Hero [L.L]

Chapter One Hundred Twenty One

As the guard disappears Loki sighs and runs his hands through his hair, trying desperately to wrap his mind around all of this. He'd always felt as though his existence was a burden to others, now he had concrete evidence that he was correct. Pain and suffering, that was his purpose in life. He would hurt the people who love him over and over again. He never even had a chance. A hand on his shoulder causes him to look up, Eden smiles softly at him and sits on the ground, their shoulders brushing. Neither spoke, there was nothing to say. The doors swing open once more and neither falter as Mobius enters holding one of the staff like weapons. 

"I see you two found each other, how convenient" he states sarcastically 

"is this what you were talking about, when you said you had something I wanted?" Eden asks 

"not exactly"

"I can't go back can I?" Loki asks, Mobius nods slightly and he sighs. 

"I don't enjoy hurting people, I - I don't enjoy it. I do it because I have to, because I've had to" Loki admits, Eden stares at him with pride flowing through her, she'd always know Loki wasn't the monster he claimed. In her timeline he never quite figured that out until the end, hearing him say these things made her happy for him, he'd never gotten there on his own before. 

"okay explain that to me"

"because it's part of the illusion. Its the cruel elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear"

"a desperate play for control, you do know yourself" Mobius chuckles 

"a villain" 

"that's not how I see it" Eden adds, Loki stiffens at her words and picks up the tesseract from the ground.

"you try to use that?"

"several times, even an infinity stone is useless here, the TVA is formattable"

"that's been my experience. I can't offer you salvation, but maybe I can offer you something better" Mobius states, the two share a look before standing to their feet. 

"a fugitive variant's been killing four minutemen"

"and you need the god of mischief to help you stop him?" Loki asks 

"that's right"

"why me?" Eden asks 

"the variant we're hunting is you Loki" Mobius confirms, the two stare at him in confusion.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Eden you are his soulmate, you've had a glimpse into his soul, you know more than anybody else. I'm willing to bet that you might just be the tool we need to lure him in"

"why is that? I'm her soulmate not some knock off version of myself"

"that's not how it works, you see soulmates can exist through different universes, so I'm betting that our Loki would fall for you just as this one has time and time again" Mobius states. Eden uncrosses her arms and stares at the man, a slight blush spreading across her cheeks. 

"that doesn't sound too bad" she smiles, earning a glare from Loki. 

-

Eden stares down at her outfit and cringes, it was wildly uncomfortable, but it was a bit better than the jumpsuit. Her pants being the same as Loki's and her top is a long sleeve rather than the collar button up. For that, she had been thankful. She didn't actually mind the jacket, they'd given her one that was oversized, so she was quite comfortable. Loki and Eden had been 'listening' to Miss Minutes go on about the rules at the TVA, apparently it was required before they started their mission. While Loki looked through a magazine he found on Mobius' desk, Eden had been trying to get into Loki's head.