Mobius POV
Mobius was not doing well.
His stomach ached painfully and his head spun in a loop, replaying the scene with him and Loki on Lamentis over and over until every detail was embedded into his memory forever. If Mobius had actually eaten any food upon arriving in the Pocket Dimension, he probably would have thrown it up. But thankfully, he had next to no appetite, and quickly retired to a room after Loki and Sylvie left, no doubt to have some deep romantic conversation.
Some part of Mobius wished he could be mad at Loki, but he couldn't. Loki had tried to warn him since the beginning that the TVA was not to be trusted, and Mobius had chosen not to listen. He prioritised keeping his job over caring about people, and took the assignment to kill the one person who might be their last hope at saving the world. The fact that Loki hadn’t abandoned him in this wasteland to fend for himself was astounding.
I was referring to you .
Mobius could practically see Loki standing in front of him, staring into his eyes and holding his hand around the dagger. In the moment, he hadn't had any time to process what Loki was saying. Everything had sped by in a blur of emotions and heartbreak. Mobius could vaguely recall being saved by Sylvie, B-15, and C-20 (No, it was Hunter and Cass now, he reminded himself) and arriving in this Pocket Dimension, but it was like he had been watching the scene unfold from outside of his body. His actions didn't feel like his own, and his mind was too numbed to put forth energy into tedious things like thinking and talking.
But now, Mobius was beginning to feel slightly more present. He sat on the bottom of an old loft he found with his hands in his lap, pondering what Loki had meant. Surely, Loki wasn't trying to imply that he liked him? That would be an absurd thing to say when the other person has a knife pointed at your chest, unless it was all a manipulation.
Yes, Mobius decided, that must be it. And if he just ignored how vulnerable and genuine Loki had looked back on Lamentis, he could almost fool himself into believing he was right.
A knock at the door was enough to pull Mobius from his stupor. He looked up to see Sylvie standing a few steps away with one hand propping herself up against the wall. She really was beautiful, Mobius observed. He could see why Loki would like her.
“So, you’re Mobius,” she said, very matter-of-fact.
Mobius let out a breath and nodded.
“That’s me.”
Sylvie pushed herself off the wall, walking across the room so she could sit beside him.
“Former TVA agent,” she said as she did so.
At that, Mobius hesitated.
“I suppose so.”
Sylvie hummed in acknowledgement.
“Well, that’s good, because if you were still working for them, I’d have to kill you,” she gave him a playful smile when he scooted a fraction of an inch away from her.
“Don’t worry, I won’t.”
She meant it to be reassuring, but Mobius felt the furthest thing from reassured.
“You see, with my friend being quite fond of you, I’m not sure that turn of events would be exactly stellar .”
Sylvie nudged his arm, smiling like they were both in on some sort of joke that Mobius didn't quite understand. Mobius had no idea who Sylvie would consider a “friend” or why they would be fond of him, but unless she and Hunter had really bonded in the TVA, there was only one person it could be.
“Loki?” He guessed.
Sylvie grinned and clapped her hands together. The gesture was so Loki-like that Mobius had to take a second to recover from the wave of deja vu that washed over him.
“Correct!” Sylvie exclaimed. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t exactly have a lot of other friends.”
Mobius nodded, managing to muster a laugh though nothing was funny.
“I never thought of you two as friends, more as-”
“Lovers?”
Sylvie raised an eyebrow and Mobius sighed, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. He looked down at his hands.
“So he told you?”
Sylvie shrugged.
“It was mentioned,” she said.
Mobius said nothing in response, his words caught on the back of his throat. He could only imagine how red he must look, mortified by the conversation that was sure to come. The last thing he wanted to talk about was Loki and Sylvie being in love. Just the thought made his insides knot together.
"You’re wrong, by the way," Sylvie said suddenly, and Mobius looked up in surprise.
"What?"
"About Loki and me. We aren't in love. We're more like… family."
We aren't in love, we aren't in love, we aren't in love . The words drilled themself in Mobius's skull. His throat went dry. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that of course Loki and Sylvie weren't involved in a romance. They were Variants of the same people, and practically akin to siblings. How could he have been so blind?
But he didn't say any of that out loud. Instead, he chuckled darkly.
"Yeah, well, being wrong seems to be a trend for me lately," he grumbled.
Sylvie cocked her head to the side.
"You can’t blame yourself for not knowing about the TVA, you know," she told him, and Mobius was taken aback by how serious she sounded.
Still, he shook his head. He knew deep down that there was no excuse or lie he could ever tell to fool himself in believing he was innocent.
"But I can blame myself for everything that I willingly did while there."
As he spoke, guilt swarmed in his chest. Repressed images of young children being pruned from existence and families being ripped apart flashed across his mind. While part of the TVA, he had pushed down those memories for the sake of the "greater good." But now, they resurfaced in all their brutal glory.
"I helped capture and delete more Variants than I can count, no matter who or what they were. I guess I just thought the ends justified the means, but they never did. My mind being wiped doesn't change that," he said quietly.
Sylvie stared at him, and Mobius once again wondered why he wasn't dead. Considering how much of a grudge Sylvie held against the TVA, the fact that she hadn't let her anger get the best of her and struck him down was astounding. He supposed he had been right about one thing: Loki's were never really all evil.
"Well, if it helps, he doesn’t blame you," Sylvie said at last.
Mobius didn't have to guess who she was talking about this time. He knew.
"He should. I tried to kill him."
Sylvie laughed at that.
"So did I. He's very arrogant, don't you agree?" She asked.
Mobius made a small noise of agreement.
"But that's not the point." Sylvie waved her hand dismissively. "You also gave him hope that he could be a good person. You believed in him even when no one else did. He needs someone like that in his life, and so do you."
Mobius resisted the urge to cry, or laugh, or both. The horror he felt upon accepting the truth of what the TVA was creeped back up on him.
"I don’t think I really deserve that," he admitted, and it was true.
Sylvie leaned in close to him, whispering in his ear:
"Want to know a little secret I learned while racing across all of time?"
Her voice was a mix of teasing and genuine curiosity, and Mobius nodded.
"People rarely deserve second chances, so when you find someone willing to give them to you, don’t let them go."
She pushed herself back away from him and got to her feet, smiling widely. Mobius thought she looked proud of herself, as if she had won a game Mobius didn't think they had been playing.
"I’m just saying," she shrugged as she talked. "you and Loki have something special. Even if you don’t trust me, trust that."
Mobius ducked his head, mulling over her words. In all his time trying to hunt her down, he had never expected to learn valuable life lessons from her. It was a welcome change of pace.
"Thank you, Sylvie," he finally managed to say.
For a brief moment, Sylvie looked stunned and almost confused. It dawned on Mobius that she had probably never been thanked before, and despite the situation, he was glad he could give that to her.
"No problem."
Sylvie went back to her usual sly smirking as she made her way to the door.
"You should get some sleep," she called from over her shoulder. "We have work to do in the morning."
Mobius nodded as Sylvie disappeared around the corner and out of sight. Then, he let his composure drop. He sighed, placed his head in his hands, and was once again tempted to cry. But the ideologies the TVA instilled in him that emotion was a weakness were still there, even after he left, so he shook his head instead and moved into position to lay down.
The bed was uncomfortable, but Sylvie was right (to no one's surprise)- the next few days were going to be long and difficult, so he might as well rest while he could.
He was out before his head even hit the pillow.
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I was thinking about it last night, and I realised that Loki would be a much better show if we got to spend more time with Loki, Mobius, and the TVA in the beginning, instead of immediately being thrown into all the drama with Sylvie.
So once I finish this fic, I'm considering writing a prequel that will basically be a longer version of the first two episodes, but with more plot and gay. I'll also probably take that time to build B-15 and C-20 up as characters.
What do you guys think? Is that something you would be interested in reading?
Also, as always, don't forget to comment and vote!
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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...
