Family is for all time, always [1]

Torn Apart Again

~~~Linda's pov~~~

She knew. I could see it in her eyes.

"I think you have something of mine." She said firmly.

I felt Mom squeeze my hand tighter as Mobius stepped forward and handed one of the hunters Renslayer's Tempad.

"Yeah, I got all the way down here before I even realized I picked up yours." He said casually.

She didn't buy it.

"What's going on?"

Renslayer just stared at him. As if she was trying to remember what he looked like. That wasn't good.

"What's the problem, Ravonna?" He tried again.

She still stared at him.

The silence was terrifying.

"You know where I would go if I could go anywhere?"

Don't say it. Please, don't say it.

"Wherever it is I'm really from. Yeah, wherever I had a life before the TVA came along. Maybe I had a jet ski. That's what I'd like to do. Just ride around on my jet ski."

"Prune him," Renslayer ordered instantly.

A hunter stepped forward and turned on his pruning stick.

Seconds later, Mobius disappeared.

I saw tears well up in Mom's eyes, and Dad tightened his grip on my shoulders.

"The time-keepers want to oversee his pruning personally. Get rid of the others. They've both been compromised by the variant."

I had barely registered what she said until Hunter D-90 was about to prune Mom.

"No!"

~~~Catherine's pov~~~

I prepared for the blow, but it never came.

That's when I heard Linda.

"No!"

Before I could do anything to stop her, she stepped in front of me, taking the hit.

My heart stopped, and my blood ran cold as ice as Linda disappeared.

"Linda, no!" I cried, sinking to my knees in despair.

Loki fell to his knees next to me and hugged me tightly, but I barely acknowledged it. I was numb with grief.

"Alright. Let's go." Renslayer said, having the hunters push us out of the room after making me put on a time collar.

I didn't protest. I couldn't do more than cry silently.

They killed her. We finally got back together, and they killed her. Like it was nothing.

Loki held me close as we were escorted to the Timekeepers.

"It's okay." He kept repeating the same thing to me, but I could tell he didn't believe it. His voice was broken and it sounded like he was holding back tears.

Our daughter was just killed in front of us. Our five-year-old daughter, who we only just got back.

We ended up in a hallway in front of a set of golden doors next to Sylvie.

~~~Sylvie's pov~~~

Why was Catherine here? Where's Linda?

"You guys okay?" I looked at Loki.

Catherine didn't do more than cry.

"Where's Linda?"

She cried harder, and Loki shook his head solemnly.