If You Don't Love Me Now, You Will Never Love Me Again

"Loki!" Mobius bursts through the double doors. The God of Mischief is panting and whipping himself around, eyes scanning the back room.

"Where did they go?" He shouts at Mobius.

"Where did who go?"

"My wife!" Loki bellows. "The other me - that variant of me - she took my wife!"

"Your variant is female?"

"She took my wife!" Hysteria coats him and he runs his hands through his long hair. "That insufferable creature used her magic and kidnapped Sigyn!" He paces. "I have to get her back."

"How?" Mobius frowns. "Talk to me. Tell me what happened."

"She's a sorceress, but her abilities are different from mine. She can control others. And when Sigyn attacked her, she merely winked and my wife collapsed." He looks at Mobius with a furious, frenzied scowl. "Then she dragged Sigyn's helpless body through one of your Time Doors!"

Mobius' brows raised in surprise. "The variant has a Tempad?"

"Apparently!"

"Where were you during all of this?"

He has the humility to look ashamed by his defeat. "She overpowered me with the element of surprise. I did not anticipate that she would be so quick."

"Well, fantastic." Mobius throws his hands up. "This is just perfect. We had her right here and she got away."

"She has my wife!" Loki shouts.

"Yeah, I get it," Mobius scowls. "But right now I have bigger problems than getting your-"

"There is nothing more important than -"

" - useless spouse back."

He summons a flame to his palm. "Sigyn is not useless," he rumbles. He has been angry before, of course. And he's certainly a cynical being. But in this very moment, Loki is filled with so much rage, he can feel all logic leaving him.

Mobius sighs. "Her sorcery is of no use; she can't even talk. Which, granted, is no fault of her own. But still -"

Loki hurls a blast of emerald energy at the time travel administrator. With an oof!, Mobius is sent across the stock room and collides with a shelf of cleaning products. He crumbles to the ground, unconscious.

Moving quickly, Loki crosses the room and kneels next to the unconscious body long enough to search his pockets and find a Tempad.

Without hesitation, he flips up the screen and keys in the first random set of coordinates he can think of. A Time Door appears, it's orange light bright and annoying.

"I'm coming, Sigyn," he whispers. And walks through the passage.

When Mobius awakes, Ravonna Renslayer is glaring down at him.

"You told me to trust you," she says through clenched teeth. "You told me to trust him."

Groaning, Mobius pushes himself up. He holds his head in his palm and breathes deeply.

"Mobius," Ravonna snarls. "Do you have any idea what you've done? Do you understand what is happening?!"

He looks up at her with a grimace to match her own. "Where's the rest of my team?"

"Your team," she coats her words with disgust. "Have returned to the TVA and are now scrambling to undo the damage the Loki variant has caused."

"And our Loki?"

Ravonna looks murderous. "Judging by his absence and your missing Tempad, I assume he's escaped."

"His wife?"

"Also gone. Likely laughing alongside her husband."

Mobius shakes his head. "No, he said the variant took his wife. He's gone to find her."

"We are going to find them and we're going to prune them."

Mobius shoves himself to his feet, suppressing the groan that comes from his bruised middle aged bones. "We can't do that."

"What?!" Ravonna snaps. "What do you mean we can't?"

"We need both Loki and Sigyn to take down the Loki Variant. She took his wife for a reason. And if we find them, we can use Sigyn as bait for both Loki's."

"And if we find Loki before the variant?"

"Well," Mobius sighs, placing his hands on his hips. "He's hell bent on finding his wife. He's desperate. We find him first, we reign in his leash and use him like we always planned."

Ravonna narrows her eyes at him. "First we have to find him."

"Right." Mobius runs a hand over his face. "Leave that to me."

When she opens her eyes, she's back in the cabin. The comfort of the small home envelops her and she snuggles deeper under the warmth of the quilt. It's dark in the dead of night and the fire across the room sparks and crackles in the hearth. Sigyn stares at it, enjoying the gentle flicks of the flames, feeling the coziness of this place and all it represents for her.

Safety.

Solitude.

Devotion.

This haven that has been theirs. When life and war and marriage and revenge had become all too suffocating, too expectant, too grand, they'd retreated to here, deep in the woods of Asgard, where the once abandoned cabin now sits furnished and full of love. Their true selves live here. Their vulnerability and innermost desires and needs and fears paint these walls, stain the floors, breathe through the cracks under the door.

If only they could spend eternity here. If only the King wasn't all knowing and wouldn't drag them both back to the castle, slapping them with duties and shame for running away like children. If only they could steal away more than a few nights at a time in their own small slice of Valhalla.

There is no use wishing what will not come, Sigyn stretches lazily, reaching her arms up above her head and letting a yawn escape her. Odin will call us back and we will be punished and I will return to trailing behind Frigga's skirts with my head down and my lips sealed.

She settles against the cushions, scooting herself back to press against the warm body laying next to her. The flush of soothing pleasure is a luxury she relishes in, knowing these last few moments of peace will be stolen away once Odin rises with the sun. There has never been a time when he had not known that they escaped to the cabin. And yet, they continue to run through the night, holding hands and snapping at each other to keep quiet lest they be caught.

He surely knows, Sigyn rubs the sleep from her eyes. He knows and still he grants us a night together before he sends the guards to bring us home. A gift, perhaps, from the All-Father and his Queen. A mercy. A drop of gratitude for giving their child a dosage of love when others refused. Stolen nights, miniscule punishments, giving her an apprenticeship with Frigga, delaying her wedding to Theoric…it all came as gifts from Odin. An apology that he will not undo her parents blessing of proposal. He will give her these treasures. He will keep Theoric busy for a time. But he cannot take away her the hushed Yes, she uttered when the warrior asked for her hand in marriage.

She feels bile rising, making her throat ache and her stomach churn. If she had known, she would not have agreed to the marriage. If she had even the slightest hint that -

An arm comes to lay across her stomach, shushing her thoughts. Sigyn smiles and turns over. A sigh escapes her.

In the morning light, Sylvie looks angelic.