Chapter Text
The TVA halls were always eerily quiet. You used to be uncomfortable making your way through them, constantly looking behind your shoulder, meeting your colleagues uneasy glances. But after being in the agency for- god, you don’t even know how long- it didn’t seem to bother you anymore. At least it didn’t now, as you ran through them, desperately trying to hold onto the piles of documents in your hands.
You didn’t expect to have such a prominent variant case come by you today until Hunter B-15 stormed into your office in full armor.
“Mobius is trying to reason with the variant. Get in there and fix it,” she said, slamming the pile of documents on your desk before turning around and leaving.
“Um…okay,” you said to her retreating form.
You picked up the documents in front of you, carefully skimming through them before stopping at the first image you saw. It was of a lean man with smooth, pale skin and dark hair that flowed down right above his shoulders. His eyes, however, were what made you stop reading. They had a certain mischievous glint in them, almost a sparkle, even with the somewhat uncertain look on his face.
“No way,” you whispered as you scanned over his face again. “What the hell is the God of Mischief doing here?”
You’ve never run to see a variant before, but you had to see this. Once you reached Mobius’ office, you were completely out of breath, leaning on the pale beige wall beside you. You went to open the door and walk in, but stopped as you heard muffled voices.
“And then the Dark Elves attack the palace, and you think you send them to Thor. But instead, you lead them right to her.”
“I don’t believe you. You’re lying. It’s not true.”
“It is true. That’s the proper flow of time! And it happens again, again, and again because it’s supposed to, because it has to.”
“Where is she?!”
You abruptly stepped back from the door. The conversation felt too private, too intimate to overhear. You could easily tell Mobius’ voice, it was strong and firm. But the other - you’d never heard a voice that tortured before. It was almost reminiscent of a scared child.
Screw privacy, this is the TVA. We’re always up in everybody’s business.
You placed your ear back against the door.
“You weren’t born to be a king, Loki. You were born to cause pain and suffering and death. That’s how it is, that’s how it was, that’s how it will be.”
“I thought I told you to get in there!” A voice booms from behind you.
You jump, quickly turning around to find B-15 behind you, a stern look on her face.
“Sorry, I was about to, I just got distracted-” you squeaked out.
“Move,” she said. You quickly stepped to the side, as she threw open the doors and barged into the room.
“What are you doing?” You heard her say as you peaked into the room behind her.
You’ve seen interrogation rooms plenty of times before, but you’ve never seen a hologram of the Avengers blown up in the middle of it. How do they always look so cool?
“My job. Is it yours to interrupt?” Mobius shot back, eyes glancing to your position by the door. “[Y/N], what are you doing here?”
You snapped out of your thoughts, turning back towards the three of them. And, for the first time since you got there, Loki looked at you, light eyes boring into your own. His expression was stone cold and unreadable, the scared child you’d heard in his voice nowhere to be seen.
“I…,” you stumbled before checking yourself. “I just wanted to check out the var- situation. I wanted to check out the situation.” Your eyes dropped to the floor quickly, so you didn’t see Loki’s eyebrows slightly raise as he watched you.
“Anyway,” B-15 grumbled, rolling her eyes. “We have a situation.”
“There’s always a situation,” Mobius sighed, before turning to you. “Watch him.”
“Yes, sir,” you said back, giving him a weak salute.
You stepped further into the larger room as Mobius and B-15 made their ways out, the door slamming behind them.
“And who are you?” Loki questioned, crossing his arms.
“Oh,” you let out, surprised he actually talked to you. “I’m [Y/N]. I help Mobius with dangerous variants, but I’m not a field agent, I mostly research sequence violations and do paperwork.”
“Hmm,” he huffed pretentiously.
There was a long, uncomfortable silence between the two of you. It thickened the air. You wanted to say something, but you didn’t know exactly how to go about a conversation with someone who wasn’t a co-worker.
“You know, I heard what he said to you… about your mom,” you blurted. You saw his shoulders tense and his face grimace.
Okay, [Y/N], maybe not the best first impression.
“He didn’t really mean it, though. He’s a nice person, but he’s also a trained agent. If you want answers, the best way to get them is by sparking an emotional reaction. It’s one of the first techniques agents are taught here”
Loki’s brows furrowed as he took in your words.
“That makes sense, I guess,” he said, shrugging. But he still looked incredibly uncomfortable, his arms crossed as if to protect himself as he scanned the unfamiliar room for an escape.
You sighed, walking over to the red chairs and taking a seat right beside him. His eyes no longer had the mischievous glint you saw in the photo- they looked haunted.
“There’s no point in looking for some sort of escape, you’re not gonna find one.”
His eyes snapped towards yours, glaring at you.
“We’ll see about that,” he scoffed. “And when I escape, I’m going to burn this place to the ground.”
“Oh, please, will you stop with all that conquering shit? Just because your life isn’t what you thought it was, doesn’t mean you don’t have a glorious purpose,” you told him, poorly imitating his accent towards the end.
“Don’t mock me,” He tried to say intimidatingly. Instead it came out as more of a whine.
“You had people that loved you,” you said softly. “I think that’s one of the best gifts time can give. Things like that don’t happen here. I’ll never have that.”
Loki’s eyes trailed over your face, fully taking you in for the first time. He spent a good moment looking at you, at the longing on your face.
“How long have you been here?” He asked, his voice matching your softness.
“Too long,” you laughed. “It could be hundreds of years, thousands? Or maybe even a week, who knows. Time works so differently here”
There was a long beat before he responded. “I’m sure you’ll find someone.”
You smiled at him and you swore you could see the corners of his lips slightly lift.
“If it helps,” Loki started, his voice rising again to its previous grandiose state. “It looks like I’ll be here for a while…” He trailed off, his tone now playful.
You couldn’t help but let out a light laugh at his words. His smirk turned into a full-blown grin at the sound. He couldn’t help but think that he’d happily listen to it for the rest of eternity, even if he had to stay in this hideous beige jumpsuit.
“Maybe, Loki. Maybe.”