Another Time, Champ

[This story will be intertwined with the original show, but will take specific turns away from the Sylkie narrative and spend more time exploring a growing friendship/partnership/relationship between Loki and Mobius. A not-totally-unrewarded slow-burn.]

[Picks up shortly after Pompeii (the middle of episode 2), an alternate timeline replacing the post-Pompeii cafeteria talk. Mobius and Loki have been researching apocalypses, but haven't found any leads, yet.]

.

.

.

"I thought I told you to keep looking for more potential doomsdays hideouts." Mobius chided, dragging Loki by the arm down the cement hallway.

"I was." The god of mischief kept pace clumsily, needing to hunch a little.

"Yeah, okay. You know, the more you play around the more often you'll be wearing one of those." Mobius gestured at the Time Collar freshly fastened around Loki's neck. "And the longer it's gonna take us to catch this guy. What'd you do, anyways?" Mobius asked, waving the pruning stick in his hand that he had, moments ago, confiscated from a jab-happy Minuteman who had almost deleted the Asgardian prince.

"I made a few friends in the Analytics department so I could steal some records."

"Just ask for files, like a person, you don't have to steal them."

"In the excitement, I may have also broken some of their personal items… and some evidence, too."

Mobius stopped dead, frustrated, "Okay, hey, don't go messing with my team. I'm in enough hot water already. Now I gotta answer for every time I turn my back and you're on the loose clawing the curtains."

"Where are we going?"

Mobius picked up the pace again, "Well, I can't leave you alone anymore. I figured we'd come to an empty theater to keep researching on our own. Nobody uses these rooms besides us, anyways." He brought them to the door of their familiar stage, their old interrogation room. "No one wants to see me around, either. I figure we can take it easy in here and let everyone cool off for a bit, including you." He fiddled with his keycards, eyes and fingers tired from hours of page-turning.

"It's really their fault for not being more guarded. If anyone here had any intelligence they wouldn't just let me wander and talk freely."

"Well, thank god we're not so smart, 'silvertongue'." The keycard sensor beeped affirmatively. "It'd be harder for you to help us from a cell." The door opened.

Loki enjoyed hearing that old moniker, flattered by the TVA agent's breadth of knowledge about him. At least he had one last power at his disposal even here in the walls of the TVA.

"Now, get in there."

"... After you."

Putting away his wallet, Mobius cracked a smart grin, "Nuh-uh, I'm still keeping an eye on my back around you. Who knows if you nabbed a letter opener back there or something."

Pleased, Loki commended, "At least someone knows who they're dealing with."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a real genius." Mobius gave the god a playful push into the room, Loki received it with only feigned resistance.

Trying to ignore his memories of this theater, Loki quietly approached the left side of the table and noticed an assortment of alcohol, carbonated beverages, and bagged snack foods. It was the typical vending machine food available in these rooms for agents, but the liquor looked like a personal touch. Did Mobius keep this here for himself?

"What delicacies." Loki commented flatly.

Mobius dropped the heavy bundle of doomsday files that had been tucked under his arm onto the table with a thud. They cascaded onto the tabletop.

"Here, drink. Relax." Mobius put the pruning stick down on the far end of the table and grabbed the stout bottle of brown liquor in one hand, two short glasses in another, and he sat down stiffly. He swore his bones were aching from the stress.

Loki took a seat.

"Peanuts?"

The prince gave a silent 'no'.

Mobius shrugged, took a swig from a glass, and gently ripped open a bag for himself. "Sometimes it's good to just take a moment, turn off the cameras, and catch your breath. All these late-Earth apocalypses are weighing me down." The gray-haired man breathed deeply, leaned back, and closed his weary eyes, chewing. A rare moment of non-vigilance from the man.

Looking around at all the files, Loki added, "Yes, this is what happens when you let mortals govern themselves. They're very nearsighted. As god-king, you know, I had a whole plan, including just a bit of forced labor, on how to help restor-"

"Just get to work, please. I'll babysit you, but I need some quiet time." Mobius interrupted the campaign speech and draped an empty folder over his face to block out the light. He wasn't going to engage with the trouble-maker again until he had at least a half hour of peace.

Deprived of conversation, Loki glumly started to sift through the folders in front of him. He was grateful to be out of sight of the idiotic Minutemen as well as the painfully dull bureaucrats, but he had long since lost motivation in their research. None of the files seemed to have a lead. Boredom overwhelmed him. He begrudgingly opened a random folder and resumed the research he had been shirking.

After what felt like an eternity, Loki grumbled and shoved the Ice Cap Disaster file across the table, disgusted with fatigue. He wasn't made to do paperwork. He was supposed to be causing apocalypses - conquering worlds. He aimlessly shuffled papers with frustration. In response, Mobius let out a tired sigh, fully relaxed. Loki paused. He ducked to peek under Mobius' folder a little. Satisfied that the coast was clear, Loki reached into his jacket and pulled out yet another folder, adding it to the pile in front of him. However, this wasn't just another boring doomsday. It had been ridiculously easy to steal, all he had had to do was track down the right department, throw a couple trinkets around, and everyone left their desks unsupervised to report him. Imbeciles.

He quietly opened it, furtively glancing at Mobius for signs of stirring. Nothing. He turned his attention to the file completely, starting with the cover page:

"MISSION SUMMARY.

Investigating Agent: Mobius M. Mobius.

Supervisory Board Member: Judge Ravonna Renslayer

Criminal Variant: Loki Laufeyson Variant L0852

Consultant(s): Loki Laufeyson Variant L1130."

Loki glanced at the forms in the beginning of the file. Boring. He flipped through the pages to find more about himself, of course. That was why he stole it. What were they planning for him? He stopped flipping when he found his handsome mugshot paperclipped to a form: "Character Summary of Variant L1130 of Sequence Violation 780-29". His description was short, but perfect: "This variant is insubordinate, stubborn, and unpredictable". He grinned. Nothing else in his summary was new. He flipped to the most recent additions, not sure what he was looking for.

"NEXUS EVENT REPORT.

Event Details

Time Status: 1985 - Earth

Cause of Displacement: Unknown

Event Analysis: Suspect Variant L0852 attacked Hunter C-20 and team during routine reset mission.

….

Loki Laufeyson Variant L1130 obstructed the jurisdiction of Hunter B-15 and Agent Mobius M. Mobius by halting the investigation of the crime scene until a near red-line nexus event forced termination of investigation. Subject is highly confrontational, manipulative, and cannot be trusted in the field. Immediate supervisory response requested."

Lovely.

Flip.

"PROPOSED RESOLUTION.

Agent Mobius M. Mobius has accepted full responsibility, accountability, and custody of L1130. Agent Mobius has agreed to terms that, upon repeated obstruction of the ongoing investigation, L1130 may undergo deletion immediately at the order of Agent Mobius when determined by Agent Mobius to be necessary for the integrity of the mission or the Sacred Timeline.

Furthermore, it has been determined that, due to the volatile nature of L1130 and its Variant status, at the cease of investigation and the closure of L1130's Consultant Status through either the successful arrest of the criminal variant, reassignment of case load, or termination of investigation as determined by Supervisory Board Member Judge Ravonna Renslayer, Agent Mobius will assume responsibility for the immediate deletion of L1130 or the delegation of such responsibility thereof.

Supervisory Signature: R. Slayer

Acceptance of Terms Signature: MMM"

Something inside him twinged. A dreadful pulling on his organs. He re-read the last, dry paragraph several times. "At the cease of investigation… Agent Mobius will assume responsibility for the immediate deletion… or the delegation of such responsibility…." He inspected the signature of "MMM". He had guessed he'd find something like this, but seeing it was different. He glanced at the dozy man across from him. He had conveniently overlooked this detail in their talks about Loki's rewards at the end of the investigation. Surprisingly, this side of betrayal had never felt quite like this before. Loki spent some minutes in ugly silence. Confused anger welled up before being diverted into energy to scheme.

"Mobius." Loki finally broke the silence, toneless.

"Mm?"

"Why am I here, really?" He tucked the case file under the mess of papers in front of him.

"What?" Mobius removed the folder from his face to look at Loki, squinting as his eyes adjusted.

"Why did you stop my sentencing? You must've known I was going to cause you trouble." He put on an amiable expression.

"You mean, why'd I stop them from pruning you when you first got here even though you're literally a cosmic pain in the ass?" Mobius reached into the little purple bag and popped a couple peanuts in his mouth. Loki waited, back straight. "Well I- I knew you'd be our best bet. I mean, I tried. I tried finding the Variant on my own. I thought maybe if I knew more about 'Loki', I could get in his head. See how he ticks, predict his actions. But nothing. I've reviewed your timeline so many times, all the files, all the known variants. There was always something missing." Mobius swished the liquid in his cup before taking a careful sip. He didn't notice how calculated Loki's expression was.

"You've said that before. What do you mean you've reviewed my timeline?"

"You. Loki Laufeyson. Start to finish. More times than I can count." His tone was playfully tired, 'what a chore'.

"You've seen everything I've done."

"Yep, and would do, at least before you broke off the timeline."

Loki paused, processing. "… Oh no."

"What?"

"You are a fan." Loki's crocodile smile widened innocently as the joke landed.

"Ah, you'd love that. Nah, I only said that to calm your feathers." Chuckling, Mobius leaned back with his peanuts. He checked Loki's expression. Something seemed forced about it, he must want something. He conceded, "Ok, I'll admit it, I've been dubbed the 'Loki Expert' by the other analysts. And that's not the compliment you think it is. I do have your records unofficially, permanently checked out, but that's been because you're always breaking the Sacred Timeline. For once, I wish you'd just stay put."

Loki raised his eyebrows, 'Chaos is my thing'.

"But even with all that, I could never understand why you'd do this. Why ambush our people like this? It can't be for fun." As if alone in the room, the analyst continued, "I know you, I know your story. Abandoned. Vengeful. Always looking for attention." He spun peanuts on the table, getting lost in thought, "Scared, afraid of weakness. Yeah, it's all there. But I couldn't see that in-"

He stopped his analysis as he looked up. Something had flashed in Loki's smile, a microscopic flinch he had seen enough times in the video files. Something was definitely bothering this god of mischief. He eased up, lifting his chin to emerge from his psychobabble. For a moment, Mobius had forgotten to be a bit careful with Loki. It had actually been here in this room where he had stripped this Loki of his "glorious purpose", inflicted existential trauma on him for the sake of the case. He knew Loki had tried to process what he'd learned quickly, maybe too quickly, but this Loki let his emotions bubble up easier now. The god was in a state of weakness in this power dynamic and Lokis in captivity never do well. Mobius glanced at the collar. It was best to relax a little.

"I guess... I knew I couldn't do this alone. You Lokis are just too hard to figure out. I, uh, I needed a real expert." He paused to let the compliment sink in. Loki's posture responded well. Mobius didn't mind acting dumb. He might be used to using his knowledge of Loki's inner workings to convince the trickster it was his own idea to follow rules or work harder to catch the Variant, but Mobius hadn't anticipated using his Loki-expertise to calm him down or heal a ruptured ego. "You know, you're one of the cleanest Lokis to make it into the TVA, too. I mean, it's been a while since we've seen such a good example of a Loki. So close to what the Time Keepers planned for-"

"The Time Keepers didn't plan for me." Loki corrected.

"Mhm… I sure didn't, either." Mobius smiled weakly, taking another drink.

They shared eye contact; a moment of recognition of just how strange their situation and growing partnership has been. Loki softened again. He almost wanted to drop the interrogation. He knew he could drop it and carry on his plans to betray Mobius and escape, but he wasn't satisfied yet. He reached for his own cup and poured himself a healthy serving of tawny liquid.

"Yes, it's true, you all were failing miserably. Everyone here is an idiot. I really was your only hope." He swung back the entire glass. Mobius eyed him, wary. "Your mistake was that you can't know my, or any Loki's, motivations just because you're obsessed with me."

"Woah, hey, I'm not obsessed. You think I liked watching you leave a wake of death and destruction behind you everywhere you went?"

Mobius tapped his heel a couple times, eyes locked on his conversation partner, not sure what this energy was. It was starting to feel like he was under investigation. Loki nodded and poured himself another drink.

"I've lived a very long life, Mobius. It must have taken many years, or whatever it is you have here, to see all of my history and more than once, at that. You're either incredibly dull with nothing else to fill your boring existence," swig, "or you're harboring a twisted fascination with me and maybe that's what made you want to 'keep' me." His stomach turned as he said that. More alcohol scratched its way down his throat. His adam's apple chafed against his collar with every swallow. He had never felt more trapped than in this moment.

Mobius took offense, amicably. "You know they still want me to prune you - they keep nagging me to clean up my mess…. Your theatrics don't help either. People don't like the idea of you hovering around here causing trouble like you did today."

Those playful words bit down hard. Loki poured another drink. Mobius didn't stop him - best not to tell him what to do right now.

"As they shouldn't. I can't blame them. Of course they'd want you to get rid of me. They know how much of a threat I am. You'd be an idiot not to kill me." Loki tried to rationalize, humorlessly.

"Sure, champ." The agent dismissed what he had heard as a veiled threat, taking a sip.

A beat.

The silence soured.

Loki pushed back another double with attitude. Mobius lowered his cup away from his lips, watching Loki, losing relaxation.

"So... why don't you?... If I'm such a liability, why not just reset me now?" Before Mobius realized what happened, Loki had picked up the pruning stick he had forgotten about. The prince stood up and walked a few steps into the room. He assumed that regal posture he wore around enemies, twirling the stick in his hand like his old staff.

"Hey, hey, that's not a toy." Mobius warned. "They'll kill me if they see you with one of those."

Loki stared down at him silently. Mobius was unfazed. Anger tightened Loki's chest. Why isn't he responding? Why does he assume nothing will happen? By behaving this way, Loki knew he was endangering his own plan to win over this man's trust before killing the Time Keepers, but even he didn't know what he's capable of doing right now. How could this man be so calm? Mobius' certainty frustrated him to his core. The agent fished out a few more peanuts from his bag with a bothered breath, as if a child was standing in front of him throwing a tantrum. How could this senseless, pathetic, bureaucrat assume to know, better, the mind of a god?!

Activating the pruning stick's glow, Loki pushed, "Do you know what happens to someone when they're pruned? Should we find out?" The glowing end of the stick extended towards Mobius' face. Mobius leaned back, annoyed. "How close could I get to the Time Keepers if you disappeared right now?" The TVA agent only ticked his head left and gave him an impatient, contemplative stare. The belittling silence broke a dam in Loki, rage started to spew. "How far do you think you'd get without me?" The god suddenly pointed the glowing end of the stick under his own chin, the buzz of it secretly terrifying him. "You'll lose your precious promotion."

The peanuts fell to the tabletop. Mobius leaned up, finally serious. Good. Looks like Loki's silver tongue still worked.

"Hey, okay, calm down." Mobius raised his voice, now a little nervous. He realized he might've underestimated how volatile this Loki was.

They both paused, waiting for Mobius' next move.

"Loki. I've seen you at your best and at your worst. This isn't your M.O. I know you."

Wrong answer.

"Do you?! What do you know? I've been here with you, what - a week? If time even moves here. It's really insufferable how little this place makes sense." The pruning stick crackled.

Mobius understood that Loki hated being 'known'. Mobius also understood that making it clear he knew what Loki would or wouldn't do would make him feel trapped. Lokis need to be able to lie to feel safe. Even understanding this, Mobius doubled down. Where most people would back off, Mobius knew something crucial about Loki that the prince might not have known about himself: Deep down Loki wanted to be understood. He wanted to be seen, like all tricksters do. Loki wanted the attention he misbehaved for.

Mobius stood up and quietly assured him, "I know you're bluffing. You won't prune me or yourself."

"Why, because I'm actually just a 'hurt little boy' inside? Isn't that what you called me? Is it because you actually think I want to be 'good'? Spare me. I've killed people for less." Loki hated it as he heard himself say it. He sounded like his old self. A pathetic dog, barking from a corner.

"Oh, I know, I've seen the body count…. If we were somewhere or somewhen else I don't doubt I wouldn't last long. But you love yourself too much and without me you'd never have a shot at seeing the Time Keepers…." Mobius stayed firm, blue eyes searching his own frantically for a lie that wasn't there. "That's why you're going to give that back to me and then we'll finish our drinks together. We'll forget it. No harm, no foul."

"Ha. This isn't your beloved timeline. Anything could happen here. No second chances. It's ironic but the TVA might really be the last place where choices and chaos have any real meaning anymore. I finally have free will. Maybe this is exactly what I should be doing. This is what I'm meant for."

Mobius flinched. This was getting out of hand. Loki was falling back on old habits, talking about destiny. It's so hard to get through to him when he falls into glorious purposing again. With a grunt, Mobius reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the Time Twister dial.

"Really? Such a boring answer." With the butt of the stick, Loki hit the Twister out of Mobius' hand in an instant. It flew across the room. "Just more manipulation. Keeping me on a short leash, your little pet. Throw me scraps, dress me up, give me a drink, act like you need me, then erase me. You think I don't know what's going to happen once I help you find the Variant?..."

Mobius kept a straight face despite what he thought was a good guess.

"If you think you know me from watching me my whole life, cataloguing my good and bad deeds - if you know me so well then what's going to happen right now?...What does the Loki Expert say?" He started to backstep towards the door.

Mobius followed, calmly, raising a hand. Anxiety rising in his chest, but not in his voice. "Loki…", he called quietly.

It worked, Loki paused. It wasn't because the analyst had any authority over him. It was because for the first time since arriving at the TVA, someone said his name as if he wasn't an object, as if he wasn't just one of a million nuisances- disposable.

"Come on. The alcohol's going to your head." Mobius suggested lightly.

"No." Maybe.

"Loki, we can talk about this."

Ridiculous. Loki laughed out loud, "It's so amusing. You have no idea how trapped you are…. And I- I'm the prisoner of a prisoner. Worse, the plaything - an animal. A collar on my neck and a brand on my back…" Frustrated more than ever, Loki started to pull at his jacket. He was sick of being covered in this grotesque place. "I... am a god! A born king-!" After one arm was free of the jacket, Mobius took the opening as Loki absent-mindedly tried to free his other arm of its sleeve. Suddenly, Loki felt the man grab the stick and step between his legs, a foot hooking around his left ankle. With a push, they both stumbled onto the steps behind Loki.

"Ok, easy. Easy." Mobius soothed as he fixed his grip on Loki's hands in an effort to prevent him from pointing the pruning stick anywhere but away from them. He didn't know why he thought this was a good idea. Mobius knew that Loki, even without powers, was a better fighter than him. Even living in a timeless world Mobius still felt a creak in his joints while the ancient Asgardian he was crouching over, pinning down to the steps, was still an ageless entity in his prime; roughly in his twenties, in Asgardian years. Mobius felt just a fraction of Loki's strength pushing back against him and it was almost more than the gray-haired man could handle. Mobius tucked away the jealousy and bitter admiration as expertly as he tucked away any sense of ego or desire, it was all useless in the TVA. The question remaining was why wasn't Loki resisting such a half-baked move?

"What is it then? How many of me have you pruned?" Loki didn't care that he'd been pushed down. It didn't matter. He had been held down since he got to the TVA. Answers were what he needed and he knew he finally had Mobius' undivided attention.

"What are you even talking about?"

"I can't be the first. You know me so well, you know when I'm lying - no one can do that. Your job is to hunt me for sport. I can't trust that this is the first time you've caged a Loki. To poke and laugh at. To you and everyone - I'm nothing but another Loki that can't be allowed to go on-"

"It's my job, Loki! None of this is personal." This was getting too serious. Loki stared up at him, unblinking, with enough anger to worry about. Still, he didn't push Mobius away.

"Have we had this talk before, shared drinks before? Are you acting out a sick dream - was watching me not enough? You had to catch a Loki, take away his destiny, his power, make him trust you, need you, beg for freedom, and then start it over and over again. Did you ever delete me yourself or did you just send me off to the slaughter like chattel?"

"You're the first! The only." Both paused in reaction to Mobius' tone. "Don't flatter yourself. You think I could handle more than one of you? You're exhausting... Not all of us are obsessed with power and control. I don't want to cage you, there's no sick dream. And 'chattel'? Come on. That's not what we do, we're just trying to-"

"Then, will you do it? When I've served my purpose."

Mobius met his eyes. They needed the truth. "... I don't know", Mobius surrendered, honestly. He had tried not to think about it. He had almost convinced himself this could go on. Loki looked up at him with that cornered expression. It reminded him of what he'd seen in the video files of the painful first fight he had with Thor. But even that Loki has been wilted and changed by the TVA. Mobius had been noticing that Loki had already lost some of his cheeky regal flare. The prince's shoulders slumped these days more like his own. The weight of being powerless had finally touched the uncatchable, unsinkable, young Prince-God of Mischief. As the one with the key to the collar wrapped around his neck, Mobius felt uncomfortably responsible. "That's enough, Loki, please let's just go back to work." His grip weakened. "Who knows what'll happen after we catch this guy, but maybe we can figure somthi-"

"Mobius, I can't stay here forever. We can't be friends. You say you know me but I know power. The Time Keepers won't want me after we're done, I'm a threat. And they're right. I'll kill them at the first opportunity. After we're done, you'll get the victor's parade- 'Oh, clever Mobius, the hero of the TVA', and I'll turn to vapor."

Mobius knew Loki was right. Something warm and tense filled his chest. Anger? At the TVA. When did that get there? This conversation had to end.

"What's with you? What's with the monologues and scare tactics? What happened to the silently scheming guy who never shows his cards because he believes, no matter what, he'll figure out a way to win on his own?"

"I'm not your Sacred Timeline Loki anymore. I need to know who I can trust."

Surprise shook the analyst. 'Trust is for children and dogs' wasn't not so long ago. This Loki has been growing in new ways.

"So will you do it? Will you delete me? Or just have D-30 or X-11, or whatever those ants are called, do it? If I had nothing more you wanted would you do it now?... Why not save yourself the time - mustn't get too attached." The buzz of the pruning stick approached their ears as Loki overpowered the man.

"Stop! That isn't fair." Mobius struggled uselessly. "I can't help the orders that come down to me."

"What an absurd joke."

"These forces are bigger than me or you or what we want! Balance is what keeps the universe and us safe!" He raised his voice.

Loki hadn't seen Mobius lose control of his tone and expression like this before. He liked it. He pushed harder. "Us? Who is this for? I'm as good as dead in their hands. And you, you're nothing in this world or the timeline down there. You're less than a ghost. There is no one and nothing for you. This balance you're defending is a poison. Complacency and idle evil. Keeping us from-"

"From what, 'glorious purpose'?" Mobius mocked, landing a hit.

"... Keeping us from choosing to take what we want, from being fully alive. Don't you, for one second in your empty, pointless, pathetic existence as a peon, want anything?"

With that Mobius released Loki's hands. He lost all strength and will with that question. He should've known better than to duel words with a Loki, he knew right where to hit.

He pushed off of Loki, getting on to his feet slowly. "… heh." He exhaled wistfully. He turned his back, leaving Loki on the steps with the pruning stick, and made his way back to the table. He leaned against the side of it, half-sitting. He didn't care about subduing him anymore. For the moment, he knew Loki wanted to live, even if just to hurt him, and for that moment Mobius wasn't too bothered about whatever happened to himself. "I'm not sure what I want anymore. Or if I ever knew at all. I don't think I can. I wasn't made to want. I was made to catch bad guys…."

Mobius' candor brought Loki to his feet.

"I have one wrinkled magazine of something I feel I could want. A stupid jet ski… what would I do with one? Ride it down the hallways?" Pain leaked into his chuckle. He looked at the 'cosmic pain in the ass' in front of him, he saw he needed more. Mobius knew he had to keep being honest or risk being betrayed within the next few hours. "Alright, alright… uh... I think I wanted... I wanted you."

He received a surprised, quizzical look.

"Don't get too excited. Not that way. I wanted to… help you."

"You wanted my help." A correction.

"Yeah, I wanted your help. Of course, that's what I wanted mostly. But I also… I think I was making excuses. That never happens. I never do that. I heard that there was a new Loki here and… it was you. Not some strange Loki I'd never seen before. It was you, fresh off the Timeline. Still wild, self-obsessed, deluded." Mobius smirked at the ground the same way he had when they first met in the courtroom. "Exactly as I'd seen so many times in those files. I saw you and you still had so much life in you… I couldn't let them do it. I knew I could convince Ravonna to let you off the hook to help me, so I did." Mobius exhaled, slightly abashed. Ravonna's words came back to him, 'I know you have a soft spot for broken things', he cringed to himself.

"… so you wanted to help me?", Loki jeered. "Why would I need your help?" True to Loki fashion, give him your vulnerability and he swings it back at you like a blunt object.

"Oh, come on. You were seconds from being pruned. You were shaking in your boots. You got a glimpse behind the curtain and saw your life purpose - all that fire and ambition - was just a script, a role, you were a pawn in someone else's story-"

"I'm no paw-" Loki's interruption was interrupted.

"A tool for someone else to use. Just a gear in the machine that's only there to keep other gears turning. A footnote in someone else's story. An ant… A peon."

Understanding washed over Loki.

"Like you?"

"… Like me."

Mobius crossed his arms and ankles, uncomfortable. Exposed. Loki took a few steps closer.

"You and I are opposites, Loki. I'm literally made to protect balance and harmony and you for-"

"-the annihilation of all who oppose me on my ascension to power."

"... Yeah, that… but somehow our stories are the same. We're not the main characters. We're just stepping stones. We're target practice. Tools for the big guys."

They paused, both thinking deeply.

"Ok, that's it. That's me, Loki. 'Empty'... You happy?" Mobius rubbed his face with an exhausted, embarrassed sigh.

The pruning stick clattered to the floor. They checked each other. After a moment, tension left both their shoulders. Loki approached Mobius' side, voice low. He leaned against the table, facing Mobius entirely. The agent crossed his arms again and looked down at the floor in front of him.

"I'm not in the Time Keeper's story anymore, Mobius. And you aren't either." His voice was soft. It was the closest thing to comforting as Mobius had ever heard it anywhere. He waited- what could Loki gain from being kind right now? "Don't you see? We don't need them. We're here. Safe from the timeline. Alive and free... We could chart out a new future. Together." Surprised, again, Mobius turned and looked up at Loki, the god's eyes had been searching him so closely. Mobius felt a vague sense of stage fright. No one had ever looked at him this intently before, no one had ever wanted something from him like this before. "We can make our own story. No TVA, no Time Keepers, no more gears…." Did he know he was whispering now? Mobius kept eye contact. "We could bring healthy chaos back into the Universe... and finally give chase to what we want." Loki's bright, wide eyes seemed to plead for confirmation, but there was also an excitement. It was a familiar, wanting, glint. Mobius had seen it when Loki would occasionally seduce his prey. He never knew he'd be at the receiving end - it didn't seem real, and maybe it wasn't. Maybe his Loki-expertise was failing him again. But if it was real, and if he admitted that his dusty heart had swelled for a moment, then Loki's powers of seduction must not have been magical after all. They were also strong enough to get a microscopic rise out of this old, want-less man.

Mobius stopped holding his breath. He managed to look away and cleared his throat. "Nice try... But I won't fall for any of those infamous seductive wiles of yours. I've seen you use them too many times. You're a dish, Loki, but you won't turn me against the TVA that easily." Mobius expertly deflated the moment of any drama or expectation, the young god blinked with confusion. The spell had been broken for both of them.

Loki fought against the haze of the previous moment, he had lost himself a little in his attempt to get through to Mobius. "... 'Dish'? No,no. I-I think you misunderstood me, I was just discussing a partnership, a rebellion - I wasn't-"

"Yeah, yeah, cool your pants down."

"I don't mean. It's not that I'm not flattered- Or that you're not... appealing-".

"Oh, stop, you're making this old man blush." Mobius slapped the confused prince's knee and pushed off the table, walking towards the door. A flustered Loki would've been adorable if he hadn't been such a damn pain a minute ago. "Come on. Let's go for a walk, the energy in here is weird now." He grunted as he picked up the pruning stick, "You done almost killing us?"

Mobius turned back to Loki. Loki's face softened into a small grin. He nodded. All was forgiven.

"Good, I can't take all the dramatics anymore." Mobius picked up the jacket from the floor, "No more drinking for you, ever. Just soda pop." He held out the jacket to Loki, who accepted it gently before putting it back on.

"I'm over a thousand years old, you know."

"And?"

"I believe I'm the senior here, 'old' man." Loki untucked his hair from his collar with his usual flare. He straightened out his silhouette handsomely.

"Oh. I don't know how old I am, if I am an age. But, yeah, I know you're older than dirt. Like I said, I know almost everything about you - from your first prank on Thor to.. well, to now." Mobius turned to the door.

"Yes. How discomforting." Loki followed closely behind.

"But Loki…" Mobius paused with his hand on the door. He looked over his shoulder. "...for better or for worse… I, uh, I realize you're not the Loki I thought I knew anymore. Maybe it's the stale air here in the TVA or the new digs, but you're new. I've never seen this before." The god's eyes panicked under the judgment. "I like him. Free will looks good on you." Mobius smirked, his hand lingered on Loki's shoulder after a friendly pat.

Loki betrayed himself with a real smile.

"Just, please, stop trying to betray me and get in my pants."

A moment of fun passed for Loki as Mobius shuffled on the spot awkwardly, "Ok, that came out wrong…. Forget it, you know what I meant. Let's go." Mobius quickly opened the door and started them on his usual fast-paced jaunt through the halls of the TVA. Loki had enjoyed the backfired innuendo. It had caused a nice change in complexion in the TVA agent.

Keeping pace with Mobius, the revitalized Loki started to scheme again - gleefully this time. Knowing Mobius' sympathies for him changed things. He wasn't alone. He might have an ally. He wasn't going to die here. He would try to trust this man - his custodian, the TVA agent who had agreed to delete him, the one who knows him from start to finish like some kind of paper-pushing guardian angel.

Loki peaked down at the tired, kind face of the man beside him, the analyst was already lost in thought again, brow creased. Replaying the conversation they just had, Loki realized his own safety wasn't his only concern anymore. For the first time in a long while, Loki started to hatch a plan that involved saving someone else, too.

He grinned, strangely excited, proud. Motivated.

He lifted his chin, "Since you know everything about me, I feel things are a bit imbalanced. You'll need to tell me more about you- I need to have leverage for our next fight."

Happily, he had teased another smile from the gray-haired man.

"Another time, champ."

.

.

.

[Next time: Chapter 2 will be uploaded tomorrow. Expect some secret fieldwork and investigation shenanigans….]