Out of touch (1)

s i x

Anita hummed along to a tune that had gotten stuck in her head from one of her dreams. She had seen the young girl place a vinyl on a record player and listened as old songs from the eighties played. The small girl and her mother had danced around together and it made her smile. She could only assume that these were past memories and even if they weren't, it was all she had left of her old life and she was going to cling onto that for as long as she could.
She paced back and forwards along the walls of her cell, the small confinement slowly driving her towards insanity. She had spent hours each day trying to find a way out but every day she was met with the same fate. Nothing. No escape. She would hit her fists against the glass but nothing but silence escaped on the other side. She hated it. She hated that she had been taken. Maybe if she had just hidden in her wardrobe when she heard people in the house that night, she wouldn't be here. She wouldn't have been taken away into the world of the red room. A world of killing and lies, power and control. Her mind just went in circles every day, the new information just filtering its way into the cycle.
She was beginning to fall back into an old pattern. Wake, eat, sit alone for hours, drink, clean, sleep. Repeat.
It was like she had never even left the red room. It was like she was still completely caught in a place where she was controlled. But this time she was awake. She felt like that made it infinitely worse. She waited all day for Mobius to show knowing that he was her only escape from her own mind. She would breathe on to the glass and play a game of tic tac toe by herself, she never won.
It was almost a metaphorical mirror of her life. She didn't win. She never did and never could. It would stare back at her harshly, like it was a reminder of what she was.
Lonely, scared and alone.
She would spend most of her days crying or sleeping or thinking. And she was so tired of it. She almost believed that death would be better than this. She just wished they would let her out and do what they needed with her. The endless nothingness was already pain enough.
She found herself craving the attention the analyst would give her. She wanted the companionship and the care. He knew she was there and he made the effort with the girl. He was the only person she could confide in, even if she held stuff back from him.
And so she found herself sat on the bench waiting for him to walk along. Waiting for his voice to come through the speakers. She liked how gentle his voice was whenever she asked her anything. He would always be calm when asking her things unlike the lady from the day before who had practically demanded answers to questions she didn't understand. Whether she would admit it or not, she did like the guy. And now that he had the raven haired man with him, she wanted to know so much about him. She wanted to know everything about the man, why he was here, who he was, if he knew who she was. She wanted to know if he would save her. If they both would.

•••

"Hey, sorry I'm later than usual" a voice comes through the wall making Anita snap her head upwards.
The grey haired man sat at the end of the hall looking tired, exhausted even.
"Are you okay?" She asks and now it was his turn to look surprised.
Anita never asked him anything. She didn't seem to care that much about him. Not the same way that he wanted to care for her.
"I'm okay thanks, I have a variant with me and he's causing trouble, a bit like you really" he chuckles.
"The raven haired man" she whispers but it's loud enough that it comes through on his side.
"Yeah the raven haired man"
They both knew she wanted to ask more. She wanted to know so many details about him, his life story, his heritage, his reason for being here.
"What do you want to know about him?"
"His name, who is he, why is he here, why do I feel like I have known him my whole life, why has he been plaguing my dreams"
"You've seen him before?" Mobius asks, practically cutting her off.
"He's been appearing in my dreams, I need to know who he is, please"
"His name is Loki Laufeyson, he's a god from a place called Asgard and he escaped his time just like you. He's just learned that his whole life will lead him nowhere and now he's on the run around here"
"Why did you come see me then?"
"Because you're important too, you're the variant I've been assigned to, the one I should be looking after so I'm here, the others will find him, he'll come back"
"Can I meet him?" She asks quickly and he shakes his head.
"Are you even stable to be out of that cell without screaming?" He asks her and she looks forwards at him.
"I wouldn't know, I'm not allowed out" she seethes.
He feels bad. He knows she deserves a chance. Loki deserves another chance too, it's why he has taken them both on and now seeing how Anita has some sort of connection with him, he wonders if he can somehow get them to trust each other so that they will trust him too.
"Okay, but I need to know that you won't run away"
"I've got no where to run to, other than to him which is where you'll be anyways" she tells him and he nods walking closer towards the girl.
She watches as he opens the door and it vanishes before her eyes. A breeze of cold air hits her face and she sighs as he stretches his hand out to her. She takes it and he smiles as she steps out and lets go of him. She then turns and starts running away from him down the hall. Mobius knows she won't get far though. She can run as fast and as far as she wants but he knows she'll come back. After thirty seconds, she realises that he hasn't made an effort to follow her. She stops, turns and traipses back to him.
"Okay, you good?" He asks and she nods.
"Good, now lets go, it's going to be intense, you can manage right?"
"Yeah, I've got this"

•••

"Loki?" Mobius asks as he walks into the room.
Anita walks in behind him, noticing how the raven haired man is slumped down in an almost depressed manner.
"Nowhere left to run"
"I can't go back can I?" He asks and Anita feels warm almost at hearing his voice.
"Back to my timeline"
Anita knew. She felt the same depressing shadow creeping over her shoulders whenever she thought about the fact that she couldn't go back to where she had come from. Not that going back was an ideal option in her mind.
"I don't enjoy hurting people, I don't enjoy it" he sighs and the girl realises she and him are the same.
"I do it because I have to, because I've had to"
"Okay, explain that to me" Mobius says as Anita comes out from beside him, Loki now noticing that there were more than the two of them present in the room.
He looks to her skeptically and she nods to let him know that he can say what he needs to. They know the other understands them.
"Because it's part of the illusion, it's the cruel elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear"
"A desperate play for control" Mobius nods.
"You do know yourself" he adds.
"A villain"
"That's not how I see it"
Loki sighs before he leans down and picks up a blue glowing cube. Something special it seemed.
"You try to use that?" Mobius asks, slight amusement present in his voice.
"Oh several times, even an infinity stone is useless here"
He scoffs as he throws the cube into the air.
"The TVA is formidable"
"That's been my experience" the analyst starts.
"Listen, I can't offer you salvation but maybe I can offer you something better, this is where she comes in as well" he tells him gesturing to the girl next to him.
"A fugitive variant has been killing our Minutemen"
"And you need the god of mischief and some girl to help you stop him?"
"That's right"
"Why me, why us?"
"We'll she's a trained assassin who trusts you" he starts making the raven haired girl meet the eyes of the god.
His eyes are practically begging her to tell him the truth. She nods. And they know.
"And the variant we're hunting is, you"
"I beg your pardon?" He asks with a shocked look on his face.
"What do you say then you two? Are you in?" Mobius asks as he looks between them.
Anita makes her way over to the taller man and he looks down at her. A lifetime of memories flash through the twos minds as if they have met in another life. They don't know what this is between them but they know there is an understanding of pain and trust.
"Yeah we're in"