Sylvie POV
When Sylvie opened her eyes, she was in chains. She tugged against them instinctively, but it was no use. Cuffs were firmly clamped around her hands and ankles to prevent her from using magic, then attached to long, heavy chains bolted into the wall. The room she sat in was familiar; cold, damp, dark, and silent except for the sound of Sylvie’s breathing. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall behind her, defeated.
All that time and effort she had spent planning to take down TVA, wasted. She had ended up right where she began- alone in a TVA cell, awaiting her inevitable doom. This time, at least, she would receive the bliss of being deleted.
“You awake?” A gruff voice asked from outside the door. Sylvie perked up.
“Who’s there?” she called, and heard shuffling in response.
After a few minutes of highly anticipated clicking, the door swung open to reveal the hunter Sylvie had nearly beaten to death just days prior. She winced as the hunter, whose helmet read B-15, approached her angrily. Her eyes shone with unbridled hatred and contempt that Sylvie barely had time to register before a hand wrapped around her neck. Sylvie was shoved backward, head slamming into the wall and air leaving her lungs with a gasp. Hunter B-15 locked her in place with an ironclad grip and narrowed eyes.
“Not so smug now, huh?" B-15 growled into her ear. “Now that you're all chained up, unable to play your little mind games.”
“What do you want?” Sylvie managed to choke out around B-15’s firm grasp on her throat.
“Answers.”
B-15 let go suddenly, letting Sylvie slump down onto the seat, gasping for air. When she finally regained enough breath to form sentences, Sylvie raised her head to glare daggers at B-15.
“Answers to what?” she asked, voice raspy.
B-15 crossed her arms over her chest.
“Everything,” she said. “I want to know why you’ve been sabotaging and killing teams of minutemen. I want to know why you felt the need to drag us out into the middle of nowhere, only to leave us on the brink of life. I want to know what you did to C-20.”
“I don’t suppose you expect me to tell you all this out of the goodness of my heart?”
B-15 snorted as if the very idea was preposterous.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I know you don’t have one of those,” she snarled.
Sylvie gave her a malicious smirk, despite the words cutting deeper than she cared to admit. Maybe there was a time she did have a heart, but any belief in herself that she still did was long gone. And over the years, she’d managed to distance herself from anyone else who might argue on the contrary.
“Why I did what I did doesn’t matter,” Sylvie muttered finally. “It clearly didn’t work.”
B-15 let out a frustrated huff. She stomped her foot down, making Sylvie jump in surprise.
“No, it does matter!”
Desperation and pain seeped into B-15’s voice. A small break in her stoic facade. And that’s when it hit Sylvie. These weren’t the actions of a perfect soldier interrogating a criminal, they were those of a broken girl searching for some semblance of reason amidst the chaos. This, Sylvie could work with.
“It’s the other hunter, right,” Sylvie guessed. B-15 swirled around to look at her, eyes wide.
“What?”
“The other hunter. C-20.”
A ripple of emotion crossed B-15’s face before settling back into the mask it had been before. Sylvie smiled a little. She had hit her mark.
“What about C-20?” B-15 asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
“You seem very passionate about what happened to her.”
“She’s a colleague. It’s out of professional interest that I-”
Sylvie made a clicking noise with her tongue, interrupting B-15, who blanched. For the first time since they’d met, she appeared almost fearful. For what, Sylvie was about to figure out.
“See I don’t think that's true,” Sylvie drawled. “I think there’s something else behind this determination to get answers.”
“I am a soldier,” B-15 tried again, but it was no use. Sylvie had unleashed a can of worms, and she had no plans of stopping.
“Soldiers can have feelings too, you know.”
“I don't!” B-15 shouted and grabbed the collar of Sylvie’s shirt once more. But this time, she lifted Sylvie up high into the air so that her legs dangled. If Sylvie still had the use of her hands, she would have clawed at B-15, but they were too heavy to even lift with the cuffs and simply hung on her sides.
In her rage, B-15 raised another fist, preparing to take a swing at Sylvie’s face. She would have deserved it, Sylvie thought, after everything she did to her in Newhaven. Sylvie closed her eyes, bracing herself for the hit, but it never came. When she peeked open her eyes, she saw B-15's fist mere centimeters from her, raw anguish etched onto the lines of her face.
“Who are you?” B-15 whispered. Her grip on Sylvie loosened.
“A villain,” Sylvie said simply. “Or isn’t that what your so-called ‘Time Keepers’ decreed me as?”
B-15 shook her head.
“I didn’t ask who they said you were.”
Sylvie sucked in a deep breath. This was not where she had thought this conversation was heading.
“I am called Sylvie, and I’m in an incredibly serious lost distance relationship with a postman,” she deadpanned.
B-15 set her back down on her feet and scoffed lightly. But the joke served its purpose. The hunter no longer looked as angry as she had before. Instead, she just looked lost.
“How’s that working out for you?”
Sylvie shrugged, a small smile on her lips.
“Pretty good, if I do say so myself.” She paused. “Sorry about beating you up in Newhaven, by the way."
To her surprise, B-15 chuckled.
"Don't apologize for things you don't feel remorse for."
Sylvie shrugged. She tried, at least, and maybe that counted for something.
"Fine. If you won't accept my apology, let's talk more about you."
B-15’s expression turned to stone once more.
“There’s nothing to talk about. You clearly don’t want to answer my questions.”
“Not true,” Sylvie protested. “I told you my name, now you tell me why you care so much about C-20.”
"I don't care."
Sylvie sighed, completely exasperated.
"You really want to know what happened to her?" she asked.
For a moment, B-15 hesitated. Sylvie could see the options weighing in her brain, until the desire to know the truth finally won out. She nodded.
"Let me show you then."
Sylvie held up her hands, the cuffs rattling as she did so. B-15's eyes widened when she realised what Sylvie was implying, and she frantically shook her head.
"No. Absolutely not."
Sylvie's lips puckered, face morphing into a pout.
"Aww, c'mon. What's the worst that can happen?"
"Well, for starters, you could break out," B-15 pointed out. "Or enchant me. Or kill me."
"I suppose so, but I wouldn't get very far with all the tightened security around here," Sylvie said. "It wouldn't be worth it, so what do you say?"
"I can't," B-15 said, but Sylvie could hear the weakened resolve in her voice. She grinned to herself.
"It's the only way you'll find out the truth…" her voice trailed off, sickly sweet and tantalising. B-15 tapped her finger on her thigh nervously, then glanced over her shoulder as if someone was watching. But when the door remained firmly shut and locked, she turned back around, head bobbing up and down.
"Alright."
Sylvie couldn't help smiling as B-15 fished for her keys and slid them into the lock around her cuffs, letting them fall onto the floor. She flexed her wrists, enjoying the way the cold air hit her bruised skin.
"Okay, now that you're free, show me."
B-15 stared at her with both hope and doubt. Sylvie momentarily considered enchanting the hunter and using her as a way to escape, but what she had said earlier was true: it wouldn't take long for someone to notice that something was amiss, and then she would be in even more trouble than before. No, her best bet was to have B-15 believe her and maybe even aid her willingly.
Sylvie's fingers lit up with magic, and she felt a thrill go through her. She hadn't realised how much she depended on her magic until it was taken away from her.
Slowly, she closed her eyes and reached out to place two fingers on each side of B-15's temple. The hunter went completely rigid at her touch, but the further Sylvie reached into her mind, the more relaxed she became. B-15 thoughts were somehow even more clouded than C-20's had been. At least with C-20, there had been a clear distinction between her time at the TVA and her life before. B-15's head was more like an overlapping labyrinth defined by repressed emotions and forced indoctrination.
Sylvie pushed further, mentally shoving aside the countless barriers and wards designed to stop her, until she finally found the first shred of memory.
----------
A much younger version of B-15 and C-20 were at a bar. Multicoloured neon lights flashed on and off, blurring the image in a swirl of hues. The clamor of voices in the crowd combined with the blaring music was almost deafening. People shuffled around and danced with bodies pressed so close together that it was hard to even make the distinction from one person to the next. The two hunters sat together at barstools, laughing and occasionally sipping from their drinks. They looked oddly relaxed, happy even. B-15 had a big, lovesick grin on her face that Sylvie would've had a hard time imagining had she not witnessed it.
"I can't believe you convinced me to ditch class for this," B-15 was saying. C-20 laughed and punched her shoulder playfully.
"You know you're enjoying yourself- don't even try to lie to me," she responded, pointing an accusatory finger in B-15 direction.
"I never said I didn't," B-15 said mildly. Then, in a much quieter voice, she added, "After all, I am hanging out with you."
C-20's face grew bright red, and she smiled shyly.
"Of course, I am just delightful, aren't I?"
The memory faded into laughter, and Sylvie plucked another one from the depths of B-15's mind.
In this one, they were a bit older and on a beach at sunset. Reds, pinks, oranges, and golds all bled into the sky like it was a canvas. The gentle sound of waves crashing on the shore and birds chirping could be heard in the distance. B-15 and C-20 sat together on a rock, knees curled inwards and eyes fixated on the horizon.
"This was a lot of fun," C-20 said quietly.
B-15 nodded, but didn't say anything in response. She appeared to be nervous. Her pupils were dilated, her cheeks were flushed, and she kept stealing glances at C-20 whenever she thought she wasn't looking. Finally, she took a deep breath, letting all the words she had been holding back tumble out.
"I don't want you to go," she said quickly. C-20 looked at her in surprise, but it was far too late for B-15 to stop. "I know it's selfish and this is a huge job opportunity for you, but I want you to stay here. With me."
C-20's brow creased.
"What are you saying?"
B-15 took a deep breath.
"I love you," she blurted out. When C-20 froze in shock, B-15 was quick to backtrack in panic. "I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I just wanted to-"
She was cut off by C-20 pressing a kiss to her lips. B-15's eyes widened, then she closed them and leaned into it, lifting one hand to pull their bodies closer to one another. They sat like that for a few moments, then pulled apart with their foreheads still together, both smiling and giggling nervously.
"I love you, too," C-20 said breathlessly.
The next memory Sylvie was able to pull was more of a montage than a concrete event. Flashes of white dresses, a pristine tuxedo, blooming flowers, kisses, and rings being exchanged flew by in seconds. The sound of laughter and "I do" played on repeat like a broken record. Then, the connection between Sylvie and the hunter unexpectedly broke, jolting Sylvie back into reality.
B-15 had somehow ended up on the opposite side of the room as her, as well as on the ground. She had her knees tucked in tightly to her body and her head in her hands, breathing rapidly. Her eyes were brimming with unshed tears and her entire body was beginning to shake.
Sylvie stood up, cautiously making her way towards B-15, who had yet to speak or even acknowledge the Variant's presence.
"I had a life," B-15 muttered to herself, rocking back and forth. "A past. A wife ."
B-15 glanced up at her, looking more broken, scared, and alone than even C-20 had when Sylvie showed her similar visions.
"I was in love."
A flicker of sympathy flitted through Sylvie. She nodded somberly.
"Yes," she said.
"But how?"
Sylvie bent down so that she was eye level with B-15.
"The TVA agents aren't created by the Time Keepers like you've been told," she explained. "You were once all normal people who became Variants, just like me."
B-15 shook her head in protest.
"That's impossible."
"More impossible than being brought into existence by a bunch of space lizards?"
B-15 didn't have any argument for that. Instead, she asked:
"Does C-20 know?"
Sylvie hesitated.
"I'm not sure, actually," she said. "When I used my enchantments on her, it was more for information. She knows enough to be aware that the TVA aren't who they say they are, and she was willing to help me. But beyond that?" Sylvie shrugged. "I don't know what specifically she retained."
B-15 nodded, trying to digest the information as fast as she could.
"I have to get out of here," she realised.
"You and me both," Sylvie laughed.
B-15 stared at her, and Sylvie watched her face light up with an idea.
"Why don't we, then? We could take C-20 and get away from here. Now that the-" she faltered, saying the next words as though she still couldn't quite comprehend them."-the Multiverse is real, we can do anything. Go anywhere."
The corners of Sylvie's mouth quirke upwards. This was exactly what she wanted.
"That sounds like an excellent idea," she purred.
B-15 stood up, regaining her composure in an instant. She straightened her armour and slid the cuffs back on Sylvie's hands "to keep up the facade." She was about to say something else, probably propose a plan, if Sylvie had to guess, when the cell's doors flung open.
Judge Renslayer stood there, pruning stick in hand and two guards dutifully waiting at her side. Her face was entirely unreadable and solely trained on Sylvie, as if she didn't even notice B-15 standing there.
"Variant, you are being summoned to trial for your crimes against the Sacred Timeline," she said, very matter-of-fact. "Come with us."
Sylvie gave her a wry smile. Oh, this was just perfect.
"Good to see you again, Ravonna."
YOU ARE READING
A Guide to Fixing Broken Things
Fanfiction"I'll kill Loki!" Maybe in hindsight, Mobius promising to kill the Variant he had grown unreasonably attached to was a bad idea. He had been told he had an affinity for broken things. And maybe that was true- after all, he had placed faith in Loki...
