Summary: "'Oh, please. Just because I didn't live Loki's life doesn't mean I'm clueless to the rumors of what the people he's met have done.'" Mobius properly introduces himself to Sylvie and, among other things, tells her his theory on the Nexus event on Lamentis-1. Missing scene from episode five. One-shot.

In A Pizza Car At The End Of Time

Even though the old blue pizza car is going slower than it was earlier, it still bounces as it travels across the desolate landscape, the engine sputtering with each sudden jolt. Its two passengers pay the bouncing no mind, their thoughts elsewhere, unspokenly both in concern for another.

Mobius had last seen Loki a few hours ago, just moments before he'd been pruned and sent here to die. According to his new companion, Sylvie- the variant he'd spent so long hunting to no end- Loki had been pruned himself.

Is he even still alive?

Sylvie doesn't seem to think so.

"That storm- that thing- it's likely already got him."

"Do you really believe that?"

"It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters now is getting out of here and finding out who's behind all of this."

The air is tense between them now. Mobius doesn't like the silence. If Sylvie's anything like the Loki he knows, she doesn't either.

"We never got around to introductions, did we?" He comments, even though he knows her name already. He half-turns in his seat, holding out a hand to her. "Mobius." He prides himself for remembering he's no longer aligned with the TVA.

"You can't be serious." She frowns at him. Then she realizes that he is serious and sighs, though she doesn't shake his hand. "Sylvie."

Mobius smiles to himself, turning forward in his seat again and placing his hand back on the wheel. He tries to ignore the angry cloud monster ahead of them. "Loki didn't take the handshake either."

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I didn't prune myself, if that's what you're asking."

"You find out too much about your previous TVA?" She asks scornfully.

"Something like that." He sighs.

A few quiet minutes pass. This time, Sylvie is the first to speak.

"How long have you known Loki?" Her tone isn't as sharp or guarded as it was before.

"A few days, maybe." Mobius tells her. "He's not that bad."

She doesn't respond to that.

"He was worried about you, you know." He says. "The look on his face when I lied and told him we pruned you...he doesn't get like that often- and I know, I've been over his files dozens of times." Offhandedly, he adds,"At the TVA, they liked to call me the Loki guy."

Sylvie rolls her eyes- he realizes that it's an indication of her starting to warm up to him. "What was his Nexus event?" She asks.

"You mean, when we first caught him or Lamentis-1?"

"Both, I suppose."

"Right, well, long story short, he got ahold of an Infinity Stone he wasn't supposed to have the first time. I negotiated with Ravonna and saved him from getting pruned right away." Mobius explains, not sure if he's wincing because of how nonchalant the words come out or because of a particularly rough jolt of the car. "You know what Infinity Stones are, don't you?"

"I've never seen one, but I've heard stories." Sylvie tells him. She scoffs as she goes over what she's been told. "They're supposed to manipulate reality, but can annihilate half the universe when put together."

"Yeah." He nods, catching her disbelieving gaze in the mirror. "Thanos does it, but...I don't think you know who he is."

"Oh, please. Just because I didn't live Loki's life doesn't mean I'm clueless to the rumors of what the people he's met have done." She points out, glaring at him. He knows it's a sign of her hiding her vulnerability at a sore subject; she's not truly angry with him.

"Okay. Calm down. I might know Loki's life, but I don't know yours." Mobius reminds her, changing the topic back to what the original question had been. "You wanted to know about Lamentis-1, right?"

Sylvie blinks at him, as if confused, then nods.

"Well, it's just a theory, but I have to warn you- I don't think you're gonna like it."

"I'll decide if I like it or not."

His eyebrows raise at that. "Okay."

"Well, go on." She urges, rolling her eyes at him again. "I'm not going to kill you over a theory."

"I never said I thought you would." Mobius shoots back with a knowing smile. He's silent for a moment, thinking over the best way to explain it to her. She's not his Loki, there's a huge chance that she won't just let it go over her head like he did. "I think the Nexus event that you and Loki caused was, well, falling for each other."

"W-what?" Sylvie sputters, her nose wrinkling in disgust- he thinks she's faking it because she doesn't want to face the truth. "You think that Loki and I are in love?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?" He smiles almost condescendingly at her. "Come on, even if he wasn't a Loki, I'd know. He didn't even try to hide it.

She resolves to glowering at him, though it really does look more like a pout. "Loki and I are not in love."

"You keep telling yourself that. Maybe you'll start to believe it."

They're quiet again, for a little while. The living cloud slowly grows larger, still looking just as angry as earlier. The car bounces along the uneven ground. Mobius glances at the fuel dial and is glad that it still has half a tank left; he's not really in the mood for walking, after everything he's learned in the last day alone. He supposes he's lucky that he woke up in the car after he got pruned- he'd have been a goner without it. Sylvie too, by the looks of the situation she'd been in when he'd found her.

"He cares for you." She breaks the silence.

"Hmm?" He frowns a little, curious as to what exactly she means by that.

"When I saw him again, before we learned that the Timekeepers were fake, he was trying not to cry." Sylvie tells him. "I think that may have been right after you were pruned."

Mobius meets her eyes in the mirror. "You sure?"

She nods.

"And the Timekeepers…?"

"I cut off one of their heads. They're robots. Mindless androids."

He shakes his head lightly; he's not even surprised at this point. "So, what now, then?"

"I've been watching that thing out there, and I think that it's guarding something." She points at the living storm. "Before you picked me up, I caught a flash of what's beyond it. If I can enchant it, I think I can open up a pathway to whatever it is that's beyond it."

"Sounds like it's worth a shot, if you think you can do it." He tells her.

"I should be able to." Sylvie sounds confident about it. "I've already enchanted two of your own people."

"Two?" His brow furrows, and he turns to look at her directly. He almost steps down on the brake pedal as well. "I know about Hunter C-20, but…?"

"Well, I only returned her memories, but yes."

"Who?"

"I think her uniform said B-15, or something like that." She tells him. She frowns. "Why?"

B-15. B-15 has her memories back. She knows.

A wave of relief rushes through him, because he's not alone if he goes back to the TVA.

Wait.

"What happened to her?" Mobius asks.

"Nothing, as far as I know." Sylvie says. "She got knocked out in the battle, before Loki was pruned, but she was still there, the last I knew."

She's alive. He smiles a little. "Good."

Sylvie narrows her eyes suddenly, looking at something past him.

"What?" He questions, turning slightly to glance through the windshield.

"There, on that hill." She points.

Sure enough, on the top of the nearest hill, he can see three figures standing and looking out at the storm as it devours something. He redirects the car in their direction, hopeful that Loki's one of them.