1.
"I'm Agent Mobius, by the way."
I don't care about your name. I'm Loki, God of Mischief, you moron!
The man with the ridiculous mustache looked suspiciously innocent.
Loki asked him in his most indifferent tone, "Are you taking me somewhere to kill me?"
The man, Mobius, answered in the quietest way possible, "No. That's where you just were. I'm taking you some place to talk."
Loki harrumphed and retorted, "I don't like to talk.
Without losing his smile, Mobius replied, "But you do like to lie, which you just did."
Seeing that Loki didn't bother to answer, he continued, a cheeky sparkle in his eye, "Because we both know you love to talk."
He had the audacity to add, emphasizing his words with his hands, "Talkie-talkie."
Loki was boiling inside, but he wouldn't allow this jerk to see his anger.
How could this fool have seen through to him? No way!
Yes he liked to talk! So what? He had a voice so he might as well use it. At least he never said stupid things.
Sure, he liked to twist the truth, but when you're the god of mischief, was that so surprising?
Anyway, nobody had discovered his biggest secret, his biggest lie, that was the most important.
He discreetly scanned the man in front of him who now seemed a little less inoffensive.
2.
They were in a room devoid of any decor, sitting face to face, separated by a table.
Loki decided to attack. He could be accused of lying, but not of not facing the truth.
He asked Mobius with a defiant look, "What do you want from me?"
Mobius inhaled, as if to give himself courage, "Well, let's start with a little cooperation."
No, that's not going to happen, buddy.
Loki was a god and a god doesn't cooperate.
He replied with a smirk, "Not my forte.
There he was again, that piercing blue-gray gaze that seemed to see much more than Loki believed. Accompanied by that smile that gauged him.
"Really?"
Mobius paused and for a moment Loki thought he knew how to stage himself as well as Loki.
The rascal continued, "Even when you're wooing someone powerful you intend to betray?"
How could he know that? Nobody knew about Thanos! Even Thor didn't know about it!
Don't show anything Loki! Don't show him he's right.
The bastard insisted, as if it were insignificant. "Come on."
Loki, took his most superior and closed look before answering.
"You don't know anything about me."
That's it, move on you moron!
"Maybe I'd like to learn."
What?
What does he mean, he'd like to learn?
No way, Loki wouldn't be fooled.
No one really wanted to know who Loki was.
Those who wanted to know him only wanted it to get something out of him.
He wouldn't be fooled by that smile and that look. Even though...
He shook his head not to let such thoughts linger
3.
Since Mobius seemed to want to know his theory so badly, Loki was more than happy to explain it to him, it was time to show off as much as he could with his jumpsuit.
He straightened his head and said in an emphatic tone, "For nearly every living thing, choice breeds shame and uncertainty and regret. There's a fork in every road, yet the wrong path is always taken."
He looked at Mobius defiantly.
So you're not such a smartass now, huh?
"Good. Yeah."
He had the nerve!
Loki was right not to believe that this man really wanted to know him, it was just to taunt him and put him in his place.
Mobius continued, "You said nearly every living thing," he paused, and once again his eyes seemed to see further than Loki wanted to show.
He added, cheekily, "so I'm guessing you don't fall into that category?
Show nothing. Show nothing.
You didn't expect anything, Loki, so you're not disappointed.
Loki began to snicker. Sarcasm, one of his favorite weapons.
"The Time-Keepers have built quite the circus, and I see the clowns are playing their parts to perfection."
If you didn't understand, I'm talking about you, the clown, that's you buffoon!
Mobius started to laugh. A totally genuine laugh.
"Big metaphor guy. I love it."
Genuine but derisive of course.
The rascal continued, "Makes you sound super smart."
Loki couldn't let it go and retorted, "I am smart."
"I know."
Two words, and the tone was no longer taunting.
I know.
Two words said in a firm voice, without a smile, with an intense look in his eyes.
I know.
For once Loki didn't bother to wrap his words in circumlocutions, too disturbed by the implication of those two words. He simply replied, "Okay."
4.
Loki didn't know what Mobius' goal was in showing him his failures, but if it was to piss him off, he had achieved it, yet Loki was not going to show him.
Just as he was not going to show him how his questions affected him.
"Do you enjoy hurting people?"
No.
"Making them feel small?
No.
"Making them feel afraid?"
No. Stop. Answer him Loki.
"Your games don't frighten me."
But Mobius didn't seem to want to stop.
"Making them feel little?"
Loki couldn't help but retort with more vehemence, "I know what I am."
Mobius raised an eyebrow and asked defiantly, "A murderer?"
Knowing that if he let go, he would show Mobius how much he was affected by what he said, Loki shot back, "A liberator."
And the man had the audacity to reply, "Of eyeballs, maybe."
His words were accompanied on the screen by a video that showed Loki cutting out a man's eye.
Mobius continued, "Look at that smile. You are enjoying that. Did you enjoy hurting them?"
No. No. No. It was the mind stone. It wasn't me.
No! Shut up Loki! No one can know, not even him, get a grip!
Chin up, straight face, sardonic smile.
"I don't have to play this game. I'm a god."
Yes, that's what I am, a god. You won't take that away from me.
"Of what, again? Mischief, right?"
So what? I may not summon thunder, but I am powerful. In my own way.
The man then added, "Yeah. I don't see anything very mischievous about this."
Of course, since it wasn't him. But how could he tell anyone that he, the great Loki, had been under the influence of someone, that he had been manipulated by a stone.
He replied in a bitter voice, "No, I don't suppose you do."
Mobius sighed. He seemed almost disappointed.
Loki wondered why he felt a tightness in his chest. The same one he felt every time he knew he had disappointed his mother. The difference was that he had only known Mobius for a few hours.
5.
Loki was devastated.
His mother had died. She had died by his hand. At least because of him.
Mobius had continued to confront him with his failings.
Sitting on the floor, Loki no longer had the strength to stand up or fight back.
"You weren't born to be king, Loki."
Of course I was.
Even he was beginning not to believe it anymore.
"You were born to cause pain and suffering and death. That's how it is, that's how it was, that's how it will be. All so that others can achieve their best versions of themselves."
He looked up at the screen where the Avengers were displayed one by one. The instruments of his defeat. The defeat he felt burning right now.
He asked with a broken voice, "What is this place?"
Mobius didn't answer, just walked over and held out his hand and said, "Come on."
No more taunting in his voice, no more mockery, just compassion? Loki looked up to see if what he heard in the voice was showing on the other man's face.
He read the same compassion.
Weakened by what he had just discovered about his mother, Loki found himself wanting to grasp that hand, to believe what he read in those eyes. For a moment, he listened to himself, grabbed the hand and stood up.
But he was Loki, God of Mischief, so he snatched the small device from Mobius' pocket
.
+1
"Loki?"
Mobius had just come back into the room, Loki was distraught.
Sitting on the floor with his hands in his head, he raised it at the sound of his tormentor's voice.
The man approached him gently and said, "Nowhere left to run."
I don't want to go. I don't want to go anymore. I don't want to be that Loki anymore. I don't want to go back.
"I can't go back, can I? Back to my timeline."
Can I be me here? Really me? What I want to be.
For the first time since he knew himself, Loki felt a compulsion to tell the truth.
Looking Mobius in the eye, he said softly, "I don't enjoy hurting people."
He paused, "I..." he exhaled sharply and repeated again, "I don't enjoy it."
For the first time, he really wanted to convince someone that he wasn't the monster everyone thought he was. Now that he had started talking, it was like he couldn't stop. He continued, "I do it because I have to, because I've had to."
Mobius looked at him with those caring eyes he had had earlier and another feeling he couldn't read.
Mobius replied softly, "Okay, explain that to me."
Loki swallowed, this was the moment of truth.
"Because it's part of the illusion. It's the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear."
Mobius simply nodded, before adding in a tone filled with understanding, "A desperate play for control. You do know yourself."
Loki bit his lip and added in a breath, "A villain."
He exhaled again.
"That's not how I see it.
Once again Mobius held out his hand to help him up, and this time Loki didn't hesitate to take it. Once on his feet, he didn't want to let go of that hand, the only non-violent human contact he'd had in years. He didn't even realize that he was tightening his fingers on Mobius'.
He asked the question that had been burning in his mind, "If I'm not the villain, then what am I?"
They still hadn't let go of each other's hands and now Mobius' thumb was gently stroking the back of Loki's hand.
Mobius tilted his head a little, seeking Loki's gaze even more.
He said with that smile that Loki was beginning to appreciate, "I don't know, but we could search together, if you want."
Loki nodded slowly and answered with a slight smile. The first sincere smile devoid of any trickery.
The real Loki smile.