[The two are still researching doomsdays. As the cafeteria talk has now never happened, they never remembered the Kablooie gum lead. They resort to other methods.]

.

.

.

"Okay, pick a good one." Mobius ordered.

"Me? Why should I pick?"

"I don't know, at this point I figured you could try to use your Loki senses to hone in and feel out which one you'd like to visit. Which apocalypse would you, or another Loki, want to see?"

The two men stood side by side and looked down at their neatly stacked folders on the library table. Each file had been consumed front to back at least twice after countless hours of research shared between the two. Loki concentrated on the pile, 'honing'.

"... I haven't an idea."

"Okay, well, if you had to spend time anywhere besides Asgard where would it be?" Mobius offered impatiently, grasping at straws.

"Midgard."

"Okay, great." He stared back at the table."That narrows it down to just a couple thousand..."

"Well. Actually." Loki perked up, remembering something."I'd always been fascinated by stories of a particular Midgardian apocalypse."

"Yeah?" The agent took his hands out of his pockets, ready for a lead.

"… The lost city of Atlantis." Dramatic pause.

They stared at each other.

"I can't believe this." Mobius groaned.

"What?"

"You really wanted to rule the entire planet of Earth and you didn't bother learning that Atlantis was just a myth?!" Mobius whisper-yelled.

"Well, you can never trust mortal historians. They die so quickly. When I first heard about it hundreds of years ago, it was fact! How am I supposed to know it had been a legend? I was a legend, too! It's a lot to keep up with-" Loki made excuses, Mobius lost a bit of his patience.

"Sh, sh. Okay, okay, let's just think." The agent tried to refocus.

Loki looked back at the messy pile. His eyes widened with a new idea. "No. Actually, let's not." He lunged over the table suddenly and started mixing up the folders into a random order.

"Hey, what are you doing? I just organized those." Mobius stomped lightly with annoyance as the prince continued to shuffle away his work.

"We have a pile of possible hideouts here based on their ease of access to supplies and the amount of time a Variant could hide in one without triggering any Variance Energy or being caught up in the apocalypse itself. These doomsdays had hideouts that had a grace period of at least 48 hours, right?"

"Yeah." Mobius agreed curtly.

"So why don't we just..." Loki scrunched his eyes shut dramatically and held out an arm over the pile.

"Play hide and seek?" The agent mocked.

Loki's shoulders slumped with theatrical disappointment. "No. Why don't we just pick one?" He closed his eyes again, outstretched his arm, swayed it back and forth. He finally landed his finger on one file. He scooped it up excitedly. Mobius watched the whole ceremony in amused disbelief.

"Your brain is either fried or this is a ploy to get out of reading more paperwork. Either way it's a terrible idea."

"Why is it terrible?!"

"Sh!" They were interrupted by a neighbor at a nearby table. Loki gave them a bratty glance, Mobius waved apologetically. Mobius looked at Loki as he turned back to him. The god was so enthusiastic Mobius had to smirk as he leaned in to listen to his whispered babbling. "If this Variant is a Loki, spending years on the run, he would think of this eventually, as well. If I got this idea, he would, too. Additionally, he couldn't possibly stay in one doomsday his whole life, he would've needed to jump from one apocalypse to another and another."

"Okay, true." Mobius conceded.

"We've curated this selection for the optimal conditions. This is the best of the best. The Variant would've made a similar list. Who's to say he isn't hiding out at any one or all of these right now? But we won't know unless we start searching(!)"

Why didn't this sound so crazy after all? "... You might have a point."

"Yes!" Loki exclaimed, looking down at him with a toothy grin, pleased with himself.

"SH!"

Mobius watched as Loki gave their neighbor an intimidating sneer this time and chuckled quietly. His energy was contagious. "Okay, so, what do you got there?" Mobius gestured at the file Loki had eenie-meenied out of the pile.

"Oh, um…" He flipped it open, "A meteor crashing into 'resort moon', Pylea. 620, Rigel cluster." He didn't know what he was reading, this file had been one of Mobius'.

"Fancy. How long's the grace period?"

"50 hours."

Mobius nodded, crossing his arms. Loki watched him closely, waiting anxiously. "Better start packing up."

With that Loki flashed a, somehow, even wider grin - a harmless, charming alternative to his typical predatory or insincere smiles. Mobius quietly enjoyed how he could bring out that side of the god, which had been so rare in the video files, so easily these days. He felt something like trust forming for the 'scamp'.

Loki made a running start towards the locker room, barreling ahead of a now less-annoyed Mobius.

"Oh, and Loki!"

The god stopped, turning back to him.

"Try not to be so excited." Mobius reminded him, "This isn't a theme park."

Loki gave him a look that said, I beg to differ, before resuming his bee-line to the locker room.

After preparing their effects in the locker room, they decided to meet at the library. Mobius took time to collect supplies as Loki paced in the stacks, catching a concerned eye or two. It felt like an hour before he saw Mobius approach, clad in his fieldwork jacket and juggling a couple of devices. Loki looked around the man as he approached, confused. "Where's the team? My favorite hunter?" He asked ironically.

"Uh, they're not coming." Mobius explained. He pointed deeper into the stacks as he kept walking past Loki.

"What, did they turn us down?" Loki followed.

"I, uh, I didn't tell them we were going." Mobius abbreviated. In truth, he hadn't wanted to talk to Ravonna. Strictly speaking, he should have asked Ravonna's permission to go out in the field and he should have gone with an entourage of Minutemen and their leader, B-15. But he was already on thin ice because of Loki, and he didn't want to risk what they had going in case this was a bust. If he kept it off the books then no one needed to know if it was a waste of time. As long as they were careful, everything would be alright. Mobius stopped several rows deeper into the archives, no one was around, but the shelves seemed to be even closer together, a little claustrophobic.

"Agent Mobius." Loki pretended to be scandalized, meeting Mobius where he stopped. "Are you saying you're going to be using TVA resources without permission? What about your precious Event Detail forms? Aren't there mountains of papers to fill out for these excursions?"

"Oh, mountain ranges." Mobius corrected as he took out his TemPad. "But since this isn't a real lead, I'm not going to bother Hunter B-15 and her team. They're sick of us, anyway." He tapped the coordinates into the little screen.

"We're leaving now? Here?" Loki was surprised.

"No time like the present."

Loki nodded, pleased he didn't have to wait any longer.

"But, Loki, if we see anything try not to engage, okay? This is strictly just a reconnaissance mission. If we can verify that the Variant is there, if we see him or just see an obvious anachronism, we come back and get back-up. Since this isn't a nexus event, as long as we return to the same time coordinates, he'll still be there no matter how long we take to prepare back here at the TVA." Mobius explained. He checked through his pockets, confirming he brought everything. He looked calm, but his mind was racing. He was breaking so many rules. If anyone found out, they'd both be in trouble. What was he doing? Maybe, even though he had felt guilty for caging a Loki, he had forgotten he was in the cage with him. Mobius had been a famous stickler till now. They were both changing a little.

"Before we go," Loki interrupted Mobius' worrying, "would you mind if you…." He trailed off, pointing at the collar around his neck.

"Oh, right." Mobius, still uncomfortable about the collar, went to reach into his jacket for the Time Twister to unlock it. His rational mind woke up suddenly. "Wait. What if you make a run for it?" He realized that taking Loki out onto the Sacred Timeline without a collar had been fine before because they could catch him if he ran off by tracking his Variance Energy, but where they were going Loki could slip away undetected.

"To die on a desolate moon?"

"I don't know - I've seen you have crazier plans. Sometimes you run face-first into danger to get out of it. You're slippery."

"Mobius." Loki's voice dropped to a soft, solemn register. "I swear on my heart that I will not attempt to escape your captivity." He teased.

Mobius paused, smirking. Worry fading slightly.

"Your heart? You got one of those to swear on?"

"Last I checked." Loki reassured with humor.

"… Alright. But if you get yourself in trouble…." He retrieved the Time Twister from his pocket. "I won't be able to help you. These guys aren't kidding anymore. One more slip up and they'll make me…. You know." Mobius couldn't quite say it like he used to.

"Delete me?"

Mobius gave him a curt nod. Loki appreciated how bothered Mobius seemed to be now at the idea of killing him. In Loki's life, that had been a rare compliment that only Thor and a few others had afforded him.

The agent gestured to Loki to come closer. He obliged, leaning down a few inches. Mobius fumbled with the dial for a moment before reaching up. He brushed some of Loki's hair aside to get to the lock. Loki instinctively stretched his neck. They both secretly felt a strange energy around the moment despite having put on and taken off the collar several times before. Looking at Mobius' shoulder, Loki noticed the smell of aftershave. He glanced at the side of Mobius' face. The prince caught himself starting to feel a tenderness for the man. He wasn't sure if he had ever had what others would call a 'friend'. Someone more than a means or an end.

As Mobius unlatched the collar, pulling it from around his neck, Loki's voice almost startled him, "If something happens, Mobius, I promise I won't put you in that position." A compromise, rare for Lokis, but not quite enough.

The agent gave him a look. "Nothing's going to happen. Right?"

Loki smiled like he had a secret. Mobius searched his face, losing a little ground. They had less than a foot between them. The cart of an archivist squeaked nearby, the analyst flinched away, clearing his throat. He tucked the Time Collar in his pocket. "I'm holding onto this, okay?" He failed to sound intimidating, amusing Loki.

"Okay, let's go." Mobius kept his eyes on the carpet as he walked past Loki.

He pulled out his TemPad again and after a few taps a gate appeared. With one last glance at each other they stepped through it and it closed quietly behind them.

Loki stepped through the gate and was met with blinding sunlight. He squinted, too used to the dim lighting of the TVA. Looking around he saw Mobius ahead of him, and in front of both of them an olympic-sized swimming pool adorned with towering fountains, a two-story mini-bar, and a couple dozen life forms wandering around. Loki blindly followed Mobius, who had already shut the gate behind them. Mobius had walked through thousands of gates in his life, he knew how to adjust fast. He came to a stop just as they approached the side of the pool. Loki kept walking, Mobius put out an arm to block Loki from falling in.

"Where is-" Loki was interrupted.

"Welcome to Plyea! We hope you're enjoying your stay!" A robot greeted them as it rolled by them, playing soothing Muzak. "Be sure to try our specials at the Star cafe today!" Mobius gave it a little nod. Loki watched it roll away with a troubled face, trying to understand what was going on.

The agent took a deep breath, the air was fresher than on Earth and the sky was mostly a vibrant orange, and beyond the pool was an endless, untouched landscape of alien hills, cliffs, waterfalls, and mountains to enjoy. "This is nice." He judged, hands on his hips, surveying the 5-star resort-style pool amenities in front of him and the scenery beyond.

Loki blinked, watching what he assumed was a family(?) of alien life forms crawl over to the pool on their tentacles. Loki had never kept up with his studies of other aliens, he had always just stayed close to the Nine Realms. Everyone, whatever they were, seemed calm and peaceful. "Yes. Lovely." Another couple of more bug-like aliens enjoyed a fluorescent drink under the shade of a large umbrella. "You know… this isn't the desperate inferno I was expecting."

"You disappointed?" Mobius raised his eyebrows, "Were you hankering to see some prolonged suffering?" He started walking towards a pair of enormous crystal doors that led into a lobby of a hotel built to accommodate creatures much larger than themselves. Loki haphazardly followed behind.

"No, but-" Loki bumped into an alien he didn't even get a good look at as he struggled to keep up, "this isn't how I'd picture the end of a world."

Mobius stopped abruptly, speaking quietly, "First, again, I know you had your fun at Pompeii, but we're here for a sensitive mission this time. No 'end of the world talk', these people have no idea what's going to happen, we don't want to cause a panic and alert the Variant." Loki opened his mouth to combat the use of the word 'people' here, but Mobius, knowing the prince had nothing good to say, kept talking. "Second, it's a resort moon, not a world. Third, this place was made for the rich to wine, dine, and schmooze - they didn't keep a very good planetary defense team." Mobius glanced over Loki's shoulder, seeing another guest coming their way. He grabbed Loki's arm and pulled him off to the side, next to the perfectly sculpted pink topiaries. He started whispering, "The meteor that's going to hit us in about," he checked his watch, "ten and a half hours actually slingshots off that the gravitational field of that planet which accelerates it so fast no one here saw it coming until about an hour before the impact." Loki squinted up at the planet Mobius pointed at. He realized that the sky he had thought was orange was actually an orange gas planet that took up most of the sky - the sky was actually blue, like on Earth, but you could only see a small patch of it near the horizon. Loki stared into space, catatonic, but Mobius continued his history lesson, "You know, this is actually why they don't build on moons so close to their planets anymore. And they upped Meteor Watch regulations for the entire galaxy." He peered into the distance, "Not that this situation never happened before to smaller moons, but all it takes is a couple of scared wealthy folks and suddenly…."

Mobius looked at Loki to see if the implication landed. He saw Loki adjust to his surroundings, squinting with disgust at the aliens enjoying their last vacation. Mobius remembered that the prince had been a bit sheltered before New York. Loki looked at Mobius, again, obviously not catching the implication about wealth disparity.

"Yeah, you probably wouldn't get what I meant by that, but, just so you know, most people in the history of the universe weren't hand-fed dinner by servants every night till they were 53." Mobius teased, adjusting Loki's jacket.

"How'd you-" The prince almost asked, but he remembered the answer. "Right."

"Come on, follow me, Dorothy." The joke was lost on the Asgardian, of course, but Mobius just liked saying it.

*Ding*

Mobius rang the counter bell and waited patiently.

"How can I help you?" A lizard-like alien with 4 arms and a pair of colorful glasses greeted Mobius in a language Loki knew wasn't English, but it was still somehow translated into English in his mind.

"Hi, my name's Mobius, I just had a question about one of your guests here." He asked casually, somehow also speaking the otherworldly language fluently.

"Wait, how'd -" Loki tried to ask.

"Don't worry about it." Mobius replied in English, waving the question away. "TVA secrets." Mobius turned back to the receptionist and spoke in mostly tongue-rolls, "We're meeting a friend here. A humanoid, alone, a drifter. Might look like my friend here." Mobius put his hand on Loki's shoulder. The lizard blinked through their glasses at Loki, expressionless. "Isn't he handsome?" Mobius suggested, trying to put some charm on his request.

The lizard stared humorlessly at Mobius before replying, "A moment, sir." They turned to their computer-like device and started typing.

Mobius exhaled through tense cheeks, tough room. Loki raised his eyebrows at Mobius about that comment.

"Just a bit of humor to seem inconspicuous." He reasoned in English.

"It's not a joke, I am handsome." Loki objected, matter-of-fact, sensitive.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Shut up.

The receptionist leaned back their way, "I have no humanoids staying here except a Kree couple on the 5th floor."

"Right. Well, thank you." Mobius tapped the table and pushed himself away from it. The Variant they were after was probably not a Kree couple.

Loki followed Mobius into the middle of the giant, swanky lobby, "So, was that supposed to be a dead end?"

"Hey, it was worth a shot." Mobius defended, a little fed up with Loki's lack of assistance. "Wouldn't you want to stay in a fancy resort room, silk sheets and private pools. You're a pampered prince." Loki gave Mobius a displeased look. Mobius persisted, "You'd like to be comfortable, right?"

"Well, yes, I do have high standards," He conceded, "... but I wouldn't ask for room."

"Good point. Let's go." With that the pair power-walked to the elevator.

After a moment of figuring out the buttons Mobius was able to decipher the complicated system as he was overly familiar with the elevator at the TVA which was much more complicated. They arrived at the next floor with a *ping*.

Mobius walked into the hallway, taking lead, "Okay, we should probably try to scope out any vacant rooms in case he's squatting in one," he said in English for Loki. A couple walked by him, they, of course, wouldn't know English as it hadn't been invented yet, but he gave them a neighborly nod as they stared at him. They probably weren't used to seeing humanoids. Wait, they had only been looking at him. Mobius realized he had lost sight of Loki. He turned around, looking anxiously.

"Loki!" He whisper-yelled.

That's when he spotted him. He was pushing a room service cart.

"What are you doing?!" Mobius paced over to him quickly.

"Blending in!" Loki answered as if it were obvious. Before Mobius could scold him, he saw the real Room Service, big and mean-looking, come out of a room down the hallway. They looked around for their cart in a panic.

"Nevermind, just get in there!" Just in time, Mobius grabbed a master keycard laying on the top of the cart and opened the nearest door, pushing Loki in first. By some miracle, Room Service had just missed them and the room they dove into was empty.

Mobius caught his breath. This had been a bad idea.

"I thought you were the God of Mischief and Espionage, not the God of Almost Getting Yourself Caught!"

"Hey. It's been a rough time for me with disguises and espionage, losing my powers has made me weak, they take consistent practice." He doled out his excuses defensively. "But I'd like to remind you that I'm the one who has had all the ideas!"

"You've had two ideas:", Mobius put two fingers up and counted them off, exasperated, "Apocalypses and Eenie Meenie Miney Moe. That's it!" He waved his hands empathically before rubbing his forehead.

Loki took it upon himself to assume the 'cool-headed leader' role, now that it was apparently vacant. "Mobius, it's okay, we just have to calm down." He approached the man, putting his hands on both his shoulders, wearing a confident smile. Mobius looked off to the right, annoyed. Loki insisted, "Between the two of us, we'll figure something out."

Click.

"And here is your room, we hope it's to your liking..." A voice spoke in the alien language from the door that was opening behind them.

"Get, get!" Mobius grabbed Loki, who was already grabbing him.

Panic set it and they pulled each other into the bathroom, scrambling onto the floor clumsily. Loki closed it behind them and locked it loudly.

"Shush!"

"Shush." Loki responded, indignant.

They waited quietly for a second. They heard voices engage in small talk in the room. Mobius looked around at himself and Loki, crouching on a dark bathroom floor, hiding from people who were about to die anyway, no leads, and no good ideas between them. He cringed to himself and sat down, leaning his back against the tub. How'd he get caught up in this? Usually, these missions are more organized. He regretted not biting the bullet and bringing a team.

"Loki, what are we even doing here?", he whispered. "That's it. I'm calling this off." Mobius dug into his jacket for his TemPad.

"No, no, hey." Loki grabbed Mobius' hand, stopping him, crouching closer. "We're here. We can do this." He whispered.

"Look at us!" Mobius retorted quietly.

"I know this isn't the most ideal of circumstances, but it's too early to give up now."

They glanced at the door as they heard the guests laughing (?) together, still distracted.

"Mobius." Loki asked for his focus. "We can do this. We don't need a team of Minutemen to find a Loki. You and I are the best team for finding him. Between us there's nothing we don't know about him. Most importantly, we know we can find him because Lokis tend to attract attention."

"Yeah, that's exactly the problem!" Mobius gestured accusingly at the scene-causing Loki in front of him. "Even if these people are gone soon anyways, if we make a scene getting ourselves thrown out of the hotel, we might tip off the Variant that we're here. And that means one of two things: either the Variant abandons the site and we're back to square one, or, worse, the Variant decides he's hungry for some more TVA blood and no one's going anywhere." As he said it out loud Mobius realized he'd been picking up bad habits from Loki; he had brought them into this situation without clearance, protection, or even notifying anyone who could help in an emergency. For what? Adventure? To show himself and the TVA that they could do this? Mobius' panic solidified into a stone in his stomach, he was an idiot. Just follow the rules, Mobius, they're there for a reason.

Loki, exhilarated by the fresh air and the chance to be right, continued making his case, "But! Now that I'm not in the TVA, I can do things like this." Loki's suit suddenly transformed into his typical King Loki regalia: leather, horns, and all.

Mobius' fight or flight response kicked in for a moment, "Stop that! You're freaking me out. That's like waving a big 'I'm a Loki' sign over your head!" He gave Loki a shove with his foot and the illusion fell away.

"Mobius, Mobius. Relax." Loki touched his shoulder, suddenly aware of how seeing timeline-Loki right now probably didn't instill confidence. "Think about it. The Variant only ever kills Minutemen and steals reset charges. We don't have either of those." Loki soothed.

Mobius begrudgingly accepted that he had a point.

"And you're forgetting. I'm not TVA. I'm a Loki. And I can protect you." The god offered, seriously.

Loki, volunteering as a protector. For a TVA agent. It was too outlandish. He searched the god's eyes and saw only sincerity. Mobius suddenly realized how hot his hand felt, and how closely Loki had been crouching over to him.

"A Loki against a Loki. I don't know about those odds, but, thanks. I appreciate that…. Can I have my hand back now?" Mobius looked down at Loki's hand grabbing his own.

"Oh." Loki realized and quickly released Mobius. He leaned back. A moment passed, the panic dissipated. The muffled voices continued.

"Okay, here, I've got an idea." Loki stood up. He offered a helping hand to Mobius. He looked up at Loki and with an amused shake of his head, he accepted it.

Outside the bathroom, the three aliens continued to talk, deep in an engrossing conversation, when suddenly they heard the bathroom door open. Out came two humanoids. One tall with dark hair, dressed as a bellhop and the other a gray-haired humanoid in a suit.

"Very good, well, thank you for providing a tour of this suite. I don't think I'll take it. Do you have a bigger room?" The non-bellhop asked woodenly.

"Right away, sir." The bellhop directed the man to the door theatrically with perfect posture. He gave a wide smile to the trio in the middle of the room. The non-bellhop went out the door in a hurry before the bellhop said, "On to the honeymoon suite," before closing the door behind him.

The three in the room stared at the door in confusion for a moment and then returned to their conversation, a little thrown off but still unbothered.

Loki and Mobius caught their breath for a second outside the door. Mobius shot his bellhop friend a dirty look for enjoying his role a little too much. Loki grinned and the costume fell away.

"Okay, now that we're out of that, we need to lay low for a couple hours. The less we do, the more likely we won't be noticed first by the Variant. What we need is a stake out." Mobius launched back towards the elevator.

"Should we go to the bar?"

"Not after the last time you had alcohol in you." Mobius wagged a finger at the idea. "Besides, it's too out in the open. We need a place where no one will see us, but we see everyone."

And like that Mobius felt the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He stopped for a second, looking up, and sighed with frustration that he hadn't thought of it sooner.

A sleepy security guard adjusted in a squeaky chair, ignoring the security camera screens, instead fiddling with a personal communication device. Suddenly, a knock on the door.

"Hello?", the guard called in the alien language, peering out the doorway.

"Hello." Loki's voice rang out from the empty air, playfully. Before the guard could react to the disembodied voice, a thud landed on their head and they fell to the ground. Loki appeared, invisibility wearing off.

"You're too good at that." Mobius remarked as he came around the corner and walked by them into the security room, he was a little disturbed by seeing one of Loki's old tricks done in person.

"Centuries of practice." Loki dragged the guard into the room. He noticed a utility closet that would do nicely.

"Yep." Mobius acknowledged, remembering. He locked the door behind them before picking up the schedule on the console and giving it a glance. "Okay, looks like the next guard won't be here for another 7 hours. Hopefully, that's enough time to see something." Mobius sat down in the squeaky chair, getting familiar with the screens.

Loki wiped his hands on his sides, the unconscious guard successfully hidden away.

"Thanks for that. Go ahead and take a seat. It's gonna be a long haul, I can tell." Mobius invited, pointing to another chair folded in the corner. Loki grabbed it and opened it next to Mobius.

They both took a moment to get oriented at what they were looking at. Mobius fiddled with a few controls.

"We don't know what he looks like." Loki commented, staring at the guests milling around. He hoped he didn't look like himself too much, he'd like to keep some form of unique identity.

"Well, he should be a humanoid, according to reports of his past attacks, which makes it easier for us given the typical clientele here have more than six limbs. Other than that, like you said, a Loki usually stands out naturally. Whether you want him to or not." Mobius teased. Loki nodded, fair. He took his seat and started mentally mapping out where the cameras were posted. Seemed simple enough.

"And now, we wait." Loki narrated.

"... Now, we wait." Mobius agreed with a deep breath.

The tension from before dissolved after some time. They had the perfect hideout for a calculated stake out. Mobius leaned back, crossed his arms, and spent a few minutes watching each feed. Loki propped his feet on the console, doing the same. They both sighed, starting to relax.

Loki watched the aliens wander from screen to screen. They talked, socialized, enjoyed the bar, and watched the live performances in the theater. Some were savoring what they didn't know was a final meal in the cafe. The longer he watched the more it bothered him. Fate had never sat well with the prince, naturally, but watching it play out when no one knew what was going to happen- it felt sick. If it hadn't been pre-destined, Loki wouldn't have minded - people die every day. He realized how un-heroic that might have sounded to others, like his brother, but that was at least something the TVA understood as well as he did. But this was different. It felt as though the TVA were responsible, the Time Keepers approved this from their secret chambers….

After about twenty minutes of wrestling with ideas of fate, Loki tore his eyes from the screens to look at his partner. Mobius was diligently scanning each camera, somehow still relaxed.

"Does it ever bother you - knowing what others are destined for?" He pried.

"... Not really." Mobius shared without looking away from the screens, he knew what the prince meant. "I mean, yeah, sometimes the stories people play out don't have happy endings, but everyone has an ending."

Loki remembered what would've been his own ending, happy to be rid of it. He looked at Mobius, "Except you."

The agent gave a slow, thoughtful nod. "I don't know how long I've existed. Sometimes it feels like forever, other times, like I woke up in the TVA last week." He adjusted his legs into a new position. "But, you're right, I don't have a specific ending written for me. Not yet, at least."

"How does that work?" Loki had been trying to put the pieces together since he first got to the TVA. "Why is there even a TVA if you have your… space lizards dictating the start and finish of time?" Loki asked as he eyed an individual in the theater that looked humanoid, but saw quickly they had an extra 3 appendages.

"Well, the Time Keepers aren't done, yet. They haven't… planned how it ends. Not completely. That's why we're here. We exist to protect the balance until the Time Keepers are done. Then, once they finish the ending, we'll have order and we meet at the end of time, in peace." He finished with a small smile.

"They're not done, yet? Isn't that their job? What else have they been up to this whole time?" The god mocked.

"Yeah, yeah. Listen, it's more complicated than that, could you imagine having to untangle infinite timelines? One day they'll be done. And when that happens I'll have my ending, I guess. We all will."

"But how can you be okay with that?" Loki's brow creased, he pushed harder, "Work until you die? What about your right to live? What if the Time Keepers come out of their cave, or wherever they are, tomorrow, finished? Will you head to the slaughterhouse willingly?" Loki leaned forward in his chair, trying to get Mobius' attention. He hated the idea of Mobius quietly, dutifully, reporting for annihilation at any second. There had to be more.

"If the Time Keepers said they were done, I wouldn't have a choice. What else would I do, anyways? The TVA is my home, if it ends, that's it."

"So you and everyone in the TVA would die, just like that, at a moment's notice?"

'Die'? Mobius hadn't thought of it as death. He wondered if it was because he had never considered himself fully alive before. He stayed silent.

Loki bristled at Mobius' lack of response, he prodded further. "You all are so meek. If I did usurp the Time Keepers, you'd all be the most frustratingly easy world to control, you all just do as you're told."

"Hey-" Mobius didn't like hearing Loki still talking about overthrowing the TVA.

"I'd just have to wave my hand: 'Work for me until you die', and you would all just go back to your files and records and while the rest of eternity away."

"Loki." The analyst warned.

Loki leaned in, deadly serious, "Mobius, you have to want more than this."

Mobius was getting irritated, "Loki, this isn't just 'work' - this is my life. You don't understand. I never had what you had. I never had the delusion that I could do or be whatever I wanted…. This has been my life since day one. I don't know or need anything outside the TVA."

"That's a lie."

"Oh, really?" Mobius wasn't surprised Loki still couldn't understand, but it still bothered him.

"It has to be." He insisted.

"And what makes you so sure?" Where was this going?

"I think you know you can have more than this."

Mobius smiled insincerely, shaking his head, "'More'? What could be more than this? I was literally created for this."

"Why should that matter? You were made for paperwork? To prune Variants? To reset innocent people?" Loki started to raise his voice with enthusiasm.

"Hey, I don't need to hear judgment from a Loki about hurting innocent people." Mobius' tone was dark, purposeful.

It landed its hit just as he meant, Loki was revisited by the ghosts of his past. He deflated slightly, but wasn't going to give up, "You're right. I didn't mean… I've seen you, Mobius. You're more than the TVA. You have free will. And last time we spoke, if you remember, you showed me a glimpse at how unsatisfied you are with your story."

Mobius had hoped Loki had forgotten. "Do we have to talk about this now? We've got a job to do." He tried to deflect.

"I think it's only fair. You forced me to reconsider my true nature."

Touché. Mobius gave him an inch, rubbing his legs with tension, "Okay, okay. Fine. You want to know if I'm unsatisfied? Honestly, it comes and goes. Some days I'm numb. I just do what I have to. Others, I find the drive to keep going, I enjoy what I do. Lately, it's been... pretty interesting." He looked at Loki, memories of their time together running through his mind. Loki caught the implication, grateful. Mobius looked away. "But some days... I look around and I- I wonder what it all means. In the end, I always come back to the same answer. My life is what it was meant to be by the Time Keepers." Mobius' eyes kept track of the figures on the screens half-heartedly.

Still unsatisfied, Loki pressed, "What about your life? Experiences? Family, friends, love? Do you even know what love feels like?"

Too far.

"Do you?" Where did a Loki get off asking him about love?

They both knew Mobius already had the answer to his question. Loki wilted. Mobius tucked his chin, slightly ashamed for pulling that card.

"I know it must not have seemed that way to you, but… someday… I had hoped…." The god of mischief tried to share. What didn't this man already know? Who else would listen to him? Loki wanted to practice being honest, but lost his words. Instead, he asked, "On the timeline, was there...?"

Mobius gave him a look that confirmed Loki's fear: even if he was back with the rest of creation, even if he had done everything "right" according to the Time Keepers, he still would have never known. No one was waiting for him.

Mobius felt sincere regret seeing Loki's expression sadden from his answer, "I'm sorry, Loki."

The prince gave him a brief, half-hearted, reconciliatory smile. Mobius, again, realized how little this person resembled the timeline-Loki anymore. The god he'd seen before would have never talked like this. Loki was changing and growing every day, every hour. Mobius almost envied him. Loki was trying so hard to fill a thousand year vacuum of lost meaning and purpose as quickly as possible and Mobius understood he had become one of the only resources Loki had to make sense of himself again. It didn't feel right. He relaxed, compassion growing for his Variant friend.

"Well, you're a free man, now. At least free from the timeline. You don't have an ending set in stone anymore." Mobius offered, brushing aside all the obstacles they both knew were in the way between Loki and genuine freedom. They both secretly remembered Mobius' signature under the orders to delete the prince. Mobius pushed it to the back of his mind - he instead entertained the idea of this Loki making it out of here, starting a life, experiencing what he'd been denied on the timeline. For the very first time in his existence, Mobius felt himself rooting for a Variant to get away from the TVA.

"I guess that's true, in a way." Loki was still working on his plan to escape. If he got out, maybe he could have a future. Where? With who? Lokis hated being alone, no matter how they acted. But, now that he was outside of the timeline, there was only one person he felt anything for anymore. He looked at Mobius. Friendship didn't feel like he expected it to.

"Are you not free, Mobius?", he asked, changing the subject. "You don't have a collar or a timeline. There are plenty of... people in the TVA. You could be living a life full of unplanned experiences." Loki didn't like what he was implying. He instinctively disliked the idea of Mobius' attention being split by someone else.

Mobius cleared his throat, the question was almost too personal, but he was still glad Loki asked. "Nah, that's the privilege for those on the timeline. They can collide, fight, fall in love, as the Time Keepers decree. They don't know it's pre-ordained, but I've seen them feel…." He didn't have the vocabulary for the passion and love he'd seen on the timeline. He'd seen people die for one another without a second thought. He had always wondered what that was like. He shuffled again, "The Time Keepers didn't see that for me. Us at the TVA, we don't feel those things so deeply, if at all. We don't need them. But, at least, unlike everyone on the timeline, I don't have to struggle with never knowing my purpose." He smiled, a little sadly.

"There's more, Mobius. There's more than duty or purpose. Believe me. There's fire, rage, passion..." Loki heard these unfamiliar words come out of his mouth. He stopped. Instead, he quietly offered, "Maybe you can feel. You just haven't let yourself." He hoped for his friend.

Mobius had nothing he could say to that. The idea hardly made sense to him. He felt Loki's eyes on him. "Maybe", was all he could muster.

That was more than he would've given that suggestion before they met: Maybe. Mobius could feel a crack, doubt, forming in his existential foundations. A want to want. He had to be careful or Loki would do to him what he had done to him when they first met.

They both fell silent, deep in thought. They watched the screens. They replayed the conversation in their minds for hours, neither satisfied with the fate of the other.

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[Next time: More stakeout revelations/shenanigans and a tense encounter….]