Summary: "'Her name's Sylvie, by the way. Just thought I should mention that, you know, considering we're all variants.'" Mobius arrives back in the TVA and frees Hunter B-15. One-shot. Set between episodes five and six.

To Change The Corrupted

One moment, he stood on a windy hillside that overlooked the wasteland of the end of time. The next, the familiar hallways of the TVA stretched out before him.

He had to stop. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

This place, it'd been his home. His long life's work. He'd dedicated himself to it, body and soul.

It was all a lie, a dark agency working for a mastermind who desired control. And only few knew about it. There was the guy in charge, all of the pruned variants back in the Void, Mobius himself, and- Ravonna.

His heart stung and his eyes burned, pricking with tears.

He jumped, eyes snapping back open in an instant, at the sound of a door closing down the hallway he'd portalled to, his breath catching in his throat as his mission returned to him and his existential crisis was put aside. He was supposed to be dead. He couldn't be seen, not yet. Shit.

He used his TemPad to deactivate the Timedoor behind him and quickly moved out from the middle of the hall. He held his breath, listening and waiting. But the footsteps that he picked up were headed the opposite way.

He let out a quiet sigh of relief, tucking his TemPad into the pocket of his coat and starting in the direction of the footsteps. He was safe for the time being- well, as safe as he could get in a place he wasn't supposed to be, in a place where he'd be viewed as a threat.

He rounded a corner, not really thinking about exactly where he was in the TVA until painted letters on the wall got his attention.

Time Theater 38.

There were no guards at the bottom of the stairs that led to the door. Must be empty, he mused, relaxing just a little. The footsteps he'd heard must've come from that room. Perhaps the guards, confirming the room to be empty, before they left to their next station. Either way, it seemed safe enough. He'd stop in there and come up with a plan- things really needed to change around here, and he'd make sure it would happen.

He pulled one of the doors open, stepping inside the room. He moved to close it before letting himself take in the room's status.

Possibly a mistake.

"Mobius?"

He whipped around so fast that it hurt. His eyes strained as they scanned for movement, settling on the orange glow- he was seriously starting to hate that color now- of a cell off to the side of the room. And in that cell, he made out the familiar form of Hunter B-15.

"Way to scare a man out of his pants." Mobius quipped as his breath returned to him, his shoulders sagging in a wave of released tension. He shook his head. "Don't do that."

He snatched the cell's remote off of the table in the center of the room as he passed. Whatever the reason that B-15 was locked up, he doubted that it was much different than the reason he'd been pruned. In the blink of an eye, the front of the cell was gone, as if it'd never been there.

"Come on out of there." He jerked his head in the opposite direction of the cell.

B-15 did just that, though she stared at him as if he were a ghost. "They told me you were dead."

"Yeah? Well..." He gestured his arms, as if presenting himself to her. With a small smile, he said,"I'm not."

"Renslayer showed me footage of you being pruned." She pressed, more insistent. "You shouldn't be here."

"Yeah, uh, about that- it really hurts. Don't recommend it." Mobius didn't want to focus on the memory too much. The physical pain wasn't the only pain he'd gotten from that. Changing the subject, he asked,"What're you in here for?"

The hunter picked up a pruning baton that had been left behind, claiming it as her own. "The variant showed me who I used to be. I helped them fight the guards in the Timekeepers' chambers."

He raised his eyebrows at the last part, mildly impressed. "Her name's Sylvie, by the way. Just thought I should mention that, you know, considering we're all variants."

B-15 rolled her eyes at his attempt to keep the conversation light-hearted. But her voice was serious. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, someone has to change this place." Mobius murmured, with a sad little smile. "You wanna help me out with that?"

"What do you need me to do?"