Author's Note: I am having a rough week because my kid returned to school on Monday. It is his first time ever to be in a school setting outside of Sunday School, and well... long story short we aren't taking it so well. Because of this, why not give y'all some hurt/comfort angsty sadness? Not like Episode 4 wasn't angsty enough, it is actually quite difficult to one up canon here... but I think I did alright. Added more salt, angst, sad, and comfort... seemed to be the right concoction. :P Just remember, just because it is called hurt/comfort, it doesn't mean that it has to be done in that order, right? Right. :P

See you Saturday for the finale, loves. I appreciate everyone who has stuck around with me during this journey!

I have a playlist on Youtube now for this fic. Just drop this in at the end of the browser, it should work: /playlist?list=PLctJJjrLuDqqZGazr6l_LKAqOJrWitJLe

Warning Tag: Aftercare Rejection

Word Count: 5,908

Losing all Control

"What are we?"

Mobius barely heard Loki speak. He was still curled up on the bed when he came out of the bathroom, shirt still undone and trousers only half way up his legs to indicate a feeble attempt at modesty. Mobius didn't respond, instead he laid cool, damp towels over Loki's lower back and forehead, taking a third to clean up the remaining evidence of what transpired between them. Loki shivered under his touch, not quite recoiling from it, but it was a tension Mobius did not like regardless as he finished the task and went to blot the heat from his face.

"You sore?"

"I'm fine," Loki hissed, low and menacing. "I don't need your hospitality or your mercy..."

He trailed off, voice hitching near the end and Loki pulled back from Mobius' touch and hid his face. Taking in a heavy breath, Mobius gathered the towels and discarded them to the floor. All the anger and fury he carried from Loki escaping with the Variant had simmered down to a low burn, and now that he was taking in the outcome of it all, it wasn't worth it. Unfortunately for them both, they had no time to unpack it all right now, which was going to make him the asshole in the equation.

"We need to get back. I'm supposed to be interrogating you," Mobius said calmly, reaching a hand out to brush his fingers against Loki's shoulder.

Loki sat up suddenly as if electrocuted by the contact, keeping his back to Mobius as he hastily corrected his appearance. Mobius stood up, offering him a hand that Loki rebuffed, standing on his own. He rounded on him then.

"That's all it is, isn't it?" Loki snarled, setting dangerous eyes on him. "I'm just another means to your end?"

"Loki…"

"Well, you certainly got it now, didn't you?" he spat, taking a threatening step toward him.

Mobius stood his ground, knowing that the hostility was going to come after what happened. He broke Loki, albeit accidentally, but he still reduced him down to a begging, apologizing, heaping mess and he had no idea how to handle that at all. He kept eye contact with him despite the fury that was unfolding in front of him. Mobius had only seen it once before with someone else Loki once loved and trusted. That thought sat strangely in his head.

"Nothing more than another clip on your file now that you managed to bend the unbreakable to get what you were after," Loki continued, venom dripping from every word. "Well, congratulations are in order for the great Agent Mobius. You managed to out trick the trickster."

"Loki…"

"And all for your precious, twisted little TVA cult. I'm sure they will shower you with reward and praise for your outstanding work on—"

Mobius pressed his hand firmly against Loki's reclothed chest and leaned hard into him, stepping forward in the process. Loki seemed taken aback by the action and stepped back, only to keep going when Mobius kept pushing until he hit the wall. Mobius rested his forearm against him now, hand gripping at Loki's shoulder. He leaned in close, seeing the hesitance in the micro-expressions on Loki's face before they hardened again.

"I need you to listen to me," Mobius said calmly, catching Loki's eyes. "I really want to hash this out with you properly, I really do, but right now is not the time," Mobius stressed, receiving a murderous glare. "If I don't show up in Ravonna's office soon, things are going to start to go bad."

"As if it hasn't happened already," Loki snapped. "You and your mission, can't have them be disappointed by your lack of performance and results."

Mobius ignored him. "This is what's going to happen. You're going into a time cell while I go meet with Ravonna. She's going to want to be in on the interrogation so you can use that spitfire against her too if you'd like. I highly encourage it, actually. Understand?"

He waited for Loki to respond, his breath was unsteady and sporadic and he swallowed hard, but his guarded expression was unwavering as he gave a curt nod.

"Good. I can tell you right now it is not going to be a pleasant experience, and I apologize in advance for it."

"Why?"

"Because Ravonna expects me to pull you from a very bad situation. Tear you down to wind you up."

Mobius removed his arm from Loki and tapped on the TemPad he held in his other one, hearing the time cell door open behind him. Loki looked at the very red door with trepidation, and Mobius wished it could be a far better place to put him in right now. He slipped a hand over his lower back and Loki resisted the pressure he placed there, not wanting to go through but gave in after a moment.

It was Asgard again, one of the many courtyards by the look of it, but Mobius wasn't bothered to take in the setting as he looked back at Loki.

"I've got to go now. Just… endure it for a little while, okay? I'll be back soon, I promise." He started to step back toward the portal but was stopped by a hand gripping his arm.

"Don't leave…"

"I have to, Loki." Mobius pulled his hand off him, noting the subtle underlying hint of fear in Loki's voice. "I'll be back."

"What about Sylvie?" he rushed out. "What happened to her?"

"Who?"

"Sylvie! The Variant. What are you doing with her?"

Mobius half shrugged. "Interrogate her as well, probably. We need to figure out what the two of you did that had us find you in the first place."

"And then what? You'll just throw us both out once you're done?"

Mobius simply shook his head at that, knowing he was stalling. "I gotta go. I'm sorry."

"Mobius—"

He slipped through the portal and closed it immediately, hearing his name being cut off in the process. Mobius went to the restroom and splashed cool water on his face and looked in the mirror, checking his appearance and sighing heavily. Leaving Loki in such a bad headspace in that daunting cell was not going to bode well and Mobius hated himself for it but didn't have much of a choice. He tapped out a code before departing for her office through another time door, figuring that time was of the essence.

The dread that settled in Mobius' chest ached as he now stood just outside Ravonna's office.

He really didn't know what to say to Loki that wasn't going to keep unraveling everything even further. Loki was simply rebuilding walls that had been completely torn down like tissue paper. He wasn't prepared for it to crumble like that. Mobius wasn't sure he was even prepared for it to happen when it did.

Loki's question echoed in his head when he knocked on the door, waited for the muffled "Come in," and let himself slip between the doors.

Ravonna smiled at him as he approached the couch, hands tucked in his pockets.

"I expected you a little earlier. Everything okay with you?" she asked, waving a hand over the couch to invite him to sit opposite of her.

Laying out the files on the table, he watched as she poured them drinks and he slowly moved closer toward his boss to sit.

"Yeah, I took a little detour to my room for a quick power nap. Hadn't been getting my eight hours in since this whole…" Mobius waved his hand in front of him, trying to find the right words.

He took the glass offered to him without continuing his trail of thought and quickly took a large drink.

"Since you took on this Variant?" Ravonna finished for him, eyeing him over her own glass.

Mobius gave a weak nod. "Something like that."

She took another quick sip before setting the glass down in front of her. He kept his in hand, shifting it slowly as a means to fidget.

"This assignment has been a struggle for us all, I know. But we have finally caught our fugitives and we can close this case for good." Ravonna smiled broadly at this, flicking her attention to the folders she had placed in front of her and opened one up.

Mobius let himself get lost in thought, staring at the deep blue short sword resting on the table in front of him. It was the weapon they confiscated from the Variant—Sylvie, as Loki called her. The blade certainly had seen better days, he was sure. It had a couple gouges and countless scratches littered all over it. There were runes crudely etched on the side he didn't bother trying to translate, and he absently sucked down the remaining contents of his drink while being lost in his head.

"Mobius?"

He snapped his attention back to Ravonna, raising his brows in question. "Yes?"

"What did you do with your Variant? D-90 said you excused them from the film room?"

"He's marinating in a time cell right now," Mobius said smoothly, but the twist in his chest burned. "Figured he needed to be withered down a bit before you took a crack at him."

"Did he say anything to you about what happened?"

Mobius shook his head, biting at his upper lip to get himself to focus. "He said a lot of things, but nothing important or of value."

Ravonna nodded at that, taking a moment to write a note down with that blue pen. She seemed to think he was glancing at the liquor bottle, however, and quickly corked it before standing and finishing her own drink.

"I'd offer you a second, but we have a Variant to interrogate." She gathered the files and stepped forward, turning to face him. "Shall we?"

"What about the other one?" Mobous asked, setting his glass on the ringed up end table beside him before getting up.

"What about her?"

"We tag-teaming her, too? I'm sure with a little prodding she could offer some insight as well," Mobius explained. "Might be an easier target than mine. He's pretty difficult to dig at."

Ravonna took a breath when he stepped up beside her, shaking her head. "Let's hope that we only need one of them. Not like what either of them say will be worth their weight, but it's protocol to gather what we can from this unique situation for the archives."

He followed her gait, stepping through the door she held open for him. "I trust the work you put in on this Loki enough that we will get something useful out of him first before needing to take extra steps on moving forward.

"And Mobius?" she said, having him pause in the hall outside her office. "I appreciate your concern, but I assure you that I can handle the riff-raff."

Mobius nodded, daring to not speak as they navigated through the halls and elevator ride to the film room. He did wonder why no one used the time doors within the TVA more, it certainly had become quite handy at least. It also reminded him that he would need to scrub the TemPad before it had to be turned in for screening after this case closed. And boy did it really need to be scrubbed.

They approached the room where D-90 and A-14 stood guard.

"Please bring another chair in for us, thank you," Ravonna said to D-90, who gave her a nod in response.

Mobius did the honors of opening the film room door for Ravonna, ignoring the hard stare from D-90 when he fell into step behind her. That man never did like him, probably a jealousy thing considering he was only Ravonna's personal guard and not her favorite analyst who got to have private meetings while he was forced to stand outside the door for them or be sent to the field with him.

She took a seat and placed the folders on the table. "Bring him in."

"Shouldn't we wait for the…"

D-90 entered as he spoke, sliding another steel chair in and placing it on the empty side of the table. He didn't take his eyes off Mobius the entire time, grabbing his baton before turning to leave.

"Oh, please leave that here for me, D-90. Thank you," Ravonna said, not even bothering to look his way.

Mobius gave him a cheeky smile when he reluctantly dropped it back on the table and all but stomped off. "Someone's having a bad day."

She dismissed it with a hand wave. "He is always like that."

"Wanting to always wring my neck, you mean?"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Ravonna said, folding her hands on the table and looking up at him. "Alright. Bring him in."

Mobius bit his tongue, pulling the TemPad from his pocket and set it to open the glaringly red door. Collecting the baton, he lazily saluted her with it before stepping through. He heard Loki speaking and lingered just out of view to listen before the loop ended.

"...I crave attention… because… I'm a… I'm a narcissist. And I suppose it's because I… I am af—" He could hear the hitch in his throat, catching the word. "I'm scared of being alone."

The silence drifted for several seconds, Mobius dared not move just yet, stuck on what he had just heard before Lady Sif responded.

"You are alone. And you always will be."

Damn… Mobius checked his TemPad then, noticing that he had queued up the wrong memory he had originally planned for. He grimaced and rubbed his eyes, letting out a slow breath as the TemPad pinged, signaling the loop ended. This was going to be a difficult one to explain. Though the other memory would've been too, he supposed.

He stepped around the corner and saw Loki with his back to him still on the ground, head bowed, shoulders hunched over. A heaping mess yet again, and it was all his fault... again.

"Loki?"

He looked up immediately, eyes hardening despite the redness that outlined them.

"You take a leisure stroll with the Judge?"

Mobius approached, offering a hand out to him. "There's no other way to say this that will make you believe it, but I deeply apologize for... everything."

Loki stared at him, swallowing hard before he eyed his hand but didn't respond or make any other movement.

"She's waiting, but take your time to collect yourself first if you need."

Ravonna would have a field day seeing him like this, but he wasn't going to give her the pleasure of it. Loki accepted his hand after several seconds and Mobius hoisted him up but didn't let go of him. Their shoulders were inches apart, but Loki made sure to not look at him.

"You're not a narcissist," Mobius half-whispered. "You harbor tendencies, but so what? Even if you were one, it does not make you a villain."

Loki finally looked at Mobius, eyes glassing over. Mobius let go of his hand and moved it to his shoulder, placing gentle pressure on it.

"Thought you needed to hear it."

They walked through the portal in silence. Mobius dropped his hand a split second prior and returned back to the film room. Loki honed in on Ravonna then, moving in such a way that mimicked a predator stalking prey. Mobius gestured for him to sit before taking a seat beside her. She only flicked her attention away from her paperwork when they both settled. Loki resumed a stand-off position, arms crossed and a looming glare edging his expression. Mobius straightened his own folder he'd abandoned there from before, needing to fiddle.

"Here we are again, Variant. And unfortunately for you, the circumstances have changed very little in your favor," Ravonna said, folding her hands together and looking at Loki with a tilted head.

"And I see you are still making poor choices in regards to your own personal safety," Loki deadpanned, eyes glinting.

Ravonna was unfazed, only a faint twitch of her brow indicated anything, and Mobius ran a nervous hand through his hair during this exchange.

"I'm not afraid of you. You've nothing but empty threats while your life hangs in the balance," she said, and Mobius put a hand in front of her.

"Okay, that's enough. Let's just get this started, alright?"

This was a bad idea.

"What happened on Lamentis-1 between you and the other Variant?" Ravonna asked curtly, tapping her pen onto the paper.

Mobius quietly busied himself with his own notes, writing, Variant Name - Sylvie. Lamentis-1 Nexus Event...

Loki shifted his attention to Mobius, and he glanced up at him tentatively before looking over at the impassive expression on Ravonna's face.

"What's it to you?" he hissed out. "Clearly you need us for something, otherwise you'd just have let us die."

"You caused a Nexus Event, Loki," Mobius interjected. "Do you know how that might have happened?"

He could see Loki wanted to look just as surprised Mobius was when he saw it unfolding on screen, but he contained it to be subtle enough that Mobius was confident Ravonna wouldn't pick up on it. Loki turned his head slightly, processing this news.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Loki said firmly. "Sylvie and I—"

"Who?" Ravonna asked, writing on her notepad.

Loki flicked eyes at Mobius and set his jaw. He really didn't like getting interrupted.

"Sylvie. The other person you arrested and have locked up somewhere in here," he reiterated.

"So, you two escaped to Lamentis-1 and just had a grand time relishing in your victory before finishing this master plan to overthrow the TVA," Ravonna stated, raising her brows when looking back at Loki.

"Now, that's quite the—"

"Yes, that's correct," Loki replied defiantly, cutting Mobius off. "Who's to say you didn't just walk right into a trap letting us back here?"

Mobius closed his eyes and leaned heavily into his chair. He could feel a headache coming on, and Loki wasn't even trying to hide the blatant lie he just spewed. Ravonna was not that gullible. She smirked at him, tapping the end of her pen on the paper.

"I know because there was no way you two could have set up a Nexus Event in the middle of the destruction of an entire society," she stated confidently.

Loki chuckled darkly then, lowering his head and shaking it slowly.

"You find this amusing?"

"You truly have no idea what I am capable of, much less when there are two of us working off each other so efficiently." Loki looked up, a wicked smile on his face, yet his attention was geared toward Mobius, who was watching Loki carefully now. "She and I fit like a glove tailored for us both. I suppose I have you and your pathetic TVA to thank for properly uniting us so we could finish something that started long before you even realized."

"So you are working for her?" she asked, but Mobius pressed at a different point of Loki's statement.

"What do you mean by you two fit like a glove?"

Ravonna tisked. "Don't be coy, Mobius. They were facing the end of a world. What else do you think it would mean?"

Mobius felt the corner of his eye twitch at that, but didn't respond and allowed the two too continue this pointless back and forth.

Loki sent a loaded glare at Ravonna. "I work for no one."

"You said so yourself—" Ravonna started before being interrupted.

"Our interests aligned, simply sharing the same goals to a respectable outcome," Loki growled. "But I certainly didn't work for her. She served her role by systematically dismantling your precious security from the outside. She ending up here was a minor divergence."

Mobius let out a deep breath. Nothing he was saying made any real sense. He was piecing together tidbits of whatever he could to make it sound believable at this point. Good for him because Ravonna was foolishly buying right into it.

"And you were supposed to do what, exactly?" She questioned, leaning over the table. "Infiltrate from the inside for what purpose? Because from my standpoint, whatever it was you two were plotting clearly was a complete failure. Just like you and your little girlfriend are nothing else than cosmic mistakes."

Loki openly glared at her, stiffening his posture to silently challenge her unwavering authority. Mobius wished he could've done this alone, it would've been far more productive at least. Why was he feeling so fidgety whenever Sylvie was mentioned? He brushed it off with a shake of his head.

Mobius tapped on Ravonna's shoulder, who refused to lose the smug look on her face when she leaned over to him. He dropped his voice and concealed his mouth behind a hand so Loki couldn't pick up anything he said.

"This taunting isn't going to get you anywhere. I'd stick to direct questions about the situation and leave the rest alone."

Loki was glowering at him when Mobius looked his way, but he kept a trained relaxed demeanor as he repositioned. Ravonna inhaled sharply, straightening her paperwork, she folded her hands over it and stared expressionless at Loki.

"Do you or do you not know what caused the Nexus Event?"

Loki shifted forward painstakingly slowly, not taking his eyes off her. "Why would I tell you?"

Ravonna got to her feet then, collecting her things, grabbing the baton, and turning toward the door.

"We're done here. Mobius," she said crisply, and Mobius got up and followed her to the door, reaching for it, she put a hand on his arm.

"You were right. I should've left this to you," she uttered.

"You did fine. Just need to shake the rust off is all. Maybe trying the other Variant will have better results," he assured, placing a hand on her back, pulling open the door. "I'll catch up. Give me time to set this one out to dry."

Ravonna nodded, handing him the baton then. "See if you can pull anything else before taking care of him. He's of no further use to us otherwise."

He gave a nod, taking the weapon before she exited the room. Mobius stood there facing the door, pinching the bridge of his nose and running a hand over his forehead. Not even considering the fact he had his back turned to Loki.

Surprisingly, Loki stayed put when Mobius turned to face him. He approached, not bothering to sit, simply dropping the baton back on the table, along with the time twister and his TemPad. He tucked his hands in his pockets, biting at his upper lip, he looked down at the file in front of him where Sylvie's name looked back as he stood beside Loki.

"She's a bit rusty around the gills with interrogations," Mobius said for no real reason than to break the tension. "Spent too much time on the Judge's Podium."

"You weren't going to stop until I told you to, weren't you?"

There it was. Mobius scraped his tongue against his teeth, eyeing Loki carefully. He was mimicking the action, but no one dared make a move.

"No, I wasn't," he said plainly. "You designed your own guidelines, I only followed them."

Loki let out a heavy breath, closing his eyes. "You would've…" the words seemed to have died on his lips as he recollected himself. "Right. It shouldn't surprise me, I suppose. Part of the control over myself, as you claimed."

A quiet beat ticked by. "You are quite the straight-laced rule follower, after all. Until you weren't. Wonder what happened..."

Mobius didn't answer to the bait, not needing to because he didn't want to admit it to Loki or himself. It certainly wasn't part of the arrangement, this was one of those off-script things that he thought they'd be safe from and yet here they were at that crossroads, unsure of where to go next, if they should even take the same path. They were both quiet for several seconds, and all he heard was Loki trying to keep his composure and breathing steady.

"I meant it, you know," Mobius said softly, grabbing Loki's attention. "In the time cell. I really am sorry. It was not exactly the proper way to handle things, exercising that over you the way I did, and then enduring that loop right after wasn't what I had in mind, either. It was incredibly cruel."

Loki snorted, not seeming to want to believe him, which was understandable. There was damage made that needed to be mended. Mobius sat down again, taking in the god who was barely holding it together in front of him.

"You acted on what was agreed upon. I wrote it in, did I not? I asked for it…"

The silence settled heavily. Mobius took a seat and waited for Lokit to broach the subject first on why he responded the way he did to it, but nothing came and he wasn't going to prod.

"She's not my girlfriend… Sylvie," Loki said, breaking the strange silence between them. "I saw how you reacted, but there is nothing between us."

Mobius blinked slowly, watching Loki's demeanor as he listened. There was an underlying tone that strained his words, hinting at careful calculations of what to say and how. The work of a true crafty liar. Something he didn't even bother with in whatever garbage he forked over to Ravonna, at least.

"Something did happen between you two, though. How else would you manage to conjure up something you yourself proved couldn't be done?"

Loki went motionless, pulling his attention away from Mobius now, he dropped his arms and reached for the table where he lightly tapped the top of it with a finger.

"What happened out there?"

"As if you care," he said, going rigid again. "Didn't your superior say you were done with me?"

"She was, I am not."

Loki still didn't answer the question but showing confliction on if he should. "Where did she go?"

"Who?"

"The Judge. Your superior. Where did she go?"

Mobius gave a weak shrug. "To take care of Sylvie, I suppose. It was pretty clear you didn't know what we were looking for, chances are your other half won't, either."

Loki's eyes widened at this, sitting forward and straighter than before. "What?"

Mobius bit his lip, so Loki was concerned about the woman after all. Maybe even care about her, this was certainly something new. Perhaps Loki did like her and just didn't realize, and vice versa. They were both too much in their own heads trying to outscheme each other to see the connection until they were facing true imminent death. He wanted to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of how it sounded, but the more he puzzled it out, the more he felt that poison leeching in.

"There's nothing else Ravonna wants out of you two other than to have you both caught and to vaguely figure out what caused something that shouldn't have happened. It is a job well done on her end having the former, and the rest is all just a bonus to her," Mobius explained. "She wants me to prune you because…"

Loki's eyes darkened at this, and Mobius decided to not finish what he was saying.

"So that's it then? I've served my purpose and now I'm nothing else to you," he spat. "I should have known you had nothing but hollow promises and assurances the moment you spoke of them."

"Loki…"

Loki slammed a hand hard on the table, getting to his feet in the same motion. He rounded on him but Mobius gave no reaction as he got really close to the point he could feel the coolness radiating off him.

"You want to know what happened on Lamentis-1? Fine. We tried to kill each other, then saved each other's hides while a planet fell on our heads we couldn't escape from!" his voice only raised as he continued. "Oh, and we might've had a bit of fun along the way, because what's so wrong with having a dalliance with an enemy while facing imminent death and destruction!"

Loki grabbed a fist full of Mobius' shirt then, jerking him to his feet. "Because that's just what we do, isn't it? Stir chaos among the madness, being nothing else but cosmic mistakes while destined to be alone." Loki's voice leveled then, and he smirked despite the sadness that hid in his eyes. "So why not seek comfort with yourself? We were going to die anyway. Together but still utterly alone. At least that was the plan."

Mobius hadn't paid attention or focused on picking out the truths in the lies, instead he wrapped an arm around Loki and pulled him into a hug. Loki's face fell into his chest, the grip he had on him slacked, and Mobius gently rubbed his back and stroked his hair, hearing him inhale deeply before completely melting into him.

"You're not alone…

They were only allowed this moment for a handful of seconds when the door opened suddenly, Mobius had a split-second reaction to release Loki and side-step him to see who came in. Ravonna looked at him with concern, not seeming to see their exchange.

"We have a situation. B-15 has been compromised." Her eyes flicked over Loki, seeming unsurprised he was still there. "Put him in a cell. The Time-Keepers want him."

Ravonna turned and left without another word. Mobius tilted his head slightly, processing. "Compromised?"

Loki collapsed back in the chair, exhaustion kicking in. Mobius reached for him again, wishing to touch Loki's hair but decided against making contact entirely and dropped his hand to his side. It still looked so incredibly soft despite enduring twelve hours of planetary decay raining upon it. A lot of self-control was currently being exercised on his end, needing to blink away the fantasy of taking Loki where he sat and worshiping him until all the hurt and loneliness could never plague him again.

Mobius was startled out of his thoughts when Loki started speaking, "She was enchanted by Sylvie back at Roxxcart. Like C-20 was."

"Enchanted?"

"Her power. She can tap into people's minds and uses their memories to control them," Loki explained quickly. "She said that… she said that they're all… you're all…"

Loki got up suddenly, placing his hands on Mobius' shoulders. "We need to get out of here. You're in danger."

Mobius was utterly confused. "Wait. Wait. We're all what?"

"We need to go… back to Pompeii or… or... somewhere until we can make a plan or…"

"Loki!"

"What?"

He was genuinely scared, but Mobius had no idea what he was saying or why he was scared. "What are you talking about?"

"The TVA has been lying to you. You weren't created, you were taken! You're a Variant just like I am, like Sylvie is," Loki said, stumbling over his words. "Sylvie said she had to pull very old memories from C-20, and she must've done the same with B-15. The Judge knows this, she knows and she is trying to cover it up. We need to leave, now!"

"Okay, okay. Can we step back, take a breath. Gather yourself, and tell me again?" Mobius encouraged, his head reeling from the info dump to the point where he just blanked out.

Loki sighed, extremely exasperated. He pulled away from Mobius and started to pace the room.

"This entire place is a sham, Mobius," Loki said, gesturing around the space. "You are a Variant. Just like me and Sylvie. They took you from the timeline, pulled you from your life and everything you knew and turned you into one of their mindless drones."

"Hey…"

"But Sylvie, she can fix that. Fix you! But we need to get to her and get out of here before…"

Mobius' TemPad went off and he checked to see a message from Ravonna asking him to bring Loki to the elevator.

"Alright… I, uh… don't know what to do with this information," he said, scratching his head and shifting his weight. "But we…"

Loki cupped his hands over Mobius' face, forcing him to look up at him. "Please, you need to believe me on this… if you don't take us out of here we're as good as dead."

"It's a lot to take in," Mobius breathed out, searching the deep emerald eyes for any trace of a lie. All he saw instead was complete sincerity.

"I've trusted you, and now I need you to trust me. Please…"

"Yet you trust another you's word on all of this?" Mobius questioned, shaking his head that was still in Loki's hands. The doubt—poison—was settling in now. "I can't risk putting myself on the line based on this…"

Loki kissed him then. It was desperate, needy, melting his entire self into it. Wishing, willing for Mobius to believe him. He stiffened only momentarily before draping his hands over Loki's hips, nudging him closer to him just to feel him against his own body.

It felt very nice.

"Mobius…" the voice of Ravonna resonated from the doorway, followed by the whine of a prune stick charging up.

Loki whipped around in a blink of an eye, making sure that Mobius was behind him as he glared back at her. Mobius was looking over his shoulder to meet Ravonna's intense expression. D-90 was right beside her, prune stick at the ready and a very bold grin on his face.

"Ravonna," Mobius responded.

"This is a new low, even for you," she said slowly, "Out of everyone here you go for the worst. I'm deeply disappointed." She turned her head toward D-90. "Prune him."

D-90 marched swiftly for them at the command and Loki snarled at him, making sure that he separated Mobius from the threat.

Loki grabbed the Hunters arm, but was easily shaken off and the back end of the baton struck out at him, but Loki blocked it with his bare arms. Mobius flinched at the contact, reaching in his pocket for the TemPad only to realize he left it on the table D-90 now stood in front of. Loki pushed back against the baton, getting a good hit in on his side and calf where the armor didn't cover. While he was preoccupied, Mobius attempted to slip back over to the table, Ravonna was watching him, and A-14 made for him but she held out a hand.

"Wait."

Mobius didn't get far, D-90 had shoved Loki back with a swift kick in the side and stumbled into him. Mobius caught Loki and held him upright, but D-90 took advantage of it and sent the back end of the weapon straight for Loki but it was caught. Loki pressed his weight into the Hunter, the glowing end got dangerously close to D-90's neck, but Mobius saw him throw back a shoulder instead of resisting, flinging Loki forward only to be struck with the blunt end of the baton to his face. It threw Loki to the floor at Mobius' feet, and he looked across the room at Ravonna before making a last ditch attempt to grab his TemPad before D-90 struck him square in the chest with the lit end.

He flinched at the hard impact, dropping his gaze to Loki who scrambled at his feet, reaching for him as he disintegrated into nothing.