Hilda patiently waits outside of Ravonna's office, waiting for Mobius to get out from the scathing scolding he no doubt received. Though she imagines her own reprimanding is only on hold because of the desperate urgency of the situation. When Mobius gets out, the betrayal is evident on his face. If Hilda wanted to be nice, she wouldn't comment on it. "You act as if the God of Mischief didn't do exactly what we expected him to."

"And you act like Sigyn didn't kill Hunter E-40," retorts Mobius. He winces directly after, realizing he's gone too far. "Sorry, that was a low blow."

Hilda manages a small smile. "We'll call it even. They got into our heads, and now we need to get into theirs to find them."

"It doesn't help that they could be anywhere by now," says Mobius, stressing. He wants to find them all alive and see what the hell is going on. "What if they're not even in an apocalypse?"

"Have you seen them? They would create a branch instantly. If they have one thing in common, it's that they both like the sound of their own voices."

"Okay, so they're in an apocalypse but it could be any number of them and we don't have time to check them one by one. And don't forget, the only reason our agents got them without a fight was because we caught them off guard. Sigyn's likely going to be coming at us full force with her powers and--"

"Her powers." A look of realization starts to set on Hilda's face. "I know how to find them."

~~~

Between the rows of cramped desks, Hilda holds out her outstretched hand in front of Casey. He gives her and Mobius a questioning look, not exactly sure what they're asking of him. "You want me to give you one of the paperweights?"

"Hilda thinks that we can give our systems a sample of the power stone and figure out if its energy is being used somewhere it's not supposed to on the timeline."

"So you want to track them using a rock?" asks Casey incredulously.

"Since they're not going to emit any variance energy if they're in an apocalypse, we need to check for other variables. The power stone is destroyed in 2023, so any use of its powers afterwards is from its only remaining essence in Sigyn. So, we create a filter for that type of energy surge, and since I—we know her entire life story, it'll be easy to figure out if our alternate Sigyn is out there." Casey blinks still not really understanding, causing Hilda to give in and roll her eyes. "We're going to use a rock to track them."

Reluctantly, Casey opens his drawer revealing a giant collection of infinity stones and lets out a defeated sigh, "What colour?"

Lamentis-1, 2078

Away from the two Lokis, Sigyn sits at the edge of the lake as she watches the planet crash down around her. The screams of the people still in the city occasionally break through the noises of crumbling rocks and impacts. The entire thing is completely overwhelming to her senses. Initially she tries to continue to block them out, but eventually, she gives up and gives in to the flood, letting her be taken away with it.

It's funny because, after everything that's happened, all she can think about is how much she wants her mom. A single tear escapes her eye, rolling down the side of her cheek as the salty taste reaches her tongue.

A distance back from Sigyn, Loki and Sylvie sit on the edge of a fallen tree. "I was lying before," says Sylvie blankly.

Ever the one to avoid serious conversation, Loki decides to make a joke. "You're going to have to be a bit more specific about that, we tend to do that a lot."

"I said that I'd never experienced something real. The truth is I did. But I lost it," Sylvie's eyes begin to tear up as she grows frustrated, angry, and sad all at once. "Over, and over, and over." Loki looks at her in confusion, not sure what she means by that. "Surely you knew that Sigyn was far from the first version of herself to be brought into the TVA?"

He had figured that out, but he wasn't ever sure why she had so many variants. He wagered a guess more than once, but he never liked the answer he came up with. It seemed too...poetic too...dare he say, tragic.

Sylvie continues, "It's always the same, she would create a Nexus event and find her way to me. It was always after though; after the other Loki died. And every time, she somehow found her way to me and every time I lost her. She would always die doing something stupidly heroic like saving me or a gaggle of disgustingly cute orphan children." Sylvie shakes her head in disbelief, as she continues, "A different version of her would always come back, she always looked the same...but she wouldn't even recognize me. Or I'd reference something she wasn't there for...So I gave up. I just stopped. Because it hurt less."

Not believing his ears, or maybe not wanting to believe them, Loki can't wrap his head around Sylvie's words, or rather, the purpose behind them. Sigyn from the future, the one he was meant to marry, was almost stuck in a loop, constantly stepping off her timeline in search of him. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because losing her again and again was painful. Watching her fall in love with someone else? Seeing the person she fell in love with before me? That's even worse."

Loki sits there for a moment in silence as he digests everything Sylvie's said to him. "Well then, I suppose, if you think about it from a certain point of view there's a bright side, we're all about to die anyway."

Of all the times Sylvie has rolled her eyes at Loki, this time has to have been the hardest. Though she would never admit to it, a small glimmer of a smirk appears on her face. "Do you think that what makes a Loki a Loki is the fact that we're destined to lose?"

"No. We may lose. Sometimes painfully. But we don't die. We survive. I mean, you did. You were just a child when the TVA took you, but you nearly took down the organization that claims to govern the order of time," answers Loki honestly.

Clearly moved by his words, Sylvie gives an appreciative nod. She considers her next words carefully, but ultimately decides to speak up, "It won't be long now. Go talk to her." She nudges Loki's shoulder towards the woman sitting by the lake.

Taking the rare advice, Loki decides to walk towards Sigyn and sits down on the dusty ground next to her. Her cheeks are tear-stained and much like the time he walked into the theatre after she had watched the tapes, she sits there unblinking and unmoving. It's clear that her mind is being overwhelmed with the people of the planet in a state of constant and intense emotional distress. Not sure what to do, Loki glances her over, trying to think of something to say. He catches sight of her hand, and an idea pops into his head, "Can I try something?" he asks, gesturing to her hand.

She studies him for a moment, but figuring it can't hurt and that they're already about to die, Sigyn gives him her hand. He gently places his other hand on top of hers and closes his eyes. At first, nothing happens. But a few seconds later, a small green glow travels down Loki's arms and into Sigyn's hand.

The feeling is instant. And in that instant, Sigyn feels nothing. Glorious, quiet, nothing. All of the voices, the waves of traumatic emotion, all vanish. Her eyes widen as she realizes what he's done, "You blocked it. How did you do that? Did you even know you could do that?"

Loki shakes his head, "Had no idea. Thought I might try to make this slightly less terrible."

"Thank you," she says sincerely. A pregnant pause goes by as both stare out at the city in front of them, the planet in front of them that is burning and crumbling apart. Now that the constant barrage of emotions and thoughts is gone, Sigyn lets her own bubble to the surface. "I was stupid you know. Not looking at my birth parents' names I mean. If I was going to die I should have at least figured that out."

"I memorized their names. Do you want to know them?"

Sigyn looks over to Loki, first wondering if what he's said is even true. But there's no hint of a lie on his face. She nods slowly. If she's going to die, she might as well die knowing as much as she could.

"Irani Rael," says Loki as he examines Sigyn's face, "That's the name of your birth mother. Your father's name was Sol Dey, but he died before you were born fighting the Kree. Your mother worked at Nova Corps, she was responsible for trying to broker a treaty between the Kree and Nova space. But someone kidnapped you to get to her. She spent years, decades searching for you. She loved you so much, you weren't abandoned or tossed away. You were lost."

Tears brimming in her eyes, Sigyn looks to Loki, "So you mean I spent my whole life hating them, but they—she was out there looking for me?"

"It would seem so."

"I—"

To Sigyn's utter confusion, she hears multiple voices behind her. Voices that shouldn't be there. Both her and Loki whip around to find that the TVA has somehow found them and they've already apprehended Sylvie. As much as Sigyn is ready for a good fight, she knows that her only way off the planet is back to the TVA. So as the agents move to apprehend Sigyn and Loki, they don't resist.

Once back in the TVA realm, they start to tug on her a little too tightly for her liking as they pull her away from two Lokis. "Watch the merchandise," scolds Sigyn.

Noticing that she's being taken somewhere else, Loki starts to struggle more against his TVA agents. "Where are you taking her?" When no answer comes, Loki begins to shout, but with no one in the group having access to their powers, the shouts fade off in the distance of the TVA's vast and spiralling hallways.

Sigyn begins to wonder the same thing as she's swept off into a room with no less than three agents by her sides. But none of them terrify her as much as the look on Hilda's face as she now stands before her. Hilda's arms are crossed and she taps her foot impatiently waiting for Sigyn to speak.

"Ooo," winces Sigyn, realizing how royally she's messed up in this situation. "This is not good."

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" asks Hilda.

"Uh, yeah. You're all variants brainwashed and kidnapped by the TVA."

Hilda lets out a huff of annoyance. "You betrayed my trust. You know, I expected this sort of thing out of a Loki, but not an Avenger," says Hilda. "I thought that meant something." Saying that Hilda's words sting would be the understatement of the century for Sigyn. "Put her in. Maybe time in a loop will do her some good. Give her some time to think about her actions."

This has been sitting in my drafts for a long time, I figured I should let it out (which is why it's a tad shorter than the rest). I became really stumped with what happens in episode 6, so that kind of threw off my plans for the story a bit and I lost motivation.

Anyway, the only reason I haven't been struck by lightning, that chapterly memes.