The smoke envelops the car and everything turns dark for those inside it. Cyd clings to Loki. Tam silently cries while Iris stares ahead, face blank, as pale as a sheet. Hunter squeezes her eyes closed. In the back, Loki cuddles against Ayshi, terrified, arms wrapped around them as though holding them will be the only thing that keeps him from dying. Ayshi has their eyes closed, tightly holding their friend with one arm and soothing the alligator with their other hand.
Mobius hasn't taken his foot off the pedal when the car is enveloped in the curls of dark grey smoke and he wonders if this is the Tesseract or if this is what happens before something is annihilated by Alioth. He hits the brakes as something feels different under the tires. The car skids. The sounds of straining metal stop and the roaring ends. It is quiet. He stares out the windshield.
"Guys? I think we made it." He turns to Loki, "Open your eyes. I think you did it."
Loki slowly does and gapes at the bright light of the multiverses branching all around them, so few gaps between the tendrils of light.
"Are...are we dead?" Cyd asks, "Or are we there?"
Loki opens the door and steps out, "We made it."
Thor slides down the side of the car and opens his arms, wrapping them around his brother without thinking, laughing, "You did it! I knew you could!" It is only after he notices that Loki has melted into him, resting against him, that he realizes the enormity of the moment. Loki is letting him hold him. He isn't pulling away. Thor starts to let go, but Loki doesn't, so he smiles and embraces Loki until he can feel his brother gently resisting.
"Thank you, Thor."
"You're always welcome, Brother." Thor pats Loki's shoulders before heading to the back of the car to heave the box from the hitch platform to access the hatch, allowing Loki, Ayshi, and the alligator Loki to exit the car. He carefully replaces the storage once they are out.
Everyone is staring at the sky when Hunter speaks, "So this is what time looks like..."
"Yes. Each thread is a timeline," Loki answers, "And they split one from another with every decision we make."
"At least they do now," Mobius says, "You said it was just one ribbon before and you could see when we pruned things."
"A bundle of ribbons, all moving in the same river of time. And I still can. The multiverse isn't absolute and the TVA still does its work." Loki points to a spot on one of the brighter timelines, "See? It just ended. The tendril is fading back into the main thread."
Ayshi shudders, "This place is giving me shivers. I don't like it."
Their companion takes their hand, "I don't either," Loki says, and the alligator beside him grunts, "Nor does he. He says it feels bad here."
Tam sighs, "Well...I suppose it's time to be Miriam. Come on- we came all this way, we might as well go knock on the door and see if whoever's on the other side is able to give us a home."
"I don't want to have to live here," Iris replies, "It's just such an unfriendly looking place."
Cyd slips his hand into Loki's, "Hey...are you alright?"
"No, not really. I'm exhausted. I need to rest. But..."
"But we also need to get this over with and find out where it'll be safe to rest," Cyd says.
Mobius rests his hand on Loki's shoulder, "Come on. He's right. Let's get this first step over with."
The family walks from the car toward the Citadel, Hunter and Thor in the lead, an escort wary of any possible danger, ready to fight if needed.
When they get to the steps up to the imposing doors, Loki steps ahead and then turns to them, "I...I need to be the one to knock. I'm sorry, I just...it needs to be me."
"Do you want any of us up next to you?" Mobius asks.
"I...I don't think so. At least not at first," Loki answers.
Thor nods, "Then we trust your judgment, Brother, but should anything turn for the worst, I will not hesitate to step up to fight."
"Thank you, Thor. But please, if you can, wait for me to call for help."
Thor nods. Cyd reluctantly lets go of Loki's hand. Loki walks up the steps, kneading his palms, nervous. He raises his hand to knock. The doors swing open. He takes a step down as he recognizes the person who steps out. But she isn't wearing anything he recognizes. A long black caped gown drapes elegantly over her slender frame, from high collar to the hem pooling at her feet.
"Sylvie," he says, his voice barely over a whisper.
She raises her eyebrows, "Yes?"
"Please, tell me you remember who I am."
"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"
He sighs, relieved, "Because I didn't know if you were the same Sylvie." He pauses, "I've missed you so much."
"Oh."
He starts absentmindedly kneading his hands again, "Yes. And you're just as beautiful as when I last saw you." She doesn't respond. His face brightens, "Let me introduce you to my family." He gestures to the people standing behind him.
"Family?" she asks, surprised, "Since when do you have a family? I thought you said you'd lost everyone who'd ever cared about you."
He nods, "I had. But...they hadn't lost me. And some of them, well, we found each other along the way. Please, I'd love for you to meet them. We travelled all this way- all this when?- together and-"
"No," she cuts him off.
His face falls, "No?"
"I don't believe it."
"Don't believe what?" he asks, confused.
"That you have a family," she retorts, "The man I knew wasn't trustworthy enough for a family."
"But Sylvie-"
"You betrayed me. I told you nothing would stand in the way of the mission."
He reaches for her and she glares at his hand; he let it fall back to his side, "I'm sorry, I just-"
"Wanted me to be OK. I know," she snaps, "I remember. But I was fine. You got in the way."
He sighs, "...'you can't trust, and I can't be trusted.'"
"Exactly."
At the base of the steps, Miriam, Ayshi, Loki, the alligator, and Iris have clustered together and are trying to stay warm. There is a chill on the air that isn't entirely attributed to the temperature. They say little, but try to keep the reptile in their midst comfortable as well.
Thor watches Loki and Sylvie, wondering what history they have together and why she seems so distant. Something is wrong, that much is clear enough by Loki's body language, but not knowing the story, Thor can't figure out what. Hunter stands with him, watching around them, making sure nothing is going to jump up and surprise them. After what they endured to arrive, she wants to be sure nothing will attack them and they are safe.
Cyd stands next to Thor with Mobius on his other side; his heart breaks for his beloved as he leans over to Mobius, "This is awful."
Mobius sighs, "I was afraid of this."
Cyd starts to step forward, but Mobius puts his hand on Cyd's shoulder, "But he's hurt," Cyd whispers, turning toward Mobius.
"Yeah, but he hasn't asked for our help, either," Mobius says.
Cyd's shoulders droop, "And he needs us to trust him and stay back."
"Exactly. Loki's sensitive and when he's hurt...well, that's when unpredictable things happen."
Thor sighs, "Do you think he will run?"
"Nah," Mobius answers, "I think he knows he's got people here to catch him. But he needs us to trust him so he feels like he can trust himself, too."
"You read him well," Thor replies.
"Literally, actually. Before I met this Loki, I studied Loki variants as a big part of my job. I've read up on nearly every Loki we've encountered in the TVA...and there've been a lot of them."
They turn their attention back to the conversation on the stairs.
Loki stares up at the person he thought was one of the first friends he'd made all on his own, someone he'd yearned to return to as though a part of his soul was tied to hers, and wonders how everything seems so wrong, "Sylvie, I don't want this to destroy what we found with each other. I wasn't trying to hurt you."
"It doesn't matter. I did what had to be done. And now, I'm here. I've been here. And you can leave."
Loki's head drops, eyes no longer on her, but at the ground, "No, we can't. We'll die if we do." He glances back at his family, "And I can't let that happen." He reaches out toward Cyd.
Mobius notices and nudges Cyd forward, "He's asking."
Cyd walks up the stairs and stands one below Loki, taking his hand, "What do you need?"
"Just this," he answers, before turning back to Sylvie, "We've been through so much. And I need to find a place we can live where we won't always be running from the TVA. Sylvie, please- you know what it's like to live on the run. Help us find peace."
Cyd squeezes his hand, "Hey. It's alright, even if she won't help. We'll find a place to stay. Even if we have to hop around all the time, at least we'll be together."
Loki shakes his head, "I'm so sorry, Cyd, but I can't do that to people I love. The only way for it to work is to hide in apocalypses and...just no. I've only been to two and I never want to do so again."
Sylvie crosses her arms over her chest, "Excuse me, but what did you just say?"
"We won't be living like you did. I can't do that to them," Loki answers.
"No, the other part."
He furrows his brow, confused, but Cyd answers for him, "You mean the part where he said he loves us, don't you?"
"Really? Love?" Sylvie scoffs, "You expect me to believe a Loki is capable of love?" Cyd protectively steps up beside Loki, squeezing his hand.
Mobius walks up on Loki's other side and shrugs, "Well, yeah. Isn't most everybody?" Loki, stunned, can't come up with a reply of his own.
Sylvie purses her lips, "I don't think it's in the nature of a Loki to love. We're too intent on our own plans and plots to be able to focus on anyone else."
"What...what happened to you?" Loki asks softly, raising his face to meet her eyes, "This isn't the Sylvie I knew."
"Of course I'm not," she snaps, "It's been how long? For you? For me? I don't even know. Time exists here, but there's no day, no night...just time. I've been here with him for the whole of it. I've had to change to survive this, too. You wouldn't know about that, would you? You got to go back to your safe little TVA."
"Sylvie...you sent me there. I didn't want to leave you," he replies, still quiet, "Please, just let me talk to you. Just us – you and I. We can work through this."
She shakes her head, "It won't do anything, Loki. It won't change my mind. You are who you are. Who I am. We're not like others. Loki's are broken."
"No," he says, "We're not. We can be anything we want to be," he glances at Mobius, "Even someone good." He turns his attention back to her, "It all depends on what we want."
"And what do I want?" she asks, raising one eyebrow, challenging him to guess.
He sighs, "I don't know. I thought I did, once, but after howevermuch time? If you're really not the same person I once knew, how could I even presume?"
"And what do you want?"
He bows his head, feeling small, "I just want my family...and I hoped you would still be a part of it."
Sylvie laughs.
From behind them, they hear quick footfalls as someone approaches the base of the stairs, but none of them turn around until they hear the voice of the person to whom they belong, "Just stop!" Iris says, raising their voice for the first time anyone in the family has heard. All eyes shift to the small person standing beside Thor, "This is ridiculous. You're hurting him, and you know it and you're doing it on purpose! I've watched enough lives and lies to know what it looks like! There's no reason for this. If you don't care and you want us – him – to just go away, then fine, we will. Hate him all you want. But we love him dearly and I'm not going to just sit here and listen to you acting like he's just not worth the dirt we're standing on! We all know you mean something to him. It doesn't matter what he calls it in his heart or if he ever wants to tell us everything you went through together. It doesn't matter if you feel anything back. But he's beloved to all of us and you're going to stop this now before one of us gets mad enough to make you stop!"
Sylvie stares at Iris. She has no quip with which she can follow their statement and the look on their face tells her everything- the threat to act is serious and even if no one else does, the small, slight person who has stood meekly behind everyone else throughout the entire exchange will.
Loki turns and walks down the steps, utterly dejected, into Thor waiting arms, "I've got you, Brother," Thor whispers. Loki simply nods, head bowed, heart broken, before he buries his face against Thor's shoulder. Cyd follows him down the stairs and rests his hand on his partner's back. He can feel the little shudders in Loki's shoulders as his breath hitches. The rest of their family gathers around, whispering assurances that Loki isn't alone.
Mobius, now the only one standing in front of Sylvie on the steps, breaks the silence, "So...are you going to let us talk to He Who Remains or not? Or are you the one who runs the TVA now? Because we didn't risk everything and come all this way just to stand out here and beg for an audience."
"And what will you do if I say no?" Sylvie asks, trying to maintain her cold and distant demeanour.
"Whatever it takes," he replies, unwavering.
Hunter joins him, "We just ran from a marauding band of...we don't even know, rushing toward a monster that threatened to annihilate us all with nothing but a hope our escape plan would work. After all that...you don't scare me. If you don't let us in, I'm going in anyway."
A flicker of fear crosses Sylvie's face. Mobius wouldn't be hard to take on in a fight, nor would the people in the beige tunics. But she knows what both Aesir Lokis can do and she's seen Hunter, and Thor is watching her intently, one hand drifting to the handle of a very large axe hanging at his waist. She knows she won't win against them, even with enchantment at her fingertips.
"Alright. You win. But don't expect a warm welcome," she says.
Mobius walks up the steps, "I don't. But I do expect that with all of us here, he might at least listen. We've already faced death. We don't have much left to lose, except each other."
Sylvie glances back at the others, "Are they coming in?"
"That's up to them," Hunter replies, nodding for Mobius to go talk to them. She stays with Sylvie, tense, waiting for whatever trap will spring when they enter the imposing doors.
Sylvie abruptly turns, the entry swinging open untouched. Hunter cautiously follows, hand on Judith's gun at her waist.