A/N: i love not having writers block for once omg. i hope you enjoy this chapter<3

...

Mobius is true to his word. One new salad ("I don't see why you needed a new one, the last one was still perfectly edible." Loki had said) ("Shut up Loki." Mobius had said) and half an hour later you are stood alongside the two men in Pompeii, in the year 79AD.

Figures from the past walk around before you, blissfully unaware of what is about to happen to them. No one gives the three of you more than a sideways glance before continuing to go about their business. Their futile, meaningless business.

Far away in the distance, but not quite far enough away for you to feel completely safe, sits Mount Vesuvius, a gigantic mass of rock and earth which takes the horizon briefly towards the sky. You swear you can hear it rumbling away; feel its impending eruption in the earth beneath your feet.

"Any minute now." Mobius says, watching the TemPad in his hands nervously.

"Until this entire town is wiped off the face of the planet." Loki says gleefully. You don't need to look at him to know that he's grinning, and you hate him for it. "All that volcanic ash..."

"Don't sound too excited." Mobius says.

"Oh, come on. It's cool." Loki states.

"It is cool, it's just not in good taste because... well..." Mobius trails off, gesturing at the people who are all about to meet horrible deaths walking around you.

"They're all going to die anyway." Loki shrugs. You turn and glare at him, your annoyance rising in you rather like you suspect lava is currently rising in the large volcano you're stood far too close to.

"What?" Loki asks, when he catches you staring angrily at him.

"You're insufferable." you tell him, looking back to the volcano.

"I guess you like that sort of thing then, hm?" Loki asks cockily, quirking an eyebrow.

Mobius catches you before you fist can make contact with Loki's face.

"Alllright, let's do this. But we need to be careful because even the smallest disturbance could cause a huge branch." he says, pushing you back with one arm, his eyes still fixed on the TemPad.

You step back with an angry exhale, but when you look back at Loki he's watching you with a look of half apprehension, half confusion on his face.

"We're gonna start with very small disturbances, very small..." Mobius is saying, but you're not listening.

You see yourself through Loki's mind, and your eyes are an angry shade of purple.

The realisation that you have your magic back, coupled with Loki's realisation that he has his magic back almost knocks you off of your feet. Which gives him a head start.

There's a flash of green and then you're on your back, winded. You hear Mobius say something which starts with "for the love of-" but then anger overtakes you and you forget to keep listening.

You scramble to your feet, purple magic pulsing around you, but Loki is gone. Everyone within a thirty foot radius of you is either staring or running.

Mobius says something to you, but Loki is grinning at you from atop a cart of goats, and he might be stronger than you but you know how he fights. And you can read his mind.

You use your magic to topple the cart on which he's standing as you walk towards him, and he disappears. By the time he reappears behind you, you've already turned and are halfway towards disarming him of the dagger he'd been about to stab you with.

He growls in frustration and disappears again; when he reappears you're already in the exact position you need to be in to block his next attack, your magic a protective barrier around you. You watch Loki as he stumbles, and smile smugly.

"You're cheating." he pants, whipping around to face you, walking towards you until his face is inches from yours. The only thing between you is a thin film of purple mist, swirling tantalisingly before him.

"Fine. No magic." you say, your eyes fixed on his, and the mist vanishes.

"I meant reading my mind." Loki snarls.

"I don't need to read your mind. I know how you fight." you tell him.

"No. You. Don't." he grimaces, punctuating each word with an attempted blow to your torso. You block the first two easily, but the third takes you a little by surprise and he catches the side of your arm as he brings the dagger down.

He yells in frustration, sending a blast of magic towards you so strong that it forces you to take a few steps back as you block it. You can feel his frustration and you harness it, ready to send him into the next realm with your retaliation...

BOOM.

The earth moves beneath you as Vesuvius erupts, sending both you and Loki staggering. Lava and rock and volcanic ash explode from the peak of the volcano, orange and brown champagne from a tightly corked earthen bottle.

Screams and yells punctuate the sound of the eruption, and you turn to Mobius who is watching the TemPad with a look of disbelief on his face. He looks up at you and Loki.

"I don't believe it. Zero variance energy."

Pain lances through your side and you gasp in shock, your hands flying to your waist, where a dagger is buried to the hilt in your flesh.

"Loki." Mobius scolds.

"This is it. This is where I would hide." Loki tells him, strolling back to his side and nodding at the volcano as he turns around.

You grit your teeth and yank the dagger out of your side, trying not to wince, your magic already getting to work healing you. When you turn back around, Vesuvius is gone, hidden now behind a deathly black-grey wall of ash which is rushing steadily towards you.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Mobius says, opening up an orange doorway and holding out an arm for you. Taking one last look behind you, you follow Loki through the door, saying a mental goodbye to your magic as you do so.

...

"Okay, for this doomsday theory to hold the disasters need to be naturally occurring, sudden. No warning, no survivors." Mobius says.

You're back at the desks, this time with a lot more files.

"How many are there?" you ask, looking at the mass of files before you.

"I don't know. We're about to find out." Mobius tells you, sitting down and gesturing for you to do the same.

You sit there for what feels like hours reading file after file and not seeming to get anywhere. At one point Loki tosses his file aside, takes off his jacket and leans forward to rest his head on his arms. He's asleep within minutes.

Half of you wants to poke him awake and make him help. The other half of you wants to just sit and look at him.

Loki. Alive.

"Hey. Staring mournfully isn't going to get him back. Reading is." Mobius chides you, tapping the file in front of you.

"I'd be a lot more enthusiastic about doing this if I truly thought that were the case." you tell him.

"Look, regardless of that, I need your help. Is that not reason enough to make an effort?"

"No."

Mobius sighs.

"Fair enough."

There are a few more minutes of silence in which Mobius continues flipping through files and you sit silently, lost in thought, absentmindedly watching Loki's shoulders and back rise and fall as he breathes in his sleep.

"I know you're having a hard time," Mobius says, and you look up to see that he's watching you. "But... I need this. I really do. And I know helping me isn't right at the top of your list of priorities right now, and you're grieving, but I could really, really use your help."

You exhale heavily, and before you have time to formulate a response, he's poking Loki awake.

"Hey, hey."

Loki looks up abruptly, blearily blinking the sleep from his eyes. Your heart cracks in two, a log split by an axe which is the familiar look on Loki's face, and you have to look away quickly.

"Let's take a walk." Mobius says, standing up. Loki grabs his jacket and follows suit, throwing you a funny look as he does so.

"You coming?" Mobius asks you, looking back.

"No, I'll stay. Keep looking." you tell him, nodding towards the files.

He gives you a grateful look before walking away from the desk, a very tired looking Loki in tow. You have to sit very still, blinking rapidly for a minute before you're able to carry on reading without risking bursting into tears.

You read for half an hour, and find nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing. There are so many apocalypses; without further clues you'll never be able to narrow it down enough to work out which one the variant is hiding in.

When Loki and Mobius finally return, they're walking quickly and with purpose. Loki looks a lot more awake, and Mobius is talking quickly.

"Okay. Kablooie was only sold regionally on Earth from 2047 to 2051. We need to cross-reference that with every apocalyptic event."

"What have you found? What's Kablooie?" you ask as Mobius dumps a load of new files in front of you.

"It's a candy. Did you know your boyfriend has never had any candy?" Mobius tells you as he sits down and starts flipping through files.

"Fiancé." you say, as Loki says, "I'm not her boyfriend."

An awkward silence settles for about three seconds, and then you open up a new file, looking away.

It takes you about ten minutes to find the correct apocalypse, now that you have something to go off of.

"Here, could it be this one?" you ask, sliding the file across the table to Mobius.

"Yes! Alabama, 2050. You're gonna take my job if I'm not careful." he grins, picking the file up and standing up.

"Where are you going?" Loki asks.

"To Renslayer. I need her to approve this first before we do anything." Mobius tells you. He looks excited as he rushes off, leaving you with Loki.

You look at him and he looks back at you.

"Come on then!" Mobius shouts, and you both quickly get to your feet and follow him to the elevator.

...

You and Loki sit outside Renslayer's office, waiting for Mobius to emerge with her verdict.

"Well done. On finding the right apocalypse, I mean." Loki says out of the blue. You look at him in surprise.

"A compliment?" you ask, only half feigning your shock.

"I already regret it." he scowls.

"You stabbed me. You owe me more than just a compliment; I'm not sure if you've ever heard of an apology before?" you suggest. A muscle is going in his jaw.

"You healed yourself easily. It didn't even hurt." he says bluntly.

"It really hurt, actually. A lot."

Several long seconds pass.

"Sorry." he finally manages. It sounds as though it causes him physical pain to get the word out.

"I don't forgive you. Yet."

You almost hear him roll his eyes, and nearly smile.

Mobius comes striding out of the office, looking immensely pleased with himself.

"We're on. We are doing some good work today." he says happily as you and Loki get to your feet and fall into step alongside him.

"Are we going right now?" you ask in surprise.

"Yep. No time like the present. But listen, I don't want any funny business like in Pompeii, alright? This is serious, Loki." Mobius tells you sternly, poking Loki in the arm.

"No stabbing, you hear me? Unless it's a bad guy."

"Fine." Loki scowls.

"That goes for you too Y/N." Mobius says as you approach a wall of lockers, and he yanks one open. There are knives inside.

"No." Mobius says sternly. Loki closes his mouth grumpily.

"Gather round for a briefing." B-15 says loudly as she strides past behind you a few minutes later.

"Not her." Loki scowls under his breath.

"Roxxcart is a vast superstore common to the era. It consists of a series of sprawling sections, including a large warehouse. This warehouse is being used by civilians as a shelter tryin' to ride out the storm. Remember, this is a class ten apocalypse. While the Variant shouldn't know we're coming, he could be hiding anywhere and should be considered hostile. So stay alert." B-15 says as you, Loki, Mobius and a small group of Minutemen gather into a circle to listen.

"Every time there is an attack, the Variant steals a reset charge. He's planning something. We just don't know what. So keep an eye out for the missing charges, and if you see a Loki, prune it."

"The bad one, preferably." Loki chimes in, half a smile on his face. No one else smiles.

"Let's go." Mobius says.

"No funny business. Please." he hisses to you and Loki as the familiar-looking orange square in space appears.

He walks ahead of you through the door, and you and Loki glance at each other before walking together through the door.