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Chapter Text

"I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. You. You conniving, craven, pathetic worm. You did this."

He knew he was pathetic. Mobius had made it clear to him just before throwing him back into this hellish time frame. Forced to repeat again and again that he deserved to be alone to avoid taking a blow in the crotch. Which importance since it was true?

He suspected that Mobius would be angry with him. After all, he had betrayed him in some way. But he had the impression of having had another Mobius in front of him. No more understanding, no more caring eyes. As if everything had disappeared.

" If you’re not working for the Variant, what is it?"

In retrospect, it was mostly from this question that it had gotten out of hand. It was the first time that Loki had seen Mobius being so uncharacteristically mean, and if Loki hadn't been hurt, he would have found it comical. 

Why had Mobius insisted on knowing what was going on between Sylvie and him when the first time he had asked Loki the question, Loki had given a clear answer?

"You’re partners?"

"Absolutely not. She’s difficult and irritating, and she tries to hit me all the time. No."

"Not partners, no. Yeah, I guess you don’t do partners. Unless, of course, it benefits you, and you intend to betray them at some point."

Of course he had betrayed Mobius when he had walked through the door, but what had begun to germinate between him and Mobius, had been valuable to him and had not been a means to an end. 

The conversation had gotten worse, each one spitting his venom, Mobius had managed to manipulate him and Loki had almost had respect for that. But he had become cruel. Loki still wondered what had made Mobius lash out so much.

"Come on. Look at your eyes. You like her."

"You like her. Does she like you? No wonder you have no clue what caused the nexus event on Lamentis. Both of you are swooning over each other."

"Two Variants of the same being, especially you, forming this kind of sick, twisted romantic relationship. That’s pure chaos. That could break reality. It’s breaking my reality right now."

On second thought, what did Mobius mean by that? How did it break his reality? 

How could Mobius think that Loki and Sylvie...After what he and Loki had shared!

And yet when Loki thought about the rest of the conversation it became clearer and clearer.

"What a incredible seismic narcissist. You fell for yourself."

"Her name was Sylvie."

"Ah, Sylvie. Lovely. How do you spell that? Is that with an I-E or just an I?"

"Now, I’m supposed to believe your girlfriend."

"It’s the truth. She’s not my girlfriend."

"Whatever you want to call her. What, your female self that you have some demented crush on…"

"You two, what a pair! Gosh! Unbelievable. Wherever you go, it’s just death, destruction, the literal ends of worlds. Well, I’m gonna have to close this case now, ’cause I don’t need you anymore."

Mobius had been jealous!  It was so obvious! Mobius had been completely blinded by jealousy! 

After all he had said to him, these last insults made no sense.

He remembered their last conversation, the last words he had spoken when Loki had expressed his doubts.

"But you told me I was born to cause pain and suffering and death. That's how it is, that's how it was, that's how it will be. All so that others can achieve their best versions of themselves."

Mobius had answered him, "Yes, I told you that not because I think that's what you are, I was just showing you that that's what you were limiting yourself to because you yourself think you're only capable of that. Because you want to rule so badly, that you don't see that you are made for bigger things. You asked me to trust you yesterday. I did because Loki I have faith in you and since you've been here you keep proving it. In your own way. Because you are undoubtedly the god of mischief. Unique. Not. A. Villain."

How could the man who had told him that, now tell him the opposite? The more he thought about it, the more jealousy seemed to be the only reason. 

Loki knew jealousy, he could even understand it. But that Mobius felt this way about Loki? What did that mean?

Loki sighed.

What a mess! How could he repair an already fragile relationship in the midst of all this mess? He really had a way of getting himself into complicated situations...

"Right?" he was exclaiming, exasperated when Mobius rushed through the door, "What are you doing?"

Idiot, what do you think when I try every two minutes not to get hit in the crotch?

Loki held back from saying out loud what he was thinking because he had just noticed that Mobius looked upset and very flustered.

He just answered dryly, because he was still hurt from what Mobius had told him before.

"Passing the time."

Mobius asked him in an urgent tone, "Do you care about her?"

What? That kind of question again?

Loki replied, "Sylvie? I'm not sure if it's the right word. We've covered this back in there."

When Mobius began to shout, visibly annoyed.

"Shut up!" 

Loki was shocked that he would raise his voice like that, so he kept quiet.

Mobius said, hurriedly, "Do you really think you deserve to be alone?

Huh? 

Loki did not answer, his voice shut down by shock.

How could he ask him such a question? Why?

Mobius lost his patience again, "Loki!

"You told me to shut up."

Mobius repeated, "Do you believe you deserve to be alone?

Loki replied in frustration, "I don't know."

"You better figure it out quick, because the nexus event the two of you caused, whatever that connection is, can bring this whole place down. So we better understand..." 

We? We as in him and me? Did Mobius still believe in a we? 

"We?" asked Loki, incredulous.

Mobius looked troubled, almost sad, Loki dared to think, that he had asked that question, but he continued on his line of questioning, "Do you swear she didn't implant those memories in Hunter C-20?"

He wanted Mobius to believe him so badly, he almost begged, "Mobius, no. I believe her."

Mobius seemed to give in and suddenly Loki felt like he had his Mobius back, his prince. There was again that sparkle in his eyes that he loved so much.

He asked, "So, I just have to trust the word of two Lokis?"

Loki swallowed, and decided that this time it was his turn to offer his hand. He said a little timidly but no less determinedly, looking at Mobius with his head to the side, "How about the word of a friend?"

Mobius looked genuinely surprised, then exhaled softly, as if in relief, before continuing, "You were right, about the TVA. You were right from the beginning. And if you wanna save her, you need to trust me. Can we do that?"

He didn't wait to agree, because despite everything, his trust in Mobius had remained unshaken.

Mobius sighed again, and this time the relief was obvious.

"Okay."

Mobius continued at once, "You could be whoever, whatever you wanna be, even someone good."

Loki's throat tightened with so much emotion that he was unable to respond.

Then Mobius added, "I mean, just in case anyone ever told you different."

Loki couldn't hold back the smile that blossomed on his lips as Mobius walked towards the Timedoor. If he wasn't already in love with Mobius, he would have fallen in love right then and there.

However he couldn't just let him go like that. Not without talking about what he'd just discovered, because Loki knew exactly what it felt like when your whole world was crumbling under your feet and he didn't want Mobius to follow the same path as him.

He pulled him by the sleeve.

"Mobius, wait!"

"What? Is something wrong?" asked Mobius, turning around.

"Is something wrong? I'm not the one who was just told that his whole life, what he was fighting for, the world he lived in, was a lie! Believe me, I know what that feels like! So this is me asking you, how are you Mobius?"

He saw the realization of the magnitude of what he had discovered suddenly fall upon Mobius. He saw him lose his footing and literally collapse from the shock.

He helped him to sit down on the floor and while encouraging him to regain a normal breathing rhythm, he asked him, "Mobius, I need to know, first if you can close the time door and second, I need to know how time flows here?

Mobius closed the door with a gesture and replied with a broken voice, "In this cell, it's as if time doesn't flow outside, so no matter how long we spend here, it will take Ravonna and the Hunters a little while to find us."

"Good."

After a few moments of silence, Mobius spoke up, "You know what torments me most now that I know? I wonder if I'm real. Is what I have experienced real? And if what I believe or have believed, was it real for a moment?" 

Loki's heart broke as he heard this. The most real man he had ever known was wondering if he was real. 

Loki tried to reassure him and seeing that he was not convinced, he showed him by thought with the help of magic, what made him real in his eyes. He showed him all the intimate moments they had shared, the first time Mobius had said he believed in Loki, their first kiss, the second, all the moments of happiness Mobius had given him since their first meeting. And he told him.

For the first time Loki witnessed Mobius' insecurities and for the first time Loki was the one who could reassure him.

Mobius asked him, his voice slightly hoarse, "If this is all fake, then who am I really?"

Loki replied with a smile, "We'll search together."

They had remained entwined for a few moments before walking through the Timedoor together, ready to face their enemies, whoever they were.

Loki and Mobius were smiling at each other, when they were stopped by Ravonna and a group of hunters with their batons pointed at them.

In a daze, not realizing what was happening, Loki saw Mobius handing over his Tempad to Ravonna and there was a moment of silence.

Then Mobius spoke with emotion in his voice, "You know where I'd go if I could go anywhere? Wherever it is I'm really from. Yeah, wherever I had a life before the TVA came along. Maybe I had a jet ski. That's what I'd like to do. Just riding around on my jet ski."

As he spoke, Loki had been watching him, not wanting to understand what was going to happen when suddenly Ravonna's icy voice enunciated two simple words, " Prune him!"

And there before his eyes, Mobius disintegrated.

"Noooo!!"

Mobius! Mobius!

Loki had only this thought, only this name in mind as the hunters dragged him to the elevator.

As they waited, Loki tried to contain the emotion that threatened to overwhelm him like a tsunami. 

Mobius, snatched away from him when they had only just found each other! 

Another group arrived and went next to them, it was Sylvie who was also held back by hunters.

Sylvie looked at him and asked, "You're okay?"

Loki lowered his head, and answered her in his head.

'No, I'm not okay, I'll never be okay again. They took Mobius. They took him from me, Sylvie.'

'Loki, I need you, I can't fight on my own, I swear I understand your pain, I promise you, you know I know you like I know myself, but I need you, please!'

'Am I only condemned to have those I love and who love me ripped away from me?'

'No Loki, I promise you that this is not your fate. Please, I need you! "

Loki clenched his fists, and walked with the others to the elevator.

Loki tell me you are with me!

He raised his head.

I'm with you.

For Mobius, he had to finish what they had started. 

For Mobius, who had always had faith in him, he would fight.

For Mobius, who had seen good in him, he would keep going.

At Sylvie's side, they entered the battle, fighting fiercely to face the Timekeepers, Ravonna and the other hunters on the ground.

One of the Timekeepers tried to provoke Sylvie, "You're a child of the Time-Keepers too, Sylvie. We can talk."

"Oh, yeah?" Sylvie threw her sword, which sent the middle Timekeeper's head flying. The head rolled to Loki's foot. As Sylvie was about to throw her sword again, Loki stopped her. He couldn't believe what he was holding in his hands.

"Fake. Mindless androids. It never stops."

Loki breathed heavily, then asked, "Then who created the TVA?

"I thought this was it."

"Sylvie..." Loki had to tell her something. He had wasted too much time. It had cost him Mobius. He had to tell her.

"Not another pep talk, please." begged Sylvie.

"No, I have to tell you something. We will figure this out." 

It was his job to tell her that, he was the one who was able to cheer now. He was the one who was strong. Sylvie and Mobius had made him strong, Sylvie by showing him that he could love himself and Mobius by showing him that he could love and be loved by others.

"How do you know that?"

"Because, uh... Well, back on Lamentis... This is new for me. Um..." Why on earth was he still unable to express himself when it came to emotion.

He tentatively put his hands on her shoulders in an awkward motion.

She looked at him strangely, "What? What is it?"

Then...

Nothing.

He woke up with the sensation of a graze on his face.

He opened his eyes.

"You!"

His Mobius, leaning over him, was running his fingertips over his face and looking at him with so much love in his eyes. 

This time he could not hold back his tears and they quickly overflowed from his eyes.

"You have been disintegrated! I saw it with my own eyes!"

Mobius wiped his tears with his thumbs as he went along. He still answered with a smile.

"You too."

"Where are we?"

He looked around, and a strange landscape appeared before his eyes as he straightened up. A strange mix of Asgard and a beach in the sun, between sky and earth. As if two worlds were colluding. 

Both their worlds, his and Mobius'.

He finally got up and found himself facing Mobius who was waiting.

Their eyes met and carried away by the urge, they threw themselves into each other's arms and kissed passionately, putting all their emotions into the kiss. It was so right and so perfect. 

When they parted panting, Loki pressed his forehead to Mobius' and whispered, "Don't leave me, don't ever leave me, promise me."

Mobius shook his head and moved back a little. "I can't promise you that, Loki, not yet. We're going to have to part again, you know that don't you? Our task is not over."

Loki's throat tightened, "Mobius, what? no?"

"I got here before you, so I'll have to leave before you."

A glow began to spread behind Mobius. 

He began to speak very quickly, "Loki, listen to me! I am not dead, I am not gone. When you wake up, think of me. I am still here. You'll have to find me. We will break the curse that separates us! Our love is stronger than anything, no hell, no heaven, no time keepers, no one will separate us! I swear to you that we will find each other. Don't ever lose your faith! I will always have faith in you."

Then Mobius placed his lips on his, kissed him softly before stepping back and walking towards the vortex that had just opened, he looked back one last time, "Loki, we will find each other again because what binds us is stronger than anything. I love you."

The vortex closed on him.

Loki was alone again. 

He was stunned, Mobius' words echoing in his head.

He wiped away his tears, then sat on the ground and waited.

Looking at the landscape in front of him, he imagined that one day he would take Mobius to see Asgard and that Mobius would take him to one of those sunny beaches he saw on his Jet-ski magazine and laugh at him on his jet ski.

Then he put those uncertain dreams away in the back of his mind. He would have to fight the fight of his life. He would have to fight for his family. His thoughts went to Sylvie and Mobius. 

A few minutes later the same vortex opened. Loki stood up, clenched his fists, and walked toward the vortex, saying with a very resolute face, "I'm going to find you. Mobius, Sylvie, wait for me!"

He went through the vortex.

Then nothing. Again.

Suddenly he gasped as if to catch his breath after holding it for so long.

He opened his eyes and asked, "Is this Hel? Am I dead?"

A deep voice rose from above him, "Not yet. But you will be unless you come with us."

He stood up and faced what seemed to be three, no four if he was to judge by the crocodile, four versions of Loki.

Behind them, an apocalyptic New York was unveiling.

That's when he realized, what Mobius had said was true. They were not dead. If Loki wasn't dead, then Mobius wasn't either.

And as he followed the Lokis, only one thought swirled in his mind, one word.

Mobius.

This time he was no longer overcome with despair, this time in him strong and fighting there was a hope born of love.

Mobius wait for me! I come to you! I will find you!

Chapter Text

They walked through the door smiling at each other, when they were stopped by Ravonna and a group of hunters with their sticks pointed at them.

Mobius quickly realized that his time was running out. He was aware of the closeness of Loki next to him, of the look in his eyes that must reflect his incomprehension.

So he began to speak, his voice filled with emotion, "You know where I'd go if I could go anywhere? Wherever it is I'm really from. Yeah, wherever I had a life before the TVA came along. Maybe I had a jet ski. That's what I'd like to do. Just riding around on my jet ski."

Maybe, Loki could find him. Maybe...

"Prune him!"

"No!!" The last thing he heard was the desperation in Loki's voice.

Then nothing.

Suddenly, the feeling of waking up from a long sleep, before he opened his eyes, he felt on his skin like the warmth of the sun and in his ears like the sound of the sea.

He opened his eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the light.

"Where am I?"

He was alone, and in front of him stretched an endless beach and sea, looking familiar.

His first thought was of course...

"Loki..."

Strange feeling... hoping at the same time that he was there and at the same time not, because it meant that he had survived.

He was in front of a dream-like place, but everything was tarnished by the absence of Loki.

All of a sudden the landscape shifted or rather another landscape was added, it didn't take him long to recognize Asgard.

Then his gaze was attracted when a body materialized near him...

Loki...

He slid towards him, not daring to believe it, he looked as if he was asleep, and Mobius wanted to touch him to check that it was not a hallucination.

So he brushed Loki's face with his fingertips. Enjoying the sensation of his skin under his fingers. 

When he saw the eyes flicker and open slowly.

Then the awareness in the eyes.

Loki exclaimed, "You!"

Mobius could not get enough of this sight.

He watched the beautiful eyes fill with tears that quickly overflowed.

Loki shouted, "You have been disintegrated! I saw it with my own eyes!

Mobius could not help but wipe away the tears as he cried, not knowing how long he had with Loki. 

He replied with a smile, "It seems that you too have been disintegrated."

"Where are we?"

He could not answer him, he did not even know it himself.

They both got up at the same time and found themselves, face to face, so close that it was impossible for them to resist the impulse and they threw themselves into each other's arms and they kissed. It was a kiss with a salty taste, at that moment Mobius didn't know if it was his tears or Loki's, it didn't matter. The most important thing was their bodies touching, their breaths mingling.

When they parted, panting, Loki pressed his forehead to his, and whispered, breaking his heart, "Don't leave me, don't ever leave me, promise me."

But Mobius couldn't promise him, so he shook his head and told Loki, "I can't promise you Loki, not yet.  We're going to have to part again, you know that, don't you? Our task is not over." 

Mobius didn't know for sure, but he felt his time here was running out.He didn't know what twist of fate or luck had landed them here, but it couldn't be to make them disappear forever. 

"Mobius, what? No?" Loki sounded so desperate, but Mobius couldn't lie to him, couldn't tell him that everything was perfect, because it wasn't, not yet. 

"I got here before you, so I'm going to have to leave before you."

He felt like a vortex opening up behind him, and the pull was getting stronger and stronger. 

Then he began to speak very fast, all that he had not been able to say to Loki before he was pruned, "Loki, listen to me! I am not dead, I am not gone. When you wake up, think of me. I am still here. You'll have to find me. We will break the curse that separates us! Our love is stronger than anything, no hell, no heaven, no time keepers, no one will separate us! I swear to you that we will find each other. Don't ever lose your faith! I will always have faith in you." He didn't know where some of the certainty he had came from, but he felt deep down that it was true.

He pressed his lips to Loki's one last time, kissing him softly before stepping back and walking towards the vortex that had just opened up and that he couldn't fight against. However, he turned one last time, filling his eyes with the sight of the one he loved and made him this promise that he would do anything to keep.

 "Loki, we will find each other again because what binds us is stronger than anything. I love you."

And the vortex closed in on him.

Loki, fight for us!

Then nothing.