to describe as ‘mischievous’, appeared on Mobius’ face. “Burn the TVA to the ground.”