A/N: maybe starting a new fic right before the start of my second year of uni wasn't the best idea i've ever had??? imagine that?? also i've been really ill with this cold but i'm on the mend and i promise i'll start making more of an effort with these chapters really soon!!! thank you for all the love so far<33

...

Sometime after your chat with Loki and Mobius, the shock of seeing your soulmate killed before you wears off, and you start to fully realise that you're not going to get him, your Loki, back.

You refuse to help Mobius. After a short argument in which you say absolutely nothing else and Mobius tries to reason with you, he and the other Loki go off together and you're led to a cell.

You'd been hoping to get 'reset', but apparently Mobius thinks there's still sense to be talked into you, because you're still here. On the floor of a horrible orange room, with no windows and a very solid looking door.

And no magic.

You try not to let the hopelessness of the situation engulf you, but it's proving to be quite difficult. Whenever you close your eyes you see Loki's corpse, and when you try to force your thoughts away from that, you see your wedding instead.

You can't decide which is worse.

After a while, Mobius re-enters the room, as you knew he would. You won't let him see it, but he's a welcome distraction from your thoughts.

"You changed your mind yet?" he asks you, sitting on the bed. You're on the floor still, your knees pulled up to your chest.

"No. But I might."

"What does that mean?"

You look up at Mobius. He needs your help. Badly.

"I want my clothes back. My armour."

He's shaking his head before you've even finished talking.

"I don't think you're in much of a position to be striking deals, Y/N." he says. You just watch him.

"Look, I couldn't get you your clothes back even if I wanted to. They're gone, you saw what happened to them."

"I don't believe you."

Mobius laughs in disbelief, rolling his eyes.

"I'm starting to see why Y/N and Loki variants get on so well. You're very similar when they're backed into a corner."

"Stubborn." he continues when you don't reply, as though it wasn't already inherently clear what he was implying.

"I've been told." you retort. There follows a long pause in which Mobius regards you closely, a curious look on his face. You don't break eye contact with him.

"I'll see about getting you your armour back. If you succeed in helping us catch this variant." he finally says.

"I want it back now. And I want you to promise me that I'll get back to my timeline when the job is done."

Amusement and disbelief falls across Mobius' features.

"I can't promise you that. You know that."

You shrug, looking away.

"Y/N, be reasonable. You know I need your help, but I can't send you back to your timeline. Renslayer would never allow it. And besides, your Loki variant is dead there. Why would you want to go back?"

You clench your jaw. You've had some absolutely ridiculous, crazy ideas about stealing the Infinity stones which the workers here use as paperweights and taking them back to your timeline, where there is a gauntlet which might save Loki.

It's farfetched, but it's a glimmer of hope which you're going to hold on to. There's decidedly nothing left if you don't.

"Fine, look, I'll get you your armour back. And I'll talk to Renslayer about sending you back if you do manage to help us, alright? Do we have a deal?" Mobius says, sounding defeated.

You bite back a smile.

"Deal."

...

True to his word, Mobius returns some time later with your armour.

"Don't you wanna wear something a bit less... I don't know. Filthy? Inconspicuous?" he asks you as you practically snatch your gear from him. It's true; there's blood and dirt all over it, not to mention several rips and tears, but it's not beige. And it's yours.

"Turn around." you say as you begin freeing yourself from the horrible beige outfit you'd been forced into.

Once you're changed you follow Mobius from the ghastly orange room and down several winding corridors, attracting more than a few looks from his fellow TVA workers as you walk along.

Mobius mutters under his breath the whole way, something about 'going to get me fired' and 'obstinate, headstrong Y/N variants'. You try not to feel too pleased with yourself.

Now that you have your gear back you're starting to feel slightly better about your current predicament. That is, until you see Loki again.

This time he's in a shirt and trousers, with a large beige jacket covering his arms and torso. He scowls when he sees you.

"I thought you said she was out."

She. It hurts as though he'd hit you across the face.

"She was. And now she's back in." Mobius tells him, gesturing for him to follow along as he strides past.

"Why does she have her clothes back? I want my armour back." Loki continues, begrudgingly walking behind you and Mobius.

"No." Mobius says.

"Then I won't help you." Loki says, stopping where he stands.

"Yes you will. We've already struck our bargain." Mobius tells Loki over his shoulder, continuing to walk along. About a minute passes, and you hear Loki's footsteps behind you again. You think you see Mobius' lips curve into half a smile.

Eventually you arrive at a small cluster of desks, and Mobius stops, gesturing at one.

"The Variant's case files. I want you to go over them and see if there's anything we missed."

"Well, you're idiots. I suspect you missed quite a lot." Loki tells him.

"That's why I'm lucky I've got you two geniuses." Mobius says, unperturbed, pulling out a chair for you. You sit.

"Don't be afraid to really lean into this work. Here's a tip: pretend like your lives depend on it. I'm gonna get a snack." Mobius says, clapping Loki on the back and striding off.

"Don't bother me until you've read all the files." he adds over his shoulder as he leaves.

Loki sighs dramatically and collapses into the chair opposite you. You're already looking through case files, determined to avoid Loki's gaze if nothing else.

"What did he promise you?" he asks you. You look up at him reluctantly.

"A chance at getting back to my timeline." you say. He scoffs, and you raise your eyebrows as though to say, 'fair enough'.

"You don't really, believe him, do you?" Loki asks you, incredulous.

"No. But he's as good as told me that there's a chance I can get back. That's all I need." you say, looking back down at the file in your hands.

Loki says nothing, but you think you can sense a sort of reluctant respect coming from him. He's forgotten to close his mind off, and you don't remind him to do so.

Before he can reply, the old woman sat behind Loki raises a finger to her lips and actually shushes you. Loki looks up at you with such a look of incredulity that you have to bite your lip to stop yourself from laughing.

He turns around slowly, and shushes the woman back. She looks vaguely offended, and you press your fingers to your lips in an attempt to hide your amusement. It doesn't work.

You busy yourself with looking through more files and pretend not to see Loki watching you as you read. After a few minutes he stands up abruptly and leaves. You don't try and follow him.

The variant's files are very repetitive. They ambush Minutemen, kill them, and steal their reset charges. Over and over and over again...

Loki returns, dropping a file on to the desk in front of you, on top of the files you're supposed to be looking at. Your name is written across the front page. Y/L/N, Y/N.

"Thank you?" you say, as he sits down opposite you again.

"I'm curious," he says, and you see he's holding his own file. "I figured you would be too."

He's not wrong.

You flick open the file and see your own face looking back at you. Your parents' faces are there too, and your foster parents. The Avengers, and Loki. Every event of your life, documented, and some events that haven't happened to you yet. And never will.

When you look up at Loki, he's holding a single piece of paper in his hand. Frowning. You know that frown, the one when he's upset but he doesn't want to show it.

"What is it?" you ask.

"Can you stop." he snaps, slamming the piece of paper down.

"Shhh." the woman shushes him again, and he closes his eyes in anger.

"Stop acting like you know me." he hisses.

But I do.

"Sorry." you whisper, looking at the woman. She nods sharply, haughtily. Loki is glaring at you.

He looks back down at the piece of paper. You read the words DESTRUCTION OF ASGARD upside down and try to beat down the sympathy which rises to your features before Loki can see.

The eye roll which he bestows upon you tells you that you did a bad job of it.

Suddenly something different crosses his features, and he practically leaps to his feet.

"What?" you ask. He doesn't reply, walking away from the desk with the piece of paper still clutched in his fist.

"What?" you repeat, getting to your feet and following him.

"Do you have to follow me around?" Loki asks you in exasperation as you push into the elevator next to him.

"I will go into your mind."

"And I will stab you." Loki replies pleasantly.

You glare at each other for about ten seconds while the annoying elevator music plays quietly in the background, before Loki looks away, staying quiet. So you go into his mind.

"The variant is hiding out in apocalypses?"

He lunges at you, shoving you against the wall and holding out his hand as though to conjure a knife and... nothing happens. You smirk.

He makes a noise of disgust, pushing himself away from you.

"If I had my magic..."

"But you don't."

"If I did you would be seriously injured if not dead."

The elevator doors slide open and he storms out; you follow him, rubbing the place on your shoulder where he'd pinned you to the wall.

Mobius is sat eating a salad, and looks less than pleased to see you both walking towards him.

"I thought I said not to bother me until you'd read all the files." he says, putting down his fork.

"We have." Loki lies.

"Every file." Mobius says in clear disbelief.

"Yes."

"Pertaining to the variant."

"The answer isn't in the files, it's in the timeline. They're hiding in apocalypses." Loki says.

"Which apocalypse? There's like a million of them." Mobius says, sitting back in his chair.

"Ragnarok. Are you familiar?" Loki asks, sitting down opposite Mobius.

You walk away, over to the edge of the cafeteria to look out over the sprawling citadel that is the TVA. You still can't get your mind around the fact that any of this is happening. At least you have your gear back.

Running your (very torn and dirtied) cape through your fingers, you turn back around to see Loki enthusiastically shaking salt and pepper on to Mobius' salad as he talks. Mobius looks less than pleased.

You watch as Loki steals a carton of drink from the guy who hadn't known what a fish was, Casey, you remember, and proceed to pour it all over Mobius' salad as a grand finale before leaning back in his chair and looking extremely pleased with himself.

It's torture, watching an exact replica of the person you love most in this world walking around and living life without a single clue of who you are.

It takes you a few moments to realise that Mobius is beckoning you over. You join the two men at the table, looking at the ruined salad questioningly.

"Don't even ask. Do you think there's something in this?" Mobius asks you, gesturing towards Loki.

"Respectfully, her opinion really doesn't count for anything. It's me we're tracking down."

"Respectfully, I wasn't talking to you." Mobius retorts.

"No, he's right. I haven't known a Loki as awful as this for years. We should listen to him." you say.

"Ahh. She does bite." Loki smirks.

"She does a lot more than bite." you tell him, your expression deadpan. His smile wavers for a fraction of a second.

"Gods, I shouldn't have counted on the two of you not killing each other." Mobius sighs, standing up wearily. "I'm going to get a new salad, and then we're going to an apocalypse."